I think that it's fair to assume that every single person in our country has heard myths and stories, seen movies, or read books about vampires. What some people may not know is that the idea of vampires didn't originate with Stephanie Meyer, the author of "The Twilight Saga," or even with Anne Rice, the writer of "Interview With A Vampire."
The idea of vampires came about in the mid 18th century; predominantly in German and French literature. At this point, vampires were assumed to be of extremely high health: they showed little to no traces of decomposition even though they were incredibly pale compared to the living. Additionally, at this time the idea of a vampire, or worse, a group of vampires, coexisting with the common-folk was strongly believed and accepted. Everyone was convinced that there were blood-sucking beasts roaming about with them as though they were no different! Also, it was an accepted fact that vampires were the reincarnations of witches, sinister people or suicide victims.The townspeople even went to such lengths of carrying out rituals in graveyards in an attempt to determine whether or not the dead and buried would return as vampires. Those believed to be vampires were often publicly executed.
The generally known myths about vampires, while entertaining and sometimes a little silly, have been debunked by experts. (On a side note, does this mean that we can become experts on vampires?! Sign me up!). The common myths are as follows: vampires don't show up in mirrors, vampires drink blood as food, vampires sleep in coffins, vampires don't age, vampires and bats are linked, vampires have fangs, vampires can fly, vampires are photosensitive.
The belief that vampires can't see themselves in mirrors came from Bulgarian myth that corpses cannot be in the presence of mirrors or else another death would happen.
Saying that vampires drink blood for food came primarily from those who possess a blood disorder and believed that drinking healthy blood would rid them of their problems.
Vampires are believed to sleep in coffins because they're believed to be dead beings. Who doesn't really associate death with coffins, right?
Vampires don't appear to age because they age at an incredibly slower pace than normal people. They do indeed age and are not immortal.
Bats are associated with vampires because the Romanians believed at one time that if a bat flew over a grave that the person in the grave would rise.
Vampires are photosensitive in the fact that their skin is rather pale. Pale people tend to avoid the sun, if at all possible. I know I do!
It's safe to say that vampires don't exist, right? Right! However, seeing as it's Halloween and I find vampires fascinating, I thought I'd conduct a little research about their history!
If you're interested in delving into some classic literary works regarding vampires, I highly suggest Bram Stoker's Dracula, John Polidari's The Vampyre, and James Malcolm Rymer's Varney the Vampire.
"No man knows till he experiences it, what it is to feel his own life-drawn blood drawn away into the woman he loves." -Bram Stoker, Dracula.
