We all know who vampires are. The facts and incidents that legends, films and books describe are not always true. Many interesting facts about vampires have been confirmed, but there are some that have not been confirmed. For many, the presence of these creatures in our lives will be a revelation. There are real facts about the existence of vampires, but most of them are fiction.
1.Vampires have long existed in folklore. Real facts confirm this.
2. The most famous of the vampires is considered to be Count Dracula, about whom fairy tales and legends are composed.
3. Once upon a time people protected themselves from vampires with nets on doors and windows.
4. The facts confirming the existence of vampires say that mustard, scattered under the doors and windows, protected from vampires.
5. To prevent the dead from becoming vampires, "dolmens" - ancient stone monuments were erected on the graves.
6. There is evidence that people were accused of vampirism - in the occurrence of a sexual lust for blood.
7. In China, vampires have been described as having red eyes and twisted claws.
8. As you know, vampires are afraid of garlic and sacred water.
9. There is a disease of porphyria in the world, the symptoms of which are similar to those of vampires, and which leads to death or insanity.
10. Vampires from folklore are different from those in the movies.
11. Vampirs are classified as "returned from the dead."
12. Vampires are able to turn into a bat because they rule over the animal world.
13. The first film about vampires - "Mystery of the house number 5".
14. If you believe the legends, then a person who was bitten by a vampire must drink the dissolved ash of a burnt vampire.
15. The vampire did not have the right to cross the threshold without an invitation.
16. Despite the fact that vampires are friendly with hygiene, they may not be able to avoid blood poisoning.
17. There are whole organizations of vampires in New Orleans who are considered ordinary people, and sometimes even friendly.
18 Vampires drink blood differently from the way we are shown in the movies. They do not bite the victim, but cut their skin with a sterilized scalpel.
19. About 5,000 ordinary people consider themselves vampires.
20. A large number of vampires begin to realize what they are in their teens.
21. The first myths about vampires appeared in ancient Greece and China.
22. In New York, every year a vampire conference is held, where famous actors appear who played the role of this creature.
23.Dracula, who was a vampire, is considered a symbol of the feminine principle.
24. If you believe the Jews, then vampires do not see their own reflection.
25. You can only kill a vampire with an aspen stake.
26 In Eastern and Central Europe, the hawthorn is believed to be an obstacle to vampires.
27. If you believe the Egyptians, then only those dead people whose death was a disgrace turn into vampires.
28. In the vicinity of Venice, the archaeologist-scientist Matteo Borrini discovered the burial of a vampire.
29. According to the beliefs of the Bulgarians, only evil people become a vampire.
30 The first scientific publication on vampirism was written in 1975 by Michael Reinft.
31 Vampires are afraid of sunlight.
32. There is a disease called Renfield's syndrome, in which a person begins to drink the blood of humans and animals.
33 Vampires are not reflected in mirrors.
34. Vampires have fangs.
35. One person in 20,000 has porphyria, the disease of vampires.
36 Vampire disease arises from incest.
37. The actress of the vampire saga "Twilight" is considered the highest paid Hollywood actress.
38. The total number of films about the vampire Dracula is more than a hundred.
39. The word "vampire" is of Hungarian origin.
40. The vampire is an immortal being that will never grow old.
41. Legends mention vampires that are more than 1000 years old.
42 The vampire is believed to be able to change shape.
43. Vampires are considered the servants of the devil, and therefore they are forbidden to enter the building of the church.
44. In psychiatry, there is a disorder called "clinical vampirism."
45 The first vampire to be filmed appeared in 1921.
46. Rose thorns are capable of holding a vampire.
47. Vampires from the victim need not only her blood, but also negative emotions. This is fear, panic, horror.
48 There are more than 100 types of vampires in the world.
49. German vampires are the Alps - spirits that feed on infant blood.
50. Portuguese vampires are called Brooks, who has the appearance of a young woman in the daytime and a bird at night.
51. The Slavic vampire is Mara - an unbaptized deceased girl.
52. The Polish, Russian and Ukrainian vampire is usually called a Ghoul, who can be either a man or a woman.
53. Vampires eat nothing but blood.
54. The older the vampire, the less blood he needs.
55. Most often, the victim of a vampire dies or becomes insane.
56. Fangs in vampires are almost invisible.
57 A vampire can be burned with fire.
58. Dead blood is always dangerous to a vampire.
59. Happens when vampires bite each other.
60 Vampires are given the ability to fly.
61 Vampires seep through the ground and easily fall into cracks.
62. Vampires will have sharper touch, smell and hearing than humans.
63. Vampires move with great speed, and can also perform several different movements at the same time.
64. Vampires have a pale face.
65. The vimirs are given the ability to transform into fog.
66 In complete darkness, vampires can see well.
67. Before biting, the vampire shows its fangs to its victim.
68. A vampire will not be able to overcome water spaces on his own.
69 The disease of a vampire called porphyria is often inherited.
70. The image of a vampire is not uncommon for cinema.
In medieval chronicles, there are often stories about the dead, whose bodies were preserved incorrupt for centuries. Pale pink skin and red lips indicated that the corpses had not been mummified. Opinions were divided: some believed that the incorruptible body was given only to the saints, while others suspected the incorruptible dead of vampirism.
Homeland of Dracula
Vampire legends have been around for centuries, the most famous of which is the famous Count Dracula. Historian Bob Curran put forward a version that the earl's homeland was not Transylvania, but Ireland. According to the researcher, Bram Stoker wrote his novel "Dracula" from a story that took place in County Derry in the 5th century.
According to legend, the Irish king Abarth the Bloody was a ferocious dwarf. His subjects were so afraid of him that they did not dare to kill him, since the glory of a great sorcerer was firmly entrenched in him. Then they went to bow to another king - Katan, begging to deliver them from the tyrant. Katan himself did not like Abartakh, therefore he took the people's request to heart. They buried Abartakh, as was customary, standing. However, soon after his death, an evil dwarf began to appear in the villages and demand fresh blood of virgins, since only she could satisfy the hunger that tormented him. King Katan turned to the druids, who told him how to get rid of the misfortune. According to their instructions, Katan pierced Abartakh's heart with a stake made of a yew tree, reburied the body upside down, and scattered thorns around the grave. After that, a huge block of stone was rolled over the dwarf's grave. This alone allowed the locals to breathe easy.
Vampirism is a blood disease
Recently, new circumstances have emerged in the vampire case. Doctors say that the legends have a real foundation and vampirism is a consequence of blood diseases. For example, a manifestation of a rare disease called porphyria, during which the reproduction of certain hemoglobin proteins is disrupted. The non-protein part becomes toxic and begins to corrode the patient's subcutaneous tissue. Other symptoms of porphyria, such as photophobia, porphyrin deposits on the teeth, from which they turn reddish-brown, increased activity in the dark, bring patients closer to the appearance of vampires.
The lack of erythrocytes and iron in the blood makes these people hypersensitive to sunlight: even a short stay in direct sunlight results in severe burns for them.
Due to a change in the blood formula, the endocrine system suffers, which, in turn, leads to a change in the appearance of patients: the skin becomes pale, the hair resembles animal hair, the nails acquire an unusual color and structure.
To complete the picture, patients with porphyria could not eat garlic, since the sulfonic acid contained in garlic increases the damage to the subcutaneous tissue. This terrible disease could also be caused artificially, with the help of some poisons. It was believed that porphyria was especially common in Transylvania, where closely related marriages were concluded. But does this mean that a person with unhealthy blood will certainly feel an irresistible desire to suck the blood of other people for his own health?
It is known that drinking raw blood is not very good for your health. Blood is very high in calories due to its high content of proteins and iron, while it is difficult for the pancreas to break down and in its raw form is very harmful to the kidneys.
This means that a patient with a blood disease cannot improve his own blood by regularly consuming someone else's.
Würzburg vampire
Are real vampires known to stories?
In the 1830s, the following story took place in the Bavarian city of Würzburg. Dr. Heinrich Spatz, shortly before the start of the Napoleonic wars, graduated from the University of Prague and entered the Austrian army as a military doctor. In 1818 he settled in Würzburg with his young wife.
The doctor was a wealthy man, led an active social life, and soon became one of the most fashionable doctors in the city. He was engaged in charity work, worked in a hospital for the poor, wrote several famous works on military field surgery and the treatment of certain infectious diseases. However, in 1831, Heinrich Spatz unexpectedly sold his property and left for the Czech Republic at the invitation of the University of Prague. A month after his departure, the Würzburg police were contacted by two young doctors, former assistants of Dr. Spatz, who claimed that the Spatz spouses were ... vampires!
This could be considered a stupid joke, but the young people pointed out the disappearance of a certain Joachim Faber. A retired soldier with a one-armed handicap, Faber served as a gatekeeper at the hospital for the poor where Dr. Spatz worked. And he really disappeared a year before the events described. The police searched the doctor's former mansion and found the remains of at least 18 people in the basement! A skeleton without an arm with traces of surgical amputation was also found there. These bones were identified by forensic doctors as the remains of the missing Joachim Faber. It was not possible to identify the rest of the skeletons - they were buried naked. Then many remembered that Dr. Spatz often undertook to arrange the fate of his poor patients, as a rule, beggar vagrants. They recalled other oddities from the doctor's life: despite the fact that Spatz's mansion was very large, absolutely all the servants were coming. None of the servants stayed in the house overnight ...
The authorities sent a request to Prague regarding Dr. Spatz and received an answer: such one did not appear at the Prague University and no one sent him any invitation. Along the way, it turned out that the Austrian army never had a surgeon named Heinrich Spatz. The investigation has reached a dead end.
And six months later, one of the informers committed suicide. Shortly before his death, he left home, leaving his wife and son, rented a small apartment in a poor suburb of Nuremberg, broke all ties with relatives and friends. He became afraid of sunlight, and spent whole days in a room with closed shutters. He turned pale, became terribly thin and ate only raw pig's blood, which he bought from the butcher. As a result of such a diet, he began to suffer from terrible stomach pains, but refused to be treated and to take normal food, and after a short time he hanged himself on the ceiling beam.
The second informer survived the first by only six months: he killed his little nephew and tried to drink his blood. He was seen by the baby's nanny, who, in a state of passion, hit the bloodsucker several times with a fireplace poker. The child's father cost a lot of money to hush up this wild story.
Scientists have long debated the identity of Heinrich Spatz. Some considered him a vampire, others a member of a Satanist sect practicing human sacrifice, and still others an illegal pathologist: at that time, the dissection of corpses was considered a serious crime. And the informers simply fanatically believed that their former patron was a vampire, and became obsessed with this idea ...
In different states, there was a huge number of crimes associated with vampirism. Modern psychologists distinguish a disorder called Renfield syndrome, or clinical vampirism, after Stoker's assistant Dracula. With this disease, the patient is obsessed with the thirst for drinking the blood of people or animals. The history of forensic science knows several murderers who performed vampire rituals on their victims. Serial killer maniacs Peter Curten, who was called the German Jack the Ripper, and Richard Trenton Chase were called vampires in the tabloid press, because it was known that they really drank the blood of their victims. Tellingly, most of the detained vampires were not found to have any blood diseases. From which we can conclude that vampirism is a mental pathology.
What do vampires really look like?
Among all the documented vampires, the most famous is the cruel prince Vlad Dracula, who later served as the prototype for the hero of the novel of the same name by Bram Stoker. Born in Transylvania in 1431 in the city of Sighisoara, Vlad at the age of thirteen was captured by the Turks, who taught him to drink blood and impale living people. This influenced his psyche so much that after returning from captivity, he did not miss an opportunity to apply his knowledge.
“Once Dracula saw a man on the street in a dirty and torn shirt. Dracula asked if he had a wife and the man said yes. Dracula, making sure that his wife is healthy and has enough flax, called her lazy and ordered, having cut off her hands, impale her body. He found a new wife for the man and showed her for her edification what had happened to her lazy predecessor. The new wife was exceptionally hardworking. "
(Here you will involuntarily wonder who should be afraid of vampires).
Dracula especially adored mass executions. He often organized banquets, at which he drank blood from a goblet to the groans of a victim writhing in agony on the spot. Vlad Dracula died in a battle with the Turks in 1476. He was killed by his own people, who clearly did not have warm feelings for him. And to this day, local residents, unlike tourists, try to bypass his Bran Castle in Transylvania. Hundreds of years later, in 1931, the accidentally found grave vault of Vlad was opened, but it turned out to be empty. It contained only a poorly preserved skeleton, a golden crown, a medallion with snake motifs and the remains of red silk. All these things are on display now at the Bucharest Historical Museum.
What kind of vampires are there?
Of course, Dracula and his ilk are not the only possible type of vampire, we just heard about him most of all. In the world, there are legends about various vampires, both the most fantastic and almost indistinguishable from ordinary people. Each of them is so interesting that it deserves a separate discussion. And they drink not only blood, but also something else. Read their stories - this is a ready-made plot for a movie!
Baital(India) is a natural vampire, half human, half bat, a little over a meter in height and therefore practically invisible. Nevertheless, he does not disdain corpses.
Calicantsaros... According to a Greek legend, a child born on Christmas has every chance of becoming a Calicantsaros - a vampire with the forms of a half-man, half-beast.
Civateteo... These Mexican vampire witches gather for a Sabbath at crossroads and are believed to attack young children. And by copulating with men, they give birth to children who also become vampires. Civateteo are associated with the cult of the ancient Indian god Tezatlipoca. It is with these vampires that the heroes of the sensational horror "From Dusk Till Dawn" fight.
Ekimmu(Assyria) is a kind of spirit vampire. They are invisible, but they can take possession of a person. They are banished with wooden weapons or spells.
In ancient Rome, vampires were called lemurs. The word "lemur" means "ghost", "spirit of the deceased." Indeed, take a look at the lemur's foot - it's a miniature human hand! Interestingly, lemurs are also called one of the races of intelligent beings, which, according to esoteric teachings, preceded the human race. And on the islands of Southeast Asia there is an unusual animal, which belongs to the same suborder of semi-monkeys as the lemur. This is a ghost tarsier (Tarsiidae spectrum), its eyes relative to body size are the largest of all mammalian eyes, yellow and glow in the dark. Local residents consider tarsiers bewitched and are very afraid of them.
