Stories of vampirelike creatures
have come from many parts of the
world. But most vampire tales
originated in Eastern European
and Balkan countries, such as
Albania, Greece, Hungary, and
Romania. There are many superstitions
about vampires. People who commit
suicide, die violently, or are
condemned by their church supposedly
become vampires. According to
folklore, a vampire can be destroyed
by driving a wooden stake through
its heart. In Europe, from the
late 1600's to the early 1800's,
people dug up graves looking for
vampires.
The
horror novel Dracula (1897), by
the English author Bram Stoker,
is the most famous vampire story.
The character of Dracula is based
on Vlad
Tepes, a cruel prince from Walachia
(now part of Romania). Vlad was
nicknamed Dracula, which in Romanian
means son of the devil or son
of a dragon.
English author Bram Stoker, Dracula
is the most famous vampire story
of all time. The main character
is a wicked nobleman, Count Dracula
of Transylvania, a region of Romania.
In the novel, Dracula's search
for new victims leads him to England.
There, he pursues two young women,
Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray.
He, in turn, is hunted by Mina's
fiance, Jonathan Harker, and by
Abraham Van Helsing, an authority
on vampires. The two men finally
destroy Dracula. Dracula was based
on vampire legends that probably
arose from hundreds of savage
murders committed in the 1400's
by Vlad Tepes, a prince from Walachia,
a region south of Transylvania.
Stoker's novel, published in
1897, is probably best known
as a motion picture. Film versions
include Nosferatu (1922) and
Dracula (1931).
†
Media Vampires
Dark Shadows was a Gothic television
soap opera that originally aired
weekdays on the ABC television
network, from June 27, 1966
to April 2, 1971.
A pre-existing Elizabethan
residence known as Seaview (1885)
formerly owned by James Kernochan,
was incorporated into Greenley's
design. In keeping with its
seaside location, the 65-room
manor house features turrets,
stained-glass windows, high,
arching doorways and shell motifs
that adorn the fa?ade. Rooms
imported intact from France
were moved from the Bradley's
home in Washington, D.C. to
Newport, and reassembled with
the chateau constructed around
them.
The Bradley's daughter Mrs.
Julia Bradley Fox took over
the estate and lived there until
the late 1930s with her husband
Rt. Rev. Herbert Shipman, protestant
Episcopal Bishop of New York
and World War I Army chaplain.
It has been used as World War
II Army officers' quarters,
an exclusive girls' school and
as an exterior set for the cult
classic television show Dark
Shadows. Purchased in 1974 by
the Carey family of New York
and renamed Carey Mansion, it
currently serves as an academic
facility and student residence.
Barnabas
Collins: episode 193 (22 March
1967) to 365 (17 November 1967)
Barnabas Collins, a nearly two-hundred-year-old
vampire, is released from his
coffin and brings terror to
Collinsport. Doctor Julia Hoffman
is called to investigate the
strange kidnapping of Maggie
Evans, a Collinsport waitress
whom the vampire believes to
be the reincarnation of his
long lost love, Josette.
The show was produced by Dan
Curtis, who tells of a dream
he had in which a girl takes
a long train ride to visit a
large mansion. The story "bible",
which was written by Art Wallace,
does not mention any supernatural
elements. It was considered
daring (and unprecedented in
daytime television) when ghosts
were introduced about six months
after it began.
The series became hugely popular
when, a year into its run, vampire
Barnabas Collins, played by
Jonathan Frid, appeared. In
addition to vampires, Dark Shadows
featured werewolves, ghosts,
zombies, man-made monsters,
witches, warlocks, time travel,
both into the past and into
the future, and a parallel universe.
A small company of actors each
played many roles and, as actors
came and went, some characters
were played by several actors.
Major writers in addition to
Art Wallace included Sam Hall,
Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.
†
Anne Rice
Anne
Rice (born October 4, 1941)
is a best-selling American
author of gothic and later
religious themed books. She
was born Howard Allen O'Brien.
Best known for her Vampire
Chronicles, her prevailing
thematical focus is on love,
death, immortality, existentialism,
and the human condition. She
was married to poet Stan Rice
for 41 years until his death
in 2002. Her books have sold
nearly 100 million copies,
making her one of the most
widely read authors in modern
history.
