www.vampirefreaks.com - Is this Site a Killer?

Now although this article doesn't come right out and say that VF is somehow the cause or to blame for the actions of those mentioned in the article, it does imply it by even trying to make a connection with VF to these disturbed people's actions.  Many of the people who join VampireFreaks.com are there to meet people who have similar interests.  It caters to the Goth/Industrial scene, but is open for all.  I do enjoy the goth scene a bit but I was drawn to the site due to it's name.  I have recently become interested in vampire fiction and lore and as such decided to check out the site.  What I found was a great community of very friendly individuals, who welcome all newcomers with open arms.  VF is being pinpointed as possibly being responsible or fueling the actions of these people because of the nature of Goth, it's style, the sound of it's music and the stereotype of the "typical" people who are drawn to it.  People who do these things are drawn to these styles because the styles themselves are outside of mainstream and less accepted as others.  In this way usually those drawn to this style are those who feel the same, like they don't fit in elsewhere, and these communities understand that feeling and thus it's like a family of misfits.  In truth many people such as myself just like the style, the music etc and could care less what mainstream thinks of it. 

As many others here have pointed out there are plenty of other sites in which people with accounts go out and commit heinous crimes just as much if not more, since sites like MySpace, Facebook etc have higher member counts.  Of course MySpace itself has also found itself in the spotlight for negative reasons.  With popularity comes the typical issues.  I, myself, believe that it was unfair to target VF for a connection with these crimes and believe that the original author of the article followed along with the typical stereotypes usually associated with Goths, or listeners of Gothic music or particularly Marilyn Manson (who always seems to get sucked into these stories). 

It would have been a better read if all sites like these were researched and equally debated.  It is a gross generalization to assume people who enjoy the Goth scene and/or music are more likely to do these things than those who don't, and I really don't see how there can be a connection to any website (where people post their profiles or chat in forums) to people who commit murders etc.  Murderers exist amongst us and with the internet free for anyone with access to traverse, any website is likely to have psychos, or murderers amongst its members.

I think what has happened here is that once again society refuses to be the ones to blame. I mean it happens all the time. Music is blamed for teens going bad, video games are blamed for increased violence, television is blamed for EVERYTHING, 'emo' culture is blamed for suicides and now a perfectly innocent site is being blamed for murders.

Obviously in a situation such as this people really need to look and think.. "Hey maybe he just had issues... major ones." Yes I know, everyone has issues, but are we also not taught that not everyone deals with things differently? What Gill did was atrocious, but it can't be blamed on a community of people who are just trying to do their own thing.

I have been a member of vampire freaks for years, I've met one of my best friends on there and my other two are also members (I didn't meet them on there, but they are). I find the majority of people on there to be very intelligent, articulate and most of all LOVING. Just because a couple of people have murdered doesn't mean the site is to blame.

Any 12-year-old girl with a 23-year-old is obviously a little confused. And any 23-year-old dating a 12-year-old is obviously a little morally challenged. Plus, they were, “reported to have had profiles on vampirefreaks.com.” Keyword; REPORTED!!!

Now! Shall I quote?! “The girlfriend of a youth accused of killing his younger brother and attempting to kill his stepfather was revealed to have had a profile and pictures on the site.” That’s NOT the ACCUSED youth!!! That doesn’t say HE had a profile on the site!!! It’s his GIRLFRIEND!!!

Plus! I was accused of liking the same sex, doesn’t mean I did.

The site has their details?!?!?! Wow!!! I didn’t know that it’s the only site to do that!!! -Note The Sarcasm!!!

First Name: Terry.

Last Name: Riist.

Age: 117-years-old.

Location: 8005 Poo Street, YaMum.

Occupation: Stripper By Day. Hit Man By Night.

Likes: Eating Glass, Your Mum, Knives, Nuclear Shit, Necrophilia, And Bestiality.

Dislikes: Humanity, Sex With The Living, And Being Happy.

About Me: I have Aerophobia. I am a vampire. A real one, not one of fake idiots. When I was 12 I had my liver removed, so now I’m liverless. My uncle is Freddie Mercury. And I am fatally allergic to Oxygen.

People never lie!!!

Ugh!!! Be realistic!!!

