Sucko Mode Pd 8- Vampire Project

The Life of John Polizzotto

Period 8

Sucko Mode

David Abramson, Kristian Marino, Arbel Meta, Michael Robinson, Taylor Teusch, Meghna Wagley

Vampire’s Ethnicity: Italian-American (born in Staten Island)

John Polizzotto grew up on the South Shore of Staten Island. Growing up in the 90s, he became engrossed with the goth-vampire subculture in the city (Manhattan). On his days off from work, he would make his way to The Court of Lazarus, “a Metropolitan Vampire Society” and party with his fellow “vampires” (Veritas). One night, however, one of these “vampires” turned out to be a real vampire! John was transformed, fulfilling his dreams, and now he roams the streets of Staten Island searching for his next meal.

Veritas. “The Court of Lazarus: New York’s Metropolitan Vampire Society.” Vampires.com, https://www.vampires.com/the-court-of-lazarus-new-yorks-metropolitan-vampire-society/.

Vampire’s Abilities: Can shapeshift into a seagull. Can scale any hill in Staten Island without catching a breath. Has the ability of hypnosis.

One of the John’s most powerful abilities is shapeshifting into a seagull. In Keri Arthur’s Riley Jenson Guardians Series, the protagonist, Riley, is able to shapeshift into birds, notably into a seagull. This power allows John to blend in with the other winged animals on the Island. The Staten Island terrain makes John’s agility as a vampire a must-have ability. According to Bram Stoker's Dracula, superhuman agility and speed are one of many capabilities the protagonist has. This ability allows John to scale the hills of Staten Island. In the Wizards of Waverly Place series, vampires have the ability of hypnosis, which has become extremely handy for John during dinner time.

Arthur, Keri. Full Moon Rising. Bantam Dell, 06 Dec. 2006.

“Dracula.” Monster Wiki, https://monster.fandom.com/wiki/Dracula#Powers_and_abilities.

“Juliet Van Heusen.” Wizards of Waverly Place  Wiki, https://wizardsofwaverlyplace.fandom.com/wiki/Juliet_van_Heusen#Powers.

“Riley Jenson Guardian Series.” Urban Fantasy Wiki,

            https://urbanfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Riley_Jenson_Guardian_series.

Vampire’s Weaknesses: Silver, UV Light , pumpkin

John’s greatest weakness is silver. According to “Vampires and Silver,” silver both burns and paralyzes a vampire (Vicky). If a vampire is exposed to silver, the paralyzing effect causes him to be unable to take the silver off. Many vampires, such as those in True Blood are threatened by silver. UV light is another one of John’s weaknesses. According to “Ultraviolet (UV) Light”, like many vampires, John experiences xeroderma pigmentosum, which is the inability to repair cellular damage after exposure to UV light (Rogerma). Furthermore, John finds pumpkin abhorrent. This leads to fall being his least favorite season because of all of the pumpkin. For some reason, vampires such as those in Wizards of Waverly Place, find pumpkin absolutely repulsive. The scent of pumpkin can ward off John from sucking your blood, which again is why fall is the most dangerous time of John’s year.

“Juliet Van Heusen.” Wizards of Waverly Place  Wiki, https://wizardsofwaverlyplace.fandom.com/wiki/Juliet_van_Heusen.

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“Ultraviolet (UV) Light.” Vampire Combat Club, 01 Sep. 2012,

           http://vampirecombatclub.com/uv-light/.

“Vampire.”True Blood Wiki, https://trueblood.fandom.com/wiki/Vampire#Common_Weaknesses.

Vicky & Mike.”Vampires and Silver.” gods-and-monsters.com,

           http://www.gods-and-monsters.com/vampires-and-silver.html.

Vampire’s Reproduction: By consuming human blood that was drained, otherwise known as “true blood”.

John’s kind reproduces by having mortals drink pre-drained blood. Humans stand no chance against the seductive and permanently transformative effects of true blood and are therefore immediately transfigured into vampires upon consumption. Vampire reproduction via consumption of pre-drained human blood by another vampire is seen throughout the Underworld film series. Vampires do not need to bite the host in order to turn them; a transfusion of blood is enough.

“Vampire.” Underworld Wiki, https://underworld.fandom.com/wiki/Vampire#Reproduction.