Nosferatu, the most famous, and, one might say, "traditional" vampire. Well described in Dracula, it is common in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of the vampires you meet in movies are of this type. It is possible that the tradition was laid by the very first film about vampires, shot back in 1912, which was called “Nosferatu”.
Here comes the domineering Indian vampire rakshasa refers rather to mutant ghosts. This is either a person with atavistic features (fangs, fur, cat's eyes), or an animal with human hands, nose, etc. In addition to drinking blood and devouring their victims, the Rakshasa trades in witchcraft, but is afraid of fire, sunlight and exorcism.
Believe it or not, even the common swifts in Eastern Europe are called "birds of ill omen", because it is believed that, like the famous Hitchcock birds, they can attack in flocks. I could neither confirm nor deny this information, but the nature of these birds, of course, is by no means angelic.
In Russia, it was believed that a vampire is the offspring of a witch and a werewolf. It happens that a ghoul is called a vampire, and a ghoul is called a ghoul. However, there is no big mistake here. Here is what A.K. Tolstoy writes in the story "The Family of a Ghoul":
“... ghouls, as vampires are called among the Slavic peoples, are nothing else ... but the dead who came out of their graves to suck the blood of living people. They generally have the same habits as all other vampires, but there is also a feature that makes them even more dangerous. Ghouls, gracious sovereigns, preferably suck the blood of their closest relatives and best friends, and when they die, they also become vampires, so eyewitnesses even say that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the population of entire villages turned into ghouls. In a curious work about ghosts, Abbot Augustin Calmet (the one who told us about Dracula - M.P.) gives horrific examples of this. The German emperors more than once appointed commissions to investigate cases of vampirism. Interrogations were carried out, corpses filled with blood were removed from the graves, and they were burned in the squares, but first they pierced their hearts. Court officials who were present at these executions claim that they themselves heard the howling of the corpses at the moment when the executioner drove an aspen stake into their chest. They gave testimony about this in full form and signed them with an oath. "
How do you become vampires?
There are many ways to become a vampire.
Wizards, witches and werewolves have good chances. In order to become a vampire, you need to die a violent death or commit suicide - in any case, you die in grievous sin. As an ordinary deceased, you should still take precautions - drive cats away from the coffin, curtain mirrors. If the soul gets into the mirror and remains in it, it will subsequently revive the dead body.
Why do you need this? By leading a promiscuous sex life, you also run the risk of picking up vampirism, which, by the way, is inherited. If your parents curse you, the progenitor earth will also reject you. According to Catholic belief, the seventh son of the seventh son can become a vampire. On this score, there is a suspicion that fathers are not always happy with the appearance of an extra mouth in the family and curse him out of anger. And the seventh son of the seventh son is already a double curse.
So if you have a baby, check if his fangs are sticking out. If there are any, they must be burned and the ashes fed to the child. It is recommended to remove the canines before burning.
If your pretty neck was pierced by the fangs of a vampire, consider that you are doomed, dying from a bite, to become a vampire too. Sometimes it takes at least three bites. Examine yourself in the mirror in the morning - the vampire often comes in a dream. But you shouldn't worry too much about your appearance, as Bather Elizabeth did. What do you think she bathed in?
The Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory was very afraid to grow old and lose her beauty, which was rumored throughout Europe. This is how she opened her beauty baths. Once, a maid who was combing Elizabeth's hair accidentally pulled out her hair. The angry countess hit the servant with such force that blood gushed out of her nose and a few drops fell on Elizabeth's hands. The Countess felt that the blood made her skin softer and softer, and decided to bathe entirely in the blood. This was the beginning of a series of brutal murders that lasted ten years. Over the years, she lured 650 young girls to the castle, promising them jobs and money. Instead, they were thrown into a dungeon and kept there until the countess needed blood for new baths.
It is not known how long all this would have continued if not for the case. One of her victims still managed to escape from the castle and get to the Hungarian king Matthias II, who appointed a commission of inquiry. On December 30, 1610, the vampire countess's castle was captured. In February, by a court decision, all of her servants involved in shady affairs were sentenced to painful execution, some were burned alive. Elizabeth herself had to be kept alive: because of her title, she had the status of immunity. She was walled up in one of the rooms of her own castle and food was served through a narrow hole in the wall. She passed away 3 years later, at the age of 44. Let us ask ourselves a question, was Elizabeth the Bather one of a kind? Unfortunately no. Even in ancient Assyria and Babylon, it was believed that blood baths heal leprosy. Where is the guarantee that nowadays some maniac will not try to cure AIDS in this way?
It was very rash of me to inquire about such things from the vampires themselves. They did not report any fundamentally new methods, but they made it clear that I would not be able to get into their confidence after such questions.
So, an aspen stake in the heart - everything is simple, like a Siberian reindeer herder. The tradition of finishing off vampires in this way was born in the days of Vlad Dracula. As already mentioned, the vapier's favorite pastime was impalement. So the peasants who caught the vampire did not miss the opportunity to pinch him in revenge.
A radical method to end a vampire is to blow off his head (preferably with a gravedigger's shovel), or at least burn his heart. The head and heart are two vital organs, without which it is completely harmless: neither to bite you, nor to use blood. It's a shame, right?
About garlic. They say that he first sprouted where Satan, who was cast down from Paradise, first stepped on with his left foot. In the Middle Ages, a strong-smelling garlic was hung out to drown out the smell of decomposing corpses during the plague epidemic. Vampires have been credited with spreading this terrible disease, and with good reason.
One of the varieties of the plague caused deep sleep in the sick, which was mistaken for death, and people were often buried alive. These were precisely those "dead" who did not decompose in the graves and were desperately trying to get out of them. Sometimes they returned to their homes, but they were frightened off by heavy bunches of garlic. If it was not possible to get out, the buried alive were doomed to a long and painful death from suffocation and intolerable hunger. Some even devoured their own limbs, and their blood-stained coffins became the source of the legends of the dead vampires. Are burials alive so rare? Dr. Franz Hartmann, in his book, published in 1895, describes 700 such incidents that occurred only in the territory of his medical practice. The true scale of this phenomenon can only be guessed at.
Let's try to scientifically explain other seemingly incredible vampire legends. Let's look at the medical encyclopedia to find out
What is porphyria?
In 1985, scientist David Dolphin, speaking at the convention of the American Association for the Progress in Science, suggested that porphyria (from the Greek porphyry - purple) could shed light on numerous legends about vampires. Indeed, the symptoms of this rare and little-studied disease are suspiciously familiar.
Judge for yourself: increased sensitivity of the skin to sunlight, a change in its pigmentation, redness of urine, darkening of the teeth, their reddish glow in UV rays. Blisters and long-lasting wounds appear on the body. Hypertrichosis is observed - excess hair growth throughout the body, including on the face and palms of the hands.