She
completed her first book,
Interview with the Vampire,
in 1973 and published it in
1976. This book would be the
first in Rice's popular Vampire
Chronicles series, which includes
1985's The Vampire Lestat
and 1988's The Queen of the
Damned. Rice has also published
adult-oriented fiction under
the pen name Anne Rampling,
and has written explicit sado-masochistic
erotica as A.N. Roquelaure.
Her
fiction is often described
as lush and descriptive, and
her characters' sexuality
is fluid, often displaying
homoerotic feelings towards
each other. Rice said that
the bisexuality was what she
was looking for in her characters;
a love beyond gender. She
also weaves philosophical
and historic themes into the
dense pattern of her books.
To her admirers, Rice's books
are among the best in modern
popular fiction, possessing
those elements that create
a lasting presence in the
literary canon.
In
1994, Neil Jordan directed
a relatively faithful motion
picture adaptation of Interview
with the Vampire, from Rice's
own screenplay. The movie
starred Tom Cruise as Lestat,
Brad Pitt as the morbid Louis
and was a breakout role for
young Kirsten Dunst as the
deceitful little Claudia.
A
second film adaptation of
the Vampire Chronicles came
out in 2002. Starring Stuart
Townsend as the infamous Lestat,
the movie combined incidents
from the second and third
books in the series but released
under the title of the third
book, The Queen of the Damned.
The plot was substantially
altered from that of the book,
and the film was poorly received
by fans and critics alike.
On
April 25, 2006, the musical
Lestat, based on Rice's Vampire
Chronicles books, opened at
the Palace Theatre on Broadway
after having its world premiere
in San Francisco, California
in
December 2005. With music
by Elton John and lyrics by
Bernie Taupin, it was the
inaugural production of the
newly established Warner Brothers
Theatre Ventures.
Despite
Rice's own overwhelming approval
and praise, the show received
mostly poor reviews by critics
and disappointing attendance.
Lestat closed a month later
on May 28, 2006, after just
33 previews and 39 regular
performances.
The
Vampire Chronicles:
Interview
with the Vampire (1976)
The Vampire Lestat (1985)
The Queen of the Damned (1988)
The Tale of the Body Thief
(1992)
Memnoch the Devil (1995)
The Vampire Armand (1998)
Merrick (2000)
Blood and Gold (2001)
Blackwood Farm (2002)
Blood Canticle (2003)
New Tales of the Vampires:
(Other vampire tales that
are not within the main sequence,
but in the same fictional
world)
Pandora
(1998)
Vittorio the Vampire (1999)
†
Forever Knight
Forever Knight was a Canadian-German-American
television series about Nick
Knight, an 800-year-old vampire
working as a detective in modern
day Toronto. Nicholas is an
unlikely vampire and an even
less likely civil servant, seeking
to repay society for his sins.
The series originated as a
1989 CBS television movie, Nick
Knight, with Rick Springfield
playing the title character.
In 1992, CBS began broadcasting
the series as part of its Crimetime
After Primetime lineup, with
a new name and with Geraint
Wyn Davies now playing Nick
Knight.
Nicholas de Brabant’s
life is one of profound struggle.
He is at constant odds with
the nature of who he is (a monster,
a natural predator), and his
unending quest to be human again.
His desires (both carnal and
humanitarian) seem to equally
get the best of him. Helping
him achieve his mortality is
Dr. Natalie Lambert (Catherine
Disher), a medical examiner
who accidentally discovers the
truth about Nick and vows to
help him. Through the series
there evolves a budding (albeit
forbidden for obvious reasons)
romance between Nick and Natalie,
constantly complicated by the
presence of Nick’s vampire
family who are never far from
him.
The beautiful vampire Janette
du Charme (Deborah Duchêne)
is a very powerful influence
over Nick, for they are not
only bound by their very natures
but by their master and their
quite literal eternal love for
one another. While Nick might
love Natalie for her mortality
and her tireless devotion to
his cause, Nick loves Janette
for their deep abiding history
and almost preternatural bond.
Janette is also a “safe”
way for Nick to indulge his
vampire urges.
