Etymology
- The word vampire was first used in 1734: "The bodies of deceased persons
animated by evil spirits, which come out of the graves at night
time to suck the blood of many of the living and thereby destroy
them."
- By 1862 Vampire meant a terrible BORE of a person
- And by 1911 vampire meant "a woman who intentionally attracts and
exploits men" and by 1918 (July 9) the New York Times mentions a
play called "The Vamp" starring Enid Bennett.
- Also the Verb to vamp means "to behave seductively
and exploit" (ca 1920's)
- If vampires are not detected they climb into the belfry of
the church and either a) call out names of villagers (who then
instantly die) or b) ring the death knell and anyone who hears it
dies on the spot
- If a vampire goes undetected for 7 years they can go to
another country or place where a different language is spoken and
become human again. They can never remarry but when they die the whole
family becomes vampires (kids for first time & parent(s) again)
- There are 2 kinds of Vampire: the spirit of a dead person or a
corpse reanimated by his own or another person (ie ethereal or physical)
- In some traditions, staking a vampire must be done IN ONE
BLOW to do it right
Becoming a Vampire:
- The 7th son of the 7th son
- A cat jumping over corpse turns the corpse
into a vamp (England); in Romania the same but the cure
(antidote) is to put a piece of iron into the corpse's hand
or place Hawthorn in the coffin
- A baby born with teeth or a caul or stillborn
- A dead body that has been reflected in a mirror
- Someone bitten by a vamp
- Suicides
- People who die suddenly & violently
- Those who do not receive proper burial
- People who have eaten he meat of a sheep that
has been killed by a wolf
- Having red hair (Greece only)
- By renouncing the Eastern Orthodox religion (which is why
the peasants may have thought Vlad was a vampire)
- By being excommunicated by the Greek Orthodox
church
- Wild dogs jumping over a corpse
- Never leave any KNOT in the coffin -- a tie or a rope
since it was thought to prevent the corpse's decay and to
disturb the dead person's ability to make the transition
into another life
Apotropaics
or
The art of Fooling and Controlling Vampires (and the dead in general)
These are methods of turning away evil:
- Take the most tortuous route home from the cemetery in
order discourage ghosts from following you
- Wear unfamiliar clothing (disguise)
- Wear grotesque makeup (disguise)
- Impaling the corpse or breaking its legs and severing its
head (so it can't see and can't run ... that ought to do
it!). A severed head was sometimes p