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Vampire: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Vampire
In the early eighteenth century, a corpse in the village of Medveđa, Serbia, was exhumed and found to be bloated, ruddy, and fresh, with blood oozing from its mouth and nose. This was not a story of fiction, but a government-sanctioned investigation into what officials called a vampire epidemic. The man, Petar Blagojević, had died at the age of sixty-two, yet his neighbors claimed he had returned to demand food from his son and subsequently killed several villagers by draining their blood. When authorities dug up his body, they found it had not decomposed as expected. Instead, it looked plump and healthy, a stark contrast to the pale, gaunt figures that would later define the vampire in popular culture. The villagers drove a wooden stake through his heart, and the body was beheaded to stop the attacks. This event, along with similar cases involving Miloš Čečar and Arnold Paole, sparked a mass hysteria that swept across the Habsburg monarchy and Eastern Europe, leading to the exhumation and destruction of hundreds of suspected vampires. The panic was so severe that Empress Maria Theresa of Austria had to intervene, sending her personal physician, Gerard van Swieten, to investigate. Van Swieten concluded that vampires did not exist, and the Empress passed laws prohibiting the opening of graves, effectively ending the official vampire epidemic. Yet, the stories had already taken root, transforming the bloated, shrouded peasant of folklore into the sophisticated aristocrat of modern fiction.
Etymology and Ancient Roots
The word vampire itself is a linguistic puzzle that traces back to the Old Slavic term onpyr, which evolved into the modern English word through a complex journey involving Turkish, Hungarian, and French influences. While the exact etymology remains debated, with some scholars pointing to Lithuanian or Turkish origins, the consensus leans toward the Old Slavic root, which was already present in pagan worship of upyri as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries. These ancient beliefs were not limited to Europe; cultures from Mesopotamia to the Hebrews, and from Ancient Greece to the Manipuri people, all had tales of demons and spirits that consumed the blood or flesh of the living. In ancient Babylonia and Assyria, the Lilitu were blood-drinking demons, while in Greco-Roman mythology, the Lamia and Empusae preyed on children and men, often transforming into beautiful women to seduce their victims before draining their blood. The Persians were among the first to record tales of blood-drinking demons on pottery shards, and the Hebrews had the Lilu, daughters of Lilitu, who were said to subsist on the blood of infants. These ancient precursors laid the groundwork for the vampire legend, but it was the specific folklore of Southeastern Europe in the early eighteenth century that crystallized the figure into the recognizable entity known today. The term vampire was first recorded in English in 1732, appearing in news reports about vampire epidemics in Eastern Europe, and it quickly became a symbol of the unknown and the terrifying.
Common questions
Who was the first vampire officially investigated by the Serbian government in the early eighteenth century?
Petar Blagojević was the first vampire officially investigated by the Serbian government in the early eighteenth century. He died at the age of sixty-two and was exhumed in the village of Medveđa, Serbia, after neighbors claimed he returned to kill villagers by draining their blood. Authorities found his body bloated and ruddy with blood oozing from his mouth and nose, leading them to drive a wooden stake through his heart and behead him.
When did the word vampire first appear in English news reports about Eastern Europe?
The word vampire first appeared in English news reports about Eastern Europe in 1732. This term emerged during a period of mass hysteria that swept across the Habsburg monarchy and Eastern Europe, following the exhumation and destruction of hundreds of suspected vampires. The panic was so severe that Empress Maria Theresa of Austria intervened by sending her personal physician, Gerard van Swieten, to investigate.
What specific physical characteristics did the folkloric vampire possess before becoming a modern aristocrat?
The folkloric vampire was a creature of the grave often described as bloated, ruddy, or dark in color and clad in the linen shroud in which it was buried. Unlike the modern vampire, it did not necessarily have fangs, and its teeth, hair, and nails might appear to have grown after death due to the natural process of decomposition. Communities employed rituals such as burying corpses upside-down or placing scythes near the grave to prevent a corpse from becoming a vampire.
Which 1819 publication transformed the vampire from a bloated peasant into a sophisticated aristocrat?
The 1819 publication The Vampyre by John Polidori transformed the vampire from a bloated peasant into a sophisticated aristocrat. Although the story was credited to Lord Byron, it was actually written by Byron's personal physician, John Polidori, who adapted a fragmentary tale of his illustrious patient. The protagonist, Lord Ruthven, was modeled after Byron's dominating personality and became the most influential vampire work of the early nineteenth century.
