The real history of vampires/by Joe Mynhardt
08:35 Apr 28 2012
Times Read: 457
Ah, yes. The infamous Vampires. It’s so unfortunate that they have lost so much of their mystery as of late. I can still remember late night movies such as Fright Night and Dracula. It’s sad to see so many publishers stray away from vampire stories just because a lot of writers are trying to copy Stephanie Meyers’ baffling success. Who would’ve ever thought vampires would be a popular trend.
I want to set things straight. Below is a brief report of the real history of vampires. This has nothing to do with fiction, although I believe it would be of great help to any writers attempting a vampire related project. Otherwise I’m sure it will at least be a very interesting read.
The act of vampirism is in fact closely related to cannibalism. Since early times people have believed in acquiring someone’s ‘life force’ by eating the flesh or drinking the blood of said person (Much like the old Highlander movies). Due to the vampire’s need for life blood, he feeds off the living by rising up from his grave at night, while we are sound asleep.
The legend of vampires goes back much further than many of us believe. These folkloric beings have been feeding off the bodies and imaginations of humans since Greek mythology and the dawn of every civilization. Although the thought of vampires are seen as fictional beings to most, the recorded facts taken through hundreds of years are astounding.
A brief summary of important dates in the history of vampires:
· 2000 BC: The Tomb of the Vampire is erected in Giza, Egypt.
· 1096 – The First Crusades expels vampires from the Holy Land, Jerusalem.
· 1196 – William of Newburgh records vampire-like revenants in his ‘Chronicles’ book.
· 1477 – Vlad the Impaler, who Dracula’s character is based on, is assassinated.
· 1484 – The Witch Hunter’s bible, also known as the Malleus Maleficarium, is written, containing several pages on hunting and destroying vampires.
· 1530 – An Italian scientist named Ludovico Fatinelli is burned at the stake for claiming a biological cause for vampirism.
· 18th Century – A major influx of vampire sightings occur in Eastern Europe.
· 1872 – Vincenzo Verzeni is convicted of murdering two people and drinking their blood.
· 1882 – Vampire Riots in New York.
· 1924 – The ‘Vampire of Hanover’ Fritz Haarmann is convicted for killing over 20 people in a vampire killing spree.
Vampire myths stretch back thousands of years into almost every culture. Although our basic view of the vampire originates from Eastern Europe, it has evolved through fiction and film.
Let’s not forget Elizabeth Bathory, who in the 1610 was tried for killing almost 600 girls. She hung the girls upside down, slit their necks and bathed in their blood, all for the sake of youth. Every now and then she would drink a particularly beautiful girl’s blood straight from the wound.
Our basic knowledge of vampires is as such:
· Vampires do not glitter!
· Vampires hunt at night.
· A vampire’s hunger is so intense that not even a loved one is safe.
· They can’t stand sunlight. It either turns them to stone or dust.
· Vampires cannot enter a house without being invited, thereafter they may come and go as they please.
· They feast off animals or people in order to obtain life blood.
· They sleep in coffins.
· Vampires are highly sexual creatures.
· They have a terrible fear of churches and garlic.
· A vampire cannot be seen in a mirror, perhaps due to their lack of a soul.
Lesser known facts:
· Vampires have to sleep on their native soil, therefore traveling vampires sleep in coffins containing a layer of sand from their native land.
· Vampires are not loners, they group together in covens or what is called a ‘house’ of vampires.
· Placing millet or poppy seeds at the gravesite of a vampire keeps it occupied as vampires have a great desire to count.
· The wearing of capes and turning into bats is a result of the growing fictional qualities of vampires.
· Vampires are believed to be more active on the Eve of St. George’s Day, which is still celebrated in Europe.
· It is believed that vampires cannot cross running water.
The correlation between vampires and Gypsies:
The Gypsies believe that after a person dies the soul stays close to the body and sometimes chooses to return. As knowledge of the gypsy believes spread throughout Europe, so did vampire myths. A gypsy vampire called Mullo (one who is dead) was believed to return to the living and suck the blood of a relative who either killed them, didn’t give them a proper burial, or held onto the deceased’s possessions instead of destroying them. Gypsy vampires were believed to be either very ugly or missing a finger. Then again, they even believed pumpkins kept in the house too long would start moving and oozing blood.
The Eighteenth century vampire controversy:
The 18th century saw a major influx of vampire sightings in Eastern Europe. Believe it or not, government officials were also included in the hunting and staking of vampires.
Even educated folds considered the existence of vampires during the vampire attacks of East Prussia in 1721. Not to mention in the Austro-Hungarian empire from 1725 to 1734. Reports told of a Peter Plogojowitz, who died and came back to kill his neighbors. People began digging up bodies to stake and even burn. Most scholars blamed premature burial or rabies.
In 1746, Dom Augustine Calmet, a renowned French theologian and scholar, published a treatise claiming the existence of vampires. In his reports he made claim to corpses rising from the graves at night to suck the blood of the living from either their throats or stomachs. The victims grew pale while the corpses grew fat and rosy.
