Mythical Creatures [EDITING]

Vampires

Suddenly, you hear a knock at your door. Curious, you get up to investigate – there shouldn't be anyone coming to see you at this hour. When you open the door, you are greeted by the face of a strangely pale man. He smiles when you open the door and asks, "My car broke down a few miles back, may I come in and use your phone?" You smile and nod, welcoming him in. As soon as you have closed the door, he pushes you back against the wall and gives you a sinister smile that reveals two perfectly sharpened fangs. You have just invited a vampire into your home – a grave mistake that can never be undone.

What is a Vampire?

Throughout the history of legend and storytelling tradition, there have appeared a particularly dangerous set of creatures that feed on the vital life force of human beings. In modern day, they are known as vampires. Though there are many different legends of vampires that modern day perception can be traced back to, it appears that the first vampires were actually a form of revenants.

A revenant was known to be a vile undead creature that was driven to return to the earth because of the evil deeds it had committed in its previous life, or because of unfinished business. It was thought that early vampires were a form of revenant that targeted their victims by attacking them and feasting on their blood.

The original vampire was thought to be bloated in form and to have dark features – similar to what would be expected from a corpse in the early stages of decay. It was also believed that they often slept underground in coffins during the day, only to awaken at night and wreak havoc on their city. There were, however, ways to track down these vile creatures. One of the easiest was to search the cemetery for signs of holes above grave sites. These holes were thought to indicate the resting place of a vampire.

Vampires in Other Cultures

Though the majority of what we know of vampires comes from European folklore, there are references to similar creatures all over the world. Two of the most notable versions can be found in Hebrew and Greek mythology.

Hebrew mythology gives us the story of Lilith and the estries. Lilith is a female demon that is known to prey on the blood of babies, young children, and pregnant women. She was greatly feared and was known to have tremendous blood lust.

The estries were also known to be female demons who would suck the blood of humans to sustain themselves. It seems that one of the few differences between Lilith and the estries (besides the fact that Lilith was a single entity) is that the estries were not as picky when choosing their target. They were, however, known to prey on men that were vulnerable to sexual temptation.

Greek mythology references the story of Ambrogio – a mortal man who had the grave misfortune of desiring the same woman as the sun god, Apollo. He suffered greatly for his determination to marry the love of his life – and was transformed into what many consider to be a vampire during the process.

The Transition in Vampire Folklore

As time went on, there were many different variations of the vampire tale. These would serve to shape the myth to what we know in modern day. However, it wasn't until the early 1800's that the vampire legends could be clearly separated from the revenant legends.

In 1819, a man named John Polidori published a novella entitled, 'The Vampyre.' This work would go on to redefine how we view the vampire legend today. Instead of a horrid and bloated creature, Polidori transformed the vampire into a suave and charming beast of the night. This new perspective on vampires captivated audiences and only served to make the creature more terrifying. The thought of a seemingly everyday man or woman who could seduce a person into becoming their prey quickly caught on in many colonized countries.