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findthatbookThe 1960’s through 1980’s saw so many popular anthologies and compendiums of vampire lore—often assembling pop culture, folklore, classic literature, psychology, and occultism together—that I have no memory now of where I encountered this story.
Content advisory: blood ingestion; colonialism; racism; ableism, eugenics, and medical abuse in a footnote link. This was presented as an authentic (although not necessarily true) anecdote/legend that was supposedly circulating during the British Raj (I don’t recall the exact locale or ethnicity being specified, but I suspect the Indians involved would’ve been Hindus.) The story goes that a beautiful young Englishwoman, happening upon a carriage accident, stopped to administer first aid to the injured (the narrative stressed her kind and charitable nature.)…Except that she suddenly began licking the bleeding wounds!
The explanation given is that she’d suffered some disease as a child that required her to eat raw beef, for which she’d acquired a craving. (1) That would’ve been in short supply in much of India, particularly before refrigeration, and long deprivation plus the spectacle was too much for her bloodlustful munchies—leading the native spectators to assume that they were witnessing a vampire attack!
There’s a lot to unpack in the above story; what I’d like to know is who was telling it, and to whom. Did this come from Indians recounting something they genuinely believed? (In which case it might reflect understandable fears of the predatory (and bovivorous!) White colonizers.) Is this some Anglo’s interpretation of The Superstitious Nonsense The Benighted Natives Believe? Did the locals figure that Superstitious Nonsense was a safer framing of the report than having witnessed the Memsahib going atavistic? Did she just up and act on an intrusive thought, and the medical extenuating circumstance was somebody’s post facto rationalization?
(I’m dangling these question marks in hopes of discussion, not in the breathless In Search Of tradition.)
(1) Until people figured out Vitamin B12 and how to extract it, raw meat, particularly liver, was in fact a historical treatment for various anemic conditions; Captain America fans have pointed out that Steve Rogers would’ve had to resort to it: https://mikkeneko.tumblr.com/post/167590749874/chronically-ill-steve-rogers
If I can track down the book, that might give me a lead as to who originated it (and what their assumptions and agenda might be.)
Content advisory: blood ingestion; colonialism; racism; ableism, eugenics, and medical abuse in a footnote link. This was presented as an authentic (although not necessarily true) anecdote/legend that was supposedly circulating during the British Raj (I don’t recall the exact locale or ethnicity being specified, but I suspect the Indians involved would’ve been Hindus.) The story goes that a beautiful young Englishwoman, happening upon a carriage accident, stopped to administer first aid to the injured (the narrative stressed her kind and charitable nature.)…Except that she suddenly began licking the bleeding wounds!
The explanation given is that she’d suffered some disease as a child that required her to eat raw beef, for which she’d acquired a craving. (1) That would’ve been in short supply in much of India, particularly before refrigeration, and long deprivation plus the spectacle was too much for her bloodlustful munchies—leading the native spectators to assume that they were witnessing a vampire attack!
There’s a lot to unpack in the above story; what I’d like to know is who was telling it, and to whom. Did this come from Indians recounting something they genuinely believed? (In which case it might reflect understandable fears of the predatory (and bovivorous!) White colonizers.) Is this some Anglo’s interpretation of The Superstitious Nonsense The Benighted Natives Believe? Did the locals figure that Superstitious Nonsense was a safer framing of the report than having witnessed the Memsahib going atavistic? Did she just up and act on an intrusive thought, and the medical extenuating circumstance was somebody’s post facto rationalization?
(I’m dangling these question marks in hopes of discussion, not in the breathless In Search Of tradition.)
(1) Until people figured out Vitamin B12 and how to extract it, raw meat, particularly liver, was in fact a historical treatment for various anemic conditions; Captain America fans have pointed out that Steve Rogers would’ve had to resort to it: https://mikkeneko.tumblr.com/post/167590749874/chronically-ill-steve-rogers
If I can track down the book, that might give me a lead as to who originated it (and what their assumptions and agenda might be.)