S1/E6 - Vampires

Folklore and stories of blood sucking creatures have been abounding for thousands of years but there is a true modern subculture of vampires. But what is a vampire?  The term vampire was not created until the 19th century. And before that, vampire traits that defined modern day vampires were attributed to a variety of creatures such as ghosts, evil spirits, ghouls, demons, the devil and even Deities.

One of the most famous was Vlad the Impaler. He ruled Romania from something 1456 to 1462.  He was known for killing his enemies by impaling their heads on wooden stakes and then dining among his victims while dipping bread in their blood.  Bram Stoker based his story of Dracula on Vlad. Bram Stoker has set the modern tone for how we generally interpret vampires and their stories.

Another famous vampire is Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who over the course of her tenure of ruling this castle in Romania is rumored to have killed over six hundred and fifty peasant girls and not only drank their blood, but bathed in it because she thought it would keep her young.

There is also a subculture of people who self-identify as vampires. And then there is this other group that do role playing in games and they play vampires.  There are two main branches of vampirism which are referred to as sanguinarian and a psychic or pranic vampirism.

If you are interested in more information about vampirism, we urge you to do your own research.