1047 AD was the first recorded appearance of the word "Upir" or"Vampire". Boy these suckers have been around for a long time. Lets look into the history of the vampire and check out a few of the most famous Vamps along the way...
Vampire (Definition from wilkopedia online dictionary)
Vampires are mythical or folkloric creatures, typically held to be the re-animated corpses of human beings and said to subsist on human and/or animal blood (hematophagy), often having unnatural powers, heightened bodily functions, and/or the ability to physically transform. Some cultures have myths of non-human vampires, such as demons or animals like bats, dogs, and spiders. Vampires are often described as having a variety of additional powers and character traits, extremely variable in different traditions, and are a frequent subject of folklore, cinema, and contemporary fiction.
Tales of the dead craving blood are in nearly every culture around the world. Vampire-like spirits called the Lilu are mentioned in early Babylonian demonology, and the bloodsucking Akhkharu even earlier in the Sumerian mythology. These female demons were said to roam during the hours of darkness, hunting and killing newborn babies and pregnant women. One of these demons, named Lilitu, was later adapted into Jewish demonology as Lilith. Lilitu/Lilith is sometimes called the mother of all vampires.
The Aztecs had the Civatateo that was a vampire-like creature. When a noblewoman died in childbirth she would surely rise again as one of these creatures.
Asia had versions of bloodsucking demons that bore a resemblence to the vampire as well.
The Kitsune of Japan was a fox spirit that would charm it's victims and then drain them of thier life force.
In the Phillipino folklore he Manananggal was a winged creature that could detach it's upper body from it's lower half and would roam the night searching for infants to drain of blood.
The Chinese ji?ng sh? was more along the lines of what would be considered a Zombie by westerners but it was also known to drain it's vitims of thier blood.
The Ancient Egyptians and Romans had thier own versions of the vampire legends including the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet whose bloodlust could only be sated by drinking alchohol colored as blood and the Romans had tales of the Strix a Nocturnal bird-like creature that feasted on human flesh and blood.
It is thought that the Romanian version of the vampire that became famous throughout Europe originally stemmed from the ancient Roman legends.
The Romanians held similar beleifs with the Slavic peoples and beleived that people who were witches in life would become vampires or "Strigoi" in death. Other ways to becoma a vampire included being born out of wedlock, dying an unnatural death, dying before baptism, being born the seventh child of the same sex in a family, being the child of a pregnant woman who did not eat salt or who was looked at by a vampire, or a witch.
Of course, being bitten by vampire, meant you were doomed to come back as a vampire yourself.
They beleived that by placing a crucifix in the coffin, placing heavy blocks on the neck of the suspected Vampire, or placing scythes above the necks of the undead would prevent them from rising from thier graves.
They would also nail the clothes of the deceased to the coffin or nail an iron or wooden stake through the body. This was done to hold the vampire to the ground. Wooden stakes were never meant to destroy a vampire as seen in modern movies. It was merely meant to incapacitate them.
The most effective ways to destroy a vampire were by decapitation or incineration.
When the coffin of an alleged vampire was opened, people sometimes found the cadaver in a relatively undecomposed state, which could have been interpreted as the corpse being the equivalent of a well-fed vampire. Another reason to believe that a body is a vampire that has fed on the living is the strange illusion that the hair, nails, and teeth have grown. It is a well known phenomenon that after death the skin and gums lose fluids and contract, exposing the roots of the hair, nails, and teeth, even teeth that were concealed in the jaw. [6] Folkloric accounts almost universally represent the alleged vampire as having ruddy or dark skin, not the pale skin of vampires in literature and film. In the past, people were often malnourished and therefore thin in life, which could account for the pale skin often referred to. Corpses swell as gases from decomposition accumulate in the torso and blood tries to escape the body. During decomposition blood can often be seen emanating from nose and mouth, which could give the impression that the corpse was a vampire who had been drinking blood. Natural processes of decomposition, absent embalming, tend to darken the skin of a corpse — hence the black, blue, or red complexion of the folkloric vampire.