The current urban civilization has given vampires many advantages. You can meet your friend for a long time in the twilight of cafes and night discos, without even suspecting that he cannot stand sunlight.
Think about it: there are people you have never met during the day.
But imagine the behavior of a porphyria patient in a superstitious medieval village, where everyone knew each other and worked in the open air from dawn to dusk. (Please note: most of the legends about vampires come from countries with a social type of farming. Where single farmstead settlements prevail, for example, in Latvia, legends about vampires are practically not found). The ugly skin distorted by the disease, red eyes and teeth, coupled with increased hair and fear of sunlight made it impossible for a patient with porphyria to appear in public. On the other hand, he could not constantly hide in the house either - the neighbors would have noticed his absence. He had only one way out - "Die" ...
Even the most successful faking of his own death could be prevented by one small detail that was difficult to foresee: cats. They inexplicably sensed a catch. Probably, this was the basis of the belief that if a cat jumps on a coffin, then a dead man becomes a vampire. After the "funeral", the porphyria patients outcast by society began to lead a hidden life. Sunlight prevented them from appearing outside during the day, leaving painful wounds on their skin, so in the daytime they slept in a safe place (in coffins!), And got out of there only with the onset of darkness. As a rule, they went to close relatives, who were privy to their secret. But even those, being caught while communicating with vampires, disowned them and pretended to be attacked. Some patients began to take revenge on the traitors, others went to foreign cities and villages.
In those days, the main method of treatment was bloodletting, since it was believed that all ailments were contained in the blood. And it is not surprising that the sick began to look for victims with good blood - as a rule, children and young virgins. The infusion of fresh blood temporarily restored the normal porphyrins in the vampires and returned the freaks to a more or less human appearance. The taste of blood is becoming more attractive and desirable every time. In order not to carry a knife or razor with them, vampires sharply sharpen their teeth. The victim's most vulnerable spot is the jugular vein in the neck, which is the easiest to bite through. The fact that their disease is contagious and transmitted by a bite, no one thinks. The main thing is to instill fear. A frightened victim is easily hypnotized, and against the background of her defenselessness, the vampire's strength increases many times over. But vampires have to take precautions to avoid being caught.
They attack at night, more often on the full moon, on lonely passers-by or sneak into the room to a pre-selected victim. A black cape camouflages the contours of the body in the dark, while a crimson-red lining sets off the splattering of blood. In case of danger, they use a distracting maneuver: they release a bat from their pocket in the hope that it will be mistaken for a reincarnated vampire. This cheap trick usually works and allows you to hide unnoticed.
Modern vampires
Psychiatry considers the emergence of vampirism as a possible response to the established taboos of incest, necrophilia, oral and sadistic sexual desires in society. If you decide to become a vampire, by no means put advertisements in the newspapers. You don't want to be bitten by some psychopath, do you? Some do it differently. Attracted by the hidden sides of life and driven by the exciting color of blood, intrigued young people and girls sooner or later find themselves at the big Vampire Carnival, organized annually in the USA, Germany and Australia. There they meet true vampires who are able to introduce them into the White Wolf organization. Further, the trace is lost.
Vampire legends
The story of Arnold Paole
In 1729, a young Serbian soldier, Arnold Paole, was attacked by a vampire. The man was terribly frightened by such an incident and in fear of becoming a monster himself, he performed a series of "protective warning" measures that were supposed to save his soul: he ate the earth from the vampire's grave, and rubbed his body with his blood.
However, Arnold Paole did not calm down and decided from now on to lead a calm and measured life of a peasant. Having become a farmer near the village of Meduel, he still could not escape death: during the harvest, he overturned from a cart and died. According to tradition, the still young Arnold Paole was buried in the churchyard. However, his soul was never able to find peace. Within a month, local residents here and there began to see the wandering Arnold. Such a meeting for the living turned into illness and often death. The frightened peasants, having gathered a council and summoned officials, decided to excavate the grave of the vampire Arnold and kill him. Having opened the coffin in an early December gloomy morning, those present were amazed: Paola's body was turned on its side, his hair and nails were noticeably grown, blood froze on his lips, and he himself looked as if he were alive, despite the fact that he had died for more than two months. Frightened people, as the then performance of the fight against vampires prescribes, sprinkled garlic on his body, read prayers for the repose of his soul and thrust a hawthorn cross into his heart. Blood gushed from the wound, and the vampire, letting out a heartbreaking cry, died.
With the remains of patients who died after meeting with Arnold Paole, they did the same. The remains were burned and scattered to the wind.
However, six years later, mysterious diseases began again in the vicinity, and shadows and images of the deceased appeared here and there. A special council was called, which determined that the vampires were again wielding. Many graves were opened, among which were children's and even infant tombs. And they are all rendered vampires. The bodies were decapitated and burned. In the official report, the cause of the new epidemic of vampirism is called the meat of animals once affected by Arnold Paole, which was eaten by new vampires.
Ghost vampires
The world is full of rumors ...
Therefore, it is no wonder that they used to believe in witches and spirits, who often turned during their lifetime into certain creatures that killed and ate innocent people.
For example, in Mexico, witches (kiwateteo) - women who died in childbirth - hunted babies, angry for death. In order to avoid the death of living children, victims were often left to witches at the intersection of roads or simply in designated places.
And the ancient Assyrian spirits Ekimmu (the souls of people whose corpses were not buried or buried in an inappropriate manner) hunted living people, drinking their blood and taking away life force.
But the Australian aborigines voluntarily blew themselves from their veins during mourning, believing that if the will of the deceased is not pleasing, then he himself will come and drink blood from a person.
Even the subtle east holds many legends about vampires. In China, they appeared in the form of terrible and vile creatures that devour corpses and carrion. According to legend, a vampire can become not only the recently deceased, but even just not decomposed skeleton or skull. The creatures called "pio" are very bloodthirsty and can often fly.
Teacher Liu is a victim of a vampire
Once, returning from the graves of his ancestors, the respected teacher Liu fell victim to a vampire. His wife in the morning on the bed found the bloodless and decapitated body of her husband. The authorities immediately took the woman into custody. However, soon, nearby on a hill, people discovered a coffin next to an excavated grave, in which a vampire lay, holding the head of teacher Liu tightly in his hands, and his lips were stained with blood.
Dracula
A lot of beliefs and legends, mysterious stories and just fairy tales, conjectures of people and writers wander around the world, but the most famous vampire in the world, which, however, existed in reality and became the prototype of the world famous Dracula, is Vlad the bloodsucker-impaler.
In the 15th century, Prince Vlad Dracula ruled in Romania in the small principality of Vlachia. From the surviving chronicles, it is known that for a long time he was considered a hero for stopping the Turkish horde, which was planning to conquer Europe. It is known that then he burned and impaled more than a thousand captives. However, one should not assume that such cruelty was directed only at enemies. Civilians also often ended up in prison, were impaled and died the most painful death. The prince boiled many alive or flayed the skin, which he then forced to eat the family members of the deceased.