The most powerful force in
Nick’s life, however,
is Lucien LaCroix (Nigel Bennett),
the vampire master who brought
both Nicholas and Janette across.
Nick both hates and loves LaCroix,
despising him for bringing him
into a life of darkness but
also bound by an unshakable
loyalty to him. While Janette
might be mildly amused by Nick’s
desire to be human, LaCroix
fosters no such tolerance. It
is quite clear from the beginning
that LaCroix also harbors a
deep, obsessive love for Nick,
providing a strong homoerotic
element to their complicated
relationship. LaCroix not only
thwarts every attempt Nick makes
to achieve his goal, he mocks
his quest with cold derision.
LaCroix wants nothing more than
for Nick to leave the world
of the living and unite with
his “family” and
especially him once more. This
seems to be all the more apparent
when Nick learns about who brought
LaCroix across. LaCroix was
a general in the Roman army,
known as Lucius, and he lived
in Pompeii. He returned from
the war a hero, and had a bust
created in his honour. Lucius
was in love with a woman named
Selene, who had a young pre-teen
daughter named Divia (Kathryn
Long), whom he embraced as his
own daughter. While he was away,
Divia became ill, and when he
returned, she was better again.
When Vesuvius was erupting,
Divia, now a vampire, noticed
that Lucius did not want to
die, and she brought him across,
saving his life.
†
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is
an American cult television
series that aired from March
10, 1997 until May 20, 2003.
It was created by writer-director
Joss Whedon under his production
tag, Mutant Enemy. The series
narrative follows Buffy Anne
Summers (played by Sarah Michelle
Gellar), the latest in a line
of young women chosen by fate
to battle against vampires,
demons, and the forces of darkness.
Like previous slayers, Buffy
is aided by a Watcher, who guides
and trains her. Unlike her predecessors,
Buffy surrounds herself with
a circle of loyal friends who
become known as the "Scooby
Gang".
Buffy Anne Summers (played
by Sarah Michelle Gellar) is
"the Slayer," one
in a long line of young women
chosen by fate to battle evil
forces. This mystic calling
endows her with dramatically
increased physical strength,
as well as endurance, agility,
ease of healing, intuition,
and a limited degree of clairvoyance,
usually in the form of prophetic
dreams.
Buffy receives guidance from
her Watcher, Rupert Giles (played
by Anthony Stewart Head). Giles,
rarely referred to by his first
name, is a member of the Watchers'
Council, whose job is to train
the Slayers. Giles researches
the supernatural creatures that
Buffy must face, offering insights
into their origins and advice
on how to kill them.
Buffy is also helped by friends
she meets at Sunnydale High:
Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan)
and Xander Harris (Nicholas
Brendon). Willow is originally
a bookish wallflower; she provides
a contrast to Buffy's outgoing
personality, but shares the
social isolation Buffy suffers
after becoming a Slayer. As
the series progresses, Willow
becomes a more assertive character,
a powerful witch, and a lesbian.
In contrast, Xander, with no
supernatural skills, provides
comic relief and a grounded
perspective. Buffy and Willow
are the only characters who
appear in all 144 episodes;
Xander is missing in only one.
†
Angel
Angel (born 1727 in Galway,
Ireland) is a fictional character
created by Joss Whedon and David
Greenwalt for the television
programs, Buffy the Vampire
Slayer and Angel. The character
is portrayed by David Boreanaz.
The vampire with a soul, Angel,
is Buffy's love interest throughout
the first three seasons. He
leaves Buffy to make amends
for his sins and search for
redemption in his own spin-off,
Angel.
Angel has made more appearances
in canon Buffyverse programs
than any other character (including,
ironically, Buffy herself.)
He appeared in:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer —
Angel became a series regular
in the show's second and third
seasons, although he did not
appear in "Inca Mummy Girl";
he was also technically absent
from "Innocence" to
"Becoming" when his
curse was broken and he reverted
back to Angelus. Whether as
himself or as Angelus, he appeared
in 56 episodes in all, including
guest appearances in the episodes:
Season 1 (1997) - "Welcome
to the Hellmouth"; "The
Harvest"; "Teacher's
Pet"; "Never Kill
a Boy on the First Date";
"Angel"; "Out
of Mind, Out of Sight";
"Prophecy Girl".
Season 4 (1999, 2000) - "Pangs"
(he returned to Sunnydale after
Doyle had a vision of Buffy);
"The Yoko Factor"
(He followed Buffy back to apologise
for their recent confrontation).
Season 5 (2000, 2001) - "Fool
for Love" (flashbacks);
"Forever" (he came
to Sunyndale to comfort Buffy
after her mother's funeral.
Season 7 (2002, 2003) - "End
of Days"; "Chosen"
(he came back to Sunnydale to
help Buffy in the final confrontation
with The First Evil.)
Angel — As the star of
the series, Angel appeared in
all 110 episodes of five seasons;
however, he was technically
absent in "Soulless",
"Calvary", "Salvage",
and "Release", as
his soul was extracted and he
was Angelus for the duration
of these episodes.
Angel was born as Liam, to
an Irish merchant, in 1727.
By 1753, at the age of 26, he
had developed a taste for alcohol,
women and sloth. Though a good
man at heart, Liam was a hedonist
whose only real ambition lay
in seeing the world. For the
lazy Irishman, that seemed a
laughable dream, especially
after he was expelled from his
father's household, but he had
caught the eye of an affluent
woman; actually a vampire; named
Darla. She lured him into an
alley, and, promising him a
world full of excitement and
travel, transformed him into
a vampire.
Angelus during the 18th century.The
loss of his soul meant Liam
no longer possessed any restraint
over his darker impulses. On
the night he rose from his grave,
and in response to Darla's claim
that he could have anyone in
the village, he set about slaughtering
the entire community. When he
came to slaughter his own family,
he found no problem in entering,
his little sister inviting him
in without hesitation or suspicion.
Before killing his father, he
would tell him mockingly, "[My
sister] thought that I'd returned
to her. An angel. She was wrong."
For generations Darla and Liam,
now known as Angelus, terrorized
humankind, murdering and torturing
anyone who crossed their path.
Angelus sired the vampires Penn
(who indulged his blood lust
by becoming a serial killer),
and Drusilla, a young woman
driven insane by Angelus before
he finally sired her. Drusilla,
in turn, sired Spike, for whom
Angelus largely served as a
mentor and "role model."
Spike would go so far as to
call the elder vampire his "Yoda".
Vampire Main Powers
Ability
to multiply by contamination
The vampire as a negative image
of the Christ - that gave his
blood to save men, Nosferatu give
blood to corrupt souls and propagate
evil. The Vampire is self-sufficient
and despite the attraction he
may provoke, seems to be beyond
“sexuality”.
Life time
The vampire does not age nor
will it die from the passing
of time, though it may appear
to age if it goes sometime without
feeding. However, the vampire
can also undergo a rejuvenate
with the blood supply.
Most
of the vampire's powers increase
with age and experience. Dracula
is considered as the Master of
all Vampires but it is unsure
if he was the first vampire on
earth.
Invulnerability
The vampire is also immune
to most diseases and is invincible
to mortal weapons. Only when
moving about during the day
or when resting in his coffin
is he subject to physical harm.
Strengh
The vampire's physical strength
greatly exceeds that of mortals.
Dracula is described as having
the strength of twenty strong
men.
Shape-shifting
The vampire may command several
animal creatures such as the
wolf, the rat, the fox, the
owl, the bat and the moth and
is also able to assume the form
of a wolf or a bat and possibly
any of the other animals subject
to his command. The vampire
may also transform himself into
a mist or dust cloud drifting
in the air.
The vampire may alter his size
within certain limits, becoming
either larger or smaller.
The vampire may climb walls
much like a large insect. He
may climb normally or with his
head toward the ground much
like a spider.
League with the demons
In modern stories and series,
the vampire gets the ability
to command some form of magical
or monstrous beings (demons,
zombies, ...), which seems natural
as the vampire is in connection
with the devil.
Hypnotic mind control
Much like the snake and the
bird, the vampire may exert
his will over the will of his
victim, even to the point of
inducing a catatonic state.
This power explains why victims
often have no memory of being
attacked. For some vampires,
these abilities come easily,
for others in a more difficult
fashion, and still others not
at all.
