Vampires The beginning of a failed legend..

Okay, So if we are going to explore the Vampire.. We are going to do this right, Previous threads on the subject and posts don't do this subject any justice.. That being said I believe the place to begin is, Well.. At the beginning..

The Beginning of a Somewhat Tragic and Highly Debatable mythological creature..

The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first appearance of the word vampire in English from 1734, in a travelogue titled Travels of Three English Gentlemen..

However this is not where Our journey into this subject will begin.. The vampire myth actually came from many, many folk legends, as well as the term "vampire" being used in many checkered ways throughout history such as, When It was used as a excuse for rabies, before a scientific explanation came to light.. Another topic that added to the mythic-ism Was when the term was used to explain why one corpse was less decayed than another.. We now know this is due to weather conditions, and climate conditions..

However Vampire legends have been around for centuries.. Many speculate even before Recorded time.. Digging deep into the legend you will soon come to the realization that Bram stoker was not the first to write about the Vampire, Now will he be the last..

What i would like to do with this thread is compile a list of, And explore the many legends of vampires.. I think a good place to begin would be here..

Vlad III the Impaler

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This is a brief history of "The Impaler"

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (1431–1476), more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler (Romanian: Vlad Țepeș pronounced [ˈvlad ˈt͡sepeʃ]) or simply as Dracula, was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462. Historically, Vlad III is best known for his resistance against the Ottoman Empire and its expansion[3] and for the impaling of enemies.[4] Vlad III is believed to have inspired the association of his name to that of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.[

Even though It's a known work of fiction, No vampire list would be complete without mention of "Count Dracula".. Possibly the most famous "vampire" in History..

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Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. It was first published as a hardcover in 1897 by Archibald Constable and Co.[1] Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel, that is, told as a series of letters, diary entries, ships' logs, etc. Literary critics have examined many themes in the novel, such as the role of women in Victorian culture, conventional and conservative sexuality, immigration, colonialism, postcolonialism and folklore. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, the novel's influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for many theatrical, film and television interpretations since its publication.

Possibly a less known tale, is the Ledgend of Cain and Lilith..

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Lilith, according to Hebrew Jewish texts, was the first woman created for Adam. After his failure, she was allowed to stay out on her own, as a witch, mother of all demons. She was allowed to kill infants up until their naming day (7 days for girls and 8 days for boys), unless they had a charm over their sleeping place with the names of the angels on them. Then, she promised, she would not kill them. Cain was the firstborn son of Adam and Eve. He was banished, with a mark, from the land of his parents because he killed his brother in a jealous rage. Cain wandered until he found Lilith by the Red Sea. She took him in and showed him the power of blood.

Moving on to the tale of Judas Iscariot..

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A somewhat obscure myth, folklore holds that vampires originated with Judas Iscariot, betrayer of Christ. Because Judas had betrayed Christ to the Romans, he and his family were cursed. The Bible holds that Judas committed suicide because of his guilt; suicides in vampire folklore were very likely to come back as vampires, so this may have helped contribute to the belief that vampires originated with Judas. Also, vampires descended from Judas were usually identifiable by their red hair. This probably points to the origin of the myth among the Greeks, as they believed red hair to be a mark of vampirism. Among the dark Greek, red-hair would certainly seem strange, but among people farther north, closer to the Scandinavian countries which feature such hair, there would be little to no stigma attached to it

Next we have the Incubus/ Succubus

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In folklore traced back to medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi) is a female demon appearing in dreams who takes the form of a human woman in order to seduce men, usually through sexual intercourse. The male counterpart is the incubus. Religious traditions hold that repeated intercourse with a succubus may result in the deterioration of health or even death. In modern fictional representations, a succubus may or may not appear in dreams and is often depicted as a highly attractive seductress or enchantress, in contrast to the past where succubi were generally depicted as frightening and demonic.

The Shepherd of Blow

In the village of Blow, there was once a shepherd, who died for unknown reasons. Several days after his burial, he took to reappearing in his village and tormenting the people there. Anyone on whom he visited would die within 8 days. His case would be unremarkable, but for what happened next. Tired of his nightly ravishes, the villagers took the body from the grave-- finding it, of course, to be in a vampire state-- and they staked it through the heart and put it back in the grave. That night, the shepherd was again seen, and even angrier and more vicious than before. He now carried the stake in his hand, and he taunted that the stake made a good weapon to defend himself against the village dogs. The frightened people disinterred the body again and had it burned, finally ending the shepherd's deadly spree.

Arnod Paole (Arnold Paul)

In 1727 a young soldier, by the name of Arnod Paole, returned home to a village near Belgrade, after completing his service. He had enough money to but some land and a house, and though he was a wonderful neighbor, his social skills were a little less than desireable, as he always had an air of sorrow about him. He finally fell in love with a neighbor girl and they married, though his melencholia still persisted. His wife finally managed to get the reason for his saddness out of him. Arnod admitted to her that while on duty one night, in a far town, he was attacked by a creature who bit him and tried to drain his blood. He managed to fight the thing off until dawn, when the body fell lifeless and he was able to stake and burn the body to ashes. Before doing so he drank a small amount of the vampire's blood, but being unfamiliar with the local territory, he was unable to find the vampire's grave to extract adn consume the dirt from it. Arnod told his wife that he was fearful, since he had not competed the ritual, that he would become a vampire upon his death. Not long after his confession, a loaded wagon of hay fell on Arnod one day in the field and crushed him to death. About a month after his burial, townspeople reported seeing Arnod wandering around the village, and those whom he came in direct contact with died within a few days. After ceaseless nightly attacks, the villagers decided to raise Arnod's body. His case was made unique in that government officials were called out to inspect the body and an official report was made of it. In attendance at the public exhumation were two military surgeons. When the sexton finally raised the coffin and pried open the lid, they found Arnod's body, in the ground some 40 days, fresh and in a vampiric state. The sexton exclaimed over the fresh blood at his mouth, "Ah, you didn't wipe your mouth after last night's work." A young attendant of the surgeons fainted at the sight. Arnod's body, however, was staked and burned to ash, the ashes being replaced in the grave. Several others who were have believed to have died from Arnod's attack were also exhumed and similarly reduced to ash. However, the nightly attacks resumed some five years later, and another official investigation was conducted and many more graves were open, some being in a vampire state and others being in a normal state of decomposition. Burning the suspected vampires, and returning the others to their graves, the vamprie plague finally ceased once and for all. The report given by witnesses-- military surgeons, ang various officals-- was sent to the highest authorities and still remains intact to this day.

Peter Plogojowitz

Ten years after the death of one Peter Plogojowitz, his village in Hungary reported seeing Peter wandering the streets by night. In some instances, he came into people's houses and choked them, causing them to die in less than 24 hours. Even the widow Plogojowitz reported that her deceased husband had appeared to her, demanding his shoes. The villagers asked the local military officials for permission to disinter the body. Though reluctant, they ageed. One officer and a minister were present at the exhumation, upon which they found Peter's body intact, despite his being dead for a decade. His body was staked-- a great amount of fresh blood flowing from it-- and burnt to ash, wherein the deaths in the village ceased.

In modern day The Vampire can be seen in a wide array of different ways/ meanings.. For example capitalism, "They once sucked our blood, Now they suck our money.."

This is part of the Downfall of the Vampire Legend the commercialization of the Vampire.. thus being the reason behind the misinformation, and debates over the origins..

Today Vampires can be found in everything from TV shows, Movies, Video-games, commercials, Books, Even Our Morning Breakfast..
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By the way.. Vampires don't play baseball..

T-V

Star and flag...

Well done for a general investigation. I happen to be a descendant of Count Chocula... Oh and we Vampires do play baseball... Only it's twilight Double Headers... And that tends to suck... er... Blood!!!

reply to post by sigung86


Haha, thanks for the reply.. I was starting to think this was the beginning of a failed thread..

I don't believe in real Vampires, but ----- I am craaaazy about The Vampire Diaries. Man, that is a good TV show. Sheerly on the surface, it looks to be something for young girl viewers. But it's really really great writing producing and acting. I LOVE all of the characters, they are PERFECT! It's not quite Ann Rice - level, but nearly, I'd say. Ann Rice RULES!
Anyone remember 'Dark Shadows' and Barnabas Collins? I thought I heard a movie was being made re. that. I wonder whats going on there.

There was an incident in Stoke on Trent in January 1973. PC John Pye was called to investigate the death of a Demetrios Myicuiria, a Polish immigrant in his seventies, living in a Victorian terrace in the heart of the Potteries. (Interesting to note that descendants of the Dracula family actually owned a house in the same area that mysteriously burnt to the ground sometime later)

Old people die alone commonly enough, abandoned by friends & family, but there was something odd about that particular death. It was noticed, by the light of the PC'S torch, that salt had been scattered around the room, in particular the old mans deathbed. A half - empty bag of salt lay between his legs and on his pillow, and a number of containers in the room were full of a mixture of salt & the mans urine.

