Yes, there was Vlad the Impaler http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics3/vlad/
But the vampire-myth in Eastern Europe is far older than this crazed aristocrat. Legends of bloodsucking creatures are found in many cultures throughout history.
One of the more popular bloodsuckers of our age is the chupacabra. The vampire is also a popular literary subject. Hence, there are numerous descriptions of the origin, nature, powers, etc. of vampires. What seems to be universal about vampire myths is their connection with the fear of death and the desire for immortality.
The ritual drinking of blood to overcome death has been practiced by many peoples. The Aztecs and other Native Americans, for example, ate the hearts and drank the blood of captives in ritual ceremonies, most likely to satisfy the appetite of their gods and gain for themselves fertility and immortality. Also typical were the rites of Dionysus and Mithras, where the drinking of animal blood was required in the quest for immortality. Even today, some Christians believe that their priests perform a magical transubstantiation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ to be eaten and drunk in the quest to join God in eternal life.
http://skepdic.com/vampires.html
http://www.csicop.org/si/9603/staking.html
Originally posted by FeceMan
So...any links for the Book of Nod?
Bit late but i was going through some old posts, anyway hope you get this
Takes time to load up but it does work
Originally posted by FeceMan
Not sure if this has been stated, but there is a combination of genetic diseases that causes what may have been the origination of vampire myths. (Yes, that was a rather odd sentence.)The condition affects an individual with a sensitivity to light--as in, the exposure to light would cause excruciating pain (I believe) by creating a reaction that literally ate away at the body. The person, suffering from anemia, may have drank blood in hopes that it would restore his or her body color. The gums would have receded, giving the person a fang-ish look. Garlic could have accelerated the process.
I'm uncertain if that is completely accurate, but just look up something on vampires and hemophilia to get everything.
True indeed, this decease is named Porphyria - allergy to sunlight, forcing one to stay away from from sunlight. The fact is that by doing so one denies the body the opportunity to create vitamin B, made by the skin in contact with sunlight. A medieval remedy was drinking blood as this contains high amounts of vitamin B (drinking beer is also good we later discovered). A physical reaction to this allergy is indeed withdrawn gum and a pale skin, this combined with the blood-drinking resulted in posting the victims of Porphyria of as 'demons' and creatures of the underworld during the supersticious medieval ages.
I am most interested in these subjects but also a sceptic. Sadly I have way way to much stuff to do, to do frequent research in these matters so I do not possess that much knowledge yet. Each time I do digg in I come across many logical explanations for supernatural occurrences (see my reports on the 'Ghosts and the supernatural' tread), so I do not believe in the existence of vampires as being supernatural creatures.
Open for it anyhow, convince me if you can.
Originally posted by BackFire
and they are and arent real, many people drink blood, maybe to some those are vampires, however, teh whole changing into a bat thing and flying around and being killed by light is just foolish and cannot be possible.
Well theres a little kid on organ thats allergic to sunlight