The latest issue of the Journal of Vampire Studies was released online on December 31, 2023. Nothing significant about that date except ensuring that the 2023 issue was, indeed, published in 2023.
However, when it came time to releasing the print version of that issue, I could be a little more selective on dates as 2023 had already come and gone. I chose January 26, adding “If you can figure out why I chose that date, you could win a prize. First one to email me the right answer, wins! Note: not open to VSA committee members (sorry, guys!).”1
There were a couple of good guesses, both from Lloyd D. Graham. He assumed it was “because you’re Australian, the VSA is registered in Australia, and 26 Jan (i.e. today) is Australia Day!”2 His other guess was more lateral: “it dawned on me that the first edition of Dracula appeared on 26 May 1897, so — while the month isn’t the same — perhaps that’s why you picked that number?”3 But it was neither of those.
The reason I chose January 26 was its relevance to vampire studies: it was the date “Visum et Repertum,” the report on the vampire exhumations in Medveđa, Serbia, was written and attested in 1732.4 Subsequent media coverage of that case is the reason why we use “vampire” in our vocabulary today. That may or may not relate to content for our next issue…
In case you’re wondering, the prize was going to be the print version of our latest issue.
If you’d still like a chance to win it, make sure you check out a current competition running on Instagram. But hurry: it’s almost over. See this post for details.5 Good luck!
Notes
- Hogg, “Journal + Website Update,” The Vampirologist (blog), January 26, 2024, https://thevampirologist.wordpress.com/2024/01/26/journal-website-update-2/. ↩︎
- Graham, email message to the author, January 26, 2024. ↩︎
- Graham, email message to the author, January 28, 2024. ↩︎
- To read more about the case, see Niels K. Petersen, “Visum et repertum,” Magia Posthuma (blog), September 20, 2008, https://magiaposthuma.blogspot.com/2008/09/visum-et-repertum.html. ↩︎
- Hogg, “Your Chance to Win an INCREDIBLE Prize,” The Vampirologist (blog), February 22, 2024, https://thevampirologist.wordpress.com/2024/02/22/your-chance-to-win-an-incredible-prize/. ↩︎
The Vampirologist 