10 chilling legends about vampires

Although vampires are pretty common in modern pop culture, stories about blood-sucking creatures date back to ancient times, including to the Indian branches, Greco-Roman creatures that feed on human flesh. Today we think of fictional bloodsuckers like Dracula, but a "proper" vampires have appeared in medieval European folklore.

In early Eastern European fairy tales describes Ravenna that resemble the old Norse draugr. By the 17th century, the stories about blood-sucking devils was distributed along with unexplained illnesses. The following examples and the associated hysteria of the 18th century will tell you how the vampires quickly established itself as one of the greatest nightmares of mankind.

The vampire of Alnwick castle

Alnwick castle was built on the northeastern coast of England in the 11th century it was the residence of the Duke of Northumberland. It was also the place where the legend of vampires, written by William Newburgh in the 12th century. After he fell off