Vampires in history and legend

Vampires stalk our collective imagination. The star of books, movies and even role-playing games, they are both dangerous and enticing. No Halloween party would be complete without wax teeth, fake blood and a black cloak.

But there were always real vampires? Probably not, although there are a number of historical figures whose thirst for blood could have provided a basis for the legend.

The Countess Elizabeth Bathory certainly stands as a prime example.

Born in Hungary in 1560, Bathory was married at the age of 15 years to a warlord who apparently spent much of his time away fighting the Turks. Leaving home, Bathory satisfied her own bloodlust by torturing and killing young girls.

His victims were farmers at first, but as his sadistic urges grew, Bathory expanded her prey to include the daughters of the gentry.

It 'was this that proved to be his undoing. Farming is one thing missing, but the lords were rich and educated. Local priests brought their suspicions of the Emperor Matthias II, and an investigation was launched.

George Thurzo, Palatine of Hungary, led the investigation, and December 29, 1610, Bathory caught. The Countess and four suspected accomplices were arrested.

Over the next three years, more than 300 people were interviewed and a chilling story emerged. Also a harsh mistress, Bathory apparently came to really enjoy the pain inflicted on his servants. His cruelty was regrettable, but certainly not unknown.

One day, a servant pulled Bathory's hair while brushing. The Countess raked the girl's cheeks with long nails, shedding of blood on her wrinkled hand. Bathory imagined that the drops of blood smoothed the wrinkes, and concluded that the blood of young girls could restore the beauty of her youth.

This is when the horror really begins. Bathory began to kill the girls to bathe and drink their blood. Evidence at the trial put the body count to over 600.

After the trial, Bathory's accomplices were burned alive. Because she was nobility, Bathory escaped execution, and instead was walled up in a room in his castle, where he died three years later.

But horrible as it is, the story of Bathory is usually overshadowed by that of another nobleman of Eastern Europe.

Vlad III was a Romanian nobleman who lived 1431-1476. Held hostage by the Turks as a child, Vlad later came to rule the kingdom of his father, who has been variously identified as Transylvania and Wallachia. He was also known as the Son of the Dragon (Dracula), referring to his father's position as a knight of the Order of the Dragon.

Because his kingdom served as a buffer zone between Muslim Turkey and Christian Europe, Vlad's life was one of constant war. Leader frequent incursions into turkish territory, burned crops, pillaged and poisoned wells. Legend has it that one of these trips has resulted in the deaths of 20,000 Turks.

Both home and abroad, Vlad gained a reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness. His father was killed in a political intrigue, and Vlad apparently was determined not to suffer the same fate.

In one story, is said to have invited his political enemies for a meeting at his castle. Vlad then locked the doors and burned to the ground.

Another story tells of the visit of an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. When the ambassador refused to remove his turban as a sign of respect, Vlad had nailed to the head of the poor. That certainly did nothing to improve relations between his kingdom and the Turks.

But the cruelty of Vlad, who is best known also gave him his nickname. "Impaler" Tepes, which means

To serve as a warning to his enemies, Vlad would impale his prisoners on long poles, leaving them to contract and rot in the sun. It is said that the roads to his kingdom were coated with these poor wretches.

So much of the history of Vlad is mixed with legend that it is impossible to know how many of these stories are true. But the contemporary relations seem to see many of them.

Accounts vary as to the circumstances of the death of Vlad. Tradition has it that he died in battle with the Turks and his head was sent as a gift to the Sultan of Turkey. Another version claims that he was killed by the Hungarians. It 's also possible that he was accidentally killed by his troops.

Strange as it may seem, Vlad Tepes is seen as a folk hero to many in that part of the world.

Vlad may have been lost to history, except for the search of a writer named Bram Stoker. Planning a novel about vampires, Stoker rediscovered Vlad and made him the central figure of the novel that bears his name: Dracula.

In more modern times, many serial killers have been nicknamed the "vampires" by the press.

Fritz Haarmann committed at least 24 murders in Germany between 1919 and 1924. He killed his victims with a bite to the neck. During the trial, which has become a media circus, Haarmann was variously called a werewolf and a vampire. He was beheaded in 1925.

Haarman was not the only "vampire" in Germany at that time. Peter Kurten, a serial killer who was beheaded in 1932, was known as the "Vampire of Dusseldorf". He was accused of nine murders and a variety of other offenses, including sexual assaults.

It is said that Fritz Lang's film "M" is based on the Haarmann and Kurten stories.

In England, John George Haigh, the infamous "Acid Bath Murderer", was also known as the "Vampire of London". Haigh, who was hanged in 1949, claimed to have drunk the blood of his victims before destroying their bodies in a vat of sulfuric acid.

There are vampires real?

Also in this case, probably not. But there are those whose monstrous crimes make us reflect on the terrible creatures of the night and the legend.

More information about the haunted history of Halloween can be found at Top Halloween Links at http://www.thingsinthebasement.com.

This article is derived from his lectures on the history of haunted Halloween....