I don't think eating the garlic was how it was used, was it?
this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2025
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Vampires
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"Few creatures of the night have captured our imagination like vampires.
What explains our enduring fascination with vampires? Is it the overtones of sexual lust, power, control? Or is it a fascination with the immortality of the undead?"
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No, it's not. In fact, at least in the novel Dracula, it's the garlic flower which is hung up around the room to ward off vampires, not the edible part of the plant.
I thought garlic was for werewolves, while a wooden stake was for vampires?
I don't think I've ever heard of garlic as being for anything other than vampires.
Wikipedia sez: "In Europe, many cultures have used garlic for protection or white magic, perhaps owing to its reputation in folk medicine.[46] Central European folk beliefs considered garlic a powerful ward against demons, werewolves, and vampires." but they don't provide a reference for that assertion about demons and werewolves. I think if you threw it in a modern movie, a lot of audience'sd be like: Huh?
Garlic is generally a "ward against evil", which means between the anticoagulant properties and the curse breaking, eating garlic makes blood flow easier for a vampire, basically letting them drink more poison faster!
It's probably also worth adding that prior to the formalisation of the myths as we now understand them in the 19th century (thanks to authors like Polidori, le Fanu, and Stoker), there wasn't necessary an obvious difference between a werewolf and a vampire. They were all kinda just evil unnatural creatures.
Cool point... kinda like how at first, there weren't any punks or goths, they were just people into a certain kind of music, and dressing a certain way... and later they became contextualized...
Tiffany, get me the garlic quick! There's a werewolf loose!
The Tiffany Problem, or Tiffany Effect, refers to the issue where a historical or realistic fact seems anachronistic or unrealistic to modern audiences of historical fiction, despite being accurate. This often occurs with names, terms, or practices that, although historically accurate, feel out of place because of modern associations.
wow that's interesting, thanks for the link.
Dunno - could be misremembering from a long ago childhood. Was never really much into those things.
For werewolves:
Silver Bullets