To tell the truth! The only ones who can really do anything, are the people who witness any suggestive comments. I doubt otherwise, something could have actually been done. Not to mention the amount of empty threats, pranksters, and mere jokes between friends that would possess the exact same, and even worse, sort of banter. In no part of this article, does it say that people on the site were AWARE of these “killers’” intentions. And saying one of them quotes that he “loved guns and hated people” is pretty much the same thing coming out of every other moody teen’s mouth. Plus, if we all go by this logic, then everyone on MSN is a paedophile, everyone on myspace are phishers, and everyone on face book are wanna-be vampires who use the site to meet, and kill, people. COME ON!!! We might as well all join the Crap Brigade while we’re ahead of ourselves!!! Go back to complaining about fatty foods making people fat! In other words, this is the biggest load of Crap since they claimed, “The Earth Is The Centre Of The Universe”

mmkay well I cant say anything that anyone else hasnt but its true some of the people on vf are like family to me and the "cults" are nothing but support groups without the embarraement or shame you feel having to show up in person Myspace is really worse and the sterotypical version of a "goth or emo" kid is so wring beyon words were all jus angry white rich kids after attention right?WRONG half the people on there are actually quite "poor" or either them or their parents has some form of substanceabuse,cancer,rape,sexual assault,molestation we all have a story and if their at all like me the minute I get on the site I feel better because I know that there no. ones gonna say anything about how I dress or what I listen what my sexual orentation(sp?) is or how I look at the world its just a site nothing more

ok first off. she was probly crazy! people who go there is bc they feel alone and want some one to understand them. I meat the best person in the world there!

If uve never been on it is bc ur to chicken to say u r rong. its just like myspace but not 4 preps and people like u!!!

Here is ur answer dude! the web site is awsome and u dont know jack! its not the killer its people like u that makes people kill themself and familys!

juat cause they used that site does not mean its an "evil"site, they probably had a facebook, myspace or piczo account as well, along with theyre likes and dislikes, vampire freaks is a site to describe how you feel, to try to keep something to yourself, if you ever feel sad or depressed you go there and talk to people who feel the same and try to get through it, the people there are not accepted, because they are hated by others, or cast away from the people they used to love or be freinds with,they need something to put theyre hate. vampirefreaks.com is a good site, infact, it helps people from suicide.i know its helped me....

im a goth and i think that vampirefreaks is the best site ever, met the nicest ppl on there that anyone can meet,not murderers, and i am definately not one and its not in my mind to do that i have been on that site for i think one or two years, that dude must of just been sick inside fullstop nothing to do wid the site.

Rook.

just because a killer is social on the internet, doesn't mean that particular website condones his or her activities. i bet there are a bunch of people who have facebook or myspace who have killed or injured people, but just because vampirefreaks associates themselves with a different style and subculture somehow makes them "evil" or "bad"? things that are outside of the norm are used as scapegoats. it's disgusting.

Anyone who really wants to hate something will find a reason to hate it one way or another.

This is funny. It's stupid, once something gets popular, people starts to hate on it.

I'm on it sometimes, and I think it's fine. Thereare creeps who message me and stuff, but that eans nothing. You can get that anywhere.

Just becuase somethings different from you normal prep assholes, doesn't mean it's bad.

Who ever wrote this should think about it.

This is stupid!!! VF had nothing to do with some stupid person's rampage on society... Just because someone is on VF and writes some stuff about killing ppl or hating everyone what are the rest of us supposed to do about it? Ppl on this sight are from all over the world... What am I supposed to do if I read about someone in Germany wanting to kill his family or ex or whoever when Im in the US? It's not like I can just call up the local police and report it... Over half of the ppl on this sight talk about hating society or wanting to die so am I supposed to take every stupid cry for attention seriously? It's stupid... Websight's have nothing to do with someone's actions and the rest of us shouldn't be punnished for not paying attention to the signs when most of the signs that we see are pointless... I've been on this sight for almost a year and my fiance has been on it since before you could even make a profile and yeah you do meet some weirdos who hit on you even after you tell them that your taken but it's your own choice to keep talking to ppl... VF makes as safe as possible for you to meet new ppl and start new friendships and in the case of me and my fiance it even makes it possible to meet the love of your life... If someone you dont like is talking to you block them... If their harassing you report them, have them deleted and banned... Jet listens to us when there is something wrong with someone on the sight... He's not like Tom from myspace who just sits back and lets everyone else run his sight... He's involved and even friends with a lot of the ppl on his sight... He even makes it possible to meet your friends from around the world at his anuall Halloween party in NYC... He can't control everything that happens on his sight but he does everything he can to keep us safe...

I just sat at my computer for 30 mins reading every comment I could find on this subject. But thats not even the funny part.The funny part is I came across this page in search of VF you can only imagine how pisssssed I am right now.First of all, I love VF it's my home away from home and believe it or not I find more people on VF that acctualy give a rats Tail  than I do people in real life.I only have one thought on my head right now, and that thought would be....Whoever wrote this is one of those people that inspired the pharse Missery Loves Company. some sorry son of a B**** had nothing better to do but sit and nit pick at VF just because  The people on there are happy and he or she  isin't. He or she probably don't feel excepted by any one or any group and just felt so alone so thay had to go and try and ruin some place where people are excepted because he or she isin't. Seriously Find something better to do with your life than sit around and ruin everyone elses life.  I'm pretty sure at one time or another almost everyone on VF felt left out ,missunderstood ,unexcepted, or alone. But now We have eachother. the a-doubble-hocky stick that wrote that needs to get off his or her butt and get over it. Web sites don't kill. but people like you do.... you kill happiness.  It makes me mad to know just because I don't dress and act like others I'm seen as a killer because I'm probably one of the most kind and careing people you'd ever meet, but you wouldent know nothing about that now would ya ?!?!?! 

You totally can't blame a website! Websites don't make people kill or cause them to! Murderers have issues. Issues that were always there and would come out no matter what. People like you are just trying to find someone or something to blame. But that's pathetic. Why don't you just put the blame where it deserves to be? ON THE PEOPLE THAT COMMITTED THE CRIMES!!! I'm sorry, but that's all there is to it. I have a VF account and I'm not a psychotic killer! I'm not what you would call "normal" and I am a little (well, a lot!) weird but I'm not going to go on a killing spree just because I have a VF! You need to realize, along with quite a few other people that sites can't make people kill. There were people just as bad, if not worse, before the Internet existed. Look at Jack The Ripper! I could go on and on but I'm not in the mood for a rant. I think you get the picture. Besides, the first person that posted a comment said it all!

'People like me only kill because of intimidation, we have usually had a hard child hood. Things that happened a long time ago affect us. The kkk, nazi's, old dissagreements. These arent our fault, but yet they've influenced our lives so much, that because we dress goth, were being posted for murder. Id be careful people, no one likes a nosey prick in the world or vampirefreaks.'

Way to prove that VF isn't full of murderers.

If you join this site to give the author of this article a piece of your mind, please make sure it is a piece worth having. I think you have just given ammo to anyone against the website and im being to wonder about the sanity of some members myself.

My life hasn't been easy, i am a member of vampirefreaks.com but 'people like me' don't kill....they get on with life, and im pretty sure 99% of the community is behind me on that, i think you need your membership to the site looked at.

This is what happens when something happens what people don't like.

Of course, just like with Columbine, people are going to try to find something that seems effortless to blame.

No, it couldn't possibly be that the people themselves wheere psychotic, again, like the case of Columbine. The murderers are psychotic people, but no, we must blame their means of getting ahold of people...

Hell, why we're at it, lets just blame the internet for murderous people.

The author of this article needs to realize something:

The muderers murdered of their own mind. Nothing in Vampire freaks 'provoked' it. They had their ideas on their own. People are capable of their own thought.

This article is just like the ones that say violent kids must get it from violent games. of course it couldn't possible have anything to do with their mental state, or how they were raised, or their homelife and how others treated them. It must be because of something that is harmless. 

An inanimate thing must have influences on people... oh yeah...

People are brilliant.

because I'm sure the site itself killed the  girl and her family.

Because it couldn't have been the person on the otherside of the net that desided to stalk her and kill em all. No, it must have been the site...

I would like to know where this post originated since as of May I have been a member of this site and in no way feel the need to kill innocents. In fact many of the people on the site have the urge to help others. For example I'm currently in a "cult" that helps others with their problems. If someone has any issues about their parents to rape all can come and talk about and get help for their problems without revealing their identities. I have seen more people helped on this site then I have seen threats or potential "psychos." I think that anyone who can blame a website for how someone turns out needs their face shoved in a newspaper and shown that there are many murders, rapists, pedophiles etc etc who don't even own a computer let alone visit vampirefreaks.com on a daily basis. I hope the person who wrote this article at least has enough common sense to admit when he/she is wrong and post a retraction because this is highly prejudiced and the person who wrote this is, in my eyes, no more than a common racist, sexist, or anything along those lines.

hmmmm it's proven that 99% of all ppl who murder ppl will eat a banana 1year prior to killin other ppl. So is vf's to blame or are banana's?????????????????????

I blame the bananas 0.0

If you think about it, im sure there are alot of killers who have a myspace, facebook, and other social networking sites. With all honesty you cant blame the internet for this. If you can prove one way that vampirefreaks caused these incedents, then I'd be very surprised. These sites have no impact on this kind of problem. If you abolish them the killers will stil lurk on the depth of the internet.

If you do a report on how many killers there are on myspace, then chances are youl have about the same, if not more than the killers on VF. I hope that the media reads this, because they need to know that they are falsly accusing the internet for the stone cold murderers of the society.

My short answer is "no." My long answer is that a website cannot make someone kill someone else, just as a video game or movie cannot do so. If a person is intent on killing, then the only variable is what their excuse will be. The other way of looking at this is, "society is gullible enough to believe a tech version of the Twinkie Defense". Putting soft rubber corners on the world will not actually make it a safer place.

hi like i think this that it aint the websites fult its thare own fult or the parents fult for not knowesting the signs.... 

with the sight "VF" lets say if people dig enough on a killer compared to an average person they will probably dig up the same information. Vampire Freaks isnt really much different from myspace. Myspace has possibly more people on it daily then vampire freaks and prbably also consists of thousands of killers also. But what makes vampire freaks singled out is because its a sterotype fashion sight consisting of things that adults dont apreciate or undertand a younge child of such struggling to find who they are. I have a "VF" account also but i also have a myspace account and can possibly say to anyone yes alot of the things dont make sence on "VF" but they still dont on any other sight theres always going tobe people like that everyware and the world can only try to control it but its always going to consist of certain people that react in certain ways how peoples live there lifes has nothing to do with a sight it has everything to do with themself they can only alone control what they do.

i am a member of vf and im a normal girl i am not emo scene or a rocker and i just wanted to see how this page is and theres nothin wrong with it its fun 2 me and no they have not supported n e one to do sucide yall need to back of from vf u bunch of weirdos

I'm a user of this site, and this seems such a stupid article!

Its as bad as saying that Myspace caused people to murder, as I'm sure a lot of people who are murderers have has a profile or something on Myspace or Bebo.

I was struck by
"In a Toronto trial last year, the girlfriend of a youth accused of killing his younger brother and attempting to kill his stepfather was revealed to have had a profile and pictures on the site."

His girlfriend had a profile? Does that even affect this? What relavence is it? A lot of people have a profile, it doesnt mean that their partners will kill their family, for goodness sake.

Ugh, these articles do make me mad.  >.<;

honestly if anyone out there thinks that VF is evil  thats because they never ever tried making one, its myspace for goths/emo/rocker types, if someone on that site is crazy thats on them, dont make us all look bad because you want a good story, seriously "is the site a killer"...ah no but alot of crazy people in the world are, and im not one of them, next time write about something good, so what if crazies are on the site, THEIR EVERY WHERE, get over yourself

How about reporting a few facts instead of just that, that makes a good headline?

How about boths primary online contact was via Nexopia?

How about the fact that they met in person in their home town?

How about the fact that the community knew what was going on with them?

So does blame lay with a website they both so happened to have profiles on? or should some blame be apportioned to a community that knew what was going on in its midst yet nothing was done.

Why wasnt the fact that a 23 yr old was dating her reported to the poilice? if it was why wasnt he arrested?

Do you really expect us to accept that no one knew? her parents certainly did as did quite a few in the local community..yet blame for their crime lies with a website in another country??

As for Gill.. you really think there was something on his profile that isnt on a thousand and one other profiles on a multitude of websites world wide? the angst filled ramblings are thousand fold on every site. Staff arent trained forensic pshychologists you know.

All this article highlights is how easy/convenient it is after the fact to see connections and cast blame, whereas ultimately the blame lies solely with the person that committed the crime.

OK so all these people only had a vampirefreaks then right ?
I happen to be a long time user of this site, and a chat admin. We DO NOT, encourage things as such and so on. But because "Goths" and anything close to it is pretty looked down upon. You automatically look for a reason to blame other then the people itself.

Did you try and look into these peoples background medical records and so on ?
Or is it because of the people who use the site and music Genre's its first to blame, and if you were to read the rules. It's actually a more strict site then Myspace, and Facebook and so on.

SO what your doing is quite stereotypical...

Ty have a good day

There is nothing wrong with vampire freaks. I've been a member for over a year, and it isn't a bad site. I guess its because it contains goths etc. it must be evil.

Whoever wrote it should get their facts right, because this article is bullshit. Its people with metal problems that kill, not a website.