This month VC Magazine speaks with long time Vampire Church community member Cole Wellman. He reflects on the Vampire Church community now & then, explaining vampirism to family and speaks about a new offline group forming the San Francisco Bay Area. Enjoy this personal peek to the life of one newest Associate members of the Vampire Church.
LA.: Greetings Cole and welcome to the VC Magazine interview chair.
Cole: Why, thank you, LA. Glad to be here.
LA.: You are one of the newest Associate members of the Vampire Church - Please introduce yourself to the VC Magazine readers
Cole: Sure. My name is Cole, I am a 24 year old vamp in the Bay Area, CA. I am primarily a psi vamp, my favorite energy is ambient from large groups of people. I have also done sang feeding, but that is rare. I'm a member and webmaster for a local vampire group based in San Francisco.
LA.: Coolness. You have been a general member of the Vampire Church for quite awhile both on and off. What brought you here in the first place and what kept you coming back?
Cole: Back in 1998, I had just gone through a fairly typical "awakening" and I was looking for all the information about real vampirism I could find. I found many sites, but the VC was one of only a few that impressed me and did not feel fake or "Hollywood". I dropped out of the community when I went to college. Last year I decided to get back into it, since I felt it was something missing from my life. The VC was the one organization I remembered and I joined as a general member.
LA.: Well definitely great to have you back.
Cole: Thank you, I'm glad I came back as well.
LA.: You have been here from very early on - tell me about that. How has the VC grown or changed in your perspective?
Cole: Well, that is hard to say. I was not deeply involved with it back in 1998. It was fairly new then. The biggest change I noticed when I returned is the growth. It has become a much larger organization and there are many more posts from new members now than I remember.
LA.: Yes, the VC has grown even in the short few years that I have been here. Has the "core" changed at all from what you see? By that I mean, does its purpose and direction seem the same now as when it started back then?
Cole: Yes, it really does. If anything, the emphasis on teaching, dispelling myths, and answering questions has grown quite a bit. The general e-lit used to be a place where any sort of discussion between people would happen. Now, the focus is almost always on vampirism and questions are answered in depth from many points of view.
LA.: That to me is one of the cool things about the VC - the wealth of information found in its people - there is so much here in that way.
Cole: Yes. There are many more knowledgeable people here to answer questions than there used to be.
LA.: Cool to hear that to me that says the VC is getting the word out on real vampirism. Turning to your own vampirism, you said you take ambient energy from large crowds. Tell me about that if you would.
Cole: Alright. I do not like to target individual people if I can help it. My favorite places to feed are high-energy locations like nightclubs and concerts, but even the mall on a busy day works well. Then I can just "open up" and the energy flows effortlessly, like water into an empty cup when it's submerged.
LA.: Great analogy! That describes it so well. Do you go out specifically to take energy or have you incorporated that into your daily life?
Cole: I enjoy nightclubs and concerts, so I would probably go to those anyway. I do not go out specifically for that purpose, but I find that when I am low on energy I will find some excuse to go out :)
LA.: Lol - cool. You are young man with an active social life, have you lets your friends / partner / family in on your vampirism?
Cole: Since I have moved to Cali, most of my friends are vampires themselves. I feel very fortunate to have found them. With my friends from high school or college, I never really talked about it. I did try, but I could tell it always made them uncomfortable. My family is even worse. My brother is the only one I have discussed it with.
LA.: Cool that you have local friends in the area - so many do not. You mention letting your brother know, how difficult was that and what is his impressions of vampirism?
Cole: I was somewhat apprehensive about telling him, but he took it very well. I gave him a link to the VC site for info. I do not think he really understands it, but he is cool with it. It went very well, and now I can talk to him about it at least in general terms.
LA.: That is great and what a relief for to be able to speak with this to a family member. Any advice for those that would try to do the same?
Cole: Yes. Wait until the right moment and approach the subject delicately. I was pretty sure my brother would be alright with it before I said anything. If either of my parents knew, it would make things much, much worse.
LA.: Timing and approach - that seems like very sound words.
Cole: I think people instinctively have a sense for what their close family members will be able to accept and understand, and what they will not.
LA.: Also good advice. So many have problems with getting others to understand it is always good to see how it has been done successfully.
Cole: I can't take any credit for it. Some people are cool with it, some are not. The only trick is telling the difference.
LA.: Tell me a bit about the group out there in the Bay area an how that came to be.
Cole: Ok. The group in the Bay Area is called Blacklamp Bay. We have a website (www.blacklampbay.com), and an e-list. It started with William Thorn. He has lived in San Francisco for many years and for the past 4 or 5 he has been trying to find local vampires and get them to meet in person.
LA.: About how large is the group and is it just a local group with a central focus similar to the VC?
Cole: He found me through the VC message board. So far there are 6 of us who regularly get together, and quite a few others who occasionally show up.
LA.: That sounds pretty cool.
Cole: I think we have in the neighborhood of 20 members now. The focus is not the same as the VC. We do not try to answer questions and educate as much; we are focused on bringing local vamps together in real life. We have monthly or bi-monthly events, and a few spontaneous gatherings as well. The e-list functions mostly as an announcement board for these meetings.
LA.: Nice that you have a small enough group to keep it personal -but large enough to meet on a regular basis.
Cole: Yes, it has so far been working really well. Of course, we only organized as an actual group about 6 months ago.
LA.: I definitely encourage interested folks from the area to contact you.
Cole: Thank you!
LA.: Well Cole ty so much this has been quite interesting. Is there anything else that you would like to share with the VC Magazine readers?
Cole: Well, I would just like to say again that anyone who wishes can feel free to contact me on email or IM. silence@elegantblackcat.com AIM: elegantblackcat / Yahoo: gothgourmet
LA.: Thank you so much Cole for joining me and I look forward to see you around the VC
Cole: Oh, you will. Thank you LA, I had fun here.