Rumor has it that he himself was often not averse to quenching his thirst with fresh blood. And his concubines rarely lived until morning. His gloomy castle with the wise convolutions of a huge dungeon remember the screams and cries of the sufferers, on which Vlad perfected his torture skills. His collection of torture instruments was colossal. He was feared and identified with pure evil.
For all his actions in 1476, 46-year-old Prince Vlad was beheaded and buried in the monastery.
Elizabeth Botori, who ruled Hungary in the 16th century, will also forever remain in memory as the most cruel of women. It was for her cruelty that she was walled up in 1611 in one of the walls of her chambers alive.
Famous for her incredible beauty, the woman was very vain and cruel. Panic fear of aging and losing her beauty, Elizabeth once discovered the amazing properties of blood: hitting the maid so that her blood stained her face and hands, the Countess felt that the skin became softer and more pleasant to the touch. The maid was killed, and her blood was heated and Elizabeth was bathed in it. Since then, under the pretext of working, she lured almost a thousand innocent girls, imprisoned them and killed them as needed to take baths. Rumor has it that she also drank the blood of babies ...
About vampires ...
In modern terms, vampires are creatures with incredible abilities, descriptions of their fears and powers often differ.
It is very difficult to judge how much vampirism is a real phenomenon, because in the Middle Ages, often a liturgical dream or the preserved corpses of people, in view of the prevailing storage conditions and mummification, were perceived as true signs that a person was a vampire. However, even at the present time, there are completely inexplicable facts and testimonies of people that make even the biggest skeptics think. In addition, modern medicine confirms a number of human diseases, which are indirectly recognized as vampirism. And if there are people who prefer blood at the call of nature, then who can assure that there are no others ... not people who wander the world, hiding in the shadows, stirring up minds, and whose passionate kiss is forever marked with the seal of death? After all, no one says that vampires in their image and abilities are identical to the fruits of human fantasy, which has been reflected in books and films. But is there really not even a grain of truth in all this?
And the fact that beliefs about mysterious vampires, werewolves, magicians exist in all nations, regardless of territorial and ethnicity, nevertheless suggest that there is definitely no smoke without fire ...
Heightened senses
Vampires have very keen senses everywhere. They see very well at night, it must be emphasized that no one can see in absolute darkness, however, as long as there is even a small amount of light, vampires can see very clearly. For example, moonlight is enough for them to go about their normal daily activities, except perhaps to exclude the possibility of reading. Vampires can hear a lot, and if it's hard to believe, then at least vampires hear more than anyone else. Moreover, unlike other people, they do not get entangled in sounds. A simple way to explain this is that the whole perception of vampires is expanded, maybe even some vampires need glasses, etc., but the total amount of information their senses can receive is much more than most people. All of this can do a lot for them to be very annoying, and vampires can become aggressive if there are too many of these irritants around. Therefore, among vampires, preference is given to a quieter area - although each is individual, and some may love this onslaught of information being sent to their minds.
Mood swings
This may be due to empathy and heightened feelings, it may be instinctively due to a thirst for blood, or even due to animal nature, but mood swings tend to be common to all vampires and can be sudden and very dangerous. From the desire to rip someone's head to the strongest love, a vampire can take only a few seconds.
Escaped Vampirism
This is a truly dangerous vampire condition, caused mostly by severe lust for blood. This is mainly when the whole mind of the vampire is on the side of the instinctive nature. Of course, it can be manipulative, but it can also be too strong and aggressive. This condition can cause the vampire to lose control and restraint.
Increased strength
The vampire is generally stronger than the average person. Perhaps this is because the vampire uses more muscle energy than most humans, who, on average, only use 10% of it. This is most likely due to the need to hunt and animal nature. Previously, great power was very beneficial, in today's society it is actually not required, at least in such volumes as before, but nevertheless it is still there.
World view
Perhaps due to empathy, or a line of behavior, the vampire's mind may work in a slightly different way. Vampires have a great understanding of everything and always. From their side, it seems as if you are looking at things from a high point, they see the world as a very small place and can even feel when something is going wrong globally. And yet this is not more than just having a slightly different point of view on everything, in addition mixed with empathy and animal instincts as well.
Line of evil
Vampires are not evil, however, it was the only phrase that can be written about. The line of evil can be called the fact that the vampire is mostly more animal and instinctive, and therefore has slightly different morals towards others, taking into account that most normal people would think of the death of someone as a tragedy and sadness, it seems that the majority vampires would accept the point of view that this is only a natural part of life and nothing else. If humans are traumatized, there is little likelihood that vampires will give much care - although they may care, and some do their best, it is mostly about those close to them. The evil line of vampires probably comes from the hunter's instinct, if the hunter has sympathy for the victim, then how can he hunt her. And yet, some vampires try to develop in one way or another a line of evil, they get pleasure from the suffering of others. For example, they derive great satisfaction from the thrill caused by the demonstration that their mind is stronger than that of a person.
Resistant to death
This in no way means immortality, a vampire may die, but a vampire can develop its vitality due to great age. Also, because of a good immune system and better healing, a vampire is more likely to survive an injury that should be fatal. The ratio is roughly such that where a normal person might have a 5% chance of survival, a vampire would have a 10% or 15%.
Lust for blood
Having blood is a must. Blood is necessary for vampires because of their physiology, in order to maintain life, and just to feel good. It must be emphasized that the physical body does not know that blood is required, like any other inclination, the lust for blood is an opinion, a knowledge of what you need. And sometimes it can take quite a long time from becoming a vampire until feelings take over you, and you understand them. Vampires, unlike humans, can digest blood, but this requires much stronger acid than what is required in the stomach of a normal person, and sometimes vampires get burned. Apparently this pain leads to the vampire's obsession with bloodlust from long starvation.
Conclusion
One or two of these traits are really not inherent in absolutely every vampire, traits are parts of genetics that are interconnected, mix and produce each other to form a vampire. Awakening is something like a vampire's puberty, it is probably a little, but it produces a change in the body (not an obvious change), perhaps over time the signs do come to the surface, in nature it resembles how a child develops through a teenager to puberty and adulthood ... As for the transformations, then for sure there are no vampires capable of changing quickly enough. If this is possible, then the process can span quite a few years and can begin at different ages, all this primarily depends on the individual, and to some extent may require a certain type of mental signal to transition to another state. The very process of change in the course of development can cause many emotional problems, and some instability, like that which drugs have on a normal person, and therefore it is possible that the change can push the vampire to commit suicide. In conclusion, it is necessary to add.
Yes, vampires are real, and they are described here from a scientific perspective and experience. But many ideas are only theoretical and they have no other proof other than conclusions based on the most logical assumptions.
Slavic mythology is the richest cultural layer left by our pagan ancestors. After the Baptism of Rus, the Slavs, who were not ready to immediately abandon their usual traditions, brought a share of the pagan to Christianity. Therefore, the answer to the question, who are the ghouls and ghouls, must be sought in Old Church Slavonic mythology.
Who is a ghoul?
In modern terminology, a ghoul is a vampire who gets out of the grave at night in order to satisfy his hunger. But, unlike the European "bloodsuckers", the real ghouls in Russia did not disdain the flesh of the victim either. There was a belief that if the ghoul did not eat the victim's body, but only drank all the blood, the killed one himself would become a monster.