The inquest first reported that Myicuiria had choked to death on a pickled onion that was found lodged in his windpipe, but closer examination revealed that the 'onion' was in fact a bulb of garlic. Garlic, salt and the crucifix are the traditional symbols of good against evil. The Coroner said:

"This man genuinely believed.....I've been a lawyer for a long time, dealing with courtroom cases of all kinds. I've seen all sorts of depravity, all sorts of nonsense, but I can visualize what was behind this man. A lot of evil had happened to him (he had lost everything during the Second World War)...I am convinced, even after this inquest, that this man was genuinely afraid of vampires and (was) not trying to kill himself".

Interestingly, in folklore, one of the reasons why some people become vampires in the first place is that they are predisposed to it. Writes Paul Barber author of Vampires, Burial and Death: Folklore and Reality. 'People who are different, unpopular or great sinners are apt to return from the dead, and they often die alone'.

Though we have no way of knowing if the poor man was unpopular or sinner, as a Polish refugee in S-O-T in the 70's he was certainly different. It's rather ironic that in some societies a man terrified of vampires might be considered one himself.

reply to post by simone50m


Never watched the vampire diaries.. I have heard it is good from a few people now, I don't watch much tv these day's.. But Dark shadows was a great show way back when.. HAHA Sometimes if i have the tv on i catch a re-run on the sci/fi channel.. Good stuff

reply to post by Suspiria


Very, Very interesting.. First time i have ever heard this, It's possible Demetrios suffered a mental illness, and believed to be a Vampire hunter..

Or it could just be one of those cases that will remain unsolved, and never be spoken of again.. Very strange, star for you.. Now i'm intrigued HAHA..

i come from Romania and all i can tell you is there are parts of transilvania ,small villages where pple still fear vampires.Our word for it is strigoi which is associated with the verb striga(romanian) means to scream ,and also with the italian(latin)word strega which means witch. some say the strigoi can be either a mortal with or sourcerer or an immortal restless soul .
i cannot say if they are real or less the same way i cannot call us real..but you know..there s no smoke without a fire
oh..found sth else:the word striga in latin meant owl or dark spirit instead in old greek means old witch who kills babies...
vampires are thought to be more active in 3 specific nights:santoader,sangeorge e santandrei(30 nov)i dont know about the other 2 but santoader not to be understood as saint toader (look mircea eliade)
interesting thing about the other word :moroi.that are thought to bring bad dreams,incubus type of spirit.:the romans called them mors,slavic pple mora(terrible dream),russians mora or kikimora,the french cauchemar,england marnt,old german mahr,cechia:murama...and list can go on forever...everybody knew about the bad spirits that bring bad dreams

Perhaps someone worthy of noting here, would be Countess Elisabeth Bathory, who didn't drink the blood of her victims, but did bathe in it thinking it made her skin look younger.

Originally posted by Lulzaroonie
Perhaps someone worthy of noting here, would be Countess Elisabeth Bathory, who didn't drink the blood of her victims, but did bathe in it thinking it made her skin look younger.

I don't think you can find the virgins for it anymore.

reply to post by Suspiria


HAHA, I'm going to have to agree with you on that one..

reply to post by TechVampyre

Have had a strange fascination with Vampires especially during WW2, Hitlers private bodyguards are all presented with this cerimonial dagger made of silver, I often wonder why ? anyways found this article whilst researching, might have some relivence, TechVampyre,

"With so much death and destruction going on "anything" could have come and went at this period of time,
Which lead me to speculate on the theory of Vampires of Germany, from wiki and yahoo,.

A Nachzehrer is a sort of German vampire. Nachzehrer translates "afterwards (nach) living being (zehrer)". The Nachzehrer was prominent in the Northern region of Germany including Silesia and Bavaria and also with the Kashubes of Northern Europe. Though officially a vampire, they are also similar to zombies, and in many ways different from either undead. The nachzehrer is not a blood sucker. Instead, they live off of the consumption of already dead bodies,..
Here is the dagger i commented on,

reply to post by foxhoundone


Very interesting indeed, I'm going to have to do some research into that, Nazi Germany is such a fascinating topic in it self.. And it makes it all the more interesting with all the mysteries, and strange happenings that went on around WW2, such as the foo fughters, Hitlers psychics/ Strange obsession's and so on..

Thanks for sharing!

reply to post by TechVampyre

Just not a problem my friend, You might want to checkout a thread called"A curious nazi occult tale" on ATS The OP is SOXMIS and its about a haunted kaserne in Celle Germany, I think you might enjoy some aspects of it as it has a bit of everything, And please feel free to post TechVampyre and friends.