History of Vampires
Home - History of VampiresWhere did vampires came from?
The history of vampires dates as old as time but before we go any further on the many versions of history of vampires, let us first learn where the “vampire” word originated.
The
word “vampire” as most etymologists (people who
study word origins) agree, came from a Slavic word “vampyr”
or “vampir” which first
appeared in areas of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in the 1600s.
But where
exactly the Slavic words “vampir” and “vampyr” originated still remains
unanswered.
Vampyres have and always will fascinate the human mind…
They are as varied and as old as time itself…
There were lots of myths
and folklores behind how and when vampires and vampire related
creatures came to existence, that distinguishing history from lore
became as hard as cracking a rock with your bare hands.
The Kindred kind took so many shapes throughout the
years in different countries and cultures. 
The most popular image of a vampire are the ones portrayed in Hollywood
movies of course, basis of which is none other than Bram Stoker’s
worldwide phenomenon of a novel – Dracula whose
image and stature he based from a real aristocrat named Vlad
Dracula.
Some sources suggests that Cain
was the first vampire, some other says it was Lilith,
yet another version says that it was Judas Iscariot, but Judas was
never a vampire.
There were many historical vampire stories on almost all the regions of
the world but nowhere were vampire most believed in and scared of than
among the Slavs.
And how about Transylvania? Bram Stoker based
Dracula in Transylvania and I don't believe it as coincidence.
Romania
too, has a very rich history of vampires.
Myths, and lore seem to collectively conclude that vampyres are
creatures who maintain immortality (and irresistible looks) by drinking
blood from both humans and animals.
Countess Elizabeth
Bathory killed thousands of young women believing their blood
could preserve her youthful looks. She was a real life vampire, but was
not immortal.
Vlad
Dracula enjoyed the sight of blood and had a fetish for
impaling people.
The media characterized vampires as creatures with corpse-like bodies
who
suck blood, wears black capes and suits, are portrayed flying, can’t
stand the sight of garlic (and churches), highly sexual, sleeps in
coffins, and are immortal.
Far from the media’s concept of vampires are blood sucking creatures
that actually coexists with us like:
-
the infamous leech - a bloody creature that enjoys sipping human blood.
-
The vampire bat – a true blood sucker - scientists discovered that this creature actually makes a clean slice off its victim’s neck through the main artery. Its saliva supposedly contains chemicals that render its victim unconscious.
The Chupacabra, an alien vampire who feasts on human blood like sucking lollipops, was from a vampire myth that originated from South American hills. Another sucker was the myth of fury – a woman that sucks the life of a sleeping victim, a vampire like creature created in the period of Greek; supposedly represents wraths of the gods, sucking the souls of its victims from its mouth straight to agony or hell.
From History of Vampires to Coolest Vampire Art Gallery Home
