[ExI] vampires

[Damien Broderick]

On 1/22/2010 4:08 PM, jameschoate at austin.rr.com wrote:

> I'll have to disagree here, preternatural means 'abnormal' and does not carry necessarily any connotation of transcendence. Supernatural however does as in 'beyond nature'.

That's what I just said. Vampires are preternatural, not supernatural.

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preternatural  (which matches both my understanding as well as several other references I checked).

And golly, look what it says:

"The term is often used to distinguish from the divine (supernatural) 
while maintaining a distinction from the purely natural. For instance, 
in certain theologies, the angels, both holy and fallen, are endowed 
with preternatural powers. Their intellect, speed, and other 
characteristics are described as beyond human capacities but yet still 
finite.

Some examples of preternatural creatures in fiction include fairies, 
werewolves, vampires,"

Damien Broderick