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You know how IKEA always categorizes people into back, side and stomach sleepers? Well I was just wondering if vampires are always back sleepers? The classic vampire I mean, not the teen-idol with fangs who sleeps through the day wearing shades in a bed... (Although even those romantisized vamps seem to lie on their backs most of the time)

I was just wondering that, because they would obviously not fit into their coffins if they were side sleepers, nor is a wooden coffin floor ideal for stomach sleepers...

Hans Wassink
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    There are some that say that classic vamps aren't actually asleep, but dead or otherwise unresponsive and "out of it" during daylight and not actually sleeping. (And, as a side point, the vast majority of humans are back sleepers, too.) – Tango Jan 12 '12 at 10:12
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    Maybe the question here should be would a vampire shop in IKEA? Do they sell coffins?! – AidanO Jan 12 '12 at 10:16
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    Haha, if only IKEA would be open after midnight... – Hans Wassink Jan 12 '12 at 10:25
  • @TangoOversway Ok, good point, but the question remains: in what position are they out of it? And to the side note: Really? I would've guessed side sleepers... – Hans Wassink Jan 12 '12 at 10:31
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    This is also assuming they are required to sleep in a coffin. In some (Buffy comes to mind), they are not. – Ian Pugsley Jan 12 '12 at 13:59
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    Yeah, but the Buffy vampire is not the classic Vampire id say :) – Hans Wassink Jan 12 '12 at 14:10
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    I think the reason they sleep on their backs is because seeing a vampire sleeping in the fetal position with drool all over their pillow is not very scary or intimidating. On a more serious note, I believe back sleeping sort of denotes a shallow sleep, in that they could awake at any moment. – Chad Levy Jan 13 '12 at 19:58
  • @Paperjam , I guess you're right, they need to be able to bite you in the face when someone opens the coffin! – Hans Wassink Jan 16 '12 at 08:26
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    I've heard that part of the vampire myth may stem from the fact that in the old days, when they dug up graves for whatever reason, it was a disturbingly common occurrence to open the coffin and find a body lying on its side. It's not often that reality is worse than horror myth. – Beta Feb 17 '12 at 04:37

3 Answers3

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No, Hanging upside down is another acceptable sleep position for vampires. Maybe that's the preferred position for non "back sleepers".

A lot of the classic coffins would have been padded so it's possible that sleeping on side or stomach wouldn't have been too uncomfortable, it might be difficult opening or closing the coffin while on the stomach though? I don't know if there is enough room to roll over in a coffin.

AidanO
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  • Oh yes... hanging upside down, forgot about that... I guess the correct answer is NO then, but if we forget about hanging down, for the sake of the question: are there examples of vampires sleeping in other positions then the stereotype... – Hans Wassink Jan 12 '12 at 10:35
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Since you're asking about the 'classical' vampire, I would have to say yes. In fact, one of the ways to 'cure' a vampire and keep them from rising is to put them face down in their coffins. The silly things don't know which way is 'up' and they'll spend all of their time trying to claw their way out of whichever way they are facing, so, in this case, they'll try to claw their way downward, instead of upwards.

Westly
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They sleep on their backs from what ive seen, in classic horror movies have their arms crossed so that when they rise they can intimidate their 'prey'

giacomo casanova
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    The crossed arms is a traditional way to rest a dead body's arms... It's origin is interesting; people will sometime reflexively do that when they die; it' called the Lazarus Reflex and likely became a standard practice in response to people seeing it happen on it's own and assuming some significance to it. It mostly occurs when the brain has died, and the body just hasn't caught up to it until later. Vampires ARE dead (per the standard), so resting in coffin, in the normal 'dead' pose makes sense. – K-H-W Feb 22 '14 at 15:18