Halloween is believed to be the time when the veil between the worlds is at it’s thinnest, and the dead walk again. Without doubt the biggest celeb in the undead world is the vampire. Real or not, those white fangs and elegant outfits make Vampires one of the most popular characters at Halloween, funny or realistic. The most popular Halloween Couple are Dracula and Vampira with luscious costumes for both. We tend to be scared by the demons and gargoyle type monsters but Vampires hold a fascination for us - perhaps because they are so human in appearance.
Most of the modern vampire legends come from the book by Bram Stoker, and add to that modern Vampire literature and films such as Van Helsing, Blade, Ultra Violet and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we have a legend that just won’t go away, rather the Vampire has become a timeless mixture of myth and magic, with a little bit of fear and comedy thrown in.
There is believed to be a bit of history involved in the beginnings of the Vampire legend, the story of Vlad, the Impaler, one time Ruler of Romania has been cited as the beginnings of the legends. He was a cruel man, even by the standards of his time and was renowned for impaling his Turkish Prisoners of War along with other gruesome methods of torture and eventual death. He was given the name Dracula, but there is no evidence that he drank blood, and he is unlikely to have had the fangs that we associate with Vampires today.
Depending on where you come from, your view of vampires will differ - in Europe they are viewed with horror, they have many of the characteristics of Bats who are unjustly tainted by the legends of bloodsucking and evil - probably because they congregate in dark, secluded place and fly around churches as if trying to get in. The American view is rather more the elegant, fashionable and desirably good looking man or woman. These attributes help them draw the unwary into the world of the Vampires where they are instantly transformed into something equally attractive, if that is the right word!
Modern legend says that vampires are created when a ‘normal’ is bitten by another vampire and only a little blood is taken. Vampires need to feed regularly and will kill by draining the body of blood. Many of the movies and shows that we see draw a distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ vampires, much of this is down to how they feed and treat the people around them. Although you may chase them with garlic and crosses, spray them with holy water and plunge stakes into their empty chests, the only sure and certain vampire killer is sunlight, so as Halloween draws to a close all those vampires melt away until next year.
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