A skeleton exhumed from a grave in Venice is being claimed as the first known example of the "vampires" widely referred to in contemporary documents. Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence in Italy found the skeleton of a woman with a small brick in her mouth while excavating mass graves of plague victimsfrom the Middle Ages on Lazzaretto Nuovo Island in Venice.At the time the woman died, many people believed that the plague was spread by "vampires" which, rather than drinking people's blood, spread disease by chewing on their shrouds after dying.
Grave-diggers put bricks in the mouths of suspected vampires to stop them doing this, Borrini says.The belief in vampires probably arose because blood is sometimes expelled from the mouths of the dead, causing the shroud to sink inwards and tear. Borrini, who presented his findings at a meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Denver, Colorado, last week, claims this might be the first suchvampire to have been forensically examined. The skeleton was removed from a mass grave of victims of the Venetian plague of 1576.
However,
Peer Moore-Jansen of Wichita State University in Kansas says he has
found similar skeletons in Poland and that while Borrini's finding is
exciting, "claiming it as the first vampire is a little ridiculous".
Borrini says his study details the earliest grave to show archaeological "exorcism evidence against vampires".
The idea of the vampire has caused some extreme behaviour. In October 1974 a drunkard was lured to the home of a Mr Lorca in Germany. Promising him food and shelter, instead, Mr Lorca descended on the man and bit him hard on the neck, drawing blood. Passing out, when the drunkard came round, he rushed out of the house and went to the police. Arriving a short time later, they found Mr Lorca asleep in a coffin with blood on his lips. Mr Lorca, it seems, liked to be called Count, ate only raw meat ...Elizabeth Báthory - The Blood bathing Countess
Rarely has any
creature of mythology taken such a firm hold upon the popular imagination as has
the vampire. He is a prince of the night, an erotic and sensuous being with
powers beyond mortality, and a history that stretches back centuries... except
that this isn't the Slavic vampire at all! No - it is the post-Dracula vampire
of modern society, the iconic modern vampire. To unearth the genuine thing
('genuine' in reference to the creature believed in by the various Slavic
vampi...Vampire Myths from around the World
The
Real Story of Dracula: The story of Dracula, one of
the most popular stories in the world, has, and still does fascinate the minds
of many people. It is a story full of mystery and unbelievable facts, but
despite all of these there is truth to this story: Dracula really existed.Who
was Dracula? What is the story behind his life? Why did the legend start? How
did it begin? These are a few questions I will try to answer.
His life and his
story: First of all who was Dracula? Vl...Vampires a Mathematical Impossibility, Scientist Says
A researcher has come up with some simple math that sucks the life out of the vampire myth, proving that these highly popular creatures can't exist. University of Central Florida physics professor Costas Efthimiou's work debunks pseudoscientific ideas, such as vampires and zombies, in an attempt to enhance public literacy. Not only does the public believe in such topics, but the percentages are at dangerously highlevel, Efthimiou told LiveScience. Legend has it that vampires feed...Vampires and sickness
Anthony North: Vampires can be seen to have many possible explanations other than the obvious reality of the undead. In this essay I want to look at one of these areas in particular -the idea that various forms of sickness can fuel vampire mythology. The supernatural idea of the vampire has been heightened, over the centuries, by a large number of seemingly inexplicable anecdotes. Typical was the fate that befell Meduegya, a town in Serbia, in 1732. Vampire consciousness: Following a spate of de...Documented Vampire Reports
The Shepherd of Blow:
In the village of Blow, there was once a shepherd, who
died for unknown reasons. Several days after his burial, he took to reappearing
in his village and tormenting the people there. Anyone on whom he visited would
die within 8 days. His case would be unremarkable, but for what happened next.
Tired of his nightly ravishes, the villagers took the body from the grave--
finding it, of course, to be in a vampire state-- and they staked it through the
heart and pu...New Zealand man attacked by vampires
A man in New Zealand has been attacked in the dark by three "vampires" who bit him and drank his blood.Two of the individuals were released on bail while the third is still at large and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. The victim passed out after the attack which occured at MountVictoria near the capital Wellington.
Details of the bizarre late night incident on Mount Victoria, an unlit beauty spot thatoverlooks the capital, Wellington, emerged after two people appeared in cour...Psychic Vampires
By Dr van Neümig
Published at Imbolc 2001
Throughout recorded history and probably back beyond that, the idea of the
psychic vampire has haunted mankind’s dreams. Strange mystical, mythical
creatures who lurked in the darker recesses of the human mind, these beings were
thought to sap the energy of living mortals, reducing them, unless stopped, to
shadows of their former selves. People who, for no apparent reason, became
continuously tired, listless and leth...
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Vampire mythology
Elizabeth Báthory - The Blood bathing Countess
The Restless Dead - the History of the Slavic Vampire
Vampire Myths from around the World
The Real Story of Dracula
Vampires a Mathematical Impossibility, Scientist Says
Vampires and sickness
Documented Vampire Reports
Psychic Vampires
