Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Vampire Protection on Auction Block

Aired October 31, 2003 - 05:58   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Halloween, and what better time to show you what our Jeanne Moos found at an auction house in New York City. It is a sure-fire way to protect yourself against vampires, at least we think it's sure-fire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looked like a non-descript walnut box, but you can't judge a kit by its cover.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A vampire-killing kit appropriate for the season.

MOOS: Just in time for Halloween.

(on camera): Careful with that.

(voice-over): A kit from the 1800s complete with wooden stake and a pistol with silver bullets etched with crosses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To ward off.

MOOS: A prayer book, a crucifix. You know how cross vampires get when they see a crucifix.

The bidding was short and sweet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 6,500, 7,000, 7,500, 8,000.

MOOS: Prices like that could make a girl clutch her chest, but then so could this.

Sotheby says some vampire experts claim these kits were popular among fearful travelers to Eastern Europe. Think Transylvania in the 1700s and 1800s. Hotels supposedly kept them for guests.

But there is a more likely theory.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That it was a curiosity. That it was just a thing that you brought back from Europe.

MOOS: As for the winning bid...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At $10,000 -- 10,000.

MOOS: ... add another $2,000 to pay Sotheby's premium. In the movies, the winning bidder would have stepped forward. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am Dracula.

MOOS: But in this case, the bidder wished to remain anonymous. You'd want to remain anonymous too if you just spent $12,000 on a vampire-killing kit. There's a bloodsucker born every minute.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired October 31, 2003 - 05:58   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Halloween, and what better time to show you what our Jeanne Moos found at an auction house in New York City. It is a sure-fire way to protect yourself against vampires, at least we think it's sure-fire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It looked like a non-descript walnut box, but you can't judge a kit by its cover.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A vampire-killing kit appropriate for the season.

MOOS: Just in time for Halloween.

(on camera): Careful with that.

(voice-over): A kit from the 1800s complete with wooden stake and a pistol with silver bullets etched with crosses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To ward off.

MOOS: A prayer book, a crucifix. You know how cross vampires get when they see a crucifix.

The bidding was short and sweet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 6,500, 7,000, 7,500, 8,000.

MOOS: Prices like that could make a girl clutch her chest, but then so could this.

Sotheby says some vampire experts claim these kits were popular among fearful travelers to Eastern Europe. Think Transylvania in the 1700s and 1800s. Hotels supposedly kept them for guests.

But there is a more likely theory.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That it was a curiosity. That it was just a thing that you brought back from Europe.

MOOS: As for the winning bid...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At $10,000 -- 10,000.

MOOS: ... add another $2,000 to pay Sotheby's premium. In the movies, the winning bidder would have stepped forward. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am Dracula.

MOOS: But in this case, the bidder wished to remain anonymous. You'd want to remain anonymous too if you just spent $12,000 on a vampire-killing kit. There's a bloodsucker born every minute.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.