Vampire
This article is about the mythical creatures, for other meanings see Vampire (disambiguation).
that drink blood inspired this
1882 cartoon landlord.]]
A
vampire is a
mythical or
folkloric creature said to subsist on
human or animal
blood. Usually the vampire is the
corpse of a dead person, reanimated or made
undead by one means or another. Some cultures have myths of non-human vampires, such as
demons or animals like
bats,
dogs, and
spiders. Vampires are often described as having a wide variety of additional powers and character traits, extremely variable in different traditions, and are a frequent subject of folklore,
cinema, and contemporary
fiction.
Vampirism is the practice of drinking blood. In folklore and popular culture the term generally refers to a belief that one can gain
supernatural powers by drinking human blood. The historical practice of vampirism can generally be considered a more specific and less commonly-occurring form of
cannibalism. The consumption of another's blood has been used as a tactic of
psychological warfare intended to terrorize the enemy, and it can be used to reflect various spiritual beliefs.
In
zoology the term "vampirism" is used to refer to
leeches,
mosquitos,
mistletoe, vampire bats, and other
organisms that prey upon the bodily fluids of other creatures. This term also applies to fictional animals of the same nature, including the
chupacabra.
Vampires in history and culture
\nTales of the dead craving blood are ancient. In Homer's Odyssey, for example, the shades that Odysseus meets on his journey to the underworld are lured to the blood of freshly sacrificed rams, a fact which Odysseus uses to his advantage to summon the shade of Tiresias.
Some Slavic peoples believed in vampires as early as the 4th century. In their mythology, a vampire drank blood, was afraid of (but could not be killed by) silver, and could be destroyed by cutting off its head and putting it between the corpse's legs, or by putting a wooden stake into its heart.
In popular western culture, vampires are depicted as unaging, intelligent, and mystically endowed in many ways. The vampire typically has a variety of notable abilities. These include great strength and immunity to any lasting effect of any injury by mundane means, with specific exceptions. Vampires can also change into a mist, wolf, or a bat, and some can control the minds of others. They typically have extended canines or fangs.
It is believed that vampires have no reflection, as traditionally it was thought that mirrors reflected your soul and creatures of evil have no soul. Fiction has extended this belief to an actual aversion to mirrors, as depicted in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula when the vampire casts Harker's shaving mirror out of the window.
Destroying and avoiding vampires
\nA western vampire (which is not alive in the classical sense, and therefore referred to as undead) can be destroyed using several methods, which vary among 'species' and between mythologies:\n* Ramming a wooden stake through a vampire's heart. Traditionally the stake is made from ash or hawthorn and the vampire should be impaled with a single blow. In some traditions, a red-hot iron was preferred. In many western stories and films, impalement with a wooden stake only subdues a vampire and further measures must be taken to destroy the body, otherwise the monster will quickly recover once the stake is removed. This can be done by decapitating the body and burying the head separately, burning, burying the body at a crossroads or moving the body so it would be exposed to sunlight. Some stories extend the idea with vampire hunters using arrows or crossbow bolts made completely of wood to attempt to strike the monster's heart from a distance.\n* Exposing a vampire to sunlight. This varies from culture to culture. Vampires that are active from sunset to sunrise often avoid sunlight as they can be weakened or sometimes destroyed by it. Many species of vampires are active from noon to midnight or the converse, and consequently sunlight is harmless. The idea of western vampires being vulnerable to sunlight began with Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, and was reinforced by the 1922 film Nosferatu, and has come to be seen as the absolute surest way to completely destroy a vampire.\n* Removing internal organss and burning them.\n* Pouring boiling water into a hole beside the vampire's grave.\n*Also, vampires will be burnt or badly hurt if they come in contact with a cross.
Other typical weaknesses of the vampire include:\n* Garlic or holy water, which repel vampires.\n* Objects made of silver, which can keep a vampire away or harm them if they are in physical contact. A popular American addition to the folklore is the idea of fashioning bullets made of silver so mortal vampire hunters can use firearms against the monster.\n*Such small items as rice, poppy seeds or salt, which can be strewn in a vampire's path. Possibly caused by OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, it is a common facet of many vampire myths. Thus the hanging of many cloves of garlic, or the scattering of small objects is said to cause the vampire to have to spend much time counting the exact number of spilled (or hung) objects before moving on. This can keep them out of mischief until morning. Possible origin of Count von Count (also see Sesame Street). This varies by tradition.\n*Running water, which vampires cannot cross. This varies by tradition with some stories having vampires simply turning into a bat and flying over when faced with this obstacle.\n*Crosses and Bibles, which can keep vampires away. One simply holds the object in question in front of the vampire and the monster is kept at distance. Other stories have established that any religious symbol used by a sincere believer is effective. For example, in some stories, a Jew can use the Star of David to ward off a vampire. However in many stories, the monster can use its mind control powers to force the wielder to put down the object.\n*Requiring an invitation to enter a home: Western vampires are thought to be unable to enter a residence unless they are invited inside. After that invitation, they can enter the location freely.
\nAccording to Orthodox Christian belief, the soul does not depart the body until 40 days after it has been buried. In some places, bodies were often disinterred between 3 to 7 days after burial and examined: If there was no sign of decomposition, a stake was driven through the heart of the corpse.
Vampire 'species'
\nIn Eastern Europe, the vampire is said to have two hearts or two souls; because one heart or soul never dies, the vampire remains undead. Until recently, European vampires were thought to be disgusting monsters often raised from the bodies of peasants and other lower-class people. Bram Stoker's tale of a vampire built on the Victorian vampire stories that changed the image of the monster completely into one that is typically refined in social graces and can operate in human society without suspicion with ease as long as its weaknesses are accommodated.
In Aztec mythology, the Civatateo was a sort of vampire, created when a noblewoman died in childbirth.
In Australian mythology, the Yara-Ma-Yha-Who was a nasty little vampire with suckers on his fingers that lurked in fig trees.
In Malaysian folklore, the Penanggalan was a vampire whose head could separate from its body, with its entrails dangling from the base of its neck. The Pontianak was a female vampire that sucked the blood of newborn babies and sometimes that of young children or pregnant women.
In Philippine folklore, the Manananggal was a female vampire whose entire upper body could separate from her lower body and who could fly using wings. The Manananggal sucked the blood of fetuses.
The Aswang is also from the Philippines. It is believed to always be a female of considerable beauty by day and, by night, a fearsome flying fiend. The aswang lives in a house, can marry and have children, is a seemingly normal human during the daylight hours.
In Bulgaria, a vampire had only one nostril and slept with its left eye open and its thumbs linked. It was also held responsible for cattle plagues.
In Moravia, vampires were fond of throwing off their shrouds and attacking their victims in the nude.
Roma tradition in the Balkans is said to have held that melons and pumpkins may become vampires; see the article on vampire watermelons.
In the Caribbean, vampires known as Soucoyant in Trinidad and Tobago, Ol' Higue in Jamaica and Loogaroo in Grenada take the form of old women during the day, and at night shed their skin to become flying balls of flame who seek blood. They were said to be notoriously obsessive compulsive, and could be thwarted by sprinkling salt or rice at entrances, crossroads and near beds. The vampire would feel compelled to pick up every grain. They could also be killed by rubbing salt into their discarded skin, which would burn them upon returning to it before morning.
In Indian and especially from the South Indian State of Kerala the vampire characters were supposedly Yakshis, who were beautiful women who seduced men, only to kill them later. They were indestructible and could only be chained or imprisoned in a tree.
Other vampire characteristics:\n*Brazilian vampires had plush-covered feet. \n*Chinese vampires drew their strength from the Moon.\n*Mexican vampires were easily recognizable by their fleshless skulls.\n*The Rocky Mountain subspecies sucked the blood out of its victim's ears using its pointed nose.
Belief in vampires still persists across the globe. During January of 2003, mobs in Malawi stoned to death one individual and attacked four others, including Governor Eric Chiwaya, due to a belief that the government is colluding with vampires.
Natural phenomena that propagate the vampire myth
\nPathology and vampirism
\nSome people argue that vampire stories might have been influenced by a rare illness called porphyria. The disease disrupts the production of heme. People with extreme cases of this hereditary disease can be so sensitive to sunlight that they can get a sunburn through heavy cloud cover, causing them to be nocturnal and avoid all light. People with porphyria can also have red eyes and teeth, resulting from buildup of red heme intermediates (porphyrins). However, the hypotheses that porphyria sufferers "crave" the heme in human blood, or that the consumption of blood might ease the symptoms of porphyria, are based in ignorance.
Others argue that there is a relationship between vampirism and rabies. The legend of vampirism is known to have existed in the 19th century Eastern Europe, where there were massive rabies outbreaks. Rabies causes high fever, loss of appetite, and fatigue as initial symptoms. In later stages, patients try to avoid the sunlight and prefer walking at night. Strong light and mirrors can cause episodes characterized by violent and animal-like behaviors and a tendency to attack people and bite them. Concomitant facial spasms might give the patient an animal-like (or a vampire-like) expression. In a furious form of the disease, patients might have an increased urgency for sexual activity or occasionally vomit blood. Rabies is contagious.
Fountain of blood when staked
\nAs a body decomposes, the internal organs rot first because the food that is fermenting there continues fermenting and cannot get out. As a result, a body can swell like a balloon. Put pressure on this and the pressure seeks a way to escape.
Finding vampires in graves
\nWhen the coffin of an alleged vampire was opened, people sometimes found the cadaver in a "healthy state" and beautiful, meaning that the corpse was a \nwell-fed and pale-skinned vampire. Reasons for this appearance include:
- In the past, people were often malnourished and therefore thin in life. Corpses swell as gasses from decomposition accumulate in the torso. The implication was that the corpse was not famished and, because blood was sometimes found in the corners of the mouth, it was assumed that the "vampire" had been drinking blood.\n*Before modern times, people who didn't work the land, such as nobility, had pale skin. They also commonly had longer fingernails, as theirs didn't break from doing hard labour. After death, the skin around the fingernails retracts, which make them seem even longer. Corpses also become pale because, eventually, the upper layer of skin is shed, revealing the white skin underneath.
Vampire bats
\nThe three species of vampire bat are all endemic to Latin America, and there is no evidence to suggest that they had any Old World relatives within human memory. It is therefore unlikely that the folkloric vampire represents a distorted presentation or memory of the bat. The bats were named after the folkloric vampire rather than vice versa; the Oxford English Dictionary records the folkloric use in English from 1734 and the zoological not until 1774. However, once the vampire bats became known in western culture, their existence certainly reinforced and shaped the vampire legend, and it is common for vampires to be represented as bat-like in one way or another and have the ability to transform into one when desired.
Vampires in Literature, Art and Pop Culture
\nLord Byron introduced many common elements of the vampire theme to Western literature in his epic poem The Giaour (1813). These include the combination of horror and lust that the vampire feels and the concept of the undead passing its inheritance to the living. (Note: In the following excerpt, corse is "corpse".)
- But thou, false Infidel! shalt writhe\n: Beneath avenging Monkir's scythe;
- And from its torment 'scape alone\n: To wander round lost Eblis' throne;\n: And fire unquenched, unquenchable,\n: Around, within, thy heart shall dwell;\n: Nor ear can hear nor tongue can tell\n: The tortures of that inward hell!\n: But first, on earth as vampire sent,\n: Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent:\n: Then ghastly haunt thy native place,\n: And suck the blood of all thy race;\n: There from thy daughter, sister, wife,\n: At midnight drain the stream of life;\n: Yet loathe the banquet which perforce\n: Must feed thy livid living corse:\n: Thy victims ere they yet expire\n: Shall know the demon for their sire,\n: As cursing thee, thou cursing them,\n: Thy flowers are withered on the stem.
\nIronically, Byron's own wild life became the model for the protagonist Lord Ruthven in the first vampire novel,
The Vampyre (1819) by
John William Polidori. An unauthorized sequel to this novel by Cyprien Bérard called
Lord Ruthven on es Vampires (1820) was adapted by Charles Nodier into the first vampire stage melodrama.
Bram Stoker's
Dracula has been the definitive description of the vampire in popular fiction for the last century. Its portrayal of vampirism as a disease (contagious demonic possession!), with its undertones of sex, blood, and death, struck a chord in a Victorian England where
tuberculosis and
syphilis were common. Before the Victorian era, the romantic connection between vampires and sex did not exist.
Dracula is believed to be based at least partially on legends about a real person,
Vlad Tepes, a savagely cruel prince known also as
Vlad III Dracula (Drăculea, or "Dracula", meaning "son of the dragon"; his father was called Dracul (The Dragon) after being "inducted into the Order of the Dragon in 1431") also known as
Vlad the Impaler, who lived in the late
Middle Ages in what is now
Romania. Stoker is believed to have seen a reference in an article by Emily Gerard who said that Dracula was a word meaning
the Devil. (Emily Gerard, "Transylvanian Superstitions."
Nineteenth Century (July 1885): 130-150). Oral tradition regarding Tepes includes his having made a practice of torturing peasants who displeased him and hanging them, or parts of them, such as heads, on stakes around his castle or manor house. Tepes may have suffered from
porphyria. His rumored periodic abdominal agony, especially after eating, and bouts of delirium might indicate presence of the disease.
met
Dracula (Bela Lugosi) in
1931 in a landmark vampire film.]]
Stoker also probably derived inspiration from
Irish myths of blood-sucking creatures. He also was almost certainly influenced by a contemporary vampire story,
Carmilla by
Sheridan le Fanu. Le Fanu was Stoker's editor when Stoker was a theatre critic in
Dublin,
Ireland.
Much 20th-century vampire fiction draws heavily on Stoker's formulation; early films such as
Nosferatu and those featuring
Bela Lugosi or
Christopher Lee are examples of this.
Nosferatu, in fact, was clearly based on
Dracula, and Stoker's widow sued for copyright infringement and won. As a result of the suit, most prints of the film were destroyed. She later allowed the film to be shown in England.
Though most other works of vampire fiction do not feature Dracula as a character, there is typically a clear inspiration from Stoker, reflected in a fascination with sex and wealth, as well as overwhelmingly frequent use of
Gothic settings and iconography. A contemporary descendant is the series of novels by
Anne Rice, the most popular in a genre of modern stories that use vampires as their protagonists.
Other literary vampire tales include:\n*
Carmilla, perhaps the most atmospheric vampire story ever, written by
Sheridan le Fanu\n*
Varney the Vampire or The Feast of Blood, by James Malcolm Rymer, a Victorian best-seller and pot-boiler\n*
Dracula by
Bram Stoker (also the inspiration for many films)\n*
Interview with the Vampire (also a film) and other books in
The Vampire Chronicles, by
Anne Rice\n* A series of novels by
science fiction author
Fred Saberhagen.\n*
I am Legend by
Richard Matheson. An interesting twist: Vampirism is caused by a bacterium (the use of a wooden stake keeps air in the wound, preventing the bacterium from making repairs), and after the pandemic the hero is the last normal person in a world filled with vampires. It was original filmed as
The Last Man on Earth starring
Vincent Price and remade as
The Omega Man starring
Charlton Heston.\n*
From Dusk Till Dawn, a film directed by
Robert Rodriguez, cowritten by and featuring
Quentin Tarantino. It begins as one of Tarantino's more usual crime stories, but flips halfway through into a vampire film. \n*
Vampires, a film by
John Carpenter (very loosely based on the novel
Vampire by
John Steakley)\n*
Blade, a
comic book and film series, one in a subgenre that features half-human, half-vampire warriors or protagonists. \n*
'Salem's Lot by
Stephen King \n*
Nosferatu (also in a later remake with a brilliant
Klaus Kinski)\n*
Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
the TV show of the same name and its television spinoff
Angel, a subgenre that features Vampire Hunters or Vampire Slayers, destined to kill or specialized in killing the creatures. \n*
Forever Knight is a television series featuring vampires\n*
Fright Night (movies)\n*
The Season of Passage by
Christopher Pike\n*
Japanese anime and
manga features vampires in several titles, including
Vampire Hunter D,
Vampire Princess Miyu,
Blood: The Last Vampire,
Hellsing and
Shingetsutan Tsukihime.\n*
Comic books and
graphic novels such as
Tomb of Dracula,
Vampirella,
30 Days of Night, and the aforementioned
Blade.\n*
Carpe Jugulum by
Terry Pratchett pastiches the traditions of vampire literature, plays with the mythic archetypes and features a tongue-in-cheek reversal of vampyre subculture with young vampires who wear bright clothes, drink wine, and stay up until noon.\n*
Body of Myths, a book series in-the-making.\n*
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series, by
Laurell K. Hamilton, featuring an assortment of vampires, were creatures, necromancy, etc.\n* The
Anno-Dracula series by
Kim Newman, "what if?" tales extrapolating the events of
Dracula if Dracula had not been stopped.\n*
Role-playing games such as
Vampire: The Masquerade, in which the participants play the roles of fictional vampires.\n* The
video game series
Castlevania is a long-running series in which the protagonist battles a new incarnation of
Dracula in every game.\n* The
video game series Legacy of Kain is a five game long series, in which vampires were an wise, ancient race who had their thirst for blood, immortality, and aversion to sunlight inflicted on them by another race called the
Hylden.
The "Vampire subculture"
\nThe vampire subculture describes a contemporary subculture marked by an obsessive fascination with, and emulation of, contemporary vampire lore, including everything from
fashion and
music to the actual exchange of blood. Members of the subculture ("vampirists") often prefer the spelling "vampyre" to distinguish themselves from the "fictional" vampire while simultaneously adding a pseudo-
Victorian flair to their activities. These contemporary consumers of blood typically appeal to myths about vampires for legitimacy.
The subculture is typically delineated by a particular style of dress and decor that combines elements of the
Victorian,
Punk,
Glam and Gothic fashions with styles featured in vampire films and fiction. Although often associated with the
Goth subculture, most goths do not enjoy the association with the negative stereotype portrayed in the media and, as a result, actively dislike members of the vampire subculture. Although this subculture is most popular in the
United States of America, it has members throughout
Europe and eastern
Asia.
Most modern practitioners of vampirism do not believe themselves to be
undead creatures; rather, they use vampirism as a means of practicing
magic(
k). For example, they claim that they are taking life energy or
qi from another (usually a willing donor who also practices vampirism) to increase their own energy and vitality. Vampirists do not necessarily obtain this energy from blood, but will use other physical, spiritual or psychic means to obtain this energy (for example, there are self-styled "
sexual vampires" and "
psychic vampires").
A number of these vampires not only practice vamprirism but actually believe themselves to be the vampires of legend, or some similar creature (for example, a "lost race" of
Homo sapiens; see
otherkin for further discussion of this phenomenon). Many outside this group see this as a result of a
mental illness such as
disassociative identity disorder,
schizophrenia, or
antisocial personality disorder. A few vampiric groups have been likened to
cults, and a few self-proclaimed vampires have murdered in order to drink human blood, such as
Brisbane's notorious "lesbian vampire murderer"
Tracey Wigginton.
As a word of caution, it should be noted that consumption of human blood exposes both parties involved to a range of high-risk blood-borne
pathogens and
diseases.
For more on the topic of modern vampire cults, see
vampire lifestyle.
Etymology
\nEng. vampire < German vampir < early Old Polish *vaper', [a=nasal "a" - close to Fr -an, e=short "ye", r'=soft "r" similar to "ree" with very very short ee] < OldSlav. *oper' (o=nasal o); South Slav. (for example:
Serbian): "vampir" just like modern
Polish: "wampir" (Pl.w=v) from German.\nAccording to the
Oxford English Dictionary it probably has its origins in a
Turkish word for "witch", although others dispute this.
See also
\n*Chinese vampire\n*
Erzsébet Báthory\n*Vampire bats\n*
List of vampire movies\n*Sharna
External links
\n*Staking Claims: The Vampires of Folklore and Fiction from:
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal\n*
Vampires from:
The New England Skeptical Society\n*
Mother of `vampire cult' leader pleads guilty from:
F.A.C.T.Net\n*
Vampiremania\n*
Pseudoscience of vampirism and DVD listings.\n*
An extensive list of vampire movies.\n*
Professor Elizabeth Miller has written books and articles on Stoker's Dracula and Vlad Tepes.\n*
The Vampire Donor Alliance is a place for real blood drinkers and blood donors to communicate.\n*
THE VAMPIRE, HIS KITH AND KIN An online version of the book written by Montague Summers in 1928. Extensive!\n*
Sanguinarius is a page providing support for a presumed group of real vampires.
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCategory:Legendary creaturesCategory:Wikipedia Featured Articles