Dracula’s special powers
These abilities may be specific
to Dracula and not generally
available to other vampires.
Dracula was a master in occult
arts and black magic and acquired
additional powers through pacts
with satanic entities.
Within
a limited range, the Count has
the power to control the weather.
He often uses fog or mist to cover
his movements.
Telepathy,
telekinesis and other mind powers:
Dracula has the power to become
invisible and to pass unseen among
his enemies.
Necromantic
power. Dracula can raise the dead
that will come as zombies at his
command.
Main
Weaknesses
Sleep
The vampire is obliged to sleep
during the day and to rest upon
a protective layer of hallowed
ground from its native land.
Usually the vampire will rest
in its coffin during the day
in a trance that keeps him aware
of things happening around it.
The vampire may only leave its
resting place at sunrise, noon
or sunset. This is clearly the
vampire's time of greatest vulnerability
since it is helpless when resting
within its coffin.
Light is destructive
During the day of light, the
vampire is severely weakened.
Most will not leave the dark
but the experienced vampire
is able to move and act as a
human. Nevertheless, he loses
his supernatural abilities and
mortal weapons may harm him.
Repelled/harmed by religious
symbols
Across most of Europe, the
vampire, as an agent of Satan,
was held to be subject to the
dominion of the symbols of Christ.
The Cross-, Holy Water and other
symbols of the Church were almost
universally held to be powerful
weapons against vampires, werewolves,
witches and other spawn of Satan.
This conception has evolved
with centuries and the propagation
of the vampire myth beyond the
Christian world. The consensus
seemed to be that the power
of the symbol derived from the
faith of the wielder (or more
rarely, from the belief of the
vampire) rather than any intrinsic
power of the symbol itself.
If a person try to intimidate
a vampire with a cross but has
no faith, the cross will be
useless. Christian symbols may
be replaced with other religious
symbols according to the belief
system of the wielder and/or
vampire. In other words, if
a person, confronted by a hungry
and hostile vampire, presents
any symbol, which they truly
believe to represent the power
of Light and Goodness, their
very belief will manifest itself
in a force sufficient to drive
away the undead.
Modern authors are definitely
moving away from religious symbolism
to control/avoid vampires. It
can be explained by a growing
awareness in our society of
the variety of religious experiences
available around the world,
and the recognition that there
are many people (including vampires)
to whom Christian religious
symbols are meaningless. Anne
Rice’s vampires have no
fear of holy symbols and may
kill priests as any other victims.
Absence of reflection
Vampires don’t cast a
reflection. This also means
that his image does not appear
on film or any other device
that requires a light (or heat)
source to produce and image.
A flame can be seen through
his body. In some areas, vampires
are believed not to show in
photographs or to cast shadows.
A reason given for this is the
old idea of the reflection of
the soul into the mirror, since
vampires have lost their souls
they cast no reflection.
Other limitations
The vampire may not enter a
home unless he is freely invited
in by one of the residents.
From the first time he has been
invited, he may come and go
at will.
The vampire may not cross running
water, except at the ebb and
flow of the tide. He may be
carried over or at certain times
he may change shape and fly
or jump over. If the vampire
becomes immersed in running
water he is completely helpless
and will be destroyed. The reason
comes from the analogy of standing
water to the mirror.
Vampires
cannot cross a thicket of wild
rose or a line of salt. Vampires
are compelled to stop and count
every grain in a pile of grain
or numerous objects (often grain)
thrown into their path.
How
to recognize a Vampire?
Throughout Europe there was
one generally acknowledged method
of identifying the suspected
vampire. The natural decomposition
of the body after death was
assumed to be due to the departure
of the soul from the body. In
most cases if, after exhumation,
a body was found to be uncorrupted,
it was usually assumed that
the soul remained with the body
or that a demonic spirit had
taken possession of the body.
The exception to this belief
was found in the case of saints,
martyrs and other especially
godly individuals. In these
cases the failure of the body
to decompose naturally was believed
to be a divine blessing rather
than a demonic curse. In most
cases, such corpses were likely
to be summarily cremated by
the peasants who exhumed the
corpse.