Modern Vampires
Belief in vampires still persists across the globe to this day.The vampire subculture of today is largely a social creation within Western culture, seemingly drawing from the rich recent history of popular culture related to cult symbolism, horror films, the fiction of Anne Rice, and the styles of Victorian England. Additionally, much of the subculture appears to derive from games such as Vampire: The Masquerade and TV programmes such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The subculture is typically delineated by a particular style of dress and decor that combines elements of the Victorian, Punk, Glam and Gothic fashions with styles featured in vampire films and fiction. Some profess to drink blood albeit from willing victims.
During late 2002 and early 2003, hysteria about alleged attacks of vampires swept through the African country of Malawi. Mobs stoned one individual to death and attacked at least four others, including Governor Eric Chiwaya, due to a belief that the government was colluding with vampires.
In Romania, several relatives of Toma Petre dug up his body, tore out his heart, burned the organ and drank its ashes in water in February of 2004, thinking that he had become a vampire.
In January 2005, it was reported that an attacker had bitten a number of people in Birmingham, England, fueling concerns about a vampire roaming the streets. However, local police stated that no such crimes had been reported to them, and this case appears to be an urban legend.
In the modern folklore of Puerto Rico and Mexico, the chupacabra (goat-sucker) is said to be a creature that feeds upon the flesh or drinks the blood of domesticated animals, leading some to consider it vampiric. The "chupacabras hysteria" was frequently associated with deep economical and political crisis, particularily during the middle of the 90`s decade.
Dracula The fictional character
Brahm Stoker- Author of Dracula
Sometime in the late nineteenth century, Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, is traveling to the Castle Dracula, which is located in Transylvania, in order to finalize a transfer of real estate in England to Count Dracula. Harker becomes extremely nervous when all of the local peasants react in fear after they hear of his destination; nevertheless, he continues on to the castle until he meets an emissary of the Count in the Borgo Pass. The mysterious coach driver continues on to the castle, arriving in pitch darkness, to the accompaniment of howling wolves.
Abraham (Brahm) Stokers Dracula written in 1897 is the definitive vampire story. Stoker took random facts associated with the legendary Vlad Dracula and combined them with cotemporary (for 1897!) themes for his novel that shocked and frightened people when it was released.
The 1922 silent film Nosferatu was based on Stokers novel
and the Bela Lugosi film of 1931 was based on the novel as well.
Over the years dozens (more likely Hundreds) of movies have been based on the legend of Dracula (a list can be found below).
The Dracula in the books and movies however pale in comparison to the evils commited by the real dracula. Also known as Vlad the Impaler. (Vlad the impaler is also a cool GWAR song for those of you who care!)
The real Dracula: aka: Vlad dracul, Vlad tepes, Vlad the impaler
Vlad III Dracula (November or December, 1431 – December 1476) was also known as Dracula, or Vlad the Impaler.
He was the prince of Wallachia (now a province in south Romania) and his three reigns were in 1448, from 1456 to 1462, and 1476.
Vlad led an independent policy in relation to the Ottoman Empire, and in Romania he is best remembered as a Christian knight and his crusades against Islamic expansionism into Europe. He is known in Turkish as Kaz?kl? Bey, or the Impaler Prince, and is a popular folk hero in Romania and Moldova even today.
Outside of Romania he is known by the tales of atrocities and even more so - the title of vampire and as the main character of Bram Stoker's 1897 horror novel, Dracula.
It has been suggested that his association with vampires stemmed from a certain grotesque eating habit.
After defeating an enemy Vlad would consume bread dipped in his victims' blood.
His post-mortem moniker of Tepes (Impaler) originated in his preferred method for executing his opponents, impalement.
No one was immune to Dracula's attentions. His victims included women and children, peasants and great lords, ambassadors from foreign powers and merchants. However, the vast majority of his European victims came from the merchants and boyars of Transylvania and his own country, Wallachia.
