In 2022, Copernicus University, in an unmarked cemetery near the village of Pien in northern Poland,unearthed a skeleton known asfemale skeleton named "Zosia." The chilling scene in the tomb quickly attracted international attention; her big toewas secured with a triangular padlock, and an iron sickle was placed across her neck, as if people had taken double precautions to prevent her resurrection. Even around the grave, traces of reopening and secondary burial could be found, with secondary reinforcements, making one wonder what exactly happened in between.
"Zosia" is not the only example of brutal burial practices. In a child's grave unearthed in Chelm village, eastern Poland, the head was severed and placed upside down between the legs, with the body weighed down by a huge stone; Grave No. 1 in Drawsko in the northwest confirmed six anti-undead burials, with iron sickles placed across the necks or abdomens of the skeletons and mouths stuffed with stones; a mass grave in the northeast containing 450 skeletons showed traces of secondary relocation and anti-reanimation treatments, which the media called the "Vampire Mass Grave"; in a church cemetery in the town of Kamien Pomorski in the west, a male corpse had all its upper teeth pulled out and a stake driven into its chest, as if done by a vampire hunter.
These skeletons were buriedfrom the 13th to the 19th century, with the most recent graves being only about 200 years old:Perhaps for Poles, vampires are not just legends; they have had nearly a thousand years of"interaction"; it is folklore, culture, and even a national totem of a certain period in modern times—
Vampires are part of Polish history.
I
To avoid this year's "GTA 6's impact, many major titles chose to advance their release dates to September, creating the most crowded game schedule in recent years. Yet, in this brutal environment, a work from a startup team unexpectedly emerged, competing with Capcom's Onimusha Way of the Sword"> rivaling:On the Steam sales chart, "Onimusha Way of the Swordswept through China, Japan, and Korea, but in the European and American regions, it topped the sales charts in most countries.
"After the old order collapsed, monsters took over the rule"
"Bloodborne" isa CRPG game developed by former CD Projekt Red employees. The world background intertwined with war and plague and the narrative gameplay of "choosing the lesser of two evils"CD Projekt Red dropouts. The world background intertwined with war and plague and the narrative gameplay of "choosing the lesser of two evils", making it highly reminiscent of "The Witcher3: Wild Hunt>'s essence, but what attracts me most is the theme, corresponding to the title's"Blood"—it is a vampire game written by Poles.
In 1347, the Black Death swept through the Carpathian Mountains. In Sangra Valley, the young Kohn guarded his sister Lenka, only to be met with fire and sword. To prevent the spread of the plague, feudal lords systematically cleared out the sick, including his sister. At the critical moment, the vampire leader Brunhild appeared and instantly killed the soldiers, reversing his sister's condition with his own blood.
At first glance, the vampires seem benevolent, but all favors come with a price. The vampires drove out the corrupt feudal lords' rule and controlled the plague in Sangra Valley, but later established a blood tax system: every adult must donate blood on schedule, children are automatically added to the registry upon reaching adulthood, and the entire meaning of villagers' farming, survival, and reproduction becomesall became sources of"grape juice," with no possibility of escape.
Some villagers believe that Brunhild is the savior who ended the plague. Even though they fear the monsters, the blood tax system allows them to survive better than the heavy taxes imposed by human lords, who would seize grain and people. Unfortunately, the Kohn family is not among them. Their village resisted becoming blood livestock and was subsequently brutally suppressed. Brunhild abducted Kohn's family members,and prepare toat the coronation ceremony 30 days later, offering them as sacrificial offerings. Moreover, Kohn was forcibly converted by the vampires. Brunhild intended to tame him into a lapdog, killing him spiritually.
Ironically, poverty saved Kohn. Under the rule of human lords in the past, he had served as a laborer in a silver mine, thus contracting silicosis, with his lungs filled with silver slag. It was these anti-monster metals that prevented Kohn from becoming a complete monster. He can now control his thirst for blood while gaining powerful abilities gifted by his enemies. Brunhild was certain that the newly turned half-vampire would perish in sunlight. But as the sun rose, Kohn stood calmly in the sunlight. With the thirty-day coronation deadline approaching, the young man bearing hybrid blood had no time to ponder his identity, drawing his sword and embarking on his journey.
It is not difficult to see that the vampires in "Bloodborne",cannot be simply defined by good or evil. If we inherit the judgment standard of choosing the lesser of two evils, its rule is far more advanced than that of human nobility.Regarding this point, as early as in "The Witcher3: Wild Hunt>,is reflected—an expansion pack that won TGA's RPG of the YearIn "Blood and Wine," the city of Toussaint can be considered a giant winery established by vampires to farm humans, but compared to other areas in the game, residents here do not need to worry about war and plague, living in peace and prosperity, beautifully like a fairy tale world.
Therefore, in discussions about both "Bloodborne" and "Blood and Wine," many voices believe that residents exchanging blood for protection and order is agood deal. The conflict occurred because the former was a measure taken by those in power to suppress riots, using"kill the chicken to scare the monkey" tactic; vampires are not more evil than human rulers. The latter conflict arose because the high-ranking vampire Dettlaff was repeatedly deceived and emotionally exploited by a human princess. He just wanted to confront the woman, but the king refused to release her, prompting this pure-hearted big Dog.exe to threaten to bloodwash Toussaint.
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Regis, a popular character from "The Witcher" series of novels and games, is a representative figure of the Eastern European vampire image. He is erudite, wise, knows how to control his thirst for human blood, and is deeply loyal to the protagonist Geralt. Almost no one who has experienced the related works dislikes this handsome old man—he is less like the stereotype of a blood-sucking ghost and more akin to the free-spirited immortals found in classical Chinese literature.
But paradoxically, although the above characters possess charismatic personalities with divine, rational, or human qualities, butThese Polish images invariably have grotesque and terrifying"true form."I mean, the popular versions of vampires in the world, such as Count Dracula in "Dracula," Louis and Lestat in "Interview with the Vampire," although they can transform into bats or beasts, their true forms are always the elegant and handsome faces of nobility. Except for the occasional fangs, there is almost no ugly original form.
Faced with this aesthetic divergence, vampire expert Guillermo delToro stood on the side of the Poles. Our readers should be very familiar with this guy; he is the screenwriter and director of "Pacific Rim" and "The Shape of Water," and as a close friend of Hideo Kojima, he appeared asDead Man also appeared in"Death Stranding" series.
Heco-authored the novel "The Strain" with friends in 2009, which was later adapted into a hit TV series in 2014. The terrifying monsters in the series were seen by critics as a counterattack against the trend of idol-drama-style saccharine vampires at the time:
"Vampires are repulsive creatures; there is nothing romantic about them."
II
Before talking about vampires, let's briefly review the cultural trends of the past half-century. Thanks to the breakout success of "Cyberpunk2077," punk is now a subculture that needs no introduction. But few people know that later there was also the Goth tribe—a group of people in the late 70s who also questioned mainstream social narratives. They turned to escapism, adopting a reclusive lifestyle, and distinguishing themselves from the public with pale makeup and somber attire.
They abandoned revolutionary rebellion and chose spiritual alienation.
To illustrate using four popular groups from the turn of the century: yuppie youths understand health preservation, angry youths love working out, punks can live like stray dogs, and Goths consider themselves already dead. Yuppie youths talk about Woody Allen and Wong Kar-wai, although mostly just to show off; angry youths love talking about Bismarck and Che Guevara, but are actually talking about themselves; punks chat about the relationship between ice cream and feces, which government officials are suitable for gender transition, and the difference between college students and idiots; Goths don't always like to communicate, they might discussEdgar AllanPoe, vampire legends, Victorian mourning dress aesthetics, and gloomy philosophy despised by the mainstream world.
one of my favorite albums
But unlike the yuppies, angry youths, punks, or even China's local non-mainstream groups, Goth created a whole set of visual symbols and inherited the narrative of Victorian death aesthetics. As a result, this most world-weary subculture was later thoroughly appropriated by the cultural industry,co-opted. This is aa "Ship of Theseus"-style process, which in popular culture became nu-metal in the music scene, the Undead in online games, and various vampire movies.
Even now, Goth can completely detach from the context of counter-culture and degenerate intosexy poses on OnlyFans.
But it is precisely this vulgarization process that allowed2000Aftervampire-themed works saw a comprehensive revival, with production scales and output of films like "Underworld," "Twilight," and "The Vampire Diaries",comparable to the"Harry·Potter"film series.And shrewd producers know that beauty is always the primary productive force. Therefore, vampires must be noble, elegant, and handsome, preferably engaging in a melodramatic love triangle with werewolves and stitched-up monsters.
However, if we must trace it back, Goth really cannot blame popular culture for creatively modifying vampire culture. Because the so-called most authentic vampires also come fromOOC (Out of Character) reinterpretations of Eastern European vampire folklore by Gothic novelists 200 years ago:In 1819, Byron's personal doctor Polidori first, in the novel "The Vampyre,"created the image of that elegant gentleman monster;In 1872, Le Fanu wrote "Carmilla," focusing on female vampires, beginning to bind this monster with night, bedrooms, and erotic desire; byIn 1897, Stoker's novel "Dracula" emerged as the culmination of the genre, establishing the most classic vampire image for future generations with elements such as ancient castles, photophobia, and seducing women.
But in the eyes of Slavs, the Dracula they see is similar to how we see Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu has narrow, willow-leaf eyes,mustache, skilled in conspiracy and subversion, and using Eastern mysticism to bewitch white women, is a literary symbol of North America's"Yellow Peril" anti-Chinese sentiment. And Dracula's appearance, possessing Eastern European features, similarly embodied the collective anxiety of Western Europeans at the time.
Firstly, Dracula comes from Transylvania on the eastern European frontier, infiltrating London from a wilderness castle, symbolizing the Western imagination of the threat posed by Eastern European immigrants; secondly, the Victorian era demanded women to be ladies, but women bitten by Dracula in the novel become licentious consorts, striking at the old morality's fear of female desire;Thirdly, Dracula's ability to turn people into vampires echoed people's panic about the spread of epidemics under the medical conditions of the time. Therefore, hunters fighting Dracula"Van Helsing," whose methods must blend engineering, modern medicine, as well as Christian exorcism rituals. In other words, "Dracula" was both a psychological projection of people's belief that science could defeat demons and evil spirits at the time, and also carriedthe Westthe imagination and fear of "civilized society" towards "barbaric Eastern Europe."
Vampire hunting tools collected by British aristocrats in the 19th century
However, the ultimate villain must strike at what people truly fear, as fear is the highest form of respect, which is why Dracula became a legendary demon king image.Here I want to insert a personal opinion: I believe Fu Manchu is also a villain with both oppressive presence and charm—there are various Dracula-themed works on the market, but if I had the chance to play Fu Manchu in a game, I would also be happy to take responsibility for the evil bestowed upon me by the character,gotrampling on the pride of North American Puritans, enslaving the so-called"civilized world's" barbarians.
Back to the topic. Before being reinterpreted by Gothic novelists, vampire legends had long existed in Slavic folklore, possibly even older than Christianity. They were considered a series of supernatural beings with vastly different forms but real existence, among which those calledthe Wampierz族群, which is likely the prototype for the English word "Vampire."
For exampleIn 1725, a shocking event occurred in Europe. In the small Serbian village of Kisiljevo, a large number of bizarre deaths occurred in a short period. Locals suspected that corpses were crawling out of their graves. Therefore,The villagers decided to exhume the bodies and hunt vampires during the day. A local official of the Habsburg Empire pointed out that exhumation required permission from relevant departments, but traveling to and from the capital and completing approval procedures would take at least6 days, the villagers couldn't wait. So,Villagers threatened officials:"If we cannot immediately exhume the grave, justAbandon the village". The officials had no choice but to compromise and participate in the examination of the corpses together.
In the preserved archives, the official acknowledged the villagers' suspicion of vampires. Because compared to battlefield corpses, bodies in graves had not decomposed within the same timeframe. Although we now know this is due underground environments being more conducive to preserving fresh meat, it didn't prevent the Habsburgof cadres and the masses in the Kisilevo District hunting vampiresKDAplus 1.
On one hand, such records are not uncommon in administrative documents, but they are mainly concentrated in the empire's border regions. This is because the border residents knew well that their defense duties were crucial to the military layout, giving them the confidence to threaten officials. In other regions, records are simply fewer, not absent; vampire hunting activities did occur there as well.
On the other hand, after digging up graves, border villagers often burned the vampires. During periods when the plague was prevalent and vampire reports surged, this method accidentally proved more effective than the earth burials promoted by Catholic authorities in controlling the epidemic. However, when this practice reached Western Catholic societies, Western Europeans viewed Eastern Europeans as barbarians who destroyed corpses and offended gods, exacerbating regional discrimination.
Cremation customs in primitive religions
From such examples, we first discover that records of vampires often accompany plague outbreaks and border ethnic conflicts, providing narrative blueprints for "Witcher3: Wild Hunt" and "Blood of the Dawnwalker" provided narrative blueprints, resulting in the former's rich portrayal of political maneuvering and the latter's plague background and Mongol vampire vassal settings. Moreover, borders are not just national boundaries but can also be cultural boundaries. For instance, some records from the Balkans suggest that Orthodox believers buried in Catholic cemeteries were thought to become vampires after death.Historical details like these, reflected in Polish texts, give the game world a fantastical yet realistic feel. To quote Gabriel García Márquez, author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude":"What others consider magical is reality for the locals."
Furthermore, from the conflict between burial and cremation factions, we can infer that vampires likely originated from local primitive beliefs. In other words, Poles originally worshipped Slavic gods, but later Catholicism changed customs, replacing paganism with God, though some legends and habits remained. Scholars agree with this view; investigations show that ancient Slavs practiced cremation because they believed humans had two souls, and only by burning the flesh could one achieve liberation. Otherwise, according to local beliefs, death meant having only one passport, so if two souls couldn't pass customs, one might board the ship while the other returned to the corpse, crawling out of the graveDrinking human blood—The timing of reported vampire outbreaks, the emergence of vampire graves, and the full-scale spread of Christianity into Eastern Europe basically align.
Therefore, we can consider vampires as a byproduct of the transformation in Slavic beliefs. This is similar to when Central Plains dynasties promoted filial piety to the Baiyue peoples, educating them not to harm their parents' hair and skin, requiring earth burial to replace cremation. It's likely that rumors of corpses transforming and eating people would appear in that region for a period.
Undoubtedly, the image of vampires in the eyes of Eastern Europeans during this period,was ugly and terrifying. The original setting of two souls depicted these vampires as bloodthirsty creatures with two hearts and two rows of teeth, gradually evolving demonic features through Christian modification. But they were actually ghosts from ancestors, punishing Slavic descendants who had converted to foreign gods.
It wasn't until Poland disappeared from the map that the situation completely reversed.
Three
"My god is silent, the song lies in the grave. Only my spiritual soul has smelled blood, rising with a howl."
"Like a blood bat, craving human blood. Thirsty for blood, thirsty for blood, revenge, revenge! Revenge against my butcher!"
The above text comes from the first modern punk, Lu Xun. On the surface, this poem describes the transformation of the dead into vampires. But in fact, it carries the shared emotions felt by Chinese and Polish people under the oppression of imperial powers. Yes, Lu Xun was a promoter and translator; the original poem comes from the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz's "Forefathers' Eve," or, in a more Gothic translation, "Night of the Ancestors."
"Whenever a group of people appears with an unusual demeanor, they rarely sing songs of harmony and joy; instead, their cries stir the hearts of those who hear them."
"Defying heaven and rejecting convention, its spirit deeply touches the hearts of future generations, extending endlessly" — Lu Xun, "On the Power of Mara Poetry"
At that time, a group of Europeans"Defying heaven and rejecting convention," their writings were comparable to heavy metal music of the time, known as the Demon Poets, whom Lu Xun called "Mara Poets."ButLu Xun believed that without the temptation of demons, humanity would not have given birth to.Therefore,The Mara spirit can be a rebellion against mainstream reality—The "Demon" poet aimed to awaken humanity, liberating people from the bonds of slavery and ignorance.
Among them, Lu Xun had a particular fondness for Adam Mickiewicz, not only translating his works but also introducing his life experiences of losing his country, being exiled by the Tsar, and facing expulsion. Borrowing descriptions from these chapters, Lu Xun emphasized the humiliation suffered by China at the hands of imperial powers, constantly drawing comparisons and parallels. He even criticized Pushkin to highlight the Polish poet; Pushkin had supported the Tsar's partition of Poland, leading Lu Xun to question whether the freedom Pushkin sought was merely the freedom of beasts, far inferior to Adam Mickiewicz's consistency and resonant writings.
So, how did Adam Mickiewicz use his pen as a weapon to awaken the Polish people's will to resist?
The tool is at the beginning of this chapter—Vampire.
From 1840 to 1844 at the Collège de France, AdamMickiewicz, as a professor of Slavic cultural studies, proposed a"Vampire National Ontology." He explained to students in Paris that vampires were not possessed by evil spirits; the essence lay in the internal state of the human soul. It only became thoroughly evil after the spread of Christianity. This argument is somewhat similar to the phenomenon of babies growing horns in "Elden Ring" before the Golden Order invaded the Lands Between, originally considered a blessed appearance, became a symbol of curse after the Golden Order ruled the Lands Between.
When recounting these cultures, Mickiewicz, like Van Helsing, knew well how to subdue vampires, using methods largely consistent with the folklore mentioned earlier: scythes, boulders,Shackling feet and decapitation. But saying all this is to establish a core concept—Slavic culture is the origin of vampire legends, and the Polish nation possesses unique characteristics.
At first glance, this behavior seems like a Chinese scholar treating"Fu Manchu" as an idol.But in fact, the professor's behavior is not strange. InDuring the great wave of national awakening in the 19th century, intellectuals in every country tried to prove their nation's uniqueness. It could manifest as Manifest Destiny, ancestral glory, or pagan revival. For example, Nordic countries initiated archaeological excavations and recreations of Viking sites; some Russians rejected Christianity and began worshipping the great god Perun; Japan suppressed Buddhism, revived Shintoism, and promoted the narrative of a divine nation; Korea obscured the previous dynasty's Gija (descendant of the Shang Dynasty) narrative, retrieving the native "Dangun MYTH - Steam Edition origin" to distinguish itself from Central Plains culture. Therefore, compared to some groups' MYTH - Steam Edition-like historical secondary creations, the professor's retrospective construction isn't particularly outrageous. As an imaginary creature, vampires, of course, it can serve as a national totem that凝聚 (condenses) consensus, much like the dragon for China or Quetzalcoatl for Mexico.
In the third part of his masterpiece "Forefathers' Eve,"This work, created in1832year's drama showcases the protagonist Gustav's transformation: originally a gentle-hearted lover who committed suicide for his beloved, he later becomes a primitive, dangerous figure filled with patriotic fervorblood demon. Gustav's desire shifted; his love for the girl turned into love for the entire nation—The story takes place in a Tsarist prison converted from a monastery. On Christmas Eve,The guards got drunk, allowing imprisoned Polish patriotic youths to secretly gather in Gustav's cell. On the wall was written the famous inscription: Gustav,Died on November 1, 1823; Conrad was born on the same day.
"Warhammer" players might already be excited seeing this; the popular character Konrad Curze in the lore indeed behaves like a vampire. Although the game developers never admitted borrowing from "Forefathers' Eve," the author of this section, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, and his publicly acknowledged narrative blueprint "Heart of Darkness" (whose author, of Polish descent, used the pen name Joseph Conrad, directly taken from "Forefathers' Eve") both have Polish heritage. Therefore, I have reason to assume that the "Warhammer" story creators at least indirectly referenced "Forefathers' Eve."
Returning to the main topic, although we digressed, it indirectly reflects Adam Mickiewicz's influence among Polish creators. His vampire theory,During the19th century was undoubtedly timely. Evidence lies in the narrative climax of the third part of "Forefathers' Eve," the "Song of Conrad" at the beginning of this chapter, translated into vernacular as:
"My song declares: I will go out at dusk,
First bite into the souls of my compatriots;
Whoever's soul my fangs pierce,
He will become a vampire, just like me.
Then we joined forces to seek revenge against our enemies,
Drink his blood, chop him into mince;
Nail his limbs with stakes,
Pin him down eternally so he cannot rise and become a vampire."
When Poland was partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, Poland resembled a victim drained to death by blood, but the victim refused to perish, instead constantly resurrecting. Now, the poet intends to bite into the souls of compatriots, forging scattered individual sufferings into a unified national community. When the old God falls silent, compatriots must rely on their own blood and violence.
"Poland in Chains" Yang·Matejko1863
Thus, during this period in Polish literature, images of vampires, ghosts, and spirits repeatedly appeared. Nationalists found themselves truly resembling vampires,If one must hide from sunlight, then the ancient blood curse can be metaphorically understood as the belief in restoring the nation, foreshadowing an inevitable national independence, or even interpreted as a狂暴 (furious) version of"A single spark can start a prairie fire."
The year after this poem was published, the30 years later, the "January Uprising" broke out in the Polish regions within the Russian Empire. There is evidenceindicates,At that time, Polish soldiers would sing a vampire song during battles, containing the terrifying lyric:"We will gnaw on the flesh and blood of our enemies with sharp teeth, consuming their bones entirely"—Undoubtedly, this behavior violates Christian ethics, unless the soldiers voluntarily transform into vampires first.
Thus, we finally understandunderstoodWhy did Mr. Lu Xun admire Adam· Mickiewicz, translated and promotedHe's works. Because, under the similar circumstances of oppression and colonization at the time, this Chinese punk also had to play the role of a vampire. When he used AQ, Kong Yiji, Runtu, and other characters to expose deep-rooted flaws, he intended to inject boiling blood into the national character—dispelling servility and awakening ferocity.
Another admirer of Adam Mickiewicz, scholar Maria Janion, summarized this ferocity from a Polish perspective: Vampires symbolize evil intentions, indeed, but they are also the alter ego of Poles, our shadow, embodying the evil side of the soul. It remains the most intrinsic and primal element of the soul, lurking deep within everyone's heart.
Promotional image for "Blood of the Dawnwalker"
This passage,almost represents the core of modern Polish philosophical narrative:One body, two souls; good and evil sides.
Perhaps because of this, whether in the "Witcher" series, "Blood of the Dawnwalker," or "This War of Mine" and "Dying Light," Polish games always endow characters with profound and full-bodied moral grayness, rarely featuring stereotypical purely good or evil figures. Vampires have become part of the Polish national character.
Conclusion
For an author who regards curiosity and sexual desire as equally beautiful, delving into the vast materials on Polish vampires gave me pleasure comparable to climax. But what impressed me most was the evolution of the same image across different eras: In the primitive religious era, vampires were anomalous individuals with dual souls; later, under Christian rule, they were seen as monsters that drank blood and killed; when the wave of national awakening arrived, they were revered as totems凝聚 (condensing) consensus for restoring the nation; finally, they evolved into reflections on human nature in modern creations, injecting a unique flavor derived from blood into Polish arts.
So, which era's vampire is the authentic one? Probably all of them. Because any vibrant artistic image is open-source, evolving continuously over time.Just like vampires in early Polish folklore, there was no setting of drinking human blood and turning humans into their kind; thissetting actually stems from Western Europeans blackening Eastern Europeans'"Ruining the original" adaptation. But Polish writer Adam·Mickiewicz could take such radical adaptationsand make them 'serve my purpose,' using them as metaphors for collective will in "Forefathers' Eve."
To draw a comparison using familiar figures, we must once again call upon the Great Sage. Urban folk in the Yuan Dynasty loved gratifying tales, so the white-robed scholar from the Xuanzang legends became the Tongtian Dasheng (Great Sage Who Reaches Heaven). However, he was cunning and lustful, kidnapping women as wives, and his havoc in Heaven was forstealing his wife's celestial robe. Even if he ended up being beaten by Erlang Shen, he still satisfied his desires. When Taoism flourished in the Ming Dynasty and the classic 100-chapter version of "Journey to the West" was born, Sun Wukong became devoid of parents and earthly desires. In this version, the havoc in Heaven emphasized the monkey's greed, anger, and ignorance, contrasting with the laterimage of 'enduring hardships and subduing one's mind.' Thus, the book contains various metaphors like 'locking the heart-monkey and tethering the intention-horse'—from the perspective of Taoist believers, "Journey to the West" is a textbook for internal alchemy cultivation. It wasn't until modern times that the Qitian Dasheng (Great Sage Equal to Heaven) we know today made his grand entrance. In the 1941 film "Princess Iron Fan," produced during Shanghai's 'Solitary Island' period, the monkey became a whistleblower mobilizing the people of Flaming Mountain to resist the Bull Demon King. In the 1961 New China film "Havoc in Heaven," the monkey led the people of Flower-Fruit Mountain against the Heavenly Court, portrayed as an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal movement.
Ultimately, all artistic narratives are contemporary narratives. No matter how rich traditional culture is,is merely a narrative toolkit. Therefore, I believe that the creator's missionhas never existed inmust respect the original workthis aspect——how to use the remnants left by the dead to tell the stories of the living is what cultural workers must consider.
References:
1. "Scientists Attempt to Uncover the Secret of a Young Woman's'Vampire Funeral'" - CNN
2. "Polish Vampires: The Bloody Truth Behind the Dark MYTH - Steam Edition"-Culture.PL
3. Discussions related to "Blood of the Dawn Walker"-XiaoheiheCommunity
4. "Petty Bourgeois-Angry Youth-Punk-Goth" - My Friend's QQ Space
5. "Vampires and the Borders of Europe"-Epoch
6. "How Greek Folklore Gave Birth to the European Vampire MYTH - Steam Edition"-Thecollector
7. "Dracula: A Deep Dive into Vampire Legends"-Vastage
8. "The Power of Mickiewicz's Poetry: The Voice of Revenge in China"-Culture.PL