Vampire Chronology

1047	The word upir (an early form of the word later to become "vampire") first appears in written form in a document referring to a Russian prince as "Upir Lichy", or wicked vampire.
1190	Walter Map's De Nagis Curialium includes accounts of vampire like beings in England.
1196	William of Newburh's Chronicles records stories of vampire-like revenants in England.
1431	Vlad Dracul's son, Vlad Dracula, or Vlad the Impaler, is born.
1442	Vlad Tepes is imprisoned with his father by the Turks.

1443	Vlad Tepes becomes a hostage of the Turks.
1447	Vlad Dracul is beheaded.
1448	Vlad Tepes briefly attains the Wallachian throne. Dethroned, he goes to Moldavia and befriends Prince Stefan.
1451	Vlad and Stephan flee to Transylvania.
1455	Constantinople falls.
1456	John Hunyadi assists Vlad Tepes to attain Wallachian throne. Vladislav Dan is executed.
1458	Matthias Corvinu succeeds John Hunyadi as King of Hungary.
1459	Easter massacre of boyars and rebuilding of Dracula's castle. Bucharest is established as the second governmental centre.
1460	Attack upon Brasov, Romania.
1461	Successful campaign against Turkish settlements along the Danube. Vlad's involvement in military campaigns will make him a hero in some people's eyes. His savage treatment of opponents earns him the hatred of others, and the nickname, "Vlad the Impaler". Summer retreat to Tirgoviste.
1462	Following the battle at Dracula's castle, Vlad flees to Transylvania, where he begins 13 years of imprisonment.
1463	Vlad Tepes becomes Prince of Wallachia and moves to Tirgoviste.
1475	Summer wars in Serbia against Turks take place. November: Vlad resumes throne of Wallachia.
1476	Vlad the Impaler is assassinated.
1484	The Malleus Maleficarium, known as "the witch hunter's bible", is authored by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. How to hunt and kill a vampire is discussed in the work.
1560	Elizabeth Bathory is born.
1600–1800	Europe and Russia are plagued with superstition about the vampire.
1610	Elizabeth Bathory is arrested for killing several hundred people and bathing in their blood. Tried and convicted, she is sentenced to life imprisonment, being bricked into a room in her castle. Leo Allatius finishes writing the first modern treatment of vampires, De Graecorum hodie quirundam opinationabus.
1614	Elizabeth Bathory dies.
1657	Francoise Richard's Relation de ce qui s'est passé a Sant-Erini Isle de l'Archipel links vampirism and witchcraft.
1672	Wave of vampire hysteria sweeps through Istra (now in modern Slovenia). Corpses of suspected vampires are typically staked (to keep them from rising) and decapitated.
1679	German text De Masticatione Mortuorum is written by Philip Rohr.
1710	Vampire hysteria sweeps through East Prussia.
1725	Vampire hysteria return to East Prussia.
1725–1730	Vampire hysteria lingers in Hungary.
1725–1732	The wave of vampire hysteria in Austrian Serbia produces the famous cases of Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paul (Paole).
1727–1732	Arnold Paole wreaks his vampiric havoc on the small town of Meduegna, near Belgrade.
1734	The word "vampyre" enters the English language in translations of German accounts of European waves of vampire hysteria.
1744	Cardinal Giuseppe Davanzati publishes his treatise, Dissertazione sopre I Vampiri.
1746	Dom Augustin Calmet publishes his treatise on vampires, Dissertations sur les Apparitions des Anges des Démons et des Esprits, et sur les revenants, et Vampires de Hundrie, de Bohème, de Moravic, et de Silésie.
1748	The first modern vampire poem, Der Vampir by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, is published.
1750	Another wave of vampire hysteria occurs in East Prussia.
1756	Vampire hysteria peaks in Wallachia.
1772	Vampire hysteria occurs in Russia.
1797	Goethe's Bride of Corinth (a poem concerning a vampire) is published.
1798–1800	Samuel Taylor Coleridge writes Christabel, now conceded to be the first vampire poem in English.
1800	I Vampiri, an opera by Silvestro de Palma, opens in Milan, Italy.
1801	Thalaba by Robert Southey is the first poem to mention the vampire in English.
1810	Reports of sheep being killed by having their jugular veins cut and their blood drained circulated through northern England. The Vampyre, an early vampire poem, by John Stagg is published.
1813	A vampire appears in Lord Byron's The Giaour.
1819	The first vampire story in English, The Vampyre by John Polidori, is published in the April issue of New Monthly Magazine. John Keats composes The Lamia, a poem built on ancient Greek legends.
1820	Lord Ruthwen ou Les Vampires by Cyprien Berard is published anonymously in Paris. 13th June: Le Vampire, the play by Charles Nodier, opens at the Theatre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris. August: The Vampire; or, The Bride of the Isles, a translation of Nodier's play by James R. Planche, opens in London.
1829	March: Heinrich Marschner's opera, Der Vampyr, based on Nodier's story, opens in Leipzig.
1841	Alexey Tolstoy publishes his short story, Upyr, while living in Paris. It is the first modern vampire story by a Russian.
1847	Varney the Vampyre begins its serialisation as a penny dreadful. Birth of Bram Stoker.
1851	Alexandre Dumas' last dramatic work, Le Vampire, opens in Paris.
1854	The case of vampirism in the Ray family of Jewell, Connecticut, is published in local newspapers.
1872	Carmilla, by J. Sheridan LeFanu, is published. Vincenzo Vierzeni is convicted in Italy of murdering two and drinking their blood.
1874	Reports from Ceven, Ireland, tell of sheep having their throats cut and their blood drained.
1888	Emily Gerard's Land Beyond the Forest is published. It will become a major source of information about Transylvania for Bram Stoker's Dracula.
1894	H.G. Wells's short story, The Flowering of the Strange Orchid, is a precursor to science fiction vampire stories.
1897	Bram Stoker publishes Dracula. The Vampire by Rudyard Kipling becomes the inspiration for the creation of the vampire as a stereotypical character on stage and screen.
1912	The Secrets of House No. 5, possibly the first vampire movie, is produced in Great Britain
1914	Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker is published posthumously.
1920	Dracula, the first film based on the novel, is made in Russia. Sadly, no copy has survived.
1921	Hungarian filmmakers produce a version of Dracula.
1922	Nosferatu, a German-made silent film produced by Prana Films, is the third attempt to film Dracula.
1924	Fritz Haarmann the "Vampire of Hannover" is convicted of killong over 20 in vampiric crime spree. Hamilton Dean's stage version of Dracula opens in Derby. Sherlock Holmes has his only encounter with a vampire in The Case of the Sussex Vampire.
1927	14th February: Stage version of Dracula debuts at the Little Theatre in London. October: American version of Dracula starring Bela Lugosi, opens at Fulton Theatre in New York City. Tod Browning directs Lon Chaney in London After Midnight, the first full-length feature film.
1928	England sees the first printing of The Vampire: His Kith and Kin by Montague Summers.
1929	Montague Summers's second vampire book, The Vampire in Europe, is published.
1931	January: Spanish film version of Dracula is previewed. February: Dracula, the American film version starring Bela Lugosi, premiers at the Roxy Theatre in New York City. Peter Kurten of Düsseldorf, Germany, is executed after being found guilty of murdering a number of people in a vampiric killing spree
1932	The highly acclaimed movie Vampyr, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, is released.
1936	Dracula's Daughter is released by Universal Pictures.
1942	A. E. Van Vought's Asylum is the first story about an alien vampire.
1943	Son of Dracula (Universal Pictures), starring Lon Chaney Jr. as Dracula, is released.
1944	John Carradine plays Dracula for the first time in Horror of Dracula.
1953	Drakula Istanbul'da, a Turkish film adaptation of Dracula, is released. Eerie No. 8 includes the first comic book adaptation of Dracula.
1954	The Comics Code banishes vampires from comic books. I am Legend by Richard Matheson presents vampirism as a disease that alters the body.
1956	John Carradine plays Dracula in the first television adaptation of the play for Matinee Theatre. Kyuketsuki Ga, the first Japanese vampire film, is released.
1957	The first Italian vampire movie, I Vampiri, is released. American producer Roger Corman makes the first science fiction vampire movie, Not of This Earth. El Vampiro with German Robles is the first of a new wave of Mexican vampire films.
1958	Hammer Films in Great Britain initiates a new wave of interest in vampires with the first of its Dracula, starring Christopher Lee and released in the United States as the Horror of Dracula. First issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland signals a new interest in horror films in the United States.
1959	Plan 9 From Outer Space is Bela Lugosi's last film.
1961	The Bad Flower is the first Korean film adaptation of Dracula.
1962	The Count Dracula Society is founded in the United States by Donald Reed.
1963	Parque de Juelos (Park of Games) is the first Spanish made vampire movie
1964	The Munsters and The Addams Family, two horror comedies with vampire characters, open in the autumn television season.
1965	Jeanne Younson founds The Count Dracula Fan Club. The Munsters, based on the television show of the same name, is the first comic book series featuring a vampire character.
1966	Vampire Barnabas Collins makes his debut on Dark Shadows.
1969	First issue of Vampirella, the longest running vampire comic book to date, is released. Denholm Elliot plays the title role in a BBC television production of Dracula, Does Dracula Really Suck? (aka Dracula and the Boys) is released as the first gay vampire movie.
1970	The Vampire Research Society is founded by Seán Manchester. Christopher Lee stars in El Conde Dracula, the Spanish film adaptation of Dracula.
1971	Marvel Comics releases the first copy of a post-Comics Code vampire comic book, The Tomb of Dracula. Morbius, the Living Vampire, is the first new vampire character introduced after the revision of the Comics code allowed vampires to reappear in comic books.
1972	Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu release In Search of Dracula, linking Vlad the Impaler as the inspiration for Stoker's Dracula. The Night Stalker with Darrin McGavin becomes the most watched television movie to that point in time. Vampire Kung-Fu is released in Hong Kong as the first of a string of vampire martial arts films. A Dream of Dracula by Leonard Wolf complements McNally's and Florescu's effort in calling attention to vampire lore. True Vampires of History by Donald Glut is the first attempt to assemble the stories of all the historical vampire figures. Stephan Kaplan founds The Vampire Research Centre.
1973	Dan Curtis Productions' version of Dracula (1973) stars Jack Palance in a made-for-television movie. Nancy Garden's Vampires launches a wave of juvenile literature for children and youth.
1975	Fred Saberhagen proposes viewing Dracula as a hero rather than a villain in The Dracula Tape. The World of Dark Shadows is founded as the first Dark Shadows fanzine.
1976	First book of Anne Rice's vampire series, Interview With The Vampire, is published. Stephen King is nominated for the World Fantasy Award for his vampire novel, 'Salem's Lot. Shadowcon, the first national Dark Shadows convention, is organised by Dark Shadows fans.
1977	A new dramatic version of Dracula opens on Broadway starring Frank Langella. Louis Jourdan stars in the title role in Count Dracula, a three-hour version of Bram Stoker's book on BBC television. Martin V. Riccardo founds the Vampire Studies Society.
1978	Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's book Hotel Transylvania joins the volumes of Fred Saberhagen and Anne Rice as the third major effort to begin a reappraisal of the vampire myth during the decade. Eric Held and Dorothy Nixon found the Vampire Information Exchange.
1979	Based on the success of the new Broadway production, Universal Pictures remakes Dracula, starring Frank Langella. The band Bauhaus's recording of 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' becomes the first hit of the new gothic rock music movement. Shadowgram is founded as a Dark Shadows fanzine.
1980	Richard Chase, The Dracula Killer of Sacramento, commits suicide in prison. The Bram Stoker Society is founded in Dublin, Ireland. The World Federation of Dark Shadows Clubs (now Dark Shadows Official Fan Club) is founded.
1983	In the December issue of Dr. Strange, Marvel Comics' ace occultist kills all of the vampires in the world, thus banishing them from Marvel Comics for the next six years. Dark Shadows Festival is founded to host an annual Dark Shadows convention. The Hunger, starring Catherine Deneueve, Susan Sarandon, and David Bowie, is released.
1985	The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice is published and reaches the best seller list. Fright Night, Transylvania 6-5000, and the anime flick Vampire Hunter D are among a number of vampire films released.
1986	Vamp, featuring Grace Jones, is released. Films like it, last year's Fright Night and – 1987 – The Lost Boys combine horror and humour.
1988	The Queen Of The Damned by Anne Rice is published. Dracula's Widow, directed by Francis Ford Coppola's nephew, bombs.
1989	Overthrow of Romanian dictator Nikolai Ceaucescu opens Transylvania to Dracula enthusiasts. Nancy Collins wins a Bram Stoker Award for her vampire novel Sunglasses After Dark.
1991	Vampire: The Masquerade, the most successful of the vampire role-playing games, is released by White Wolf.
1992	Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is released. Andrei Chokatilo of Russia is sentenced to death after killing and vampirising 55 people. The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice is published. Film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer appears.
1994	Interview With The Vampire comes to the big screen. Oprah Winfrey forms "prayer circle" outside premiere to work against the forces of darkness she believes the film is calling down. Others also are appalled by the casting of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.
1995	Pam Keesey edits Dark Angels, an anthology of lesbian vampire fiction.
1996	The series Kindred: the Embraced airs for a whole 8 episodes. Director Quentin Tarantino makes From Dusk Till Dawn.
1997	TV version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, starring Sarah Michelle Geller, debuts. Teen lockers get new poster girl.
1998	Blade is released, with Wesley Snipes as a vampire slayer. Pandora and The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice are published.
1999	Vittorio the Vampire by Anne Rice is published.
2002	Blade II and Queen of the Damned are released.
2004	Blade: Trinity

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