Dracula committed even more impalements and other vicious atrocities against invading forces, namely Turks and other Muslims. It was once reported that an invading Turkish army turned back in fright when it encountered thousands of rotting corpses impaled on the banks of the Danube. In 1462 Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, a man not noted for his squeamishness, returned to Constantinople after being sickened by the sight of twenty thousand impaled corpses outside of Dracula's capital of Târgovi?te. Many of the victims were Turkish prisoners of war Vlad had previously captured during the Turkish invasion. The total Turkish casualty toll in this battle reached over forty thousand. The warrior sultan turned command of the campaign against Dracula over to subordinates and returned to Istanbul, even though his army had initially tripled Vlad's in size.
Dracula anecdotes
The golden cup
Dracula was so ruthless and feared that he placed a golden cup on display in the central square of Târgovi?te, and said it belonged to everyone and they could drink from it. The cup was never stolen and remained entirely unmolested throughout Dracula's reign.
The Foreign Merchant
A merchant from a foreign land once visited Dracula's capital of Târgovi?te. Aware of the reputation for honesty in Dracula's land, he left a treasure-laden cart unguarded in the street overnight. Returning to his wagon in the morning, the merchant was shocked to find 160 golden ducats missing. When the merchant complained of his loss to the prince, Dracula assured him that his money would be returned and invited him to remain in the palace that night. Dracula then issued a proclamation to the city to find the thief and return the money or the city would be destroyed. During the night he ordered that 160 ducats plus one extra be taken from his own treasury and placed in the merchant's cart. On returning to his cart in the morning and counting his money the merchant discovered the extra ducat. The merchant returned to Dracula and reported that his money had indeed been returned plus an extra ducat. Meanwhile the thief had been captured and turned over to the prince's guards along with the stolen money. Dracula ordered the thief impaled and informed the merchant "If you would have not reported back to me in honesty I would have impaled two theives this day instead of one".
The Turkish Ambassadors
Three Turkish envoys came to prince dracula on a diplomatic mission. When ushered into the presence of the prince, the Turks refused to remove their fezzes (or turbans). When questioned they answered that it was not the custom of their fathers to remove their hats. Dracula then ordered their hats nailed to their heads with three nails so that they might never have to break such an excellent tradition. The envoys were sent back to the sultan. According to Levantine customs, this was held to be a courageous act of defiance in the face of the Turkish Ottomans.
Dracula's Mistress
Dracula once had a mistress who lived in a house in the back streets of Târgovi?te. This woman apparently loved the prince to distraction and was always anxious to please him. Dracula was often moody and depressed and the woman made every effort to lighten her lover's burdens. Once, when Dracula was particularly depressed, the woman dared tell him a lie in an effort to cheer him up; she told him that she was pregnant. Dracula warned the woman not to joke about such matters but she insisted on the truth of her claim despite her knowledge of the prince's feelings about dishonesty. Dracula had the woman examined by midwives, to determine the veracity of her claim. When informed that the woman was lying, Dracula drew his knife and cut her open from the groin to her breasts while proclaiming his desire for the world to see where he had been. Dracula then left the woman to die in agony.
The Lazy Woman
Dracula once noticed a man working in the fields while wearing too short a caftan. The prince stopped and asked the man whether or not he had a wife. When the man answered in the affirmative, Dracula had the woman brought before him and asked her how she spent her days. The poor, frightened woman stated that she spent her days washing, baking and sewing. The prince pointed out her husband's short caftan as evidence of her laziness and dishonesty and ordered her impaled despite her husband's objection that he was well satisfied with his wife. Dracula then ordered another woman to marry the peasant but admonished her to work hard or suffer her predecessor's fate.
