Vampire Folklore

Tracing the Legend There is academic evidence that the vampire myth was born out of “sorcery” in ancient Egypt, a demon summoned into this world. There are Asian vampires, such as the Chinese jiangshi (pronounced chong-shee), evil spirits that attack people and drain their life energy; the blood-drinking Wrathful Deities that appear in the "Tibetan Book of the Dead," and many others.  The most common Western lore is based in Eastern Europe.

Transylvania

Why? The belief in vampires stems from superstition and mistaken assumptions about postmortem decay. The first recorded accounts of vampires follow a consistent pattern: an unexplained misfortune would befall a person, family or town — perhaps a drought dried up crops, or an infectious disease struck. People would dig up a grave to see if a vampire had “escaped” and was the cause of the misfortune.

The Gross Stuff! People assumed that a body would decompose immediately, but if the coffin is well sealed, putrefaction might be delayed by weeks or months. Normal decomposition creates bloating which can force blood up into the mouth, making it look like a dead body has recently sucked blood…. In medieval Europe this was taken as unmistakable signs that vampires were real and existed among them.

Historic Dracula? Those looking for a historical "real" Dracula often cite Romanian prince Vlad Tepes  (1431-1476), after whom Bram Stoker is said to have modeled some aspects of his Dracula character.

Bram Stoker His novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread the undead curse. A battle ensues between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Van Helsing.

Hollywood Versions