The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I'm doing some research and I was hoping that some of you more scholarly types out there could suggest some non-fiction historical texts that contain Vampire refrences or things that could be Vampiric.

I don't think the concept of Vampirism is a factual state of being that would be corroborated by historical accounts. Vampires do exist, but they are treated with fiction rather than the use of non-fiction.

Vampirologist (level 3) made a good post in one of the threads recently which examined these issues. I believe it was the "fact or fiction?" thread.

Don't look into the Vlad thing. The reason why that was made into a vampireisc like story is because of Bram Stoker. Before hand he was seen as an Evil Tyrant who ruled with fear.

- Sin

This is a hard subject to actually find good non-fiction texts on. Unfortunately, you'd have to go further back than Vlad and even Elizabeth Bathory. Try looking up the old folklore of Europe.

A good book to use as a reference would be:
Vampires: The Occult Truth by Konstantinos.
It has a lot of the old legends and myths, and tries to explain vampirism as it is today.

There was a link to a 'Book of Enoch' and to the 'Vampire Codex' on some of the older threads here - but they've disappeared.

I think (but I might be wrong) that lownignitus posted a good link to the codex and domangelus posted a link to the 'Book of Enoch', maybe they will be kind enough to do it again

These were links to actual texts not just websites

The one link shown is a good one, otherwise google is always your friend and what other links come from it.

Not an easy thing to find out about. Vampires are always thought of as myth and legend.

You have so many people and tools such as the member articles section right here on VR; a tremendous resource for you.

Thank you so much for the help so far. I should be clear about something though, I'm not researching Vampires to prove weather or not they are real. I am simply looking for non-fiction refrences to them or vampire like behavior. I thought since this is a Vampire site that there would be a number of people who had studied them extensively and could make some suggestions.

Again thanks so much for the suggestions so far.

A while back i compiled an article on things I had picked up from various people on here and other places. I don't know if that will help you, my references and such are at the bottom

At one point, i was looking up the history of the origin of vampires, to find out which of the stories is true.....maybe i'll dust off my note and start up again...I'll be sure to pass on anything revelent that shows up.

Interesting thread to many of us. I've had a hard time with the line between fact and fiction. Many of us here do proclaim our identity to be vampiric, but I believe it is a choice that my gifts led me to.

I've been down this road already. :) I can suggest to you first, find every non-fictional book you can on Vlad the Impaler. I found him to be a good place to start, because your learn about the man behind the myth. Then you pick up on the folklore of Romania which leads you into other civilizations etc. Good author suggestions would be :

Radu Florescu
M.J. Trow
Michael Augustyn

There are alot out there, but those three did help out alot.

To find the non-fictional vampire, you must search the history of vampiric qualities and instances- Vlad and Elizabeth to start. All of the other historic references are, as far as I have found, pertaining to the legends and myths that have been passed down for generations before they were actually recorded. They are, for the most part, verbatum and it is rather surprising to find that all of the myths and legends from different civilizations from around the world and at different time periods non-the-less, are almost the same descriptions of happenings and also for the being that they represent. I hope that this tidbit of an opinion of mine will help guide you toward the right direction in which to start your research.

If there is a void of Non Viction vampire books, then guess what? Write one.

I think if you are going to write a eral vampire book I would avoid the Hollywood definition story. What does vampirism mean to you?

Sadly I myself can not help you much, but I can tell you that if you just want knowledge of the different sorts of vampires the book "Vampires The Occult Truth" By Konstantinos is a very interesting read. As far as history goes. I know of someone on VR that most probably can help you with your research. Message UpirLikhyj. He is always quite good with history and research. :)

oops...

http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/weird/vampires/1.html

What the Vampire of History was not:

- Vlad Tepes (Dracula)
- Countess Elizabeth Bathory
- any of the myriad fictional vampires of Stoker, Rice, Hollywood, et al
- Serial killers, sadists, murderers, rapists, or any other bloodthirsty or occult psychopaths
- blood drinkers
- psychic feeders
- glam or goth fashion junkies with fake fangs
- anyone emulating any of the above

Nor did the historical vampire need blood to live, have fangs, fear crucifixes or daylight or garlic, sleep in coffins, and was most certainly not asexual.

Nor is there a dearth of non-fiction vampire books. There are, in fact, many wonderful books that actually recount the original Slavic myths of Eastern Europe from when the Vampire legends were born.


What the Vampire of History was:

Here follows a short list of the very best non-fiction books available:

"Vampires of the Slavs" &
"The Darkling"
- both books by Dr. Jan Perkowski

"The Vampire: A Casebook"
- by Dr. Alan Dundes

"Vampires, Burial and Death - Folklore and Reality"
- by Dr. Paul Barber

"The Vampire Book"
- J. Gordon Melton


And, as one previous poster here recommended the sanguinarius.org website, I wish to mention that one page at the site is particularly well written and well researched, which page I highly recommend: http://www.sanguinarius.org/articles/vampdef.shtml


(And thank you, CursedToDarkness for your much-appreciated recommendation of me here)

i believe that you will have a difficult time finding the books on ancient vampires/vampirism. as they said, they were treated with a fictional sense. more than likely it was because humans were afraid, and believed that they could protect themselves from vampires if they didnt believe them.

Have you tried typing in historical+vampires+non-fiction or something like that. You might also try some online libraries and places of that nature. At least that is what I am doing. You may message me if you like.

There is always the Mercy Brown incident in Rhode Island in the 1800s. You could Google that. The Wikipedia article on it is a start though it explains it away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Brown_Vampire_Incident

you could always look up Bloody Mary Queen of Scots. She believed that the taking of blood kept her young and has been referred to as a vampire of sorts but that is the only one I can think of that has any real historical data on it

BathoryBabe,

Would you mind pointing us all to the factual detail on the link between Mary, 'Queen of Scots' and vampires?

Because I personally think you are very incorrect and spreading false and misleading information.

I would like to stand corrected though.

Anything surrounding Vampirism... will end up being at least partly fiction. Its all 'suggested' or 'supposed'
Best of luck on your search!!!!!!!

Stabb I do stand corrected it was her brutality in executing more people then had been in over a century and a half and the name bloody mary was often mixed up with Mary worth and some others of like name

These are all Non-Fiction:


American Vampires: Fans, Victims and Practitioners, by Norine Dresser

Bloodlust: Conversations with Real Vampires, by Carol Page

The Dracula Cookbook of Blood, by Ardin C. Price

The Ethical Psychic Vampire, by Raven Kaldera

Liquid Dreams of Vampires, by Martin Riccardo

Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today, by Katharine Ramsland

Practical Vampyrism for Modern Vampyres, by Lady CG

Something in the Blood: The Underground World of Today's Vampires, by Jeff Guinn and Andy Grieser

Vampires Among Us, by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Vampires: The Occult Truth, by Konstantinos

All of those books mentioned by chrisg4202000 are now listed in the VR database, if you want to buy them - there's links for all of them :)