bloodthirsty, hunger and bloodlust
Hundreds of years ago when the fear of vampire was very real, a common belief in many countries was that vampires not only fed on blood, but that they also spread the plague. At the time villagers took an assortment of precautions to keep vampires from terrorizing them, everything from putting a brick in a …
I absolutely love vampire history and folklore, so when I heard of the upcoming film titled The Aswang Phenomenon I let out a little squeal of joy. The Filipino aswang is one of my many favorite vampire species because it has such a rich history. There are so many different versions of the aswang myth …
There is a growing terminology that my word processor never likes and continues to remind me of its dislike with angry red squiggly lines. These words include, but are not limited to ‘vampirology,’ ‘vampirologist,’ ‘werewolfology,’ and ‘werewolfologist.’ It prefers words like Parapsychologist or Cryptozoologist, but those words do not reflect the meaning I am searching …
In 1679, a theologian named Philip Rorh, published a 24-page work entitled Dissertatio Historico-Philosophica de Masticatione Mortuorum (also known by the shorter title de Masticatione Mortuorum) or The Chewing of The Dead. Rohr was located in the Holy Roman Empire (composed of what are now Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, as well as …
You may be wondering why on earth I’d be speaking of saints on a vampire website, well, believe it or not but these two actually play a role in vampire history. Cosmos and Damian (also known Cosmas and Damian) are twin brothers and saints of the Christian Church, particularly the Eastern Orthodox church. While the …
While scanning Amazon.com for vampire books I came across one that I had never heard of before, one that caught my eye. The book is called Blood Will Tell: Vampires as Political Metaphors Before World War I and was written by Sara Libby Robinson, and as the title says, it delves into the world of …
There is a poem titled, “The Vampyre of the Fens,” which is so revered that countless sources cite this work as the first Anglo-Saxon record of vampires in literature. In my research I have come across numerous websites, books, and articles that claim “The Vampyre of the Fens” as being a treasured relic. Yet what …
It’s time for a vampiric history lesson Dear Readers! Today we’re traveling back to the 1700s, 1720 to be exact, to tell the tale of one of the most investigated cases of vampirism during the time. The Hiadam Vampires, also known as Haidam, were several vampires that were discovered in a village near the Hungarian …
During the 1100s, a man named William of Newburgh (or Newbury; also known as William Parvus) composed one of the most cherished accounts of England’s history. Written in five chronicles or books, Historia rerum Anglicarum or History of English Affairs documents the history of 11th and 12th century England and is highly valued by historians …
Over at Werewolves.com I chatted with our readers about Destination Truth, a show that I recently learned existed. It’s currently in its fourth season, so yeah, I’m a bit behind. Ah well, anyway, the show airs over on SyFy and explores a wide variety of myths and legends around the world – from werewolves to …
I sure hope so, seeing how it is coming in April. It’s the night when all of the evils of the world come out to prey upon the innocent, leaving mass chaos and despair in their wake. It’s the Feast of St. George. The Feast of St. George is an important religious festival celebrated in …
Ahaha rhyming fun. Now that I have your attention, let us take a trip to the past and explore some of the lesser known bits of history involving vampire and birds, yes, birds do in fact play a role in vampire legend. We’ll start off with one of the more common myths – that animals …
As most of us learned in school, Egypt is one of the world’s first great civilizations, but according to many vampirologists, Egypt was also the birthplace of vampires. Ancient Egypt views on death and the afterlife were complex, yet very positive. While most other cultures viewed death as horrifying and terrifying, the ancient Egyptians saw …
The Dissertatio de Vampyris (also known as Dissertatio de Vampiris) is a pseudoscientific treatise (a formal and systematic explanation in writing of the beliefs of a subject, generally longer and more detailed than an essay) written by Johann Heinrich Zopfius and Francus von Dalen on Serbian vampires. Written in a time when the fear of …
While reading a book on vampires I came across a name I had never heard of before – Gabrielle de Launay. The book tells of her romantic, yet sad, story of love, life and death. While fascinating, her story, which went to trial in Paris in 1760, didn’t bring “vampire” to mind, yet here it …
This one is for all of my beloved little history geeks out there, you asked for more history and folklore and I aim to please (…you now owe me Starbucks and cigars). As the title says, the topic of today’s post is demons, but instead of discussing blood-lovin’ demons I’ll be taking a different approach …
I’ve got quite the tale for you today Dear Readers, a supposedly true case of vampirism! The Vampire of Croglin Grange is one of the most extraordinary and famous cases of undead attack, mainly due to its conceivable circumstances and its original appearance in the memoirs of Augustus Hare (The Story of My Life, 1896) …
You may wonder why I am writing about wolfsbane, a plant known for destroying werewolves, on a site about vampires. The reason being that this deadly poison wasn’t only used against werewolves; it was also used upon vampires as well. To fully grasp the power and beliefs behind wolfsbane we’re going to take a trip …
It’s time to bring a little vampire history into your bloodthirsty lives! As you may know, a few centuries ago mass vampire hysteria spread across the world, nearly everyone lived in fear of the undead. The reason for this widespread fear is mainly due to ignorance, you see, during those old times they simple didn’t …
How long are vampires granted to walk the earth? Most books and movies tell us that a vampire will live forever, wandering the earth for all eternity. But is that the case with all vampires? Actually, it’s not. If we take a look back and peek into the vast world of vampire folklore we’ll find …