"I've always felt it, but it wasn't something that I could really put a term to or reconcile in a broader scope," Patrick Rodgers tells Action News.
As a child, Rodgers knew he was different. As an adult, he freely admits it.
His 6'4, 140 pound frame is constantly covered in black; his mouth is accented by surgically implanted fangs. Patrick's outer appearance is now a reflection of what has always been stirring within.
"I think a vampire, by nature, is a lone wolf, and I've always been a lone wolf," Rodgers said.
Yes, Patrick is a vampire. He believes he is a living, breathing example of what most reserve for the realm of make believe. For him, it's as real as it gets.
Though Patrick may look the part, he says vampires don't fulfill most of society's stereotypes. For one, he doesn't mind garlic.
And though he won't say his age, he knows he is aging.
But as for sleep, "as someone whose been struggling with insomnia for many years, I can relate to that aspect of the vampire subculture very well."
Maybe most significant, though, is this vampire, despite his fangs, does not drink blood.
Though there are some who do, called sanguinarian vampires, he considers himself of the pranic variety, one who feeds off human energy.
Patrick craves the highs of others' excitement, part of why he promotes concerts for a living. But, on the flip side, he also endures the lows of their depression.
"I can pass by a funeral of someone I don't even know, and break down crying because the enormity of the emotion there is just overwhelming to me," Rogers said.
Vampire culture has found a home in Philadelphia; its unique blend of architecture, history, and location makes the city a center of underground activity.
"I think there's a thriving subculture in Philadelphia because it's so well situated as a meeting point," Rogers said.
Thanks to movies, like Twilight, and TV shows featuring the lifestyle, Kutztown University Professor Anne DeLong says we're witnessing a revival of interest unseen since 19th century England, a new generation of Dracula devotees who relate to some aspect of what they see on screen.
"The vampire, I think, works as a cultural metaphor that speaks to different cultural fears and anxieties," DeLong said.
Anxieties like the emerging sexuality of teens, as seen in Twilight and HBO's True Blood and, for older generations, anxiety over wealth and class, as played out in Dracula. The vampire of today is less a monster, more a man.
"I personally prefer my vampires with a little more bite to them, but it's still an entertaining story," Rogers said.
A few times a year Patrick hosts the Dracula's Ball that attracts hundreds of vampire enthusiasts in Philadelphia, several dozens of which believe, as he does, they are actual vampires needing to feed off blood or psychic energy.
Now, he is mocked from time to time, stared at all the time, but, Patrick insists, he's not crazy, he's comfortable and he doesn't care what anyone else thinks.
