Vampires and Vampirism: Fact or Fantasy?

Imagine that the year is 1790. Adults and children alike are draping strings of garlic, as well as crosses, above and around their doors. They do this because they fear that a vampire will come for them in the blackest of night. Many questions have been asked about the origin and the definition of the vampire. There are also various types and vast amounts of opinions about them as well. Many myths and legends like this have plagued mankind for centuries. The vampire has many definitions describing it. There are also various types and vast amounts of opinions about them as well. The vampire, also known as the walking undead, has been around for many, many years and is probably one of the oldest creatures in the world. Doctors and scientists have even discussed actual medical conditions that may have lead to the belief in vampires.

Among all the creatures and monsters in literature and folklore, the vampire seems to be the most mysterious:

The World Book encyclopedia defines a vampire as "a corpse that supposedly returns to life at night to suck people's blood" (Vampire 268). The word 'vampire' seems to catch the attention of people throughout the world. Many people wonder about where the word originated, and very few actually know. The name itself has never been satisfactorily explained:

So, as one can notice the word "vampire" is quite complicated in some ways. Stories of vampires have also been around for centuries. There have been stories as far back as 600 BC about vampires in Ancient Greece, but most of the tales told today began in the late eighteenth century. "In China Tsze-Chan reported in the 'Tsachwen' the existence of vampires in 600 BC. This idea was also prevalent in ancient Babylon and Assyria" (Florenescu 164). Stories of vampire-like creatures have come from many parts of the world. "Most vampire tales originated in Eastern Europe and Balkan countries, such as Albania, Greece, Hungary, and Romania" (Vampire 268).

The vampire has many different names and callings. For example, a vampire might be referred to as a revenant or the classic walking undead. "With a persistent sense of the fitting (and deplorable sense of taxonomy), European scholars have commonly referred to these, and to the undead in far-off cultures-for example, China, Indonesia, the Philippines-as 'vampires' as well" (Barber 2). "Other vampires throughout the world include the Hantu which is Malaysian and the Aswang which is from the Philippines" (Pedigo n. pag.). These two types of vampires are bodiless heads trailing entrails behind them.

During the 20th century people have become fascinated with the idea of vampires. Some individuals even believe that they themselves are true vampires. This is what is known as vampirism. It is the belief that one must act like a vampire no matter what. There are also the common cases of 'false vampirism'. "Within this group of 'false vampires' there is another species, Megaderma lyra, which is known to devour birds, other bats, and even mice" (Florenescu 173). The bat or vampire bat has also been associated with the vampire in many ways:

There are many other types of fake vampires all over the country. Examples of this would be the over-gothic, the role-player, and the Ricean. "In the Gothic scene, the vampire has his very special and unique status. It is a figure representing a very special form of Gothicism that is directly related to the middle of the 19th century" (Sasha n. pag.). This mythological vampire has his own attractiveness. "He is aristocratic, attractive, has good manners and is a supernatural being which again can fly, shapeshift and burns in the sun or at the sight of holy symbols" (Sasha n. pag.).

Then there is the role-player. Role-playing is basically when you pretend to be something you're not; acting. There are a lot of computer games and Internet sites and chats that allow people to role-play. A popular role-playing game is Vampire: The Masquerade. "These vampires are highly attractive (sexually), have superhuman powers and are in every way desirable" (Sasha n. pag.). Last but not least, the Ricean. Anne Rice, a well-known novelist, has written many best selling novels including Interview With The Vampire. Many, many people have based their vampire beliefs on Anne Rice's vampires from her novels. Perhaps because her idea of a vampire isn't what people think of when they think of vampires. "He has become quite human. He lost his unlikely traits such as the affection to holy symbols, the shapeshifting and the ability to fly. Yet, he is still a supernatural being, neither dead nor alive" (Sasha n. pag.).

When people think of a vampire, they probably think of someone who has been bitten, died and then risen from his or her grave to prowl the night. Probably the most common of all the vampires is the classical. This type is the best known, most likely and most occurring variety. "A classical vampire is someone who has met another vampire (the circumstances of this encounter are beyond discussion) and who has been changed by him. This normally happens by a mental initiation and/or by the exchange of blood" (Sasha n.pag.).

The classical vampire then leads to the inherited vampire. The inheritor is a human being who carries the genetic sequence of a classical vampire, but who needs to be activated by some outer influence. "This can be an extreme physical shock such as an accident or surgery with physical trauma and/or high blood loss as well as a regular charge by a classical vampire" (Sasha n.pag.). The idea of actually carrying a genetic sequence of a fictitious being is a little far-fetched. But then again, are vampires really fictitious?

One of the other most popular vampires that are heard of is the folkloristic vampire. "The aforementioned 'Folkloristic vampires' are a group of psychologically unstable persons who developed both the need to act like vampires (in the way they believe vampires act) and certain habits that often lead them directly to jail or security lock up in mandatories" (Sasha n. pag.). Most of them tend to react to garlic, holy symbols and the sun in a very specific way. Some of them even claim to fly. "They often stick to dress codes including black suits and capes and sleep in coffins" (Sasha n. pag.).

The last vampire, and probably the one that not many people think of when they think of a vampire is the Psi-vampire. The Psi-vampire is very different from the aforementioned varieties, as he is not a physical vampire, meaning not dependant on the consumption of blood, but a mental vampire. "Psi-vampires do not feed on blood but on mental life energy of a person" (Sasha n. pag.). As one can notice, the Psi-vampire is quite different from the classical, inherited, and folkloristic.

