Bazinga!!

Welcome fearless followers!!!

Join me on this exciting journey as we delve into the past to examine the ever fascinating subject of Brangelina vampirism...

(Thank you Andy's Film Blog) Actor Bela Lugosi portrays 
the classic image of the most famous vampire: Dracula.

Over the last few years the growing obsession with vampires in pop culture has led to the deterioration of the classic notion of "vampires"...

(Thanks Digital Citizen) Vampires have been romanticized
in recent years with movies and shows like Twilight, True Blood,
and the Vampire Diaries. 

...leading to most websites and blogs on vampires containing very little valuable information about the actual occurance of vampire burials in the past. However, the history of vampires (or vampyre, vrykolakas, strigoi, or wąpierz depending on where you are from) is very rich, and has much archaeological evidence to back up the numerous traditions and beliefs.

Disclaimer: I am not saying that vampires as we think of them exist(ed), simply that many societies believed in the dead rising to drink the blood of the living, and thus dealt with them in various ways which have left a mark in the archaeological record.

Despite the fact that there are so many documented cases of vampire burials, finding reliable historical and anthropological information in most websites is like trying to understand Sheldon Cooper's jokes. It's improbable. (Disclaimer 2: I have been watching a lot of Big Bang theory lately.) But despair not intrepid reader, there are a few accurate and informative sites out there. Niels Petersen of Denmark is the author of the blog Magia Posthuma (Which roughly translated from Latin means "magic after death") that contains numerous posts regarding, you guessed it: Vampires!!

(Thanks Niels Petersen!) Follow the link attached to his name in the caption
to see this fantastically informative blog :)

Petersen's blog has been active since 2007 when he began posting regularly about the subject of vampires. Contrary to what is found on most websites which focus on the undead, this site is dedicated to a mix of historically and archaeologically accurate records and discoveries which pertain to this fascinating subject! Interestingly, he also comments regularly on the pervasiveness of vampire mania or "vampania" (my newly coined term!) in modern society.
Using the criteria from a marking rubric which my group has designed, I'm going to assess and grade Petersen's blog for this week's blogpost! 


Analysis 10/10: Magia Posthuma is a well written and incredibly informative site. It contains 534 posts (!!!!) which span over six years and it appears that they are all interconnected. Many of the posts he writes contain links to other related topics which he has commented on and he has many sources throughout. Despite the prolific nature of his postings, Petersen manages to connect his posts back to one another seamlessly. Making it far too easy to get drawn down the rabbit hole and into the world of vampire studies. 

(Thank you Kameron Hurley) This is the proverbial "rabbit hole"
down which I often fall when engrossed in a subject. 

Content & Background Information 9.5/10: Although Petersen uses a huge number of sources and various documents throughout each and every post, he ties them in so seamlessly that they add to, rather than detract from, the reader's understanding. Furthermore, he often provides photographs of many of the primary sources to which he refers throughout. The one thing he could improve upon is indicating who provided the translations of sources in various foreign languages. Even if he is responsible for the work himself, I feel that indicating this would be helpful as who does a translation could skew the accuracy in some instances, and it allows readers to judge the accuracy for themselves. 


Resources 5/5: The greatest strength of this blog is the sources made accessible to the public by Petersen! He tends to introduce a main article, archaeological site, or primary source document at the beginning of most posts, then proceed to discuss the research and information surrounding that item. This provides the reader with an in depth analysis of numerous interesting sources, all of which connect intimately with one another and the main vampiric theme of the site. Many of the sources he uses are in a foreign language, and he provides extensive translations and interpretations which increase the reader's understanding and appreciation of the information enormously. 


Layout, Navigation, & Presentation 4.5/5: This website is, for the most part, very user friendly and accessible to a varied audience. While academics can appreciate the numerous scholarly references and extensive quoting of primary sources, even casual vampania enthusiasts will find the site informative and entertaining! All of his explanations of material follow a consistent style, and are easily read. My one complaint is that due to the large number of blogs, it is difficult to browse through them with ease. Furthermore, there is no simple way to see what all of the posts are about based simply upon the title. While I am not one to point fingers at bloggers with catchy yet unconnected titles designed to entice reader (coughbazingacough), I feel that with a blog that caters to such a specific topic, a little bit more clarity would have increased the ease of navigation. 


Thus Petersen's blog scores a 29/30 overall! I hope my group's website does nearly as well!!

Thanks Pusparaniology!!

On a side note: I find it really fascinating that in today's day and age of electronically available information, it has never been more important to assess sources critically. As soon as I foray outside of the UVic library search engine, I become instantly wary of ever word I read! 

Thanks Sangent for this adorably suspicious puppy!

This is probably for the best, but it makes placing my trust in personal blogs and websites difficult. It is always refreshing to come across sites written by people who are clearly in the academic field, or who provide reliable sources for their information. Sites like Petersen's prove to me that providing accurate information in a way that is assessable to the wider public is not only doable, it can be a medium that is excelled in!




Petersen, N.K. (2012). Magia Posthuma. [Available at] http://magiaposthuma.blogspot.ca/ [Accessed 8 March 2012].