When was the first talking film to portray Dracula released and who starred in it?
Universal's Dracula was released in 1931 and starred Béla Lugosi as the first talking film to portray Dracula. This film was influential in the blossoming horror film genre and its influence lasted throughout the rest of the twentieth century and up through the present day. Directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Stephen King drew inspiration from this 1931 film, which established many of the traits associated with modern vampires.
What are the two main types of active vampirism within the contemporary vampire subculture?
Active vampirism within the vampire subculture includes both blood-related vampirism, commonly referred to as sanguine vampirism, and psychic vampirism, or supposed feeding from pranic energy. This subculture is largely within the Goth subculture and draws from the rich recent history of popular culture related to cult symbolism, horror films, and the fiction of Anne Rice. Allegations of vampire attacks have swept through various parts of the world in recent decades, from Malawi in 2002 and 2017 to Highgate Cemetery in London in 1970.
The folkloric vampire was a creature of the grave, often described as bloated, ruddy, or dark in color, and clad in the linen shroud in which it was buried. Unlike the modern vampire, it did not necessarily have fangs, and its teeth, hair, and nails might appear to have grown after death due to the natural process of decomposition. To prevent a corpse from becoming a vampire, communities employed a variety of rituals and precautions. Burying a corpse upside-down was a widespread practice, as was placing scythes or sickles near the grave to satisfy any demons entering the body. In some regions, poppy seeds, millet, or sand were scattered on the ground at the grave site, intended to keep the vampire occupied all night by counting the grains, a theme also found in Chinese and Indian myths. Other methods included severing the tendons at the knees, placing a wax cross and pottery inscribed with Jesus Christ conquers on the corpse, or driving a stake through the heart. The choice of wood for the stake varied by region, with ash preferred in Russia and the Baltic states, and hawthorn or oak used in Serbia and Silesia. Decapitation was the preferred method in German and western Slavic areas, with the head buried between the feet or behind the buttocks. In Bulgaria, over one hundred skeletons with metal objects, such as plough bits, embedded in the torso have been discovered, evidence of the desperate measures taken to ensure the dead stayed dead.
The Scientific Explanations
Modern science has offered several theories to explain the origins of vampire beliefs, with decomposition and disease playing central roles. Author Paul Barber argued that the belief in vampires resulted from people of pre-industrial societies attempting to explain the natural, but to them inexplicable, process of death and decomposition. Corpses swell as gases from decomposition accumulate in the torso, forcing blood to ooze from the nose and mouth, creating the appearance of a recently fed vampire. The skin and gums lose fluids and contract, exposing the roots of the hair, nails, and teeth, which can produce the illusion that they have grown. In some cases, the staking of a swollen, decomposing body could cause the body to bleed and force the accumulated gases to escape, producing groan-like sounds or flatulence. Another theory suggests that vampire legends may have been influenced by individuals being buried alive due to shortcomings in medical knowledge, with fingernail marks on the inside of coffins serving as evidence of the victim trying to escape. The disease tuberculosis, or consumption, was also linked to vampire beliefs, as the breakdown of lung tissue caused blood to appear at the lips, and the disease was often associated with outbreaks of vampirism within the same family or community. In 1985, biochemist David Dolphin proposed a link between the rare blood disorder porphyria and vampire folklore, suggesting that the consumption of large amounts of blood might alleviate symptoms, though this theory has been largely discredited by medical experts.
The Literary Transformation
The transformation of the vampire from a bloated, shrouded peasant to a charismatic, sophisticated aristocrat began in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori. Although the story was credited to Lord Byron, it was actually written by Byron's personal physician, John Polidori, who adapted a fragmentary tale of his illustrious patient. The protagonist, Lord Ruthven, was modeled after Byron's dominating personality, and the story was highly successful, becoming the most influential vampire work of the early nineteenth century. This literary vampire was followed by Varney the Vampire, a popular mid-Victorian gothic horror story that ran to 868 double-columned pages, and Sheridan Le Fanu's lesbian vampire story Carmilla in 1871. However, no effort to depict vampires in popular fiction was as influential or as definitive as Bram Stoker's Dracula, published in 1897. Stoker's novel merged the vampiric traits described in earlier works with folkloric tradition, creating the modern fictional vampire. The book's portrayal of vampirism as a disease of contagious demonic possession, with undertones of sex, blood, and death, struck a chord in Victorian Europe, where tuberculosis and syphilis were common. Stoker's research included reading works about Transylvania and vampires, and he incorporated the story of Vlad țepeș, the real-life Dracula, into his book. The first chapter of the book was omitted when it was published, but it was released in 1914 as Dracula's Guest, adding to the mystery and allure of the character.
Cinema and the Silver Screen
The vampire has proven to be a rich subject for the film industry, with Dracula being a major character in more films than any other but Sherlock Holmes. The 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film Nosferatu, directed by F. W. Murnau, featured the first film portrayal of Dracula, although names and characters were intended to mimic the novel. Universal's Dracula, released in 1931 and starring Béla Lugosi, was the first talking film to portray Dracula, and both Lugosi's performance and the film overall were influential in the blossoming horror film genre. The influence of this 1931 film lasted throughout the rest of the twentieth century and up through the present day, with directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Stephen King drawing inspiration from it. The legend of the vampire continued through the film industry when Dracula was reincarnated in the Hammer Horror series of films, starring Christopher Lee as the Count. By the 1970s, vampires in films had diversified with works such as Count Yorga, Vampire, and Blacula, and the BBC's Count Dracula featuring French actor Louis Jourdan. The Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971, featured the vampire character Barnabas Collins, portrayed by Jonathan Frid, and proved partly responsible for making the series one of the most popular of its type. The 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola became the then-highest grossing vampire film ever, and the continuing popularity of the vampire theme has been ascribed to a combination of the representation of sexuality and the perennial dread of mortality.
Global Variations and Modern Myths
While the European vampire is the most well-known, beings with many of the attributes of European vampires appear in the folklore of Africa, Asia, North and South America, and India. In West Africa, the Ashanti people tell of the iron-toothed and tree-dwelling asanbosam, and the Ewe people of the adze, which can take the form of a firefly and hunts children. In the Philippines, the Tagalog Mandurugo and the Visayan Manananggal are female vampiric beings who can detach parts of their upper body to fly about seeking human prey. The Malaysian Penanggalan is a woman who obtained her beauty through the active use of black magic and is able to detach her fanged head which flies around in the night looking for blood. In Vietnam, the ma cà rồng originally referred to a type of demon that haunts modern-day Phú Thọ Province, and the Jiangshi, sometimes called Chinese vampires, are reanimated corpses that hop around, killing living creatures to absorb life essence. In the Americas, the Rougarou is an example of how a vampire belief can result from a combination of beliefs, here a mixture of French and African Vodu or voodoo, and the Chupacabra of Puerto Rico and Mexico is said to be a creature that feeds upon the flesh or drinks the blood of domesticated animals. These global variations demonstrate the universality of the vampire myth, adapting to local cultures and beliefs while maintaining the core theme of blood consumption and the fear of the dead.
The Vampire Subculture
In the modern era, the vampire has evolved from a figure of fear to a subject of fascination and even identity. Vampire lifestyle is a term for a contemporary subculture of people, largely within the Goth subculture, who consume the blood of others as a pastime, drawing from the rich recent history of popular culture related to cult symbolism, horror films, and the fiction of Anne Rice. Active vampirism within the vampire subculture includes both blood-related vampirism, commonly referred to as sanguine vampirism, and psychic vampirism, or supposed feeding from pranic energy. This subculture has also given rise to vampire hunting societies, though they are largely formed for social reasons. Allegations of vampire attacks have swept through various parts of the world in recent decades, from Malawi in 2002 and 2017, where mobs stoned people to death and attacked others, to Highgate Cemetery in London in 1970, where amateur vampire hunters flocked in large numbers to hunt the so-called Highgate Vampire. Despite the persistence of these beliefs, the vampire remains a dominant figure in the horror genre, with books, films, television shows, and video games continuing to explore the themes of immortality, sexuality, and the fear of death. The vampire has become a symbol of the outsider, the marginalized, and the eternal, reflecting the anxieties and desires of the societies that create and consume these stories.