Modern Vampires
Abraham (Bram) Stoker, a theater manager and part-time novelist, was not the first author to feature the vampire in a literary work, but his version is the one that really caught on. This is largely due to the novel's unforgettable villain, Count Dracula, as well as the foreboding setting. Stoker arrived at both elements through extensive research. He set much of the action in the mysterious mountains of the Transylvania province of Romania, and he based his vampires on eastern European and gypsy folklore.
Selectively sampling from several versions of the vampire myth and adding some details of his own, Stoker formed the standard for the modern vampire. Unlike the vampires in the eastern European tradition, Stoker's monster loses power in the sunlight, is repelled by crucifixes and has acute intelligence. Interestingly, Stoker's vampires do not have reflections, while many earlier vampire creatures were fascinated by their own reflection.
Stoker's research also turned up a name for his villain. The original Dracula was a real person, Prince Vladislav Basarab, who ruled Wallachia in the mid 1400s. His father was known as Vlad Dracul (translated as either "Vlad the dragon" or "Vlad the devil"), in recognition of his induction into a society called The Order of the Dragon. Vlad Jr. was sometimes referred to as Vlad Dracula, meaning "son of Dracul," but more often he was called "Vlad Tepes," meaning "Vlad the Impaler." This was in reference to Vlad's predilection for impaling his enemies on long wooden stakes.
Count Dracula's namesake, Prince Vlad Tepes, was infamous for his viciousness on and off the battlefield.
The real Dracula had a reputation for unfathomable brutality (a reputation many Romanians claim is inaccurate), but there is not much evidence showing that people believed he was a vampire. Stoker's fictional villain is not closely modeled after the real Dracula, though they are sometimes linked in movies based on the book. Mainly, Stoker borrowed the name of the prince, as well as his social standing. Unlike the wandering, homeless strigoi, Stoker's vampire was a wealthy aristocratic type, hiding out in a grandiose castle.
The Real Deal
Throughout history, there have been a number of living people who exhibited vampire-like behavior. The most famous historical vampire was Elizabeth Bathory, a Transylvanian noblewoman who lived from 1560 to 1614. Bathory, who was terrified of aging, became convinced that bathing in blood (and perhaps consuming it) was the secret to maintaining a youthful appearance.
To this end, she tortured and killed hundreds of people, mostly young women. Eventually, she was tried for her crimes and imprisoned in a small room in her castle, where she died. See Court TV's Crime Library for more information on Elizabeth Bathory.
In the 1927 play "Dracula," and the film adaptation that followed in 1931, Bela Lugosi embraced this aristocratic notion, playing the count as a suave, sophisticated gentleman. This play also introduced Dracula's familiar outfit -- black formal wear and a billowing black cape. In the novel "Dracula," the count is described as a withered, ugly old man, more like Max Shreck's portrayal in the 1922 silent film adaptation, "Nosferatu," than Lugosi's presentation. But the suave Dracula caught on, showing up in scores of vampire movies, television shows and cartoons.
The vampire has continued to evolve over the years, as novelists and filmmakers reinterpret and expand the mythology. In Anne Rice's popular novels, she takes vampires to the next level, giving them a conscience and a range of emotions. In her work, vampires are not necessarily evil -- they are presented as real, rounded people. On the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," creator Joss Whedon has pursued similar ideas, exploring the idea of a vampire with a soul.
Academics have also maintained an interest in vampire lore and its roots. In the next section, we'll look at some modern theories of what might have inspired the vampire legend.
Selectively sampling from several versions of the vampire myth and adding some details of his own, Stoker formed the standard for the modern vampire. Unlike the vampires in the eastern European tradition, Stoker's monster loses power in the sunlight, is repelled by crucifixes and has acute intelligence. Interestingly, Stoker's vampires do not have reflections, while many earlier vampire creatures were fascinated by their own reflection.
Stoker's research also turned up a name for his villain. The original Dracula was a real person, Prince Vladislav Basarab, who ruled Wallachia in the mid 1400s. His father was known as Vlad Dracul (translated as either "Vlad the dragon" or "Vlad the devil"), in recognition of his induction into a society called The Order of the Dragon. Vlad Jr. was sometimes referred to as Vlad Dracula, meaning "son of Dracul," but more often he was called "Vlad Tepes," meaning "Vlad the Impaler." This was in reference to Vlad's predilection for impaling his enemies on long wooden stakes.
Count Dracula's namesake, Prince Vlad Tepes, was infamous for his viciousness on and off the battlefield.
The real Dracula had a reputation for unfathomable brutality (a reputation many Romanians claim is inaccurate), but there is not much evidence showing that people believed he was a vampire. Stoker's fictional villain is not closely modeled after the real Dracula, though they are sometimes linked in movies based on the book. Mainly, Stoker borrowed the name of the prince, as well as his social standing. Unlike the wandering, homeless strigoi, Stoker's vampire was a wealthy aristocratic type, hiding out in a grandiose castle.
The Real Deal
Throughout history, there have been a number of living people who exhibited vampire-like behavior. The most famous historical vampire was Elizabeth Bathory, a Transylvanian noblewoman who lived from 1560 to 1614. Bathory, who was terrified of aging, became convinced that bathing in blood (and perhaps consuming it) was the secret to maintaining a youthful appearance.
To this end, she tortured and killed hundreds of people, mostly young women. Eventually, she was tried for her crimes and imprisoned in a small room in her castle, where she died. See Court TV's Crime Library for more information on Elizabeth Bathory.
In the 1927 play "Dracula," and the film adaptation that followed in 1931, Bela Lugosi embraced this aristocratic notion, playing the count as a suave, sophisticated gentleman. This play also introduced Dracula's familiar outfit -- black formal wear and a billowing black cape. In the novel "Dracula," the count is described as a withered, ugly old man, more like Max Shreck's portrayal in the 1922 silent film adaptation, "Nosferatu," than Lugosi's presentation. But the suave Dracula caught on, showing up in scores of vampire movies, television shows and cartoons.
The vampire has continued to evolve over the years, as novelists and filmmakers reinterpret and expand the mythology. In Anne Rice's popular novels, she takes vampires to the next level, giving them a conscience and a range of emotions. In her work, vampires are not necessarily evil -- they are presented as real, rounded people. On the television show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," creator Joss Whedon has pursued similar ideas, exploring the idea of a vampire with a soul.
Academics have also maintained an interest in vampire lore and its roots. In the next section, we'll look at some modern theories of what might have inspired the vampire legend.
Later Vampires
The Dracula legend, and the modern vampire legend that came out of it, was directly inspired by the folklore of eastern Europe. History records dozens of mythical vampire figures in this region, going back hundreds of years. These vampires all have their particular habits and characteristics, but most fall into one of two general categories:
* Demons (or agents of the devil) that reanimated corpses so they could walk among the living
* Spirits of dead people that would not leave their own body
The Count Counts!
In eastern European folklore, you could ward off a vampire by scattering seeds on the ground, either on top of the vampire's grave or outside your house. Vampires were said to be obsessive creatures, and they were compelled to count all the seeds. If you hid a nail in the seeds, it would prick the vampire midway through the count. The vampire would then drop the seeds and have to start all over again.
The most notable demon vampires were the Russian upir and the Greek vrykolakas. In these traditions, sinners, unbaptized babies and other people outside the Christian faith were more likely to be reanimated after death. Those who practiced witchcraft were particularly susceptible because they had already given their soul to the devil in life. Once the undead corpses rose from the grave, they would terrorize the community, feeding on the living.
By many accounts, these undead corpses were required to return to their grave regularly to rest. When townspeople believed that someone had become a vampire, they would exhume the corpse and try to get rid of the evil spirit. They might try an exorcism ritual, but more often they would destroy the body. This might entail cremation, decapitation or driving a wooden stake through the heart. Bodies might also be buried face down, so the undead corpses would dig deeper into the earth, rather than up into shallower ground. Some families secured stakes above the corpse so it would impale itself if it tried to escape.
The vampires in Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania (now Romania) were commonly called strigoi. Strigoi were almost exclusively human spirits who had returned from the dead. Unlike the upir or vrykolakas, the strigoi would pass through different stages after rising from the grave. Initially, a strigo might be an invisible poltergeist, tormenting its living family members by moving furniture and stealing food. After some time, it would become visible, looking just as the person did in life. Again, the strigo would return to its family, stealing cattle, begging for food and bringing disease. Strigoi would feed on humans, first their family members and then anyone else they happened to come across. In some accounts, the strigoi would suck their victims' blood directly from the heart.
The strigo of eastern Europe: Strigoi, reanimated corpses that prey on the living, inspired much of the modern vampire legend.
Initially, a strigo needed to return to the grave regularly, just like an upir. If townspeople suspected someone had become a strigo, they would exhume the body and burn it, or run spikes through it. But after seven years, if a strigo was still around, it could live wherever it pleased. It was said that strigoi would travel to distant towns to begin new lives as ordinary people, and that these secret vampires would meet with each other in weekly gatherings.
In addition to undead strigoi, referred to as strigoi mort, people also feared living vampires, or strigoi viu. Strigoi viu were cursed living people who were doomed to become strigoi mort when they died. Babies born with abnormalities, such as a tail-like protrusion or a bit of fetal membrane tissue attached to the head (called a caul), were usually considered strigoi viu. If a strigoi mort living among humans had any children, the offspring were cursed to become undead strigoi in the afterlife. When a known strigoi viu died, the family would destroy its body to ensure that it would not rise from the grave.
In other parts of eastern Europe, strigoi-type creatures were known as vampir, or vampyr, most likely a variation on the Russian upir. Western European countries eventually picked up on this name, and "vampyr" (later "vampire") entered the English language.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, vampire hysteria spread through eastern Europe. People reported seeing their dead relatives walking around, attacking the living. Authorities dug up scores of graves, burning and staking the corpses. Word of the vampire scare spread to western Europe, leading to a slew of academic speculations on the creatures, as well as vampire poems and paintings. These works in turn inspired an Irishman named Bram Stoker to write his vampire novel, "Dracula." In the next section, we'll see how this work fits into the evolution of vampire lore.
* Demons (or agents of the devil) that reanimated corpses so they could walk among the living
* Spirits of dead people that would not leave their own body
The Count Counts!
In eastern European folklore, you could ward off a vampire by scattering seeds on the ground, either on top of the vampire's grave or outside your house. Vampires were said to be obsessive creatures, and they were compelled to count all the seeds. If you hid a nail in the seeds, it would prick the vampire midway through the count. The vampire would then drop the seeds and have to start all over again.
The most notable demon vampires were the Russian upir and the Greek vrykolakas. In these traditions, sinners, unbaptized babies and other people outside the Christian faith were more likely to be reanimated after death. Those who practiced witchcraft were particularly susceptible because they had already given their soul to the devil in life. Once the undead corpses rose from the grave, they would terrorize the community, feeding on the living.
By many accounts, these undead corpses were required to return to their grave regularly to rest. When townspeople believed that someone had become a vampire, they would exhume the corpse and try to get rid of the evil spirit. They might try an exorcism ritual, but more often they would destroy the body. This might entail cremation, decapitation or driving a wooden stake through the heart. Bodies might also be buried face down, so the undead corpses would dig deeper into the earth, rather than up into shallower ground. Some families secured stakes above the corpse so it would impale itself if it tried to escape.
The vampires in Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania (now Romania) were commonly called strigoi. Strigoi were almost exclusively human spirits who had returned from the dead. Unlike the upir or vrykolakas, the strigoi would pass through different stages after rising from the grave. Initially, a strigo might be an invisible poltergeist, tormenting its living family members by moving furniture and stealing food. After some time, it would become visible, looking just as the person did in life. Again, the strigo would return to its family, stealing cattle, begging for food and bringing disease. Strigoi would feed on humans, first their family members and then anyone else they happened to come across. In some accounts, the strigoi would suck their victims' blood directly from the heart.
The strigo of eastern Europe: Strigoi, reanimated corpses that prey on the living, inspired much of the modern vampire legend.
Initially, a strigo needed to return to the grave regularly, just like an upir. If townspeople suspected someone had become a strigo, they would exhume the body and burn it, or run spikes through it. But after seven years, if a strigo was still around, it could live wherever it pleased. It was said that strigoi would travel to distant towns to begin new lives as ordinary people, and that these secret vampires would meet with each other in weekly gatherings.
In addition to undead strigoi, referred to as strigoi mort, people also feared living vampires, or strigoi viu. Strigoi viu were cursed living people who were doomed to become strigoi mort when they died. Babies born with abnormalities, such as a tail-like protrusion or a bit of fetal membrane tissue attached to the head (called a caul), were usually considered strigoi viu. If a strigoi mort living among humans had any children, the offspring were cursed to become undead strigoi in the afterlife. When a known strigoi viu died, the family would destroy its body to ensure that it would not rise from the grave.
In other parts of eastern Europe, strigoi-type creatures were known as vampir, or vampyr, most likely a variation on the Russian upir. Western European countries eventually picked up on this name, and "vampyr" (later "vampire") entered the English language.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, vampire hysteria spread through eastern Europe. People reported seeing their dead relatives walking around, attacking the living. Authorities dug up scores of graves, burning and staking the corpses. Word of the vampire scare spread to western Europe, leading to a slew of academic speculations on the creatures, as well as vampire poems and paintings. These works in turn inspired an Irishman named Bram Stoker to write his vampire novel, "Dracula." In the next section, we'll see how this work fits into the evolution of vampire lore.
Bram Stoker
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