In the pre-Christian tradition, ghouls are spirits that bring death, drought and pestilence. One touch to a person was enough for them to die soon from an unknown disease. After the adoption of Christianity in Russia, the Slavic ghoul was a mortgaged dead man who did not receive a church funeral service and was buried in unconsecrated ground. In addition, the following got a chance to become a monster:
- suicides;
- drunkards;
- sorcerers;
- inveterate heretics and sinners.
The ghoul woman is a former witch and heretic. Not finding peace after death, he returns home at night and goes through the cutlery. She tortures people whom she hated during her lifetime, tries to bring them to death, especially often the ghoul mocks her unloved daughters-in-law, pulling them out into the street by their braids.
What does a ghoul look like?
Slavic ghouls were absolutely not similar not only to modern ideas about vampires, but even to their foreign counterparts. Legends describe them as werewolves, capable of taking any form or becoming invisible at will. Often, the ghoul took the form of a dead man with iron teeth, whose eyes burned with hellish fire.
If the search for the ghoul came to excavating a grave, it turned out that:
- The dead person is not subject to decay.
- His clothes are ripped.
- Hands and feet were bitten to the bone.
Do ghouls exist?
It is difficult to say with certainty that ghouls exist, but it is also impossible to refute this belief. The study of this problem in Russia has never been thoroughly studied. But in Europe in the middle of the 18th century, cases of vampirism were investigated at the highest level. The personal physician of Empress Maria Theresa, Gerard van Swieten, and the famous scholar and theologian Antoine Augustine Calmet, in their treatises, expressed completely opposite opinions on this matter. Which of them to believe is up to you.
What is the difference between a ghoul and a ghoul?
It is now believed that ghouls and ghouls are the same creatures, slightly different in their habits and abilities. We owe the appearance of this delusion to Alexander Pushkin and his poem "Ghoul". In fact, the poet most likely incorrectly spelled the word "wolf", meaning a werewolf. The literary tradition was continued in 1839 by A. K. Tolstoy, who wrote the gothic story "The Ghoul's Family".
Testimonies of Ghouls
The first mention of ghouls in the chronicles dates back to the 11th century and took place in Polotsk. Then on the streets of the city at night there was a stamping sound and a person who inadvertently went out into the street soon died of an unknown disease. Immediately after the appearance of ghouls in the Principality of Polotsk, troubles began throughout Kievan Rus:
- epidemics;
- drought;
- attacks of the Polovtsian tribes.
Later stories about ghouls appeared in fairy tales and visits, the hero of which was often a soldier who, with the help of cunning and luck, managed to escape from the ghoul. Most of all, these beliefs were widespread in the southern provinces, on the territory of modern Ukraine and Belarus.
How to deal with ghouls?
The methods of dealing with these monsters were similar among many nations. If there was a suspicion that the village was being terrorized by a ghoul, the inhabitants went to look for a grave where the earth would be dug or there were some other signs that the deceased was not lying quietly in the coffin. Or, if a person recently died, about whom they said that he knew with evil spirits, they dug up his grave. Then they did the following.
- They turned the corpse face down.
- An aspen stake was driven into the back.
- They cut tendons and broke bones in my legs.
- They clipped the tendons above the heels and poured bristles into the wound.
- They cut off the head, drove something iron into it and put it at the feet.
- To completely destroy the ghoul, it had to be burned.
When meeting with a ghoul, they defended themselves with a cross or strong abuse, it was believed that evil spirits were afraid of swearing. You could also distract the monster with poppy seeds, rice, wheat - something small and available in large quantities - the ghouls in Slavic mythology, in this case, immediately began to count the grains and could not stop until everything was counted.
To protect the house, the following were used:
- Pieces of iron thrown into the fire or spread out on the windowsill;
- Crosses, burned out over window and doorways by a candle, from Holy Thursday;
- Enemies were considered dogs born first or having spots above their eyes that resemble another pair of eyes.
Books about ghouls
- "Ghoul" A.K. Tolstoy... The story of a young nobleman who attended a ball at the ghouls.
- "Ghoul" A.N. Afanasiev... An adaptation of a Russian folk tale about a girl who married a ghoul.
- "Reverse City" Andrey Belyanin... The book is written in the genre of humorous fantasy and tells about the Cossacks who keep order in the city where witches and ghouls live.
Movie about ghouls
- "Viy"... A screen adaptation of the story by N.V. Gogol, which has earned recognition both in the USSR and abroad.
- "Ghoul"... A Russian and very unusual movie about ghouls and ghouls who intimidated crime bosses.
Blood-sucking humanoids: truth or fiction? We are looking for documentary facts confirming the existence of vampires.
Perhaps there is no more famous supernatural creature than the vampire. A huge cultural layer of humanity is devoted directly to this topic.
Origin of the term
Vampire (from the Old Church Slavonic vѫpyr) is a dead man who sleeps during the day and wakes up from the grave in the middle of the night in order to quench his thirst for blood.
Girls imagine him like this
The most popular vampire is Count Vlad Dracula. A truly legendary vampire from foggy Transylvania. The story received overwhelming success after the publication in 1897 of the novel "Dracula" by author Bram Stoker.
The Gothic novel tells the story of the mysterious Count Dracula, who lies lifeless all day, but goes out on a bloody hunt in the dead of night. Many have heard about this, but not everyone knows that history is based on a real person. The real Count Vlad Dracula lived 400 years before the release of the novel about him.
Historians claim that Dracula was not a vampire in the truest sense of the word. But his monstrous cruelty and sadism gained such fame for himself that rumors spread about him as a blood-sucking fiend of hell. We can only guess who he really was.
The qualities and appearance of a vampire
Handsome vampire (only found in Hollywood)
It belongs to the undead class and looks like it. A distinctive feature is immortality, however, there are special methods that can finally put an end to the bloodsucker.
Since it is not alive, it is not affected by such an important biological mechanism as aging.
Vampire breath is offensive. According to various sources, the complexion can be red or snow-white. The eyes are always bright red. Physical strength and speed far exceed human capabilities.
It is believed that vampires are able to transform into bat form and then back to human. Bats often attack and bite people, so their connection with vampires may be nothing more than a myth based on these attacks. There is information about the ability to transform into almost any animal and even an insect.
Bloodsuckers are credited with the ability to send nightmares to people, cause droughts and other natural disasters.
The peculiarity of the vampire's teeth is the elongated canines, which are designed to pierce the victim's neck.
Real vampire
If vampires exist, then it remains a mystery how they manage to overcome a grave densely covered with earth without damaging it in any way.
The explanation may be the presence of such superpowers as deportation or the ability to walk through walls. At the same time, they are not able to enter the church even through an ordinary open door.
We could not find any historical or mythological information about the existence of good vampires.
How do you become vampires?
According to legends, a vampire could become an "unclean" deceased, for example, a violent death, a murderer or a suicide. However, it is clarified that there is no guaranteed method of becoming a vampire. A person bitten by a vampire can become a ghoul himself after death.
