Unearthing Dracula - Starving the Hysteria
- cheyennetrent3
- May 5
- 3 min read
the Grim Origin of "The Vampire"
"Twilight" and "Interview with a Vampire" fans are sure to get a rude wake-up call with this one. The true history of the vampire or what came to be known as "vampires," couldn’t be more brutal and harsh to say the least. It’s not exactly as romantic as the movies make it out to be.
I’m sure you’ve had fantasies of being whisked away by a vampire, maybe even dreams of becoming one yourself. After this read, those dreams may turn into a thing of nightmares.
At the beginning of what came to be an unfortunate story, these creatures weren't even capable of "sucking blood" as we know them to today. During the early 5th century in Europe, they were said to have the ability to end someone's life by "just locking eyes" with their victims. Unfortunately for the vampire, they got majorly downgraded later on, developing the power to drain the blood of the poor victim instead.
Most accusations of vampirism during this time - luckily for the accused; came post-mortem. There were many ways one could be considered one of them; like simply being the first to die in a plague, or of an illness in general - this would be one of the easiest ways to earn this classification.
Allow me to share some of the more interesting ways normal humans would acquire this label.
Ways You Could be Classified as a "Vampire"
Having a "bloated" or "healthy-looking" corpse
Found after death with blood in the nose or mouth
Found after death with growing hair or nails
Having just your left eye open after death
Having a baby born with teeth
Rapid death of livestock and/or neighbors
Being "possessed" or linked to demons for any reason
Remaining too "fresh" after burial
While most of these ideals were held mainly in the 5th century, which is believed to be the beginning of the vampire's story, the central theme or core belief was that corpses were feeding off of and drawing from the life force of humans. Later on, as paganism spread, vampires became officially known as "revenants," and still carried the belief of the dead rising from their graves, but this is where the "blood sucking" propaganda spread initially.
Throughout the Middle Ages the concept of "the vampire" itself began to shift and grow as war and religion swept Europe, colliding with the fall of paganism and rise of Catholicism. Pagans faced serious hate and violence at the hand of christians of all kinds, forcing them to follow a religion they didn't believe in. Even going so far as to demand their participation and worship during Christian/Catholic rituals or ceremonies. They did allow the pagans to maintain parts of their religion to help ease the transition, such as beliefs surrounding death, burials, and the afterlife. It worked well as the Christian ideal of the soul married very well with the pagan concept of the dead rising again, shifting the superstition from a corpse waking up for revenge, to a corpse waking up and terrorizing their neighbors because a demon told them to. This created a full-blown hysteria at the end of the 15th century, and by this time, Vampires had gained their modern name and lore that we know and spread today.
The combination of fear and grief from constant war, death and illness, not to mention the pressures from religious leaders, ultimately led to the belief that vampires weren't the dead that have risen from the grave, but the undead or never-dying. The immortal. The fear then lead to mass accusations, murder, and man hunts across Europe, but the eastern parts were believed to be hit the worst by this epidemic.
I must say, I personally find the concept of the vampire to be quite exciting, mysterous, almost seductive in a way, but I must always remind myself to take a step back when thinking about this so-called breed of "monster" to comprehend the fear, bloodshed, and horror that people must have faced to create a creature like this, and as we have found throughout time, the story just keeps getting more gruesome.
As fun as it is to keep these topics lighthearted, remembering the origins of things like this is important when progressing as a society, but it is a pretty great conversation starter if you ask me!
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