In Romania and Tchecoslovakei,
horses were taken to a cemetery,
as it was believed they would
refuse to cross over a vampire's
grave.
There
are many possible routes of
becoming a vampire. Some of
the more prevalent mythological
routes are:
Suicidals, eretics, schismatics
and excommunicants
The Church has long considered
suicide one of the unforgivable
sins. It was commonly believed
in Christian Europe that such
souls were unable to rest in
the grave, especially in hallowed
ground. Their bodies could not
decay and return to their original
dust (the most commonly accepted
proof of vampiric infection)
and they left their graves at
night to prey upon the living
who were granted the chance
of salvation that they were
denied. The act of excommunication
prohibited one from receiving
the sacraments of the church.
This case is similar to that
of the suicide. He who died
excommunicant was believed to
be unable to return to dust
or to find release from the
body.
Sinners
Those who were particularly
cruel or violent in life were
believed to be prime candidates
to return from the grave as
vampires. Those who led dissolute
or debauched lives were also
likely to return as vampires.
This, of course, was only the
case for those individuals who
did not repent and receive absolution
before death. Again, the soul
was believed to be bound to
the body, preventing the natural
decomposition of the body. And
while the soul was bound to
the body it was also bound in
servitude to Satan.
Witches and wizards
Those who practiced black magic
or summoned spirits were believed
to servants the devil and particularly
subject to vampirism. If a witch
or a black sorcerer died unrepentant
he, like the suicide or the
excommunicant, was bound to
earth and unable to pass into
the next world. Also, the witch
or sorcerer was more subjected
to demonic infestation. The
offspring of a witch or a sorcerer
were also subjected to becoming
a vampire after death. This
was especially true if there
was reason to suspect that the
child might be the result of
a union between a witch and
an incubus or a sorcerer and
a succubus.
Werewolves
There was a strong link between
the werewolf and the vampire.
Unlike the vampire, the werewolf
was not generally believed to
be immortal. It was commonly
held that when a werewolf died
he was most likely to return
as a vampire. Also, those who
were killed by a werewolf were
thought to be prime candidates
for resurrection as a vampire.
Often the two curses were to
be found in the same geographic
regions.
Natural-born vampires
There were a number of signs
that people watched for at birth
in order to detect children
who might be potential vampires:
illegitimate children of illegitimate
parents, those with birthmarks
or born with teeth, children
with red hairs, seventh sons
or daughters, children born
with a membrane covering their
heads (cauls). In slovic countries
where most had dark hair and
eyes, any child who was blue-eyed
and redheaded would become vampires
after death.
Other
beliefs include having a cat or
other animal jump over the corpse
before it gets properly buried,
or being murdered and not attaining
revenge for the murder, drinking
the blood of a vampire.
How
to prevent somebody from becoming
a vampire ?
There are many recipes to preserve
the defunct from being infested
by the vampire.
The
Burial
In many Eastern European countries,
it was thought that if a cat
by chance had jumped over a
corpse prior to burial, the
dead would return as a vampire.
According to some beliefs, in
order to prevent a vampire from
chewing its way out of the grave,
people would stuff the mouth
with certain coins or dirt,
or prop the mouth shut. In Romania,
people buried a candle, a coin,
and a towel with the corpse
to prevent vampirism. Garlic
or millet could be stuffed into
the nostrils, eyes, and ears
of a corpse to prevent vampirism.
Apparently, vampires are obsessed
with tying knots, and can become
so engaged in the task that
they neglect to rise from their
graves and kill. In Northern
Germany, corpses are buried
enlaced into nets, so they cannot
leave their graves until they
have untied all the knots. Greeks
will cast fishing nets over
their doorways to keep vampires
out; this same obsession will
force the vampire to count every
knot before he can enter.
There
is only one good and sure method
of permanently destroying the
vampire
First
drive a wooden stake through his
heart then sever his head. Don’t
waste any time between both operations,
as vampires are resistant. The
body should then be burned and
the ashes scattered or burried
at a crossroads. If someone uses
the stake or burns the heart,
but fails to cut off the head,
the vampire turns into a cloud
of fog and reconstitute its body
when out of reach.
Modern
vampire-hunters would recommend
extreme heat, which can be achieved
with military-class flamethrower.
These
particular objects called apotropaic
turn away demons and evil monsters,
including vampires. They can be
ranged into four general categories:
‘appeasing' apotropaics,
which stop the vampire and remove
its urge to kill and spread
disease.
Countering'
apotropaics anhilate such harmful
ability of the vampire by using
a natural anti-substance with
a more powerful counter-ability
.'Constricting' apotropaics paralyze
the vampire making him therefore
unable to leave his grave and
spread death and destruction.
Destructive apotropaics keep vampires
in chess by killing them.
Stakes
They were used in many ways
to prevent and imprison vampires.
In Eastern Serbia, small pegs
made out of hawthorn wood are
driven into the grave next to
the cross, preventing the corpse
from becoming a vampire. Stakes
and other sharpened objects
are also driven into the body.
The wounds preventing vampirism
by making it impossible for
the Devil to 'inflate' the body
so it can rise. Stakes can be
simply driven over a corpse's
grave, so if it becomes a vampire
and tries to rise, it will impale
itself. Most movies include
in the now famous ritual scene
of the killing in the coffin,
the hammer and the wooden stake
as mandatory means of destruction.
Sharp
objects
Sickles have a very simple
and effective use in stopping
vampires. When the corpse is
burried with the sickle over
its neck, should the corpse
become a vampire and try to
rise from its grave, it will
cut its own head off. Another
way of using the sickle involved
piercing the corpses heart with
it, a custom probably inspired
from the use of the stake. Thorns
and other spiny objects were
used in a similar way. They
can also be inserted under a
corpse's tongue to prevent it
from sucking blood.
Crucifix
Anything
that resemble to a christian cross
and has been blessed will repell
the vampire. Placed inside his
empty coffin, it will prevent
Dracula from returning to rest
there. Putting a wooden cross
on a household's door or smearing
tar on it in the shape of a cross
would keep vampires away.
Silver
bullets
A consecrated bullet fired
through the coffin at this time
will kill him. Some vampire’s
hunters used silver holly bullets
to destroy the vampires they
chased. A Serbian belief also
states that a silver coin inscribed
with a cross, cut into quarters,
loaded into a shotgun shell,
and then fired at a vampire
will kill it.
Eucharistic
wafers
Holy
wafer placed in the vampire's
coffin will prevent him from using
it as a resting place.
Garlic
or wolfsbane
The odor of the bulb causes
Dracula to leave the room or
immediate area. This mainly
a tradition from Transylvania.
During the early 1500 as the
plague ravaged Europe, people
turned to a concoction of vinegar
and garlic called "Four
Thieves' Vinegar." The
name supposedly originated with
four thieves who confessed that
wearing a mask saturated with
garlic vinegar protected them
against catching the plague
when they plundered dead bodies.
What is known about garlic is
that it contains an antibacterial
substance, which might very
well have afforded some protection.
Wolfbane was mentioned in the
Bela Lugosi’s Dracula
and used in place of garlic.
According to some beliefs, when
put under a mattress or crib
with a silver knife, wolfsbane
keeps both vampires and werewolves
away.
Wild
roses
A branch of wild rose placed
atop the vampire's coffin while
he is within will imprison him.
This flower has the same effect
as garlic. It also immobilizes
the vampire when placed on him.
Other
repellants
Many substances can be strewn
along a vampire's grave and
the path to the graveyard to
hinder it should it attempt
to rise; these substances include
millet, sea sand, mustard seeds,
oats, linen seeds, carrot seeds,
and poppy seeds. Poppy seeds
are especially useful because
their inherent narcotic nature
causes a vampire to wish to
rest in its grave instead of
walk. Accounts exist of supposed
vampires having their caskets
filled with poppy seeds to keep
them in their graves.
Follow
these Vampire and WereWolf links
to learn more:
Nosferatu
to you Vampire and Werewolf
names from around the world
Dragwlya
The Realm of the Impaler Prince
and theThe Authentic Vampyre
Castle
Dracula
WHO’S
THAT HOWLING OUT IN THOSE WOODS?...
“CHERE! AIN’T NAUGHT
BUT DE LOUP GAROU!!”
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