TOO REAL Some of the teens suspected in the death of a Eustis couple dabbled in role-playing games. She was Zoey, her purple hair and black fishnet stockings set off by a mangled Barbie doll dangling from her backpack. They told people they were vampires. Mostly, people laughed. The Masquerade, has sold half a million copies in seven languages worldwide since its release in 1991.
Players say the rules of the game prohibit violence and that blood-letting is beyond the pale.
In the age of AIDS, players say, that would be downright stupid. Ferrell, a former Lake County resident, played the vampire fantasy game at the Murray State University campus in Murray, Ky., after moving there a year ago, friends and family members said. And the mother of one of Heather's friends told The Orlando Sentinel that she warned Ruth and Richard Wendorf about the game after she found out her daughter and Heather were playing. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she told her daughter to stop playing the game because it conflicted with the family's religious beliefs. The Masquerade talks of accruing ''blood points'' and ''siring'' new vampires.