Dec 22 2008
VAMPIRES I
VAMPIRES
Vampires are believed to be dead relevant who live by feeding on the blood of the living.
In folkloric tales the undead often visited the loved ones and caused deaths in the neighborhood they resided. Vampires were believed to have these common attributes:-
1) They drank recent blood.
2) They bit the victim on the shoulder to convert it into a vampire too.
3) If spotted in a coffin. their left eye remained opened and traces of blood could be found on their nose and mouth.
4) In Transylvanian tales, Vampires were said to have long fingernails too.
5) After the release of Dracula movie, Vampires were also said to convert into bats. Although this was not the requirement for being a vampire.
People used to put holy ‘crosses’ on the coffin and bury it upside down to prevent the vampire from getting out.
Some said that wild roses, garlics, branch of ‘hawthorn’ harmed the vampires.
Origin- The term ‘Vampire’ is believed to have come into existence by superstitions and mass hysteria. Everything like prematured burial and incomplete body decomposition were associated with vampires.
SYNDROME-A disease called ‘Porphyria’ was later found to have similar attributes as Vampires.
In this disease, the victim becomes pale, and due to excessive blood pressure problem, he attacks anyone who is near him and bites to suck the blood of it. Moreover people thought that transfer of this disease was nothing else but ‘vampire transformation’.
MOVIES- Dracula comes out as the most popular movie on Vampires. Dracula starting Lee folowed seven sequels. In 1972, ‘Kolchak The Night Stalker’ was released as a telivision series featuring a reporter Carl Kolchas hunting around a Vampire on the Las Vegas strip.
1983’s The Hunger and 1994’s The interview with Vampire were some popular movies. Recent release assosiated with Vampires is Van Helsing.
