Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 1, 1994                   TAG: 9411010116
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WISE                                LENGTH: Medium

VAMPIRE LORE CLASS:

Ball, an English professor at Clinch Valley College in Wise, teaches a class devoted to vampire lore. He said the writing and thinking on vampire-like creatures dates at least as far back as to when Homer penned the ``Odyssey'' about 3,000 years ago.

Ball has been studying the fanged phantasms for 14 years. He said people are drawn toward the creatures because of their power, charisma and immortality.

``Particularly, we have romanticized them,'' Ball said. ``Don't we want to live forever?''

Ball said vampires can range from the traditional - slick hair, long fangs and powerfully romantic - to lesser-known variations such as creatures with an extra mouth in the back of the neck or a flying monster.

The best-known vampires are from Transylvania, from where the legendary fiend Dracula sprang. The famed count came to light in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel.

Ball said his class, offered whenever he can fit it into his schedule, explores the various legends and histories of vampires in different parts of the world.

He said the legends vary greatly. What can bother a vampire in Malaysia, for example, will not harm a Bulgarian vampire. Ball said vampires in China are covered with either green or white fur and resemble Bigfoot, while in Bulgaria, the being is a walking mass of corky flesh.

Ball said killing a vampire can be accomplished in a number of ways, including using garlic with an impaling tool.

When the vampire is just a ghostly mist, Ball said, it can be bottled like a genie and kept there until someone lets it out.

Ball said people like vampires because they love to fear them.

``We like to be frightened,'' he said. ``You want to believe in it, but can't completely.''