The first thing that usually come to mind when thinking about vampires is Dracula by Bram Stoker — often credited as the first vampire story.
But what if I told you that long before Bram Stoker wrote Dracula there were stories all over the world about creatures that were dead, but still roamed the night, feeding off the blood of the innocent?
In many parts of Europe people used to be so afraid that people would raise from their graves that they impaled the bodies, put large rocks in their mouths, or even cages over their heads.
In the old tales the vampires were gastly creatures that were not only pale, and cold, but also were more monstrous than the modern versions.
The were not the alluring creatures we know today. Instead they looked shriveled up, as if their skin had completely dried up, and begone to shrink, making their faces appear sunken in, their fingers and nails long, and claw like, and their bodies skeletal. In other words, a creature you would rather run from than anything else.
Some claim that the legend of the vampire is rooted in the stories of Vlad Dracul, or Vlad the Impaler, and though there could be some truth to that version, there's not much evidence that he is the origin of the myth, but rather the inspiration behind Bram Stoker's Dracula — although a fascinating story worth diving deeper into, which I will do another time.
Modern media have turned the monster into tempter, and sex symbol that leaves you longing for more than just a bite. Several books and movies shows the vampire as the protagonist rather than the villain, making us root for the bad guy, and sparking a forbidden desire to dismiss terrible actions as character flaws, and something they can't help — which is another thing I'll dive deeper into at another time.
This is only the beginning — because the real origin of vampires are far darker than most people think.
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