I know I'm missing some pieces of history here but as I study, I'm adding everyday :-)

SINCE THE BEGINNING



According to research, Eygpt and India were the birthplace of the Vampire others suggest that the Persians where one of the first civilizations in history to have tales of the Vampire. Ancient artwork has been found depicting men fighting off large creatures which appear to be trying to suck their blood. Ancient Babylonian myth, had stories of a deity known as Lilitu or "Lilith", known for drinking the blood of men, women and infants. According to old Hebrew texts removed from the Old Testament, Lilith was considered to be Adam's first wife before Eve. It is said she left her husband due to his sexual ineptitude and eventually became "Queen of Demons".

In China during the 6th century BC, traces of the "Living Dead" were found. More legends continued throughout all the world, including India, Malaysia, Polynesia and the lands of the Aztecs and Eskimos. Research says that according to the Aztecs, the offering of a young victims blood to the Gods ensured the fertilization of the earth.

Arguably the most popular stories come from European civilizations. There are many bloodthirsty Goddesses in both Roman and Geek Mythology known as Lamiae, Empusae and Striges. Today, these names are known as Witches, Demons and Vampires. Even though these Vampires were known to drink blood there were not "Living Dead", but Goddesses that disembodied divinities and capable of taking on human appearances so they might sedudce their victims.

Through time, as Christianity grew, the value of blood became apparant with Holy Communion. This act symbolizing the Christs blood and bread symbolizing hsi flesh are taken literally. During the 11th Century, both witches and doctors prescribed virgin blood to cure all illnesses. Also during this time, corpses found intact around Europe began a huge vampire scare. The phenomenon of Vampirism continued through the Renaissance era but only sporadically, but again grew to epidemic proportions in the 14th Century, mainly in central European Regions of Prussia, Silesia and Bohemia. The bubonic plague was thought to be the work of Vampires and panic of infection led people to bury their dead without completely verifying that they were truly deceased. It was then no wonder that so many encounters of Vampires rising from their graves during this time were noted. A person, buried alive, would try to claw his way out of the grave and would be discovered covered in blood from the wounds he had inflicted upon himself by doing so. This, of course, would label him as a Vampire.

In the mid-15th Century, Vampirism again came full force, most notably in the trial of Frenchman Gilles de Rais. Gilles was a former member of Joan of Arc's guard. He retired in the Southwest part of France and devoted himself to finding the secret of the "Philosophers' Stone" in blood. He was later accused and ultimately convicted of torturing, raping and murdering dozens, if not hundreds, of young children, mainly boys to use their blood in his experiments.

Also during this time, arguably the most famous historical figure (and the one I'm most fascinated with) that became associated with vampirism surfaced. His name was Vlad Tepes Dracula (1431-1476), Prince of Wallachia, an ancient kingdom which is now part of Romania. His three reigns of Wallachia were in 1448, 1456–62, and 1476.

His double name of Tepes (meaning "Impaler") and Dracula (after his father title, Dracul, meaning Devil or Dragon...the 'a' added on to mean 'son of...') suited him quite appropriately. His post-mortem name of Tepes (Impaler) originated from his preferred method for executing his opponents, impalement.

Vlad was also known as a bloodthirsty tyrant who had ordered thousands of people impaled for his pleasure. In Turkish, he was known as "Kazikli Bey" which means "Impaler Prince". Vlad had become the nations hero for liberating his lands from the Ottoman invaders.

Four centuries later, Bram Stoker would write the infamous novel "Dracula".

Although takes of Vampirism never completely vanished, they dwindled slightly from the 15th through 17th centuries.

In 1611, the superstitious land of Hungary,Countess Elizabeth Bathory also known as
the "Blood Countess" began the legend over again. She was accused of kidnapping and
torturing young women to death and then bathing in and drinking their blood believing that it would preserve her youth and appearance. But as I'm sure your questions are..."how did she come to this conclusion?" Well, research says she was the wife of a Count who was always away at war. Elizabeth became bored with her lifestyle so she began to study black magic which then led to her horrible endeavors.

When a large number of young women became missing, Bathory's own cousin led a soldiers and policemen to capture her. Although her accomplices were all killed, she was eventually spared execution because of her royal ties, but was locked up in a tower room for the rest of her life with door and windows shut.



The word 'Vampire', became used as a term for the very first time in 1726, following thousands of reports of vampirism due to the plague. It was first coined in German as "Vanpir" in a report of one case of vampirism. This evolved into "vampyre" in 1732 (used in French) and finally into the English word "Vampire" later that same year. This was the beginning of the end for the vampire as we know it.

The 18th century brought the Age of Enlightenment and Philosophers, Scholars and members of the chursch set out to kill the superstitions and cast doubt on the works of the Devil and his followers. But the legend of the vampire, true to its nature, refused to die. Categorizing and sterotyping the vampire only provoked superstition.

The Romanticism at the end ot the 18th century tried to recapture legends lost in the Enlightment and Industrial Revolution. With this, the gothic novel had its rebirth. The stories that were released, as well as several poems of vampires of the 19th century brought new elements to the Vampire in a traditional sense. The element of seduction, the bringing of pleasure in death was presented. Fantasy and horror were also in great demand, but during the mid-19th century the popularity dwindled once again, due to its repetetive nature. But again, reappeared in the victorian era where the legend of the Vampire reached new heights. Viewed as an escape by many, the vampire appeared onstage, in novel, in poetry and in prose. The hypocrisy of society was in such a state that writing horrific stories was quite permissable so long as morality triumphed in the end. It was in this time that Bram Stoker wrote his legendary novel Dracula. The success of his novel was phenomenal, and it would forever define our views of the Vampire.

Finally the 20th century brought the invention of the motion picture and with this Vampires and other monsters could show their faces on the big screen.

At the dawn of the 21st century, the occult genre has grown to huge proportions. Everywhere you turn, a vampire seems to hide in the shadows. There are gothic nightclubs, vampire organiztions such as the ARVLFC and the Transylvanian Society of Dracula and even on the internet the Vampire appears.

Both in myth and reality, it's hard to escape from the seduction and charms of the Vampire. It's truly immortal and continues to woo and hold us under it's captivating fangs.