Vampire’s Camouflage: Vampires don’t smell good, so they spray themselves with a lot of body spray before they leave the house. He always wears his Mets snapback to hide his alopecia and to cover his face and head from sunlight. He wears dark Timberlands, dark sweatpants, and a dark t shirt to blend into the New York crowd and the night. He actually is not impervious to holy symbols and visits church so that people don’t suspect him. He also eats a lot of garlic bread from Denino’s to throw people off his vampirism.

Vampires have been known to smell like death or like ammonia (Lomax). According to “The Science of Vampirism”, vampires don’t urinate often which causes a growth of toxins in the bloodstream. The toxins and bacteria cause vampires to have a bad smell, which is why John cloaks himself with a body spray before he leaves the house. Vampires such as Juliet van Heusenhave been said to smell like death, which is why she cloaks herself with a vanilla scented perfume. Furthermore, according to the “Science of Vampirism”, hair growth dramatically slows for vampires. When they lose their hair, it takes much longer to grow back (Lomax). To hide his alopecia and to blend in with his peers, John wears his New York Mets snapback wherever he goes. In order to blend into the night, John wears dark colors, dark sweatpants, dark t shirt, and of course, dark Timberlands. Lastly, luckily for John, he is not vulnerable to garlic or holy symbols, as many think. After being turned into  vampire, John visits church more often. He makes sure to always order extra garlic bread when he goes to Deninos, to throw everyone off his scent of vampirism.

Don. “Timbs.” Know Your Meme, 01 Mar. 2018, https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/timbs.

“Juliet Van Heusen.” Wizards of Waverly Place  Wiki, https://wizardsofwaverlyplace.fandom.com/wiki/Juliet_van_Heusen.

Lomax, Robert. “The Science of Vampirism. Extended Edition: Part IV.” The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, https://www.fvza.org/vscience4.html.

“Reasons Why Vampires Wear Black Clothing on Film.” Mud Mosh,  

            https://mudmosh.com/reasons-why-vampires-wear-black-clothing-on-film/.

Vampire’s Home: Being a new vampire, John has not yet amassed enough wealth to live the typically luxurious life vampires have. Therefore, John moves around the Island, living in abandoned houses for months at a time. He currently resides in the burnt down house in West Brighton. Having xeroderma pigmentosum, John spends most of his time in the comfort of his dark and somewhat empty home. He sleeps in a coffin that has a fake Supreme logo taped to the door, because he couldn’t yet afford the authentic Supreme Coffin.

Vampires are almost in every case viewed to live in luxury. Vampires in stories typically live in mansions or higher class housing as well as sleep in coffins in order to preserve and maintain the powers they have. John isn't fazed by his lack of luxurious lifestyle and seems to enjoy the thrill of house jumping and living on the move. He loves Supreme merch, but he can't afford it, so he built his own makeshift coffin with the “Supreme” logo on the door.

“Where Do Vampires Live and Sleep?” Reference, IAC Publishing, 

             www.reference.com/art-literature/vampires-live-sleep-75a8b1ca3157a965.

https://stockx.com/news/supreme-coffin-keychain/

Vampire’s Preferences: Doesn’t like fall, loves any drinks with pineapple juice, and doesn’t like to count.

As aforementioned and cited, some vampires find pumpkin disgusting, and John avoids the flavor at all costs (making Thanksgiving dinners his least favorite celebration). “Vampire’s Dream” is an accurate name for John’s favorite drink consisting of pomegranate juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine. He often orders it parties with his vampire buddies.

Vampires feel compelled to count things, so they can be deterred by a victim who, for example, throws seeds on the ground, because they will be obligated to stand there and count them all. Having this weakness gives him a considerable distaste for anything to do with numbers.

Crump, Rebecca. “Vampire's Dream.” Ezra Pound Cake, www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/14357.

Lehnardt, Karin. “41 Interesting Facts about Vampires.” Interesting Facts, 20 Jan. 2017, www.factretriever.com/vampire-facts.

(Optional) Add Your Own: John owns a pet squid who resides in the north shore Staten Island waters.

John loves his squid, and uses it both as a comfort animal and as protection. Vampire’s such as Sesame Street’s Count Von Count have been known to also have tentacled pets. Once, John set the squid loose on a Staten Island Ferry boat in a fit of anger over the amount of tourists visiting his home, Staten Island. This incident is known as the Staten Island Ferry Disaster. To keep his pet out of the public eye John no longer asks him to attack ferry boats.

“Count Von Count.” Muppet Wiki, https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Count_von_Count

“Staten Island Ferry Disaster Memorial Museum” Super Fun Co., www.sioctopusdisaster.com/home.html