A person who has been bitten by a vampire becomes a vampire himself after death. Abbot Calmet "A Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits" 1968
People who are anathema (excommunicated), werewolves and occultists are also at risk. However, a restless soul can get stuck on the border of two worlds, not only in the form of a vampire, but also in the form of other entities like a ghost.
Vampire protection
Undead are afraid of sunlight like fire
We have collected here all the methods for eliminating the vampire, in case you manage to meet him.
Vampires cannot stand strong odors, so a plant like garlic has become an excellent assistant in the fight against vampires. People hung their windows and doors to prevent the vampire from entering the house and, just in case, hung garlic around their necks. If there was a risk that the deceased could become a vampire, then an incision was made in the deceased's liver and cloves of garlic were placed there.
The vampire belongs to the dark, evil spirits. It means that all the methods that were used by people in the fight against the fiends of hell work for him: holy water, a cross and silver.
An aspen stake in the heart is a classic. But for the sake of reliability, the vampire killers also carried out decapitation with the subsequent complete burning of the body.
In Eastern Europe, the dead were buried with sickles at their necks, which should have cut off the head of the revived dead if he only tried to get up.
Witch hunters and the inquisition
In the Middle Ages, a real hunt for vampires broke out in Europe. Guided by rather dubious beliefs, the Inquisition killed many innocent souls.
For example, checking with a horse. People believed that a horse with a virgin rider would never cross the grave of a vampire. Yes, the dead don't care what they do to him. But it got to the point that a living person suspected of vampirism was put in the grave. And then his fate was decided by the horse.
The Inquisition killed thousands of absolutely innocent people, but maybe it also saved us from otherworldly evil?
Any failed burial was considered a vampire's lair. After the exhumation of the deceased, the degree of decomposition was assessed. The better preserved he is, the more likely he is to be considered a vampire. Because of this, the persecution of the relatives of the deceased could begin.
Mystic stories
I'm sure most people reading this article consider vampires to be nothing more than a relic of a medieval witch hunt. However, we do have some chilling and possibly real-life vampire stories.
Night guest
In 1725, the peasant Peter Plogojevic was buried in Serbia. It looks like the most ordinary peasant from the village of which in those days there were countless numbers.
The strangeness began a couple of months later, when in just one week, for an unknown reason, a dozen peasants died at once. Everything would be fine, but in their death throes they claimed that Pogojevits appeared to all of them in a dream at night and sucked blood.
The peasant's wife brought in additional confusion by telling that her dead husband came to her for new, almost never worn boots. The matter ended with the fact that she fled (disappeared ?!) from her native village.
The peasants turned to the imperial garrison with a demand to sort out the situation and save the village. With distrust and reluctance, they nevertheless agreed to carry out the exhumation. We present its results to your judgment.
The body looks like it had just been buried. Apart from a partially sunken nose, it is absolutely fresh. Hair and nails continue to grow. The old skin was gone, but a new one appeared underneath. There is blood on the face and mouth. Imperial Inspector
A complete ritual of destroying the vampire was performed over the body of Peter, including piercing the heart with an aspen stake (according to legends, fresh blood gushed from his mouth) and complete burning.
Today humanity has reached such a level of development of science and medicine that we can materialistically explain what happened to the body of this unfortunate peasant. However, how to explain the testimony of ten peasants at once talking about the same thing?
Strange manor
This is a story about a soldier guarding a small peasant farm on the Hungarian border. The owners of the estate were not arrogant people and always invited the soldier to dine at the common table.
Vampire Hunter Outfit
Once a man unknown to the soldier sat down with them at the table, which terribly frightened everyone present, but no one dared to drive him away.
It turned out that this man was the father of the owner of the estate. The horror of the situation is that he died 10 years ago. The next day, the owner of the estate himself was killed.
Upon returning to the garrison, the soldier told this story to the commander, who did not take this situation skeptically and ordered a thorough investigation of the incident. Having dug up the body, the soldiers discovered that a person buried 10 years ago looks like he had just been buried. And the blood literally: "like a living." The head of the deceased was cut off and burned.
If this story was passed down simply by word of mouth, like some kind of bike, then we would not have any doubts about its fiction. But the circumstances of this case were carefully documented in the report by not the last person, Count of Cabrera.
Was it a coma or a lethargic dream? Or is it still a fact of the existence of vampires in real life?
Our days
Do you think the stories about ghouls are a thing of the past long gone? Montague Summers, a Catholic cleric and writer, studied the occult and the paranormal during the 20th century.
Among other things, he recorded information about people practically modern to us, who had an uncontrollable craving for human blood. Summers documented the story of a young French girl drinking blood from fresh wounds and an Italian mobster drinking the blood of her victims.
The living American woman does not hide her passion for human blood. She openly declares that every day she needs a glass of fresh blood like oxygen.
We are not murderers at all, we only thirst for blood. During the meal, I slightly cut the body of the "donor" and suck the blood very carefully so as not to stop the vein. There is something in the blood. Kane Presley (female vampire)
What's with these people? Genetic disease, psychiatric disorder, or maybe there were real vampires in their family?
In culture and art
The strange romanticization of the image of the ghouls has spawned countless movies and songs on the subject.
Films
- Vampire Academy
- Vampire girl (TV series)
- Vampire knight (anime)
- Interview with a Vampire
- President Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series)
- Rosario + Vampire (anime)
- Vampire Suck (Trash Comedy)
- Vampire family
- School of vampires (cartoon)
- Ball of the Vampires (musical)
- dust
- My nanny is a vampire
- Little vampire (cartoon)
- Vampire kiss
- The story of a vampire
- Gloomy shadows
- My boyfriend is a vampire (TV series)
- Vampire night
- Van Helsing
- From dusk to dawn
Computer games
- Legacy of kain
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption
- Nocturne
- Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi
- Dracula: Resurrection
- Prince of Darkness
- Skyrim
Music
- Gas Sector - Vampire Bite
- The King and the Jester - Confessions of a Vampire
- Nautilus Pompilius - Delicate Vampire
- Aria - Vampire
- Picnic - Night
- Picnic - Only for a Vampire in Love
Vampire documentary
Many young women are interested in vampire themes. Through books and feature films, a recognizable vampire image has been created. This is the perfect romantic hero. He is devilishly beautiful, powerful and deadly. He is also aristocratic, sophisticated and stylish. His soul is torn apart by the inner conflict between the desire to preserve humanity and survive. About whether vampires exist in our time, would like to know not only ordinary people, but also numerous pundits.
History of vampirism
A vampire (ghoul or ghoul) is a dead person who rises from the grave at night in order to feast on human blood. Sometimes he can take the form of an animal, such as a dog or a bat. Contrary to the image that cinema created, not only people bitten by other bloodsuckers became vampires. After death, suicides, excommunicated, evil sorcerers, as well as those who died a terrible violent death could turn into ghouls.
