Peter Allchin popular author of Vampire book has kindly helped with this section and in his own words has compiled his own piece of information: There is no definitive answer to one of the most common questions asked about vampires; when did they first appear? Myths, legends, or whatever you want to call them started thousands of years ago. The darkness of night has always held fear and fascination for what might happen to the hapless souls who venture out. There has always been stories, usually aimed at children, about how they might be taken away in the dead of night by some unseen monster. Imagine living in a remote village, many hundreds of years ago. Superstition is rife. No street lights and the night is black as pitch. Wolves howl at the moon. Noises of beasts in the forest, calling, fighting, killing, would be enough to frighten most people. It is out of this fear that myths and legends were born. Many countries around the world have their own versions of the vampire legend. In fact, there are those who genuinely believe that vampires exist and do what vampires do. But what exactly do vampires do? The answer, by most people, would probably be; drink the blood of a human, (usually a young pretty female), by sinking the fangs into a vein in the neck. This is true of certain vampires, but not all. Some do not drink blood, but may eat parts of the body. The Doppelsaugers of Germany, for example, are child vampires with a taste for eating relatives’ breasts. Western vampires are said to be offended by the presence of garlic, and holy water can burn the flesh as though it were acid. There a number of ways a vampire can be destroyed. The most popular being a wooden stake through the heart. Decapitation, burning and drowning are also fatal, as is sunlight. Bram Stoker, 1847-1912, was an Irish author, best known for his novel; Dracula, published in 1897. It was this novel, above all others, that brought the vampire to the attention of the general public. The story has been written in the form of an ‘epistolary novel’; letters, diary entries, etc. ‘written’ by the characters. This writing style gives the story a certain credulity that the more conventional way of writing can sometimes achieve. However, it can also be ‘hard going’ on the reader. The research by Stoker into European folklore took over seven years, a long time by any author’s standards, before writing Dracula. It was once widely accepted that he, (Stoker), modelled the vampire on Vlad III; also known as Vlad Tepes/Vlad the Impaler. Tepes translates to Impaler. There is now some doubt as to that belief. Vlad the Impaler was one of history’s most infamous mass murders. He was born in Sighişoara, a military fortress, in 1431. In that year, his father, Vlad II, (Mircea the Old), was invested with the Order of the Dragon by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. Vlad II took the name Dracul. Vlad Dracul and his eldest son, Mircea, were murdered by the Boyers. It was particularly gruesome, as Mircea was buried alive. Vlad III took his father’s place and was prince of Wallachia, a province of Romania. Three times he ruled the province; 1448, 1456–1462, and 1476. The man was cruel beyond belief, impaling on spikes, not just enemies, but thousands of his own people. There they would rot until the flesh was gone from the bones. It was well known that Vlad was quick tempered and hated dishonesty and cheats. He took a dagger to the belly of his own mistress because she lied to him about her being pregnant. Her slow death was excruciatingly painful. Vlad eventually took revenge for his father and brother’s murder, by holding a party for all the Boyers. During the party, Vlad and his men arrested and put to the stake, the older Boyers and their families. Those that were left, were force marched to Peonari where they were made to build a castle from the ruins of a nearby military outpost, by the river Arges. Very few survived the hardship. There seems to be several conflicting accounts of how Vlad Tepes died. One suggests he was assassinated, while another says that Vlad fell; his army defeated, surrounded by the bodies of his loyal Moldavian bodyguard. These were troops commanded by Stephen Bathory, (Elizabeth Bathory is mentioned further into this article). Bathory had returned to Transylvania, after which, Prince Stephen of Moldavia, loaned the men to Vlad. However, it is generally agreed that Vlad the Impaler died in the year 1476. Some of the Impaler’s more atrocious actions, were against women. They were often impaled through the vagina with a red-hot spike, until the spike passed out through the mouth. Breasts were frequently cut off. There are conflicting opinions about most vampires, and the Zmue is just one of many. According to some, Zemue takes the form of a flame. It enters the room of a lone female before turning into a man and seducing her. The Zemue is also seen as a thief, often taking something of great value to man; e.g. the sun. Songs have been written about this vampire who lures beautiful young women away with a promise of marriage. He has magical powers, supernatural strength and can transform into many creatures. The Strigoica vampires are from Romania, they are all female, have red hair and two hearts. The males are known as Strigoi. These vampires and many others are probably no more than figments of the imagination. I say probably as I do not want any visitations from the above to disprove what I have to say! However, there are cases of actual people being classed as vampires. One such famous person is Countess Elizabeth Báthory. Elizabeth was born of noble birth, (niece to Stefan Báthory, King of Poland), on August 7th 1560, in Nyírbátor, Hungary. She was only a child of 11 years, when she became engaged to Ferenc Nádasdy, whom she married, and gave birth to her first child when she was 15. This was a time when Hungary was at war with the Ottomans and in 1578, Nádasdy, now commander, led Hungarian troops against the enemy. While her husband was away, which was often, Elizabeth took charge of family affairs. It all seems so simple and innocent, as it was not uncommon a thing to do, for a woman with her social status. However, in 1604, after the death of her husband, there were rumours that Elizabeth was involved in torturing and murdering over 600 young women and girls. It was claimed that Elizabeth, also known as the Blood Countess, bathed in the blood of virgins, to retain her youthful beauty. This, however, has never been proved and is largely discounted as being true. Because of her high position, Countess Báthory was never formally tried in court, but was nevertheless, convicted on 80 counts. At the trial of the servants who helped Elizabeth; Dorottya Szentes, Ilona Jó, Katalin Benicka and János Újváry, there were descriptions of the horror that many of Báthory’s victims suffered. These include torture and beatings, often leading to death. Starvation, freezing to death, eating body parts, including the face, and burning the hands, face and genitals. All the accused were found guilty. Dorottya, Ilona and János had their fingernails pulled out and were burned alive. János was beheaded before being thrown onto the bonfire. Eliabeth was put under house arrest and locked away in a single room, where she stayed for four years, until her death in 1614, at the age of 54. There are few reports of English vampires. However, there is a story dating back, possibly to the 12th century, of a vampire in Berwick-upon-Tweed. A rich man, unfortunately, unnamed, died and was buried, as one would expect. According to "Historia Rerum Anglicarum”, translated by Joseph Stevenson, the corpse began to wander the streets "pursued by a pack of dogs with loud barkings". People were afraid to leave their houses at night and the stench of the rotting ‘vampire’ would likely cause the townsfolk to die of disease. Unable to withstand any more of these frightening events, ten men gathered around the grave and removed the body. Arms and legs were cut from the corpse and the the whole was cremated. After the cremation, all was quiet at night; no more foul-smelling corpse wandering around, followed by the dogs. The people felt safe, "But a pestilence, which arose in consequence, carried off the greater portion of them.". During the middle of the twentieth century, many British newspapers hailed John George Haigh, a vampire. Newspapers reported on the ‘Acid Bath Vampire’. He was, in fact, The Acid Bath Murderer. As a young man, Haigh was sent to prison on several occasions for forgery and fraud, therefore it is safe to assume that the horrific murders he committed, were born out of greed. Haigh spoke of a recurring dream. In the dream, a forest of crucifixes would gradually turn into trees, dripping with blood. A man would collect the blood in a cup and offer it to Haigh, who would wake before drinking from it. However, on the 9th September 1944, Haigh murdered his first victim. From the body, he took enough blood to fill a cup, (a symbolic gesture?), and drank it. Afterwards, the body, which had been placed in a tub, was covered with acid. The resulting sludge was poured down a drain. William Donald McSwan was the first of many victims. Suspicions were raised after Haigh bought a quantity of acid, and tanks, large enough to put a body into. Haigh was hanged on August 10, 1949. This case raises an interesting question: is the drinking of human blood, by a human, an act of vampirism? Thank you from all the team Peter.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 10:59:32 +0000
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