The Nobleman with the Keen Sense of Smell
On St. Bartholomew's Day (sometime in August) in 1459, Dracula caused thirty thousand of the merchants and nobles of the Transylvanian city of Bra?ov to be impaled. In order that he might better enjoy the results of his orders, the prince commanded that his table be set up and that his boyars join him for a feast amongst the forest of impaled corpses. While dining, Dracula noticed that one of his boyars was holding his nose in an effort to alleviate the terrible smell of clotting blood and emptied bowels. Dracula then ordered the sensitive nobleman impaled on a stake higher than all the rest so that he might be above the stench.
The Burning of the Sick and Poor
Dracula was very concerned that all his subjects work and contribute to the common welfare. He once noticed that the poor, vagrants, beggars and cripples had become very numerous in his land. Consequently, he issued an invitation to all the poor and sick in Wallachia to come to Târgovi?te for a great feast, claiming that no one should go hungry in his land. As the poor and crippled arrived in the city they were ushered into a great hall where a fabulous feast was prepared for them. The prince's guests ate and drank late into the night, when Dracula himself made an appearance. "What else do you desire? Do you want to be without cares, lacking nothing in this world?" asked the prince. When they answered that such was indeed their wish, Dracula ordered the hall boarded up and set on fire. None escaped the flames. Dracula explained his action to the boyars by claiming that he did this, "in order that they represent no further burden to other men so that no one will be poor in my realm."
Vampire movies
Aside from 1922's Nosferatu and 1931's Dracula there have been tons of good Vampire movies over the years. Here are just a few.
From Dusk Til Dawn
The fugitive Gecko brothers take a priest and his family hostage while en route to freedom in Mexico. Arriving at thier rendezvous they meet in a club filled with loads of dark and mysterious characters. But if only the Gecko boys realised that they were indeed in far deeper shit than they could ever imagine . . .
Bordello of blood
The old bag of bones 'Cryptkeeper' returns for his second full length feature flick about a funeral home that's a front for a whorehouse run by vampires.
Bram Stokers Dracula 1992
Gary Oldman .... Dracula
Winona Ryder .... Mina Murray/Elisabeta
Anthony Hopkins .... Professor Abraham Van Helsing
Keanu Reeves .... Jonathan Harker
This version of Dracula is closely based on Bram Stoker's classic novel of the same name. A young lawyer (Jonathan Harker) is assigned to a gloomy village in the mists of eastern Europe. He is captured and imprisoned by the undead vampire Dracula, who travels to London, inspired by a photograph of Harker's betrothed, Mina Murray. In Britain, Dracula begins a reign of seduction and terror, draining the life from Mina's closest friend, Lucy Westenra. Lucy's friends gather together to try to drive Dracula away.
Fright Night
For young Charlie Brewster, nothing could be better than an old horror movie late at night. Two men move in next door, and for Charlie with his horror movie experience, there can be no doubt that their strange behavior is explained by the fact that they are a vampire and his undead day guardian. The only one who can help him hunt them down is a washed-up actor, Peter Vincent, who hosts Charlie's favorite TV show, Fright Night. Vincent doesn't really believe that vampires exist, but does it for the money...
The master will kill you for this! But not fast... Slowly! Oh, so slowly!
The lost boys
A mother and her two sons move to a small coast town in California. The town is plagued by bikers and some mysterious deaths. The younger boy makes friends with two other boys who claim to be vampire hunters while the older boy is drawn into the gang of bikers by a beautiful girl. The older boy starts sleeping days and staying out all night while the younger boy starts getting into trouble because of his friends' obsession.
3.. Evil 3 Ah! Ah! Ah!
Old folklore from Eastern Europe suggests that many vampires suffered from a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, being fascinated with counting. Millet or poppy seeds were placed on the ground at the gravesite of a presumed vampire, in order to keep the vampire occupied all night counting. Chinese myths about vampires also state that if a vampire comes across a sack of rice, s/he will have to count all of the grains. Aside from the Muppet character of Count von Count on television's Sesame Street, this characteristic seems to have largely disappeared from popular culture.