The bedlam only ended after Austrian Empress Marie Theresa’s personal physician, Gerard van Swieten, investigated the epidemics. Thereafter Marie Theresa banned the opening and desecration of graves.
Methods of identifying vampires:
· Leading a virgin boy through a graveyard or church ground while on a virgin stallion. The horse will balk at a suspected vampire’s grave.
· Handing out of garlic at gatherings.
· Saxon’s placed a lemon inside the mouth of a suspected vampire.
· Holes in the earth above the grave could point to vampirism.
· Vampire corpses would show a healthy, plump appearance and a red face upon opening the grave.
· They’d have one foot in the corner of the coffin.
Warding off vampires:
· The use of Garlic and branches of wild rose and hawthorn are said to hurt vampires.
· Sprinkling mustard seeds on the roofs of houses ward off vampires.
· Sacred items such as a crucifix, rosary or holy water also works.
· Mirrors are believed to ward off vampires when placed facing outwards on a door.
Destroying vampires:
· Staking through the heart, mouth or stomach with wood from an oak, hawthorn or ash tree. Most cultures chose oak through the heart.
· Burning.
· Piercing the skin of a bloated corpse before they turn into vampires.
· Decapitation, with the head buried between the feet or behind the buttocks. Burying the head away from the body also works.
· Spike or pin the vampire’s head, body or clothes to the ground to prevent them from rising.
· Gypsies drove steel or iron needles into the corpse’s heart as well as placing bits of steel in their mouth, over their eyes, ears and between the fingers during burial. A hawthorn stake was sometimes driven through a corpse’s legs, or at least a splinter of hawthorn was placed inside the sock.
· Pouring boiling water over the grave.
· Repeating the burial service.
· Holy water.
· Exorcism.
· In some cases, the body was dismembered and the pieces burned and mixed with water. The family members would then drink it as a cure.
Even today there are still occasional vampire sightings, and vampire hunting societies still exist.
Here is a list of more recent vampire activities:
1970: Local press spreads rumors of a vampire occupying the Highgate Cemetery in London. A local man named Sean Manchester claimed to have exorcised the vampire and the rest of its coven.
1978: Richard Chase, the Vampire of Sacramento, went on a four day blood binge in California, claiming 6 lives. He was said to drain the victim’s blood, blend it with organs and drink it to stop his own blood from turning into powder.
2002 – 2003: A mob stones an individual to death and attacks several others, including their own governor, Eric Chiwaya, for allegedly consorting with vampires.
2004 Romania: Family members of Toma Petre digs up his corpse. They tear out his heart, burn it, and drink the ashes with water.
2005: Rumors spread of an attacker roaming the streets of Birmingham, England and biting his victims. Police write it off as an urban legend.
2005: Diana Semenuha is arrested for luring street kids into her home where she tied them to beds and slowly drank their blood.
2006: A 16th century female corpse exhumed in Venice reveales a brick forced into her mouth. It was interpreted as a ritual to prevent vampirism.
2010: Florida resident, Mauricio Mendez Lopez is accused of killing Macario Cruz and drinking his blood.
Whether these are the acts of vampires, psychos or just plain idiots, we’ll never now. One thing is for sure, vampires are not just confined to books and television.
Please feel free to comment on anything I've missed.
All the best.
Vampires In History
08:05 Apr 28 2012
Times Read: 461
I read this earlyer today, and i enjoy it so I thought you may enjoy it too.
Aja
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Vampires In History
Most people think that the Vampire legend began with Vlad The Impaler, but it goes back much further then that!
I. It Started With Blood
The Vampire persona has evolved from many true and untrue facts, legends and myths. At various times vampires, real and imagined, have been considered fiends, supernatural beings, shape-shifters, mentally-disturbed deviants, satanic servants and fetish followers. But, it all began and still revolves around a taste for blood!
Contrary to the popular belief that Vampire history, stories and legends began with Vlad the Impaler, they go back much further than that. Many ancient societies worshipped blood thirty gods. This caused people to begin to associate blood with divinity, leading to the development of the early vampire cults. Regardless of the spiritual value, some people have always had a desire to drink blood and the reasons are as varied as the practitioners. In some societies the practice was accepted, as in ancient Egypt. But in others, vampirism was considered deviant behavior and condemned.
In Africa, most civilizations and tribes greatly feared vampirism. The fear was eventually turned into legend as people began to believe vampires were evil spirits that would come in the night to drink blood, kill livestock and steal children. Archeological evidence shows that fetishes, in the form of doll-house sized huts, were built as a protection against them. Some modern African tribal medicine men still hold to this belief and continue to build the fetishes in the same way that their ancestors did.
During the glory days of Rome, vampire cults abounded. Roman citizens, mostly females, began to believe in the concept delivered to them by captured peoples that drinking the blood of fertile females would cure the infertile. Likewise, for males, blood drinking was a way to become more potent. It wasn't long before blood drinking cult members started to get sick and spread their sicknesses to others. Though it's doubtful that these people understood much of anything about the diseases transmitted through blood, Roman physicians did see a connection between blood drinking and the spread of sickness. Eventually, the Roman government moved against the cults and outlawed the practice.
