Just when you thought it was safe outside.

July 14, 2005 1:56 PM

"A vampire has been arrested in Ukraine after luring street children into her home for their blood. Diana Semenuha, 29, believed that drinking blood could fend off a muscle-wasting condition."

Ummm...WTF? It appears to be real, even if all the news outlets seem to have cookie-cutter stories. (Although wiccan sites appear to be tracking it too.) I'm well aware that there are practicing witches all over the world, but vampires are usually just an item of historical lore or science-fiction/fantasy. How often do stories like this really happen? (via)
posted by mystyk (18 comments total)

...Hansel? HANSEL!?.... Hansel?
posted by Robot Johnny at 2:05 PM on July 14, 2005

And people keep telling me there's no such thing as demon possession. Wake up, people! Accept Jesus as your personal savior and this won't happen to you.

/cough
posted by pmbuko at 2:08 PM on July 14, 2005

Ok, that's just freaky. And who knew there was such a market for blood?
posted by unreason at 2:10 PM on July 14, 2005

Man, I got all sorts of blood just sitting here. Can I get some phone numbers?
posted by zerolives at 2:12 PM on July 14, 2005

posted by Maxson at 2:41 PM on July 14, 2005

The Prince isn't going to happy about this...

/too much Vampire: The Masquerade
posted by PurplePorpoise at 2:57 PM on July 14, 2005

"I let them sniff glue, but I paid for it and took a small amount of blood in return," she said. "But there was no violence involved, I also fed them and gave them shelter."

C'mon, she fed them and sheltered them, what's the problem here?
posted by caddis at 3:00 PM on July 14, 2005

"Police fear that she could escape prosecution for corrupting minors and plying them with alcohol because the seven children found at her home have since escaped from care and gone back on the streets."

Guess the U.S. isn't so different from Ukraine after all....
posted by bloomicy at 3:13 PM on July 14, 2005

I remember a show a couple of years ago, possibly on the Discovery Channel, that interviewed modern-day "vampires" that drank people's blood. If I remember correctly, though, they usually had willing "victims". (Ick!)

Wikipedia entry on the "vampire lifestyle". Hee! Psionic vampires.
posted by MsMolly at 3:19 PM on July 14, 2005

Aw, let the poor witch lady drink street children's blood ...
posted by ddf at 3:30 PM on July 14, 2005

they had a CSI vampire episode, season one or two, right?

also, didn't Mulder date a vampire once?
posted by matteo at 3:34 PM on July 14, 2005

*Will Sacrifice Blood for Food*
posted by caddis at 5:35 PM on July 14, 2005

Sucks.
posted by buzzman at 5:43 PM on July 14, 2005

matteo: I'm not sure about the 'dating a vampire' thing but there was an episode where Mulder and Scully encountered an entire town of vampires. Scully almost made out with one, particularly, attractive one - before she caught on.
posted by jeresig at 7:23 PM on July 14, 2005

That's fucked up right there.
posted by delmoi at 9:17 PM on July 14, 2005

These "lifestyles" are getting out of hand. I'm not condemning them, now, just ridiculing them. I can just decide that I'm a vampire, a squirrel, a trisexual, a monopolist, or a master of the flying guillotine?

That's adorable.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:09 PM on July 14, 2005

I bet she has the aids!
posted by Citizen Premier at 10:58 PM on July 14, 2005

No aids, virgin blood only.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:52 AM on July 15, 2005