The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

The legend of the vampire goes back way before the creation of Bram Stoker’s most popular book, Dracula. The word vampire is from the Slavic word obyri or obiri which became the Bulgarian word vampir or vampyr. Some sources say that the Greek word nosophoros (plague-carrier) that evolved into the Old Slavonic word nosufur-atu is a synonym for the word vampire. In Western cultures, the words vampire and nosferatu are interchangeable.



Vampire stories are told world-wide and involve the same scenario, a dead person rising from the grave at night, seeking out unsuspecting victims and drinking their blood. Vampire-like spirits called the Lilu were mentioned in early Babylonian demonology, and the even more ancient bloodsucking Akhkharu in Sumerian mythology. These female demons were said to roam during the hours of darkness, hunting and killing newborn babies and pregnant women. One of the demons named Lilitu was later adapted to Jewish demonology as Lilith.



Although other cultures have embraced the vampire legend, it is the Slavic people that have given us the modern day vampire. This passionate and proud race had a large population of gypsies, a people who originated in areas of northern India. Legends and folklore sprang up within their culture with creatures such as bhutu.The great deity Kali was sometimes portrayed as bloodthirsty and cruel. As the gypsies migrated towards the Slavic nations, other legends were added to their own legends and perhaps this is where the vampire was born.



Vampires could not find death in the grave, but were compelled to wander each night in search of food in the form of human blood. To be bitten by a vampire meant a slow death by nightly blood loss. However, in the great vampire tradition the victim of a vampire could not truly die. It would become nosferatu or the living-dead.



The only way to kill a vampire was by cremation, exposing it to the rays of sunlight or driving a wooden stake through its heart, then cutting off its head and stuffing the mouth full of garlic. Holy emblems would also be placed around the decapitated body.



To protect oneself against the evils of a vampire one might use a cross or crucifix, these being very powerful Christian symbols. Hawthorn and the Mountain Ash were also thought to be protective. Iron, a local and traditional metal, was also used to ward off vampires. Iron shavings were put beneath children’s cradles and cots, necklaces with an iron nail were worn and other objects were placed around the home to offer protection.



Vampires could also take the form of bats, become mist and creep under doors and through cracks in windows. They were able to control other creatures such as rats and wolves and they could make the elements obey them. Most Vampires of legend slept during the day in coffins or they returned to the earth to sleep in their graves. Among other superstitions, Vampires were supposed to need to return to the earth from their homeland each night, could not cross running water, could not see their reflection in a mirror, (this indicated they had no soul), could not enter a place uninvited and could not tolerate the symbol of the Christian crucifix.



Bram Stoker’s fictional character Dracula, who inhabited the mountainous country of Transylvania, was probably based on a real-life medieval character called Vlad Tepes who was notorious for his love of impaling his victims, hence his nickname of Vlad the Impaler. Vlad signed his letters with "Vlad Dracula," which translated means Vlad son of the dragon or of the devil. His father was called Dracul because he had a dragon on his coat-of-arms.



There has been speculation that the vampire legend may have been influenced by a rare disease which is called porphyria. This disease is a blood disorder and was more common than anywhere in small Transylvanian villages about 1000 years ago. The main characteristics of this illness are sensitivity to sunlight, a pallid skin and shrinkage of the gums giving way to larger than normal teeth.




I find the legend of the vampire both intriguing and frightening. I believe that vampires were born of legend and based on my research do not really exist, at least not in the classical sense. Nevertheless, the human mind being what it is, loves a good mystery and perhaps the vampire legend is just that, a mystery that cannot be quite disproved. In 1725-1734 a great vampire frenzy took place in East Prussia. Two deceased men were convicted of being vampires and throughout the land graves were opened and corpses desecrated as frightened men and women believed their loved ones had fallen prey to the vampire curse. In 1746, a theologian and scholar, Dom Augustine Calmet, even put together a treatise which said that vampires did exist! Eventually this belief was put to rest, and the vampire frenzy and legend was laid low until 1897 when Bram Stoker wrote his great gothic horror story, Dracula.



Even today, people from Russia to Bulgaria, Serbia to Poland, hold onto the vampire legend. Perhaps some legends and folklore refuse to die just like the vampire himself. As for me, I think the vampire will always be part and parcel of ghost and horror stories. Who can resist the charming Count Dracula and who wouldn’t want to visit the romantic Carpathian Mountains in search of Castle Dracula? Who wants to go!