Some members of vampire cults refused to stop drinking each other's blood and continued to meet in secret, despite the physical dangers and threats of severe punishment. When this was discovered and sickness continued to spread, the Roman government dispatched paid assassins to hunt down and kill the renegade blood drinkers. Because they were paid by the number of cult members they killed, these early vampire hunters became legendary. Seeking to get rich from their trade, there is no doubt that these "pay per kill" assassins took the lives of as many innocent people as they did cult members.
The weapon of choice for the Roman vampire hunters was a small, easily hidden dagger. This allowed them to infiltrate the secret cult meetings and then attack without warning. The daggers were highly ornate leaving the Roman public with the impression that the assassins were on a divine mission. The handles were in the shape of a cross and looked very much like any ornate, modern crucifix! In an attempt to scare off the government sanctioned assassins, cult members began to spread stories designed to frighten their trackers. They claimed that drinking blood gave them the ability to change into fierce animals and devour any attackers.
Thanks to the meticulous records kept by Romans and Egyptians, as well as the traditions passed orally by the Africans, vampire legends were well known on local and international levels by the arrival of the middle ages. Had it not been for the proliferation of plague and other pestilences during that time, vampirism probably would have re-emerged as a popular fad. Even so, some drawings in religious books of the period seem to suggest that blood drinking cults continued to exist. Devils, demons and human servants of Satan were often portrayed as committing unspeakable acts, including the sucking of blood from other humans and animals. One may assume that these portrayals were not just shadows of the past or complete figments of over zealous imaginations.
As explorers from the Old World began to visit the New World, the vampire legend took on a new and frightening form. Spanish explorers traveled to the Americas in search of gold and other treasures. Although dreaded by the native peoples living there, the Conquistadors themselves began to fall prey to an unknown and terrifying enemy.
In an attempt to escape the pervasive heat, humidity, bugs, snakes, hostile peoples and monsoon-like rains of the South American jungles and rain forests, the Spaniards would take refuge in caves at night whenever these could be found. It wasn't long before a strange disease began to claim the sanity and lives of the conquering army. The only thing noticed about those who became ill was that they had strange bite marks on their bodies.
The sick moved quickly towards death and a terrible fear settled in among the Spaniards. The source of the bite was finally discovered when those on late night guard duty watched in horror as bats gently attached themselves to members of the sleeping army. With no real understanding of rabies or how it was spread, the Spaniards just assumed that loss of blood was the cause of death. They believed that the bats were killing the men by feeding on the same subjects night after night until they were drained of blood! Though staying out of caves stopped most of the attacks, some were still bitten.
II. Dracula
By the time Vlad the Impaler came along, the vampire legend had already been well established. His contribution to the history of vampires was largely due to Bram Stoker's fictional story of Dracula. Already known as a rabid, blood thirsty killer, Dracula suddenly became a virtually unstoppable, supernatural force of evil.
Bram Stoker's 1897 book, Dracula, was inspired by existing vampire legends and the brutal acts of a legendary tyrant. Stoker found the name Dracula in a book on the history of Wallachia. The name was associated with a 15th century Transylvanian despot known as Vlad the Impaler, also called "Vlad Dracul," which means "the devil" in Romanian. Impaling was the gruesome practice of forcing a long wooden spear through the body until the victim gradually dies. Dracula favored impaling as a form of execution and a scare tactic used to instill fear in his enemies. Vlad hated non-Christians, making it a policy to kill any non-practicing residents under his authority. Fearing for their lives, his subjects placed crosses on their front lawns and doorways to keep Dracula at bay.
Transylvanian traditions were also a source of great inspiration for Bram Stoker. They believed in what were called "strigoi" (the undead) who would walk the earth because they were improperly buried or had lived an evil life. Like vampires, they would stalk and kill humans. Stopping them meant driving a stake through their heart. They would then be placed in a coffin where the same stake was driven through the coffin and into the ground. That was the only procedure known to keep the undead in the ground where they belonged.
Although the marriage of fact, fiction and folktales that came together in Bram Stoker's Dracula forever changed and deluded original traditions and beliefs about vampires, it also created a huge amount of interest in them. More then a few people read the novel believing it to be a true story, thus adding to the legend. Younger readers were especially susceptible to the suspense and fear created by the main character. Many would place crosses all over their rooms and nail windows shut!
Several attempts were made to turn the novel into a stage play, but known were financially successful until Bela Lugosi entered the picture. Though legend has it that Bela initially wanted nothing to do with the project, Dracula became the role of his lifetime. Each night an ambulance was parked outside the Broadway theater where Dracula was performed, and this wasn't just for publicity purposes! People would faint or get trampled as audience members tried to run out of the performance with the appearance of Bela on the stage as Dracula.
With reactions like that to the book and Broadway Play, the story was a natural for early film makers. While it is unclear who actually tried to bring Dracula to the screen first, it's certain that the 1922 silent film Nosferatu was one of the first uses of a vampire as a major character in a motion picture. In this German film, the vampire is a blood sucking fiend with no redeeming values. Realistic make-up and great special effects make Nosferatu still worth watching on video.
III. Motivated By A Thirst For Blood
Most people labeled as Vampires after being accused or convicted of a terrible crime may have had an unusual thirst or need for blood. Hungarian Countess Erzebet Bathory who lived in Vienna in the early 1600s, beat and tortured her servants and may have bathed in their blood believing it would restore her youth. Another Hungarian, Bela Kiss, murdered his wife, neighbor and up to twenty young girls in Budapest before he died while at war in 1914. The bodies were later discovered stored in metal drums, with bite marks on their necks and completely drained of blood. In 1996 a sixteen year old boy named Roderick Ferrell organized a group of Kentucky Teens into a Vampire Cult. They were all fans of the role-playing game, Vampire: The Masquerade. The group went to Florida and murdered the parents of a former girlfriend. Ferrell was later arrested, convicted and sentenced to execution.
Not all vampire incidents are as easy to explain as the crimes committed by wannabe vampires who end up dead or arrested. One of the most puzzling of all factual vampire-related crimes and incidents is the case of the High Gate Cemetery Vampire of England. Oddly enough, it was the western section of that British Cemetery that inspired Bram Stoker in his depiction of some settings for the tale of Dracula.
During the late 1960s, several British children found a shortcut to their school through the western section of High Gate Cemetery in London. As they started using the shortcut on a daily basis in the early morning, some strange things happened. Several of the children became sick and were diagnosed as having experienced a significant loss of blood, along with unusual bite marks on their necks. At the same time, residents of the area began reporting their dogs missing.
Dog carcasses began to turn up inside and near the cemetery. Most died of blood loss and also had strange bite marks on their bodies. A number of credible witnesses reported seeing hooded figures hunched over the dogs as they were dying. An occult group dedicated to the eradication of vampires started patrolling the area, adding to the confusion and weirdness. They actually went around digging up bodies and sticking them with stakes! Needless to say, the group quickly wore out their welcome and had problems with local law enforcement. By the early 1970s, things quieted down as children stopped taking the shortcut through the cemetery and most people kept their pets indoors at night. Although the case remains unsolved, one event put a cap on the whole thing. A British Policeman on patrol just outside High Gate Cemetery one evening noticed a hooded figure bent over the body of a dog. The animal seemed to be in great distress. As the Officer approached the hooded figure, it turned to look at him. The Officer could clearly see that the hooded figure had no face! It then turned and vanished before his eyes. The dog died of a loss of blood and this is the how the Officer reported the incident. Like so many unexplained events, the case was quietly filed away.
IV. The Gothic Lifestyle
For years people have dressed up as Vampires for Halloween and other special occasions. But some never stopped! Over the past forty years more then a few people have spent a good part their lives living like vampires. For most, just dressing the part is enough. Others feel a need to actually drink or suck blood. Although dangerous in a day when blood born diseases pose such a threat to humanity, most involved in the blood drinking or sucking only participate in the fetish with one person or an exclusive group of people.
Today, people who dress like vampires as politely referred to as participating in the Gothic Lifestyle. It's an umbrella term that covers everyone including those with a blood drinking or sucking fetish. The mere fact that people are still emulating what was laid down as vampire characteristics, dress and behavior in the Dracula novel and films after so many years, indicates the strong appeal and enduring quality of the legend. Since it's publication in 1897, Dracula has never been out of print!
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The first reference to vampirism can be found in the work of Lucius Apuleius, a roman writer and philosopher, who lived from 125-180. His novel "De asino aureo" tells the story of the two wicked sisters Meroe and Panthia who drink the blood of Socrates (not the philosopher). They close his wounds with a sponge so that he does not notice his loss, but when the next day he bends over to drink from a river, the sponge drops into the water, the last drop of life flows into the water and Socrates dies.
The name "Vampire" derives from the Slavic language and means something in between "flying being", "drinking/sucking" and "wolf". The version with "y" (Vampyre) came into circulation between 1725 and 1732 and is therefore NOT the original one. In the romantic movement in Europe which was opposed to the former Enlightenment era the vampire became a common theme and moved from country mythology into the elegant salons and castles. In the middle ages the flea, also a blood-sucker, was called a vampiric being since it was held responsible for the spreading of the plague. The Celts often used to bury their dead with their face downwards. This may derive from their belief that the dead had to enter the "other world" with their face in the right direction. In Eastern Europe it was common to bury the dead with a clove of garlic in their mouth.
Michel Beheim (Deutscher Meistersinger) composes in 1463 a song with the title "Von ainem wutrich der hies Trakle waida von der Walachei" in which he tells the story of Vlad IV Draculea. Benheim was a pheasant of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, at who's court Draculea was a refugee when banned from Walachia.
Dracul (which means dragon, though the Rumanian term for devil is very similar) was the epithet of the Woiwode Vlad II., who was a knight of the order of the dragon. He was the father of Vlad III. "Tepes" (Impaler) (1431-1476), who was the model for Bram Stoker's famous figure Count Dracula. Draculea means son of Dracul, a name which was later shortened to Dracula. In spite of Stoker's novel in Rumanian history there has never been any connection between Draculea and vampirism. In fact because of his successful attempt to drive the Turkish invaders out of Walachia he still is regarded as a national hero. In his short reign he managed to extinct crime in his country. (For more information about the historic figure see "L' histoire du prince dracula" by Matei Cazacu which includes the works of M. Beheim). His home Walachia is part of Transilvania, which means "land beyond the forest". The other name for this area, "Siebenbrgen" is derived from the German language and means "seven castles" and shows how important an efficient defensive system was at the time of Draculea.
One of the few important authors who worked at the topic of vampirism was the French Benedictine monk Dom Augustin Calmet (1672- 1757). The German version of his essay is titled "Verhandlung und Erluterung der Materi, von Erscheinungen der Geisteren, und der so genannten Vampiren, oder zurckgekommene Verstorbenen in Ungarn, Moravia etc." Calmet was working on the differentiation between Vampires and common ghosts and demons. Calmet was a very openminded person who asked himself whether vampires really are dead, how they manage to escape grave and which kind of energy their body needs. He came to the conclusion that in spite of his rather evil nature a vampire is a god-created being. He also said that being a pagan cannot be the reason for becoming a vampire since otherwise all Romans and Greeks who worshipped diverse gods would have become vampires...
Another famous author was Montague Summers ("The Vampire in Europe", first published in 1929) who covers the topic of vampirism from the ancient Greeks through the Middle Ages until modern times through the various countries of Europe.
The English poet Lord Byron (1788-1824) also wrote an unfinished novel about vampires. When Byron in 1816, together with his friend and doctor John William Polidori stayed at the Lake Leman he hosted a party and among his guest were the poet Percy Shelley and his later wife Mary. When a thunderstorm forced the guests to stay inside they gave a competition in writing ghost-stories. At this occasion Mary Shelley started the famous novel "Frankenstein". Byron wrote the mentioned fragment which some years later Polidori used for his novel "The Vampyre, A Tale" who was published in 1819.
At the beginning of the 19th century the vampire also entered the opera-stage with "Der Vampyr" written by Heinrich Marschner, which had it's premiere in Leipzig in 1828.
The figure of Dracula embodies the fascination of the forbidden and is a classical symbolic figure for the repressed sexuality of the Victorian society. He casts no shadow, is as strong as twenty men, owns -because of his blood consumption- everlasting youth and is the master of bat, moth, wolf, rat, fox and owl. He is able to transform into a cloud of dust or vapour, climbs every wall like an insect and commands the elements. The story also says that he can only enter a building if he's invited and has to sleep in a coffin filled with the soil of his home.
Though the crucifix is said to be a successful weapon against the vampire it's effect is only based on the symbolism and on the belief of it's power. (No use in fighting Jewish, Islamic and Hindu vampires..)
The black/red cape which is a common vampiric motive was added by Hamilton Deane in 1924 to symbolize the bat. Bela Lugosi, probably the most famous actor who played the role of Dracula was even buried in his cape.
Dracula first appeared at the theater in 1897 in the play "Dracula, or the Undead" written by Bram Stoker himself. The premiere took place in the Royal Lyceum Theatre in London. A more popular version was the one of Hamilton Deane in 1923. The musical "Tanz der Vampire" is now being played in Vienna.
It's very interesting that the figure of the vampire can be found through so many centuries not only in Europe but also in Asia. Fear is one of the most powerful forces that drive people and the fear of the unknown or mysterious can be found everywhere around the world. The only way to fight the fear is to face it and to realise what people are so afraid of. Yes, we are different and mythology and superstition have created some rather unbelievable stories. Due to this the term "vampire" has so many negative associations. What I am trying here is to help people to overcome their old prejudices, which exist because the only source of information is still very often fantasy literature or film. Sanguinarians exist, not as the glamorous figure of literature or as the fascinating seducer but as normal "human" beings like yourself. Push away what you might have learned about vampires and get to know us. Most of us are better than our reputation.
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The History of the Vampire
"...The butcher swore that the body was still warm, from which they concluded that the deceased had the severe defect of not being quite dead, or, to state it better, of letting himself be reanimated by the devil for that is exactly the idea they have of a vrykolakas"
- Relation d'un voyage du Levant, Joseph Pitton de Tournefort,
Ever wondered how the vampire myth started? When the term "vampire" first came around? How certain beliefs about vampires stemmed from folkloric superstitions? And how the vampire has progressed in legend, lore and reality over the centuries? Here I have written an essay with information gathered from various sources to answer all these questions and more.
From the beginning of time legends of vampires have existed on this place we call Earth. The interesting, distinguishing mark of the vampire is that unlike other "monsters", the vampire has its roots in nearly every part of the world. From Ancient Greece to modern Day, the Vampire has been eternally preying on our imagination, forcing us to ask ourselves whether those things we dismiss as myths are just that...or more.
The history of the vampire begins In ancient Persia, where a vase was discovered depicting a man struggling with a huge creature which is trying to suck his blood. Then, in Babylonian myth a deity known for drinking the blood of babies, Lilitu or "Lilith", was discovered. She was reputedly the first wife of Adam according to old Hebrew texts removed from the Old Testament, and left her husband due to his sexual ineptitude, becoming the Queen of Demons and Evil spirits. In China during the 6th century BC, traces of the "Living Dead", or revenants as they are known, were also found. More legends continued throughout all the world, including India, Malaysia, Polynesia and the lands of the Aztecs and Eskimos. According to the Aztecs, the offering of a young victims blood to the Gods ensured the fertilization of the earth. But truly, the vampire proper originates from European civillization...ancient Greece to begin with. There were numerous bloodthirsty Goddesses in both Roman ang Greek mythology, known as Lamiae, Empusae and Striges. These names eventually evolved into the general terms for Witches,Demons and Vampires. But these Vampires, though they do drink blood, were only Goddesses...not "living Dead", but disembodied divinities capable of taking on human appearances so that they might seduce their victims. As time passed on, and Christianity grew in popularity, the redemptive value of blood became apparant. Holy Communion, which includes drinking wine symbolizing Christ's blood and Bread symbolizing his flesh was at times taken quite literally. Some people, confusing pagan beliefs with transubstantiation (the actualy presence of Christ's flesh and blood during Communion) took part in feasting on human flesh and drinking human blood. During the 11th Century, witches and doctors alike prescribed virgin blood to cure all illnesses. Also during this time, some corpses found intact all over Europe began a huge vampire scare. The belief came about that people who died without a chance to receive last rites,or those who had commited suicide or had been excommunicated were destined to return to the earth as revenants. Various accounts of the discovery of Vampires can be read in books such as The Diabolical Dictionary (Dictionnaire Infernal) by the Bishop of Cahors; the Courtiers Triflings(De Nugis Curialium) by Walter Map, and the History of England(Historia Rerum Anglicarum) written by William of Newburgh. The phenomenon of Vampirism continued through the Renaissance era only sporadically, but again grew to epidemic proportions in the 14th Century, mainly in central European Regions of Prussia, Silesia and Bohemia. The bubonic plague was thought to be the work of Vampires and panic of infection led people to bury their dead without completely verifying that they were truly deceased. It was then no wonder that so many encounters of Vampires rising from their graves during this time were noted. A person, buried alive, would try to claw his way out of the grave and would be discovered covered in blood from the wounds he had inflicted upon himself by doing so. This, of course, would label him as a vampire.
In the mid-15th Century, Vampirism again reared its head, most notably in the trial of Frenchman Gilles de Rais. A former member of Joan of Arc's guard and erstwhile Marshal of France, he retired to his lands in Southwest France, devoted to his quest of finding the secret of the "Philosophers' Stone" in blood. He killed about 200 to 300 children by way of horrifying torture, in order to use their blood in his experiments. Later, in the 19th century, Joris-Karl Huysmans portrayed him as an authentic vampire in his novel La-Bas. Also during this time, another historical figure became associated with vampirism. His name was Vlad Tepes Dracula, Prince of Wallachia, an ancient kingdom which is now part of Romania. His double name of Tepes (meaning "Impaler") and Dracula (after his father, Dracul, meaning Devil or Dragon...the 'a' added on to mean 'son of...') suited him quite appropriately. Both a national hero for liberating his lands form the Ottoman invaders and a bloodthirsty tyrant who ordered thousands of people impaled for his pleasure, it is no wonder that his name became synonimous with the vampire legend. Four centuries later, Bram Stoker would write the infamous novel Dracula, which would forever give us the sterotype of the classic vampire.
Vampirism, though never completely vanished, dwindled slightly from the 15th through 17th centuries. In 1611, however, in the superstitious land of Hungary, Countess Erzsebet Bathory (Elizabeth Bathory or the "Blood Countess")began the legend afresh. She was accused of kidnapping and torturing young girls to death and then bathing in and drinking their blood. She believed that this would preserve her youth and looks. But how did she come to this conclusion? Well, apparantlym she was the wife of a Count who was always away at war. Becoming bored with her lifestyle, she began to study black magic which led to her horrible endeavors. When a large number of young women became missing, Bathory's cousin led a detachment of soldiers and policemen to capture her. She was spared execution because of her royal ties, but was locked up in a tower room for the rest of her life with door and windows shut. Her accomplices though were all executed. This event in history gave rise to numerous rumours of vampirism and inspired many writers unto today. Also, this coupled with poverty and illiterate populations of the time, led to an explosion of vampire and werewolf superstitions in Southern and Eastern Europe. The belief that "Vrykolakas" ( slavic for werewolves) would die and become vampires in the hereafter tied the two myths together quite conveniently. The word 'Vampire', until now unknown, became used as a term for the very first time in 1726, following thousands of reports of vampirism due to the plague. It was first coined in German as "Vanpir" in a report of one case of vampirism. This evolved into "vampyre" in 1732 (used in French) and finally into the English word "Vampire" later that same year. This was the beginning of the end for the vampire as we know it...
The 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment as it was also known, set out to destroy superstition. Scholars, doctors, philosophers and members of the church all cast doubt on the acomplishments of the Devil and his minions. A French Benedictine Monk known as Don Calmet published a huge tract which, he claimed, put the controversy of vampires to rest. But the legend of the vampire, true to its nature, refused to die. Categorizing and sterotyping the vampire only provoked superstition. People, especially those of the 'back countries' became weary of those who had bushy eyebrows drawn together, or hair on the back of their palms. To detect vampires, they employed virgins who would ride virgin horses (either completely white or completely black) through the length of a cemetary, and the horse would rear at the tomb of a vampire. The rumour began to spread that some people, born of a union between vampire and mortal could spot vampires. Interrment of supected vampires was done with special precautions, such as driving a nail into the forehead of the corpse, smearing the body with pig's fat, or placing a clove of garlic in its mouth. These were only some of the methods used to prevent the suspected vampire from rising. But such events diminished as the Industrial revolution began to change European life, and in this age of rationalism, the legend of vampires and other creatures of the ethereal world began to all but die...Well, that was the theory, in any case.
Reality had other plans. The Romanticism at the end ot the 18th century tried to recapture emotion and nostalgia, lost in the Enlightment and Industrial Revolution. With this, the gothic novel had its rebirth. Johann von Goethe wrote his novel The Bride of Corinth(Die Braut von Corinth), preceded by Gottfried August Buerger's Lenore. These stories, as well as several poems of vampires of the 19th century by Keats, Coleridge and Baudelaire, included an element previously unkown to the vampire lore in traditional sense. This was the element of seduction, the bringing of pleasure in death. Then came the infamous The Vampyre by John William Polidori (well,he actually took over the story from Lord Byron) and Carmilla by Sheridan LeFanu. Varney the Vampyre, written in 1847 by Prest and Rymer, became the longest novel ever written on the subject of vampires. Fantasy and horror were in great demand, but during the mid-19th century the popularity dwindled once again, due to its repetetive nature. But this did no last long, reappearing again in the victorian era. It is truly ironic that in a century where all things decadent and unsavory were supposed to be repressed, the legend of the vampire reached a peak. Perhaps viewed as an escape by many, the vampire appeared onstage, in novel, in poetry and in prose. The hypocrisy of society was in such a state that writing horrific stories was quite permissable so long as morality triumphed in the end. It was in this time that Bram Stoker wrote his legendary novel Dracula. Though he had never himself been to Transylvania, the setting of the story, nor truly studied as a professional writer, the success of his novel was phenomenal, and it would forever define our views of the vampire...
With the 20th century came a wonderful invention called the motion picture. It was with this that vampires and other movie monsters showed their faces on the big screen. The first vampire movie ever made was 1922's Nosfertau: Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu: A symphony of horrors). This German movie, directed by F.W. Murnau, starred Max Schreck in the title role. The vampire in this case took on the semblance of the creature in folklore...hairy palms, large bat-like ears, and so on. Then came a series of vampire movies from the US with Bela Lugosi as the notorious Dracula. The vampire was given fangs to bite with and an air of seduction. Afterwards, Christopher Lee joined England's Hammer productions in comprising the next image of Dracula...he was given dark hair, a long black opera cloak and glowing red eyes. From here on, numerous other vampire movies were made, some based on original screenplays, some on historical novels, some even comedies. As technology evolved in the film industry and special effects developed more and more, so did the horrific looks of the vampire. In 1987's The lost Boys, the vampires have realistic fangs, greenish red eyes and wear leather jackets to complete the look. That same year, Near Dark followed suit in the 'tough' image of modern vampires. In 1992, Francis Ford Copolla made a beautiful remake of Dracula, starring Gary Oldman in the title role. And then we cannot forget 1994's Interview with the Vampire, based on Anne Rices' novel, which created an explosion of popularity in the vampire genre. This author, named Anne Rice, revolutionized the image of the vampire. In her Vampire Chronicles she portrayed her title character of Lestat as having a human, almost tragic side to him as well as a savage nature. In her series of 5 novels, Anne Rice gave us a dark world, peopled with vampires everywhere, not entirely unlike our own, with the anti-hero Lestat in its center. She is creating a series of new vampire novels currently, based in the same world, evolving around the same characters, who in the Vampire Chronicles played minor roles. In addition to her, the 80's and 90's included several notable names of authors who shaped the vampire genre. These include Poppy Z. Brite, P.N. Elrod, and Tanith Lee. Music also gave the vampire publicity, especially in the late 1980's...bands like Concrete Blonde, the Cure, Type O negative and so on all wrote several songs about vampires and most had a genral gothic or dark sound to their style in general. From the big screen the vampire made its way to television...first in the popular soap-opera series of Dark Shadows, then to Kolchak:The night Stalker and onwards to modern day shows such as Forever Knight, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Kindred: The Embraced. The latter series was based on a roleplaying game called "Vampire: the Masquerade" which came out in 1992 and has been quite popular ever since. At the dawn of the 21st century, the occult genre has grown to immense proportions. Everywhere you turn, a vampire seems to hide in the shadows. There are gothic nightclubs, vampire organiztions such as the ARVLFC and the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, roleplaying groups in practically every town on the face of the earth, and even on the internet, vampires live. There is no escaping the seduction and charm of the vampire, both in folkore and reality. It is everywhere we look...there are more vampires out there than one might imagine. The vampire truly is immortal. Perhaps not in the traditional sense of the word, but it has never been completely banished from the moment it reared its not-so-ugly head. From Ancient Greece to modern day, the vampire continues to bleed our imaginations dry...
