Ancient Origins of the Vampire

It is often apparent when we look back in history to tales of the unexplained variety that certain types of occurance happened more often back then. To give an example poltergeist stories can be found going way back in time and the amount of such tales that one can point to it really does seem as if these things happened more often than nowadays. Is this because before 1900 people were more open to these ideas, in a frame of mind to accept these incidences for what they were? Perhaps in our age of scientific advancement where scientific theory rules, our cynicism is such that we are not able to experience these phenomena because we have shut ourselves off from such things being a reality to us.


There is one such phenomena I’d like to tell you about. This is an incidence that has been recorded in different countries throughout Europe from at least the 1200's to the 1800's. The accounts are so similar in describing the same details in each case that one cannot deny the existence of the phenomena when such accuracy has been made in the recording time and time again. The accounts are often enhanced in their credibility by the persons giving the testimony. For example one such account from 1732 is signed by five Austrian Officers three of which were doctors.

The stories typically begin with the death of someone in the village. After the persons death people report seeing him or her. What is more they are usually haunting the village with a degree of meance. People will claim to have been attacked and in some cases animals too.

Now what is interesting here is that those who are attacked by the ghost of the dead villager are more often than not throttled by the throat, often leaving marks upon the neck. Now we know that they are ghosts because while many villagers may be able to see them there were some who could not.

The villagers response to this was to dig up the corpse and burn it, often removing the head first. Now when the bodies are dug up in all these cases the body has not decayed in any way. When these corpses were cut into, large amounts of fresh blood gushed from them which should not be possible for a corpse that has been intered.

Once these corpses were burnt the hauntings and appearences stopped.

To summarise; Ghostly figure attacks the throat leaving red marks, body is gorged with blood, is stopped by removing the head and burning. That’s right this is where the legend of the Vampire began except these guys did not actually suck blood from the victims neck, they were taking their energy. So if you are bothered by spectres in the night maybe wear a crucifix around your neck at night, you never know it might just work.