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Ever Seen A Vampire?

Comfortably Numb

Comfortably Numb

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Where I live in Scotland, there's a small lough nearby.

So... a few years back, I'm simply having a walk along at night and then...

Imperative to note it's inherently not a flat landscape there are typically small mounds all around.

As I duly pass one, this creature *silently arises, unfolds its cloak an slowly floats towards me*.

I was out of there faster than Usain Bolt...

And then, when you think it's safe... one looks back and realises what you have in fact disturbed is a Heron.

Subsequently, it becomes clear when you *absolutely have to check this out further*, that some of the Heron's unique characteristics is that it can silently leap from a standing position, unfold it's wings and glides forth...

...and then you surmise... 'A Vampire... seriously...what were you thinking...'.

Trust me, when something like that happens, you just leg it...
 
Staggering home one night after many beers with my brother, we spotted an ACTUAL VAMPIRE gliding towards us.

Black cloak, pale face, dark hair streaming out behind him, arms reaching forwards... :omg:

It was of course a friendly Goth on inline skates. I took his arm and we wobbled off up the hill, leaving Bro in hysterics at the bottom of the hill.
 
Comfortably Numb said:
Aye, ye caught me oot wi' the Irish spelling there!
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Thinking back on this... it was genuinely such a fright, I just fled and it's only afterwards, seriously breathless and seemingly out of danger you look back, mercifully realise that it's not a Vampire at all and contemplate... what in the name were you thinking, ya eejit!
 
escargot said:
Staggering home one night after many beers with my brother, we spotted an ACTUAL VAMPIRE gliding towards us.

Black cloak, pale face, dark hair streaming out behind him, arms reaching forwards... :omg:

It was of course a friendly Goth on inline skates. I took his arm and we wobbled off up the hill, leaving Bro in hysterics at the bottom of the hill.
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See... that would just freak me out!
 
escargot said:
Staggering home one night after many beers with my brother, we spotted an ACTUAL VAMPIRE gliding towards us. Black cloak, pale face, dark hair streaming out behind him, arms reaching forwards... :omg: It was of course a friendly Goth on inline skates. I took his arm and we wobbled off up the hill, leaving Bro in hysterics at the bottom of the hill.
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As an old school goth from way way back I can say that I haven't met any vampires in the community IRL. I suspect that sufferers from Porphyria may have been the origin of the myth, though Tuberculosis is also a candidate. Incidentally, I had harsh words with some uninformed individuals of the hippy variety who were unaware that the disease vector (origin) of tuberculosis is actually unpasteurised milk. They were selling it, pretending it was healthy and "natural", and were outraged when the FDA swooped on them, despite the fact if they had been remotely unlucky they could have caused a TB epidemic. So many people are unvaccinated these days, and these individuals were among them. The bad thing was that the FDA agents either had no idea why they were enforcing the law, or didn't tell the hippies. Education fail USA...again...
 
Drunk, with a friend in New Orleans, we met some goths and asked them if they knew any actual vampires. They said no, New Orleans is not like all those Anne Rice books and movies, it's a pretty normal place actually, we only know one real-life vampire.

It was a friend's co-worker who wouldn't go out in the sunlight and possibly drank blood though I can't remember the details.
 
Even when you've witnessed it before, the site of a heron perched in a treetop can be a little unnerving. I remember once seeing three up there in the canopy, on darkening winter's afternoon near Monsal Dale in the Peak District - like a set of knives, I remember thinking, in one of my more poetic moments.
 
Spookdaddy said:
Even when you've witnessed it before, the site of a heron perched in a treetop can be a little unnerving. I remember once seeing three up there in the canopy, on darkening winter's afternoon near Monsal Dale in the Peak District - like a set of knives, I remember thinking, in one of my more poetic moments.
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I remember one twilight seeing cormorants roosting in trees at Colwick Park, a nature reserve and fishing lake on the outskirts of Nottingham. I had not known that cormorants roosted, so suddenly seeing 20 or so large black silhouettes, airing their wings was quite spooky.
 
Spookdaddy said:
Even when you've witnessed it before, the site of a heron perched in a treetop can be a little unnerving. I remember once seeing three up there in the canopy, on darkening winter's afternoon near Monsal Dale in the Peak District - like a set of knives, I remember thinking, in one of my more poetic moments.
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Wow...!

As I'm not sure if I can embed videos (is that permissible?), if you search on YouTube under:

'Grey Heron Taking Off'.


Aye, that's the culprit, especially in the darkness...
 
Aha - thought they might still be somewhere on my laptop.

From a few years ago - spotted when I was working on scaffolding at the back of my flat.

Heron roof 1.jpg


I'm no ornithologist - but possibly even more out of the ordinary than a heron in a treetop!


Heron roof 2.jpg
 
Never seen anything like that before!

Heron's are not an uncommon sight along the nearby River Tweed and tributaries. However, normally - like the one I came across - either spotted in or close to water.

What on earth is your Heron scoping out as a food source... presumably anything in the visible vicinity and what a superb vantage point though!
 
I've only ever seen 2 herons in my life. One was flying...a weird sight indeed.
 
cant say ive seen one ever ... images of them online look less than vampiric
 
That can't be, they're quite common in the UK surely?
 
henry said:
cant say ive seen one ever ... images of them online look less than vampiric
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No, you're right. But when they unfurl their wings for flight they look like they are unfurling a cloak; the shadow they leave when flying seems somehow out of proportion to their size; and their posture - both when hunched, and when their neck is extended - can look vaguely sinister. And the beak - definitely designed for nefarious purposes.

A friend of mine - who is an endurance runner - once disturbed one while running overnight in an isolated spot called Monk's Dale, in the Peak District. He basically crashed right into it as it was trying to take off - and it's half unfurled wings wrapped around him as he ran into it. Most disconcerting - he said. And I don't doubt it.

James_H said:
That can't be, they're quite common in the UK surely?
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Yes. I see them even in inner city parks these days. They aren't so uncommon.
 
Spookdaddy said:
...But when they unfurl their wings for flight they look like they are unfurling a cloak; the shadow they leave when flying seems somehow out of proportion to their size; and their posture - both when hunched, and when their neck is extended - can look vaguely sinister....
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It's also, *profoundly* that characteristic of silently leaping upwards before unfolding their wings and when one of them does same, leaps from a nearby mound and seems to be floating straight towards you...

This was late at night, it was only a few metres away and doubtless didn't see myself just coincidentally about to walk past...

That's it... the rare factor, when I think back!

It's decided to take off and just as it does so, *in the dim light*, I happened to be walking past in close proximity, at that very moment!

Scary stuff... Trust me...
 
Comfortably Numb said:
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OK.... that was just a wee experiment...

The video link works fine...

What in the name though are the ensuing links to other YouTube videos...

We use YouTube links like this all the time on football forums and I've never known one to carry on after the intended footage.

Will obviously never be doing this again here... what the.. is going on...
 
Comfortably Numb said:
OK.... that was just a wee experiment...

The video link works fine...

What in the name though are the ensuing links to other YouTube videos...

We use YouTube links like this all the time on football forums and I've never known one to carry on after the intended footage.

Will obviously never be doing this again here... what the.. is going on...
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Those are 'suggested' links. Normal. See it all the time.
 
reference the roof top perching- he was probably scoping a pond in someone's back garden. They are partial to koi as well as frogs. We see them regularly along the canal and river doing normal Heron stuff ( they are creepily quite) . despite the abundance of wild fodder there is often one on our neighbours roof eyeing up the goldfish.
 
While reading over this topic, I just remembered an episode from my time as a young Goth. I was at a party and had been chatting away with a number of people when one of the young ladies present who I had barely had anything to do with came over, somewhat insecurely after I had been chatting with her and some mutual friends, and took me aside. She told me that in the Goth scene she had met many people who told her they were vampires, but they never scared her, but that the more she had watched me, the more she thought I really was a vampire. She pointed out how I never seemed to age, that I seemed to know everybody and move through all the goth circles with ease, even the really snooty ones, and that I knew way too much about really obscure history, and that she had been scared of me for years. To which, I paused, surprised, cast a furtive but confident look from side to side, as if seeing if we were being watched, then smiled, fixed my gaze on hers and arched an eyebrow, leaned in, and then, having built the dramatic tension, said "That is one of the most original pickup lines I have ever heard". Suffice to say that comment broke the ice pretty well and we ultimately became good friends, but it turns out she was quite serious and was actually scared to death when confronting me with it. So yes, I was legitimately mistaken for a vampire by a Goth, for years, no less.:vamp:
 
I once saw a werewolf in my kitchen. I was pottering about without my contact lenses in when a huge black werewolf appeared from nowhere. Several thoughts went through my mind, predominantly OMG those old stories are true and I'm dead. I also did a little pee. Squinting to get a better look Guinness the black standard poodle from next door came into focus. Closest I've come to fainting. Doesn't happen since I've had the laser correction eye surgery.
 
AlchoPwn said:
While reading over this topic, I just remembered an episode from my time as a young Goth. I was at a party and had been chatting away with a number of people when one of the young ladies present who I had barely had anything to do with came over, somewhat insecurely after I had been chatting with her and some mutual friends, and took me aside. She told me that in the Goth scene she had met many people who told her they were vampires, but they never scared her, but that the more she had watched me, the more she thought I really was a vampire. She pointed out how I never seemed to age, that I seemed to know everybody and move through all the goth circles with ease, even the really snooty ones, and that I knew way too much about really obscure history, and that she had been scared of me for years. To which, I paused, surprised, cast a furtive but confident look from side to side, as if seeing if we were being watched, then smiled, fixed my gaze on hers and arched an eyebrow, leaned in, and then, having built the dramatic tension, said "That is one of the most original pickup lines I have ever heard". Suffice to say that comment broke the ice pretty well and we ultimately became good friends, but it turns out she was quite serious and was actually scared to death when confronting me with it. So yes, I was legitimately mistaken for a vampire by a Goth, for years, no less.:vamp:
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Naaah, she was pulling your leg. People don't believe in vampires any more than in any other supernatural being if they haven't been raised to.
 
Alicatgreen said:
I once saw a werewolf in my kitchen. I was pottering about without my contact lenses in when a huge black werewolf appeared from nowhere. Several thoughts went through my mind, predominantly OMG those old stories are true and I'm dead. I also did a little pee. Squinting to get a better look Guinness the black standard poodle from next door came into focus. Closest I've come to fainting. Doesn't happen since I've had the laser correction eye surgery.
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Why would you think 'werewolf'? Had you been watching a fillum about them?
 
Some classic '90s vampires here on this TV show
 
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