Being a vampire can be somewhat of an inconvenience, let’s be honest about it. Today’s world just isn’t made to cater for the undead, not to mention the current taxation system, which has yet to figure out a way to deal with an immortal taxpayer.
Enter 25-year-old Darkness Vlad Tepes, who had his name changed by deed poll to reflect his undead idol’s moniker. The lad sleeps in a custom-made coffin and drinks blood when the thirst strikes.
He says he has been livin’ it large as a member of the undead community for the last 12 years.
Glumly however, he confesses to have been bullied repeatedly due to his undeadish and generally pale and unkempt appearance.
“I might be a vampire but I just want to be treated like everyone else,’ he pleads. “People have got to accept the fact that what’s normal to them is not normal to us, and what’s normal to us is not normal to them.”
Tepes first learned about the ways of the blood-thirsty creatures while growing up in Galway. According to him, he was walking his dog in the woods one day when he saw a bunch of girls dressed as witches and having a bit of craic. He ran away in fear on that occasion, but returned to find them , and the girls, never to let a good challenge pass them by, initiated him into their coven.
He’s never looked back since, and in complete defiance of vampiric lore, he can happily chomp on garlic and sunbathe without any ill-effect.
But he confides that “Being a vampire is difficult and of course there are struggles in everyday life.
“But I’m happy to stand by my choice.”