Interesting Facts Behind the Mysteries of the Vampire

Shadowy vampire tales have lurked among us for many hundreds of years. Various civilizations have had similar beliefs of demon blood drinkers. Others fear the undead coming back to life in their coffins and rising in the night and drinking the life's blood out of sleeping victims. The large fanged creatures were believed to fear sunlight and be repelled by garlic and holy water and a stake through the heart ended their vicious reign. Few have known the facts behind the dreaded existence of these demons.

Blood has long been believed to be the very essence of life. Even in the bible, Leviticus 17:14 says, "for it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off." Therefore it was also believed that, God himself damned the souls of blood drinkers. Because of that Christian belief, they also determined a crucifix was efficient to drive the blood drinking demon away. Many cultures have beliefs concerning blood. Usually it is learned that death or illness occurs because of exposure to it or something bad in the blood. Many cultures fear it but some use blood sacrifices in rituals because of its life possessing trait.

During the times of bubonic plague and tuberculosis, vampirism was rumored when mysterious deaths started occurring in small towns or among circles of people. These diseases usually affected the lungs and after the victim died and some of their bodies would be seen later with blood on the lips or from the corners of their mouths. Putting those facts together helped to explain their beliefs. Since the bodies were not embalmed and not usually buried right away. They became bloated and since they usually lost a lot of weight during the last days of their lives, this bloating was said to make them look healthier and as if they had regained life. The gasses that caused the bloating also caused a moan when they were released while moving or burning the bodies and so it maintained their beliefs that these bodies were not dead yet not alive, but undead. To relieve the gasses, stakes were sometimes driven through the chest or stomach of a bloating corpse and that sometimes released a howl or moan as well and then the body gasses escaped as did some of the bloating so it was assumed that they were now finally dead.

Rabies was another vehicle that kept the belief in vampires going. Rabid animals would viciously attack other animals and draw blood. Vampire bats drew blood from animals in the fields and only operated at night. Sometimes they were rabid and their bite would affect the animal that was bitten or the victim would be found lying dead with no explanation other than a bite mark. Those that were found alive would seem "possessed" by something demonic or insane and not act normally. It feared water and was sensitive to light and Garlic, a well-known blood purifier also used to ward off illnesses. The disease would affect the brain and cause the animals to have sleep disturbances and interrupt the circadian rhythm; as a result the animals would sometimes become nocturnal. Pets would even turn on their owners. Suddenly something they loved and trusted became unpredictable and would attempt to attack and bite them. People who were bitten had similar symptoms and therefore the lack of explanation for something so terrifying and strange, caused people to draw from superstition and beliefs to create one.

The vampire fang and nail concept came from things that were discovered from digging up corpses. Many bodies were buried alive in the past. When they dug up old graves they would sometimes find corpses with blood on their nails and scratches inside the coffin. Because the skin would dry out and shrink after death, the nails would appear longer.

Sometimes the copses would have blood on the mouth from tissues injured from screaming or on their face from bashing their head into the coffin. Since dead people don't bleed it was thought to be because the corpse was still alive and rising from the grave to drink blood. Sometimes the corpse was bloated and looked undead. The teeth usually looked longer on corpses due to the fluid in the gums drying out and shrinking. The canine teeth would look even longer that normal and that, coupled with blood on the mouths or faces led to the fact that they used them to bite and drink blood.

Porphyria is also another factor held accountable for vampire lore. In this inherited disease, the sufferers are overly sensitive to sunlight and it is painful. Exposure to small amounts of sunlight can even cause blisters and kill patches of skin. Thus they are pale and some choose to only go outside at night. Some forms cause serious anemia. In many forms of anemia, a diet of red meat is suggested or even craved. However with porphyria sufferers the iron in the blood that is ingested in the meat causes skin discolorations of a purplish tone and thus they have an odd look. It can cause the nausea and stomach pain and vomiting of food. A famous rumored porphyria sufferer was Vlad the Impaler, a.k.a. Draculea and later known as Dracula. He was one of the main inspirations for Bram Stoker's novel, was a famous bloodthirsty torturer. He reined in terror, impaling the heads of his victims on wooden stakes as warning to others and was finally killed and impaled on a wooden stake himself.

It is a culmination of these stories and tales that inspired Bram Stoker to pen Dracula in 1897 and this idea has never died but has lived on an on for hundreds of years, just like the vampire himself.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyria

http://www.online-literature.com/stoker/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracula