Why don't Vampires cast shadows?

[catsmate]

I vaguely remember a reference to the vampires not showing in mirrors as being down to the lack of soul or the use of silver in mirrors

 

[Jekyll's Guest]

I realize I'm probably taking your question more seriously than it was intended, but "Dark Shadows" wasn't originally "about vampires" or anything else supernatural. The vampire character of Barnabas Collins was introduced a year into the show's five year run.

They should have made prequels that retconned the inconsistencies.

Perhaps with a child star playing young Barnabas, and a clumsy Jamaican butler for comedic effect.

 

[Strange famous]

When they stand in the sun, they dissolve, so no shadows.

Yeah, I know, that's totally a movie trope and not in real folklore. However, considering the reality of vampires (as you say, none), does it matter?

I think you've struck on the key point here. Nearly all of the supposed law that exists in popular culture does come from either movies of fictional novels (ie - Dracula)

I don't know that in the original folklore about the returning dead there was an idea that they would not cast a shadow, or that the various cultures that have legends like this have such specific things in common - but I suppose you could go as far as to say people associate hidden and wrong things with night more than day (when it is easier to hide)

 

[Trakar]

Don't know about the American version, but in the original Being Human, vampires neither have reflections nor show up on video.

Personally, my favorite vampires are the ones that can be stopped with a handful of sesame seeds.

Evil with OCD

 

[I Ratant]

I think you've struck on the key point here. Nearly all of the supposed law that exists in popular culture does come from either movies of fictional novels (ie - Dracula)

I don't know that in the original folklore about the returning dead there was an idea that they would not cast a shadow, or that the various cultures that have legends like this have such specific things in common - but I suppose you could go as far as to say people associate hidden and wrong things with night more than day (when it is easier to hide)

.
And zombies... why do they always look like a car wreck victim that went through the windshield? And had no cosmetic fixes for the funeral.
And how does a zombie get out of a coffin inside a vault?

 

[dlorde]

Both their shadows and their reflections lead separate lives, and have little or no contact with their owners.

 

[Axxman300]

It's a plot device, nothing more. Not having a reflection was a way for the good guys to spot a vampire.

A good writer will play with the folklore, adding the things they think will suit their own story, and then add their twist to them. Stephen King and Ann Rice have the best vampires, yet both have very different characteristics. Stoker's Dracula drew off the ancient legends, but he had his own spin on them too, which is why everyone knows Dracula, and not "Lair of the White Worm".

 

[kleinjahr]

bluesjnr, deserves a Pun-ishment.