SoUO Wiki

Welcome to the Shoebox of Unhealthy Obsession!
The plan here is not to bombard people with mythology and folklore, but to make sure it is GOOD folklore and mythology. There will be no one or two sentences here, but actual information on a folk tale or superstition. By good, I mean well... you've probably seen the sites and even the printed books where people just make shit up or cite themselves as their reference. There's none of that foolishness here. I know that others have come before me just as I know that others will come after me, and all will be acknowledged and respected. I show my sources to help you understand how the tale is this way.
Currently I'm trying to get the background and support articles up. Hopefully, this will help speed up the vampire pages.
=== Personal background for the Shoebox of Unhealthy Obsession and how the site got its name: ===
So the Shoebox began simply enough, as a nascent folklorist at the age of 11 who noticed that every damn mega-book on the lore and genuine folktales and traditional lore of vampires listed a different definition and summary of the same vampire. It started with the 4 main books that we all have on our shelves and a pad of paper, where I (Vila Wolf) attempted to collate as an eleven year old would -- side by side to compare each entry in the megabooks and encyclopedias. The embarrassing part is how long it took me to start using index cards. Every time I bought a new book I'd have to completely rewrite the entire pad of paper.
To this day I (Vila Wolf) maintain a physical set of index cards. That is why the classification system and "side cards" thing exists. Side things include things like plants and how they are used. Things that are not direct vampire lore, but are involved with it. The name is carried over into digital copies of the Shoebox simply to keep to me humble. I will gladly email scanned copies of the Shoebox to anyone who requests it. I scanned each and every card because, over time, I noticed that cards (obviously) deteriorated and that when I showed people the physical index cards some always tended to grow legs and walk away. With a scanned copy I could just print out a new one or email the whole damn thing to anyone who wanted it. Yes, really. Email me and I'll send you a copy of it.
==== Why Red Ink? ====
Well, that's a joke in and of itself. Of course red, but the truth is far more tangential than that. I've been a POTO fan from a very early age and Erik wrote in red, so I decided that I would as well. Not all of the physical cards are in red ink; the side cards are black/blue.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE:
Currently, this is a TWO person project. There will be gaps in updates, grammar and spelling issues and so on. Patience and help are both very appreciated and welcome. 
Here's the Yell At Vila Page for if there's something you want to see faster or something you think needs work. 
[Note from Cinnamon, who's erratically transcribing Vila's work: Here's the Yell At Cinnamon Page.]
== Getting Around The Shoebox ==
=== Index pages ===
Lists of things pages:
- Medical - Plants Woods Seeds - Finding Vampires - Cure - Vampire Items - Vampire Hangouts - Days - Animals - Vampire Powers - Destroy - Prevent Attack - Excerpts - Newspapers - Prevent Turning - Ways to Turn - Protective Incantations - 42 (Life the universe and everything) (wip) - Informants (wip) - Translations (wip) - Sources (wip) - Hunter Tools (wip) - Excerpts - Fiction (for cultural impact only) (wip) - Excerpts - Books (wip) - Dictionaries & Encyclopedias -
Categories (Types of Vampires) 
Category:Cards Thanks to the amazing and wonderful Cinnamon who's doing an incredible job deciphering my terrible hand writing, some of the actual cards are going up!
=== Featured ===
Featured pages in several categories, including hunters, items, vampires (of course), authors, and historic persons.
==== Featured Hunters ====
Sabbatarian (updated), Samuel Patton
==== Featured Item ====
Mustard Seeds
==== Featured Vampire ====
Queen of the Grave
=== Author Corner ===
These are the authors who've done 99.9% of the work here at the Shoebox. I'm a gloried collator and I know it. 
Leo Allatius - Michael E. Bell - Augustin Calmet - Rosemary Ellen Guiley - Michael Ranft - H. S. Olcott - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
=== Historic Persons ===
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin nibh sapien, semper maximus arcu at, lobortis feugiat nisi. Donec fermentum ultrices suscipit. Phasellus id facilisis metus, nec viverra lacus.
Frederick Deeming, Samuel Patton, Queen of the Grave,
== Working On / Under Construction ==
=== Focusing On: ===
==== Getting the list pages started ====
42 (Life the universe and everything) (wip) - Informants (wip- might not happen) - Translations (updated feb 10th 2021) - Sources (wip) - Hunter Tools (wip) - Excerpts - Fiction (cultural impact only) (wip) - Excerpts - Books (wip) - Dictionaries - 
=== Working On ===
- Medical - Plants Woods Seeds - Finding Vampires - Cure - Vampire Items - Vampire Hangouts - Sabbatarian - Days (list) - Animals (list) - Vampire Powers - Jolomari - Destroy - Prevent Attack - Categories (types of vampires) - Excerpts - Newspapers - Prevent Turning - Ways to Turn - Protective Incantations - Short Articles - Dilip Yadav (needs true-crime infobox) - Vervain - Mercy Brown - 1935 Cara Jasala - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
==== Just Started ====
Dictionaries & Encyclopedias (currently 6 entries) - Michael Ranft - Lovage - Mercy Brown - Franz Hellreigel - - - - - - - - 
=== Done-ish ===
No Author - No Title - Partial Title - Michael E. Bell - Sample Vampire - Leo Allatius - Augustin Calmet - Queen of the Grave - Samuel Patton - Tuberculosis - Anthesteria - Cotard's Delusion - Lemuria - Mustard Seeds - Blood Cures - Will O Wisp - Unbaptized Days - H. S. Olcott - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
==== Haven't Touched Yet ====
Wanted Articles, get an actual printable link, a true crime infobox.
- Dawes County Vampire - Henri Vidal - Arnold Paole‏‎ - Petar Blagojević‏‎ - Nancy Young‏‎ - - - - - - - - 
=== A Quick Note About AI ===
It's just too early in the tech for me, {Vila Wolf} personally, right now. I love pulp art almost more than reading the stories and it just doesn't feel right to me that the results are sometimes recognizable to various artists. I get that it can useful for a quick character sketch, or a lot of fun to manipulate your own and maybe some friends photos with it. I've done both. Maybe as the tech develops this will become less and less of a problem. 
I {Vila Wolf} also get that it can be incredibly helpful for a project like this and I will not out-right ban it from appearing on the Shoebox. But it must be clearly described as AI, I ask you also include the prompt and which one was used to generate it.
== Resources ==
Short Mag Articles - Wanted Articles - Short Book Excerpts - Short News Articles - Journal of Vampire Studies - 
=== Papers ===
A note about modern resources and papers: even if they are 100% open access, no modern paper will ever be posted in full out of respect for the authors and researchers. Summaries and abstracts will be made available here on the Shoebox of Unhealthy Obsession along with any available links.
- Vampires J. R. S. Sterrett 1899 - The Blood Covenant A Primitive Rite And Its Bearings On Scripture 1893 - Suicidal germination as a control strategy for Striga Hermonthica 2019 - Putative Identity of JB55 - Vampire Burials Anastasia Garceau 2013 - Possibly Oriental elements in Slavonic folklore - Vampire as a Wanderword in Anatolian Dialects - Forensic Approach to an Archaeological Casework of “Vampire” Skeletal Remains in Venice - Was the Vampire of the Eighteenth Century a Unique Type of Undead-corpse? - 1889 European Folk-Lore in the United States - 1885 Transylvanian Superstitions - Etymologies of vampire with pirъ "a feast" 2020 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
=== Public Domain Books ===
Traité sur les apparitions des esprits et sur les vampires ou les revenans de Hongrie, de Moravie, &c. - EXCERPT DROLL STORIES Vol 2 English Translation 1874/1907 - Excerpt William of Newburgh - - - 
=== Essays/Magazines/Write Ups ===
- 1908 Vampires by Franz Hartmann - 1908 Vampire Legend A Fellows - The American Theosophic Vol. 12 No. 1 October 1910 - The Aesculapian Register 1824 - Adyar Pamphlet No 112 1891 & 1891 The Vampire H.S. Olcott - Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vampyres 1854 - 1909 Vampires And Vampirism Owen Prothero - 1910 A Living Vampire Dudley Wright - 1915 The Vampire Superstition Vere D. Shortt - 1914 Vampires Reginald Hodder - Penitent Squirrels Kim Farnell - Vampires Among Us Rogelle Pelletier - 1918 The Vampire Legend Its Origin And Nature - 1871 Vampires and Ghouls by Unknown - 1924 Problem of the Vampire Ralph Shirley - 1884 Living Vampires And The Vampirism - 1928 Vanquishing A Vampire By C.H.M. - 1937 Vampirism in Rhode Island - 1919 Customs Death Burial Roumanians - - - - - - - - - - -
=== Speculative ===
These are up for debate. Originally published as serious case studies on particular vampire "cases" but are now considered by many if not most to be works of short fiction.
1909 Authentic Case Franz Hartmann - 1925 An Irish Vampire Breene - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
=== Public Domain Gothic Fiction ===
Everything here is within the public domain in the United States.
Full Text: Mysterious Stranger - Full Text: Room in the Tower - Full Text: The Giaour - Full Text: Keats' Lamia - Full Text: Wake Not The Dead - Full Text: The Vampyre; A Tale - Full Text: Pepopukin in Corsica - Full Text: The Unholy Compact Abjured - Full Text: Viy - Full Text: Clarimonde - Full Text: Ligeia - Satire: Believe in Vampires 1896 - The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire - The Vourla - - - - - - - - - - -
==== Various Poems ====
Short Poetry - The Soul Vampire 1919 - Full Text: The Conqueror Worm - - - - - - - - - - -
=== News Clippings ===
- Did Mercy Brown Become a Vampire? - Those Spectres Called Vampyres - Vermont Journal April 1822 - Ipswich Journal 5 Nov 1872 - Rhode Island Fears Vampires 1896 - A Certain Quack Doctor 1784 - A Rhode Island Superstition 1892 - Weird Superstition 1892 - Weir Weekly Tribune 1892 - Vampires Feast - Caledonian Mercury March 1732 - 18 Mar 1732 - A Modern Vampyre 1850 - VAMPYRISM 1820 - Lakeview Vampire Samuel Patton Sept 1888 - 1888 Vampire of Lakeview Runs Off With Claes Larsen - 1888 The Vampire of Roumania - 1899 Survival of a Belief in Vampires Among the Greeks - 1906 The Suicidal Mania - 1905 The Psychic Vampire - 1903 Real Vampires - 1888 Humor of the Campaign - Oldest of the Old Feb 13th 1892 - A Slayer of Vampires 1918 - Vampire And Bruxa 24 Oct 1874 - 1961 Parents Kill ‘Vampire’ Daughters - 1946 Turkey Vampire - 1902 Man of Many Crimes - Human Vampire Nov 14 1895 - 1851 Mar The Vampire Superstition - 1892 A Blood-Sucking Ghost - 1923 Witchcraft - 1967 Of Vampires, Ghosts and Oil Men - 1979 judge levies pints of blood - - - - - - - - - - - - 
==== Political Poetry and V Word ====
- 1901 Kill the Vampire - 1902 Ancient and Modern Vampires - Dec 27 1888 Bats - Sept 1 1826 Bats - - - - - - - - -
== Helping out ==
YES! PLEASE! 
SCOPE! OVERWHELMED! AHHHHH! 
Okay, I think I've fixed the broken templates. I still have no idea why 80% of them went red line all of a sudden. Welp. They changed the entire base code again and so many of the invisible pages redlines on me again.... but hey, at there's a default Printable option now. 
Not sure where to start?
*Every wiki has two list of articles that need help called and Wanted Articles. Don't be shy, get in there.
*Check out our All pages, Special:Categories,
*Have a look at the homeless pages and help make finding articles easier by categorizing them!
*To give feedback or just to say hi to the Other Users
*Uploading is another really easy way to help out - see the Special:Upload page!
*Art: If you would like to illustrate an entry HURRAY! All help is currently welcome and you are more than welcome to contribute. Though I must warn you that by default anything artwork posted to a Wikia is defaulted Creative Commons; Attribution, Share. so just be very mindful to double and triple check the License Box. There is an option available to maintain your copyright over your art.
=== Logo ===
Version 1
== What Cinnamon's Been Doing ==
Besides transcribing cards, I mean. Please note that as of this writing all of this section was written by Cinnamon and not Vila.
Alright, besides the cards, I've been:
* Having a busy year.
* Attempting -- key word attempting -- to type up some of the sources.
* Messing around with site organization and just generally adding too many card categories
** Debating doing more of this, but with dates/years.
*** So a category for, say, 2015 nested inside a category for the 2010s, and one for the 21st century.
**** Finally begun doing this. A literal year later. They're formatted like this, using the year 2010 CE as an example: Year: 2010, Decade: 2010s, Century: 2000s.
* Have made a favicon and have about five percent of an idea what to do with it.
** Draft: Possible favicon thing.png.
*** PLEASE let me know if you have any font preferences because SOMETHING about it doesn't look right and I'm wondering if it's that. (Preferably fonts on fonts.google.com because I know how the copyright works on them, but I can probably find something that looks similar to another font.)
**** I made it several months ago and have come around to thinking that a handwriting font might look better, and fit better with the handwritten-cards thing. Would still like input.
Last Updated: 9/24/2023.
== Vila Updates ==
Contact Info Update: I've got an "official" email setup now, for this little project. shoeboxofunhealthyobsession@gmail.com. (it's a Big Bite I know... harhar) I am also getting a drive setup for it with all the stuff. The cards and open access/public domain stuff. My personal email will continue to function for contact, which is VilaWolf@gmail.com. Talk about shit I should have had this whole damn time. 
ATTN: Logo Poll? Please take a look at Version 1 and leave a comment on the talk page which you prefer or if I should combine the tow or try for a third. 
==Latest activity==
<activityfeed>
</activityfeed>
List
Citations
Hunting
Seeds
Master List
Stubs
Index
Stubs
images
Templates
Category:About
Category:Browse