The Origin of Vampires

In modern culture, vampires are creatures that are terrifying and alluring at the same time. Using charm and charisma perfected over hundreds of year, the vampire is able to reach into our deepest fears.

Humanity has always been afraid of what it does not understand. Throughout our existence, myths and legends have reflected our feelings, beliefs and misunderstandings. More often than not, these stories have represented the complexity and profundity of our ultimate fear... Death.

While death is part of the natural process of life; our lack of understanding of the death process has generated extremely powerful fears. One of the psychological problems of our consciousness is the recognition of our own mortality and our inability to stop it. People resist the door of death; but ultimately, we know that we have no choice but to allow it in.

This fear has spawned tales of the undead, creatures trapped between worlds in nearly every ancient culture; while they may sound different at times, these myths are all re-tellings of deep-rooted superstitions that have changed slightly to fit different times.

One of the most frightening myths of the undead that has haunted our imaginations is that of VAMPYRES. Before Dracula became a literary character, tales of undead creatures and blood drinking were shared as part of oral traditions by the Babylonians, the Greeks, and the Romans. Our fear of vampyres is as old as time itself, it is almost primal.

But how much of what we fear today bears resemblance to the fears solicited by vampires of early history?

To answer this question, we will first need to understand the vampire origins and its evolution through time.