Legends of the Vampire stretch back farther than most people realize.Some legends reach back farther than Christ, back to ancient Assyria and Babylonia. Ancient Aztecs used to pour blood into the mouths of their idols.In India Rajahs drank blood from severed heads.In China, the family would guard a corpse the night before the burial from a cat or dog jumping over it and turning it into a Vampire.First ancient Greeks, then Romans after them believed in a type of female Vampire called a Lamia.Lamia's were thought to seduce men in order to suck their blood.Later in Greece there was another word for VampiresVrukalakos,creatures who would revive the dead then feast on the living.Recently there are some people who are trying to prove that Vampires are nothing more than people suffering from porphyria an incurable genetic disease.Symptoms of porphyria include a need for blood transfusions, a negative reaction to garlic, and a necessity to avoid sunlight.

The original legends of Vampires started in Romania and Hungary around the early 16th century.The word itself is comes froma Slavonic term and did'nt exist in English until about 1730.Now many people travelling through Eastern Europe reported sightings and encounters with Vampires. These reports spread throughout Europe; and the myth of a Vampire had begun. It was'nt until authors like Byron, Goethe,Baudelaire, and of courseBram Stoker that Vampires as we know them were created.

There are many documented official reports and testimonials from well respected people about encounters with vampirism.On January 7 1732 five high ranking officers from the capital city of Belgrade signed a report stating they examined 14 corpses only two of which a mother and a baby showed signs of normal decomposition.All the other corpses were said to be in unmistakable vampire condition.

Around the same time period a hungarian soldier who was billeted to a farm on the Austro-Hungarian frontier testified to this:one night while eating dinner with the family on the farm they were joined by an old man.The soldier noticed the family was extremely frightened of the man.The old man touched the man of the house on the shoulder and left.The next morning the soldier discovered the farmer had died and that the old man from last night was the farmers father who had been dead for 10 years.When the old man touched the farmer on the shoulder he both caused and announced the death of the farmer.When the soldier reported this his commanding officer questioned the family under oath.Eventually they exhumed the old man's body.Which according to reports had looked like the body of a man who died recently.The commanding officer ordered the man's head cutoff and they layed the body to rest again.A notable part of Vampire stories is that relatives and lovers are always the first to suffer attacks.

While the officers were questioning the towns people they were told of another Vampire roaming the city.A deputation with seemingly impeccable credentials was sent to investigate.This Vampire had killed three nieces and one brother in a fortnight and was attacking the fourth niece when he was interrupted.When the Vampire's body was dug up it was discovered to have hair,nails,and eyes all in good condition.The interesting part about this Vampire is that hisheart was still beating.The deputy drove an iron stake through his heart, cut off his head with an ax, and then buried the body in quicklime.The fourth niece finally started to recover.

Of course through all this the Vatican has held a firm stance on Vampires. It was'nt until these and many other strange happenings that the Vatican issued a word of caution that all suspected Vampires should be exhumed and their bodies burned.Of course leave it to the Christians to come up with a way to put the fear of god into people.They actualy started telling people that sinners and people of that kind were doomed to become Vampires.HA!as if.Throughout both 16 and 1700's the tale and fear of vampires spread, largely due to the Plague.Whenever multiple people in a village fell ill it was automatically assumed that a vampire was the cause.Scary huh I could see"modern" society thinking the same way.During the fourteenth century when the Black death swept across what is now known as Germany amid all the pestilence grew the tales and sightings of Vampires.It would be quite easy to find a logical explanation for Vampires during that period of time.Fear of being infected was high and many times people were buried accidentally and some still alive. Hence the rising from the grave.

One significant difference between modern Vampires and that of traditional Vampires is sex.Thats right the lovely little act all you baby gothers are trying to do.In the 19th century sex was heavily censored.Now media and t.v. are going crazy with it.Many psycholigists throughout the years have dissected vampirism.One thing they all notice is the bite.We all know that biting is can be highly erotic.Maurice Richardson a british expert on Vampirism believes that Vampires are a symbol of our repressed sexual desires and sexual guilts beginning at infancy.It is a common knowledge that traditionally Vampires if male would go for young female victims and vice versa.There are many clinical explantion for Vampires but I think Hamilton Deane said it best when he said:
As the curtain fell on the first stage production of Dracula,the producer Hamilton Deane came out and warned the audience to take care as they went home."Remember, there are such things, well are there?"
EDITORIAL

Well that was a lot of information.There is plenty more where that came from. One subject I sort tap danced around is why people believe in Vampires. In Europe during difficult times some homeless people would often use mausoleums for their homes.Since it would'nt look very good for them to be coming and going during the day they would leave and get food and things like that during the night.Well not all of them were'nt seen.this did'nt help the rumors of Vampires in Europe.The people were in mausoleums all day they were very pale and wore tattered clothes,and snuck out of graves at night even I might think they were Vampires.Alot of the reason is also because there are alot of really sick people in the world.As I surfed the net for graphics(which was very difficult to find any suitable graphics) I went through several pages and I only have one thing to say.YOU ARE ALMOST ALL LOOOOOOOOOSERS.Come on now, I saw things likehow to tell if you are a Vampire, my Vampire life,Vampires only pages,GET A GRIP.You are not Vampires, you are delusional. Either that or very sad and twisted people with no lives.Now there are some of you out there who's page's I did'nt get to so you may not be included. The easiest way to tell if you are included is Do you really think you are a Vampire? If you do, you are included.But anyway people like them are the ones who keep feeding the beliefs.And it was people like them in the previous centuries(with the help of some very un-intelligent people)that helped Vampires to the fame they have now.Here is one page I thought was really cool.If you wanna check it out here you go.

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