A drove of dragons, a gaggle of geese, a flock of seagulls, a murder of crows. What is a collection of (ahem!) "vampires"? (And, no, I'm quite certain heap is not the term we're looking for.)
Technical Points Well, a coven is subject to rules of definition; it is a unit within a tradition. Generally speaking, coven is a form of ideological kinship. Within any given several vampires who happen to encounter one another for ... er .. I don't know, a Facebook club photo in Leicester Square, in front of the Chaplin statute? At any rate, technically several covens could be represented, as well as more or less family groups. But what would we call that gathering? I mean, I'm fine if the answer is a "group" of vampires. But that really does put the whole gaggle and drove and flock thing to pasture.
I think this leads naturally to certain humorous examples: A puddle of vampires: what's left after spraying holy water at them. A cringe of vampires: what happens when you hold up a cross. A reflection of vampires: nothing happens. A pyre of vampires: what happens when vampires go sunbathing. . . . etc Just sayin'.
The Wikipedia article on vampires isn't much help. The only terms it digs up are "coven" (which was already suggested above), "house," and "basement." These seem to be only helpful suggestions based on very little evidence. Dictionary.com does not ascribe this definition to any of the three words. Vampires are a rather recent addition to the folklore of western Europe, first appearing in the early 1700s with the spread of legends from eastern Europe. Many of the now-standard characteristics of vampires in our modern folklore are completely apocryphal, such as having no reflection or not being able to survive exposure to sunlight. Apparently a minor Irish writer named Bram Stoker virtually invented the modern vampire in his famous 1897 novel Dracula, mixing and matching traits from the entire catalog of spooky creatures, including werewolves. This is a perfect illustration of the power of the printed word. Until the Industrial Revolution increased the productivity of human labor by more than one order of magnitude, more than 99% of the world population were subsistence farmers working 120-hour weeks. Even their children worked in the fields so only the children of aristocrats were sent to school. Most people were illiterate. Industrial technology shortened the work week and can be said to have created "childhood" as we know it, giving children time to be educated, eventually establishing a phenomenon we now take for granted: universal literacy. But in addition, motor-driven printing presses created an explosion of reading material for all those newly-literate people. A story made up by a man who was not even recognized as a writer in his own lifetime, based on a hodgepodge of old legends and beaten into shape by his own imagination, was spread by industrial technology and has become an iconic legend for a major segment of the earth's population.
Since I can only, again, be wrong - let me try this tack. Okay, since the literary "spread" of the "Vampire" legend/myth/phenomena more or less owes it "origins" to a published work of one Bram Stoker - with me (wrong as I probably am) so far? Could we, possibly, refer to these legends/myths/phenomena as "Bram's Vampires"? Possibly, even "BV's" for short? Still following my wrongedness? So, might I propose that to describe a group/gathering/collection of "BV's", we may possibly apply the description : BeVy? That is to say : a bevy of vampires? Just my $65.28 ($00.02 - adjusted for inflation!)
Cute! Originally, a bevey was a group of any species of birds. Then later, any vertebrates (mammals, etc.). Eventually it came to mean a group of any creatures, including humans. The word seems to be French bevée, borrowed during the Norman occupation, but that word's etymology is unknown.
Isn't it a "dissimulation of seagulls," or something like that? I mean, I seriously doubt that Mike and Ali Score were experts in these matters. Anyhows, these terms of venery traditionally pertain to the objects of such (in either sense of the word, not that the difference is all that significant), with the critical qualification being that such is pursued for "sport" or "fun," and not out of necessity. Point being: who "hunts" vampires for shits and giggles?
A nonexistence. Modernists would, I'm sure, call it an unreality. Feel free to update the electronic versions of any sparkly vampire books you may own or deny owning.
Definition of BEVY 1 : a large group or collection <a bevy of girls> 2 : a group of animals and especially quail From : http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bevy
I beg to differ: the modernist would likely opt for nonexistence, or something of that nature. Unreality has a peculiarly turn-of-the-century (the prior one, that is--or the prior prior one) American ring to it--think Dewey, James, et al. In other words, modernist chronologically, yet strangely out of touch with any and all things across the ocean. And I don't own any of those sparkly vampire books, and neither have I seen any of those sparkly vampire movies. The fact is, vampires ceased to be attractive at some point in the late 70's/early 80's.
My take has always been the other way around: nonexistence as later 19th century, and unreality as a 20th-and-beyond phrase. But as you will. Edit: apparently, "nonexistence" predates "unreality" in first usage by 100 years. That is, being used first in 1646. Yes, that's right; folllowed by "unreality" in 1751. WTF? http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonexistence http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unreality You lie, running dog. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Is angst a plotline?
I would love to hunt vampires for shits and giggles. And money. Money here. *taps palm with teaspoon, stirs tea*
What is and is not Modernist has long been a highly contentious matter, and I reckons the linguists do seldom side with the cultural theorists--and then there are those odious fucks who insist upon denoting what is rightly philosophy as "literary studies." Fuck them. I mean, seriously, fuck them--they don't even use words like "striated" correctly! Four words... or two names: Soledad Miranda. Lina Romay. (And I suppose I oughtta put ones of dem "NSFW" tags for those who deign to google the latter.)