Vampire TimelineYear Event
5000 BC The emergence of Vampirism in the Mediterranean.
2000 BC Tomb of Vampire is erected in Giza, Egypt.
31 Jesus is claimed to have healed vampires at Capernaum.
140 Reign of Longinus, Rome's Vampire Emperor.
1047 "Upir" makes it's first appearance as a word referring to a Russian prince as "Upir Lichy", or wicked vampire.
1096 First Crusade expels vampires from The Holy Land, Jerusalem.
1196 "Chronicles" by William of Newburgh's. It recorded several stories of vampire-like revenants in England.
1428 "Dracula"; aka Vlad Dracula or aka Vlad the Impaler is born.
1477 Vlad the Impaler is assassinated.
1484 The Malleus Maleficarium (the witch hunter's bible) is written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. The topic of how to hunt and destroy a vampire is discussed within it's pages.
1530 Italian scientist Ludovico Fatinelli burned at the stake for suggesting a biological cause for vampirism in his "Treatise on Vampires"
1560 Erzsebeth (Elizabeth) Bathory is born.
1607 "The Ship of the Dead" brings vampires to the New World.
1610 Elizabeth Bathory is tried and convicted of killing several hundred of girls. Her sentence is life imprisonment.
1614 Elizabeth Bathory dies.
1679 A German vampire text, "De Masticatione Mortuorum", is written by Phillip Rohr.
1734 The word "vampyre" enters the English language.
1748 The first modern vampyre poem, "Der Vampir", is published.
1813 A vampire appears in Lord Byron's The Giaour.
1819 John Polidori's "The Vampyre," is the first vampire story in English is published.
1847 Bram Stoker is born.
1850 Haussman destroys Paris' Vampire Quarter then rebuilds city.
1854 Copper Creek Siege in California prompts formation of Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency.
1872 In Italy, Vincenzo Verzeni is convicted of murdering two people and drinking their blood.
1882 New York Vampire riots ensue.
1891 Steketee's Vampire Rights movement in France is started.
1897 "Dracula" by Bram Stoker is published in England.
1905 Worldwide vampire population hits the one million.
1924 Fritz Haarmann the "Vampire of Hanover" is arrested, tried and convicted of killing more than 20 people in a vampire crime spree.
1931 Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, is released.
1932 The movie "Vampyr," directed by Carl Theodore Dreyer, is released.
1936 "Dracula's Daughter" is released.
1943 U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt unveils "The Zozobra Project".
1943 "Son of Dracula", stars Lon Chaney, Jr., as Dracula.
1950 In New Mexico an auto mechanic named Joe Valdez becomes the first successful recipient of the vampire vaccine.
1962 The Count Dracula Society is founded in the United States by Donald Reed.
1964 "The Munsters" and "The Addams Family"; television shows with vampire characters.
1965 Jeanne Youngson founds The Count Dracula Fan Club.
1967 Due to the Lazo Disaster in Siberia, the United Nations (UN) passes a resolution banning vampire blood research.
1970 Sean Manchester founds The Vampire Research Society."In Search of Dracula" by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu is published. --Stephan Kaplan founds The Vampire Research Centre.
1976 The first of the Vampire Chronicles, "Interview With the Vampire", by Anne Rice is published.
1979 Frank Langella stars in the remake of Dracula.
1980 Richard Chase, the so-called Dracula Killer of Sacramento, California, commits suicide in prison.
1985 "The Vampire Lestat" by Anne Rice is published and reaches the best seller list.
1986 President Reagan lifts ban on the vampire and zombie blood research.
1987 "Methuselah Project" is initiated at the Santa Rosa Institute.
1988 "The Queen of the Damned" is published by Anne Rice.
1991 Vampire: The Masquerade," the vampire role-playing game is released by White Wolf.
1992 "Bram Stoker's Dracula" directed by Francis Ford Coppola opens. Andrei Chikatilo of Russia, is sentenced to death after killing and committing vampirism 55 people.-"The Tale of the Body Thief" by Anne Rice is published.
1994 The film version of Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire" opens with Tom Cruise as the Vampire Lestat and Brad Pitt as Louis.
1998 Blade is released into theaters. Pandora by Anne Rice is published. The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice is published.
1999 Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice is published.
2002 Blade II is released in theaters.
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