Stories about night bloodsuckers are found in the culture of almost all peoples, even the most ancient ones. These creatures had different names, could differ in appearance. But they had the same essence - they drank blood. Vampire-like counterparts in different cultures:
Bloodsucker appearance
The vampire is a living corpse, and therefore looks like it.... It is only in Hollywood films that you can see immortal handsome men dressed in expensive branded clothes driving around in sports cars. In fact, the distinctive features of bloodsuckers are:
The fear of sunlight causes ghouls to hide during the day. They may not sleep in coffins, but they tightly curtain the windows in their houses. In the event that they need to go outside during the day, they wear dark glasses and smear their skin with sunscreen.
Bloodsuckers are hunters. If blood is shed in the presence of a vampire, he may betray himself with inappropriate behavior. She will only attack a lonely victim if she is sure that no one will come to her aid.
Places where ghouls live
Cemetery grounds, but more often gloomy and dark castles, were considered a haven for ghouls. These are majestic Gothic buildings that are terrifying and awe-inspiring. They fascinate no less than their mysterious inhabitants. Therefore, many books and many films have been written about the places where vampires live.
The most famous blood-sucking villain who lived in the castle was Count Dracula. However, not all vampires were secular nobles. Therefore, it can be assumed that the ghoul-peasant could well be satisfied with a cellar, a cave or an old house. And in the castles, evil spirits were prescribed by Hollywood directors.
Another common ghoul habitat is the graveyard. On the one hand, it is not clear what to do there, because these creatures are not scavengers. And finding a living person at night in such a place is problematic. But on the other hand, ghouls are not living people. They, like ghosts, do not have a reflection in the mirror. Therefore, the cemetery for them is not only a home, but also a bed.
Modern bloodsuckers differ significantly from their ancestors. They do not wear long red-lined cloaks and do not sleep in coffins. They are indistinguishable from ordinary people and they live in ordinary apartments. These creatures have even adapted to daylight with the help of numerous sunscreens. They assimilated long ago. Only a few liters of blood stored in the refrigerator can give them out.
Protection methods
Previously, people were so afraid of the blood-sucking evil that they tried to protect themselves from it in all possible ways. They tried not to engage in open combat with these creatures. Therefore, they did everything possible so that a dead or living person could not be reborn into a vampire.
To save the deceased from being reborn as a vampire or to prevent the newly created ghoul from getting out of the grave, there were the following ways:
All babies who were born in a "shirt" were treated with fear and suspicion. In addition, everyone who was born with teeth, an extra nipple and hair, and a tail could become vampires. The fate of a vampire was also prepared for the one whose mother did not eat salt and garlic during pregnancy. Often these children were killed immediately after birth. And the graves were left open for three years to monitor the body..
Documented facts about the existence of vampires
Myths and reality are often intertwined. The same applies to the theme of the existence of vampires in real life. The facts show that the panic over the blood-sucking evil that happened in Europe in the eighteenth century was not unreasonable. Government officials were drawn into the ghoul hunt. All cases were fully documented by the authorities.
European ghouls attack
The first large-scale outbreaks of vampirism began in East Prussia. In 1721, Peter Blagojevica died at the age of 62. Soon after, neighbors began to watch at night as Peter wanders near his former home. His son complained that his deceased father comes, knocks on the door and asks for food. The young man was very scared, and a few days later he was found dead.
After that, Blagojevitsa disappeared for several days. Then he reappeared and began to attack the neighbors. Some of them were found dead and completely drained of blood.
Beginning in 1725 and for nine years, Arnold Paole, a subject of the Habsburg monarchy, terrorized people after his death. Paole was a farmer and died during haymaking. His death was very mysterious. On the neck, the doctor found characteristic marks, there was practically no blood in the body. A few days after the funeral, Paole began to appear in the village and attack people.
The bodies of would-be vampires were exhumed and examined, witnesses questioned, and incidents thoroughly documented. The investigators were especially struck by the amazing safety of the corpses. Some scholars have tried to explain these cases by premature burial or outbreak of rabies.
The respected French scientist and theologian Augustin Calmet carried out an enormous research work on various evil spirits. Its result was an essay entitled: "A treatise on the appearance of vampires and spirits of Hungary, Moravia, etc." This treatise, if it did not confirm the existence of bloodsuckers, then admitted it. Starting to study the problem of vampirism, Kalme was skeptical. However, by the end of the study, his beliefs were shaken..
Scientific explanations
Modern scientists have been able to find real evidence of the existence of vampires. In fact, these are not mystical, immortal and evil creatures, but ordinary people. They suffer from various rare genetic conditions such as porphyria. And also from such a mental disorder as Renfield Syndrome.
Porphyria disease
Scientists suggest that the stories about the ghouls were born as a result of the influence of porphyria. This disease could occur among residents of small villages in Transylvania where incest took place. In patients, heme reproduction is impaired. People cannot stay in the sun for a long time, as they destroy hemoglobin. And garlic only aggravates the disease because of the sulfate acid it contains.
A patient with porphyria looks like a ghoul. His skin is pale due to a lack of sunlight. Has a grayish tint, thin and dry. Especially the skin around the lips dries out. Because of this, the incisors begin to stand out. Against the background of physical pathology, mental disorders develop.
A person suffering from an advanced form of porphyria looks like a typical ghoul. Among those executed during a long struggle with vampires, there were many patients with porphyria. Between 1520 and 1630, more than 30 thousand people were killed.
Scientists were able to describe the disease and find its cause only in the twentieth century. And effective treatment was developed only by the end of the last century. It is believed that without this pathology, the world would never have known the myths about Dracula.
Renfield's syndrome
A dangerous mental illness for others, when the patient feels an irresistible desire to drink human blood, is called Renfield's syndrome. It was named so in honor of the character in the novel by Bram Stoker, who ate flies, birds and rats. He was sure that together with the blood of the slain, he would receive their strength and become omnipotent.
Usually, the disease begins in childhood when the patient accidentally tastes blood and this causes him great excitement. With age, these feelings intensify and become sexual in nature. Most often men suffer from this disorder.
The disease takes place in three stages. In the first, the patient mutilates himself and drinks his own blood. In the second stage, he begins to kill birds and animals. Often these people are regular customers of butchers, buying up their blood. At the third stage, the patient begins to hunt for human blood. Most often it starts with theft of blood from hospitals. And ends up with gruesome murders.
Almost half a century ago, in Dusseldorf, the maniacs Richard Chase and Peter Kunter were caught. They were called vampires. It has been proven that they killed and drank the blood of their victims who were waiting on the country roads.
In 2002, Germany condemned the spouses who committed murder and made a sacrifice to Satan. Daniel and Manuela Ruda kidnapped and killed a young man. They smashed his head with a hammer, inflicted 66 stab wounds and drank his blood. After that, they carved a pentagram on the victim's stomach and had sex in a nearby coffin. The couple were confident that such actions would ensure their immortality.
In 1985, a vampire was found in Russia. It turned out to be Alexei Sukletin, who killed, dismembered and ate more than seven women. Sukletin drank the blood of his victims, and prepared stews and cutlets from the butchered bodies.
It is impossible to assert with 100% certainty that real vampires do not exist. There are a lot of secrets and mysteries in this world. But is it worth looking for bloodthirsty bloodsuckers in the other worlds, if a person himself performs acts that any monster can envy?
