We Are All Vampires
III — The Successful Vampire and the Charming Trickster
← Karl Swainston / We Are All Vampires
There are wide varieties of vampires, just as many as the variant forms of humans.
Broadly, there are two types of vampires: the successful vampire and the unsuccessful vampire.
Successful vampires are manipulative and often charming. They are powerful creatures and operate in positions of power and without conscience.
These creatures are consummate in the art of using relationships to their advantage.
When it is said that successful vampires operate in ‘positions of power,’ this doesn’t necessarily mean they are CEOs or VIPs.
The successful vampire usually reigns in the ‘position of power’ within a relationship. ‘Positions of power’ are relative.
Unlike their counterparts - the unsuccessful vampires, who shall be discussed later in the book - successful vampires operate within both relationships and society by influencing their power and charm to manipulate their victims and squeeze out every ounce of life force or positive energy from them.
The charming vampire is one such creature.
Successful vampires are initially charming and charismatic. They have to be.
It is no coincidence that the vampire comes across as utterly charming.
If the creature adopted noxious or abhorrent tactics and appeared downright monstrous, then its attempts to avail itself of the energy from others would fail immediately.
This unsuccessful trait will later be seen in the ugly and obnoxious variety of vampires.
The charming vampire is a consummate trickster, and it will do all in its power to inveigle, cajole, and disseminate its way beneath its victim’s defences.
Invariably, the charming vampire will end in some form of relationship with its victim.
The successful vampire has to be able to penetrate and burrow itself beneath the skin of its victim.
Their stratagem is to disarm the victim, make the victim feel comfortable with the vampire being around.
If you pay scrutinising attention to these charming vampires, you will notice that it’s only superficial, and there is no substance to pack out their shallowness.
Their talk has all been learned; it will be full of clichés.
The charming vampire does not mind. It will still exhibit all the tried and tested methods of seduction.
If the creature can snare its victim, all is good; if the victim sees through the vampiric attack and confronts the monster, the creature will move on to another victim.
Vampires won’t waste time trying to feed upon one so obstinate.
The charm is merely a tactic to facilitate more sinister forms of attack.
The charm aims to soften up the victim. The vampire will move on to its next victim if the victim doesn’t soften.
In the realm and arena of commerce, the charming vampire is often ego-maniacal.
It possesses an unalienable belief in its powers to suppress and succeed.
Defeat is alien to the successful and charming vampire. Defeat doesn’t exist.
The vampire only sees defeat in the eyes of its vanquished victim before the victim is extinguished.
Like a dog following the scent of a dying animal, these vampiric creatures have an almost superhuman ability to sniff out weakness; they possess remarkable intuition in knowing exactly which direction to turn to root out the vulnerable and avail themselves of their energy.
The vampire is a manipulative creature and definitely a person to avoid getting into a relationship with.
They won’t give anything but will take everything.
They have remarkable tunnel vision to achieve this concentrated effort. This undiluted focus helps the vampire to realise its goal.
This creature is successful because it maintains such energy and single-minded and concentrated focus on its ambitions.
The vampire possesses that single-minded determination to win. Because of this, it is a considerable force to overcome in a relationship or business.
Vampires can also sustain this concentrated focus, as the following narrative shows one such ‘lustful’ vampire.
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About Karl Swainston
Karl Swainston is a writer and storyteller whose work is forged from a life lived across the North of England and far beyond. Growing up on a Leeds council estate in the 1960s, Karl's journey was anything but linear. By the age of thirty, he had already lived a dozen lives: from the rigors of grammar school to a degree in Latin, a stint as a fishmonger, a period of discovery living in Marseille, and a return to the hustle of London. Whether working as a postman, a builder, or competing as a county-level chess player, he was, above all, an avid reader—constantly documenting the world around him. This restless spirit continued into his professional life. Karl later taught in Bradford, where he ran a specialist unit for 244 of the most excluded students from across the region—young people whom even the local Pupil Referral Units could not accommodate. Working alongside his old friend Malcolm, Karl spent his days navigating the volatility of Bradford's most aggressive and dysfunctional teenagers. Throughout his life, Karl has been an avid runner and has always shared his home with a rotating cast of beloved dogs and cats—companions who have been constant witnesses to his work. As a writer, Karl's range is as expansive as his history. He works across a wide breadth of genres, including fiction and short stories, autobiography and memoir, biography, non-fiction, and metaphysical writing, as well as providing sharp commentary, opinion, analysis, and essays. Whether writing about his years managing the Harrogate Arms or offering insights from his current adopted home in South East India, where he lives in a simple village with his dog, Bambi, Karl's voice reflects the full, untidy, and deeply human breadth of life. He continues to draw on the rich, decades-long tapestry of his experiences to tell stories that matter, proving that no matter where you live, the human story remains the same.
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