CNN had a feature about an auction at Sotheby's of a vampire-killing kit. Supposedly these were popular in the 17 and 1800s with people traveling to Eastern Europe - but one expert indicated that it might just have been a curiosity item that people brought back from there. It contained a wooden stake and hammer, a pistol and 10 silver bullets that had crosses on them, a prayer book and a crucifix. It was a walnut box with garlic powder.
The auction got up to $10,000 plus the $2,000 fee for the auction house - $12,000. She stated that the purchaser was anonymous and indicated that you would want to be anonymous too, if you had just paid $12,000 for a vampire killing kit! And ended with "there's a bloodsucker born every minute."
I saw another tidbit on CNN where they were debunking various myths - one of which was that if a cat jumps over a coffin before the burial, the deceased will become a vampire!!! Maybe something like that could explain the "original" Roxanne, when Barnabas wasn't on the scene!!
And, I happened to catch a bit of Letterman where he had a bat expert on who was telling about how bats really live, etc. and had some bats with her.
