1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas, 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:25,319 Speaker 1: and monsters. In time, countless variations of the vampire have 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: emerged from our popular culture, fed by the blood of 7 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: global myths, folk tales, and legends. Some are sparkly and sexy, 8 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 1: other sinister and dangerous, others altogether monstrous. The Nosforatu vampire 9 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: has come into its own, a pale, emaciated body with 10 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: ghoulish features, batlike ears, and a pair of elongated incisors 11 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: for piercing the skin of their victims rather than the 12 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: elongated canine teeth found in so many other vampire depictions. 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: While not always completely devoid of humanity, they tend toward 14 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: the purely monstrous end of the vampire e spectrum. They 15 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 1: have been consumed by their unnatural thirst, and this may 16 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,839 Speaker 1: leave them in a primal state, or one in which 17 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: their human memories have faded gossamer then naturally. This monster 18 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: dates back to the nineteen twenty two silent German expressionist 19 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: film Nosferatu A Symphony of horror, which in turn has 20 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: been reimagined many times, including in the Werner Herzog nineteen 21 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: seventy nine film Nosferatu the Vampire. I find the Nosferatu 22 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: particularly engaging in light of what we know of obligate 23 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: sant guovar's in the natural world, particularly vampire bats. It 24 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: is a highly specialized diet blood and not at all 25 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: an easy survival path. Unlike their insect and fruit eating relatives, 26 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,279 Speaker 1: vampire bats cannot hibernate or migrate. They lack the fat store, 27 00:01:57,320 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: so instead they must feed every night, lapping up fifty 28 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: of their body weight in order to survive. So too, 29 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: the Nosferatu seems shackled to its thirst. In the fifth 30 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the Nosferatu merits its own 31 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: monster manual entry, separate from all the other blood drinkers, 32 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: with a level eight challenge rating. It's no pushover, but 33 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: it's both powerful and in some ways fragile. Hyper sensitive 34 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: to sunlight. It has a few different attack actions at 35 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:35,519 Speaker 1: its disposal, including blood disgorge, in which quote the Nosferatu 36 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: vomits blood in a fifteen foot cone. In doing this, 37 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: it inflicts necrotic damage on any hapless hero in its way. 38 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: In the natural world, scavenging vultures are known to disgorge 39 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: their meals when threatened, perhaps to bribe the attacker or 40 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: to lighten their load for an escape flight. This would 41 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: be a fit in comparison for the nosferatu, but the 42 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: Texas hornet lizard boast an impressive defense as well. While 43 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: it's camouflage is generally quite effective, it can also shoot 44 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: a stream of blood out of its eyelids with a 45 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: range of up to five ft. According to the Oklahoma 46 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: Department of Wildlife Conservation. The blood also contains a bitter chemical, 47 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,920 Speaker 1: possibly derived from ants and the lizard's diet, which predators 48 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: such as coyotes find particularly distasteful. The lizard can use 49 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: up to a third of its total blood supply in 50 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: this counter attack, but it gets the message across. Tune 51 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week. 52 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff 53 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your 54 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: Mind It's production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts 55 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app. Podcasts are 56 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.