In the 17th and 18th centuries there were numerous ways to tell if someone was a vampire or going to become one. "When a vampire's teeth are remarked on at all, it is usually as the observation that children born with teeth are destined to become vampires" (Barber 44). That observation would have brought attention to anyone, seeing as no child is born with teeth. So of course it made people wonder whether this child is a vampire because they had no other explanation. Some vampires do not even use their teeth to draw blood. "Zelenin, for example, reports the belief that the Russian vampire has a pointed tongue, which he uses to puncture the skin of his victims" (Barber 44).

There are many superstitions about vampires. "It may be merely a corollary of this rule that in Eastern Europe alcoholics are regarded as prime candidates for revenants" (Barber 29). "People who commit suicide, die violently, or are condemned by their church supposedly become vampires" (Vampire 268). This all leads back to the church and the devil in one way or another. "In Christian mythology the dragon is also specifically the evil symbol of Satan, which can also correspond with Dracula's evil image" (Florenescu 176). "But not just the Christians believe that the vampire is linked to the devil. In the imagination of the Romanian people, devil and vampire are inextricably bound together" (Florenescu 176).

Along with the signs of how someone can tell if a person is a vampire or not, there is the appearance of the vampire. Many people derive their idea of vampire appearance from the movies. "The vampires of the movies, too, are usually tall and thin, with pale, usually narrow faces, which sprout a pair of very prominent canine teeth" (Barber 40). The canine teeth are probably the most looked at characteristic of the vampire. In describing the appearance of the vampire, Montague Summers says that "the lips which will be markedly full and red are drawn back from the teeth which gleam long, sharp, as razors, and ivory white" (Barber 44). Anne Rice describes one of her vampires through the eyes of Lestat, the main character in her novel The Vampire Lestat:

Anne Rice also explains how Lestat would look if he hadn't had enough blood and the one thing that can prove he isn't human:

In history there are many 'famous vampires'. Ones that no one has ever really thought about. Vlad Tepes for example, otherwise know as Count Dracula is very well known. "Dracula enjoyed watching blood flow; he apparently liked to eat among his bleeding victims" (Florenescu 174).

Another well known vampire or vampiress is Countess Elizabeth Bathory. "In the 16th century there dwelt in Hungary a terrible ogress, the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who for her necrosadistic abominations was known as 'la comtesse hongroise sanguinaire'" (Summers 63). She was known as the Blood Countess. "'The 'Blood Countess', known for her habit of bathing in the blood of animals and young females that were slain for her in masses. She had the idea that this blood would keep her young and beautiful" (Sasha n. pag.). As anyone can plainly see, Elizabeth was incredibly vain, but she was soon caught and walled up in a prison. She died there a few years later.

A common question is 'How can a vampire be killed?' That is an excellent question. "The classic method of killing a vampire is to drive a stake through his heart" (Barber 71). Staking is either considered mechanical or magical. "We see this in the choice of wood out of which to make the stake: in the north – Russia, the Baltic – the appropriate wood for the purpose is ash" (Barber 72). "And the staking of the vampire, while it has become virtually a symbol for this procedure, is just one of the many methods of ending the threat from the dead" (Barber 3).

Garlic has also been known to drive away vampires from a person or home. "Beyond its medical curative, garlic, in popular practice, is used as a spiritual 'talisman'; allegedly the vampire cannot stand its smell" (Florenescu 170). Crosses and holy symbols can be used as well. "If all these measures fail, one has to resort to the ultimate instrument of vampire destruction, which is used sparingly and reluctantly because, quite apart from repulsiveness of the act, it entails desecration of the hallowed ground of the dead" (Florenescu 171).

Scientific studies show that illnesses and diseases such as the plague and haematophilia may have been the start of the vampire craze. "It might be noted that the presence of blood, especially at the lips, may be one of the circumstances that associated the vampire with the plague. The pneumonic plague causes the victim to expel blood from the mouth, and the combination of visible blood with unexpected and quite sudden deaths may have contributed to the relief that vampirism was responsible for this disease" (Barber 42).

Another disease, possibly explaining Vlad Tepes is haemotodipsia. "Beyond the case of the person who enjoys seeing blood flowing during coitus, there is a further aberration of erotic blood lust known as haemotodipsia. Such persons desire, not only during the act of coitus, but at other times" (Florenescu 174). Other medical conditions include Xeroderma Pigmentossum and Porphyria. These diseases are very severe. The skin develops no melanin so that there is no protection from UV light and its aggressive rays. "The person suffering from these diseases easily get burned in the sun up to 3rd degree or produce skin cancer after spending only minutes in the day/sunlight" (Sasha n. pag.). One could only imagine a Romanian farmer in the 18th century witnessing a person actually being burned alive because of this horrendous disease.

There are also diseases that may have been linked to vampire attack victims. An example of this could be anemia. "Anemia is a blood disease in which the red-cell count is unusually low" (McKaig n. pag.) The symptoms of anemia include a pale complexion, fatigue, and digestive disorders. This may have brought people in the 18th century to think that a person with anemia was a vampire seeing as he was marked with a pale complexion and he had trouble eating food.

Some people see vampires as misunderstood creatures. Others view them to be very beautiful. One thing's for sure, no matter what the opinion is the vampire will be around for a very long time. Whether it's the word, the types, or even the diseases, the vampire is still the magical creature many people seem to be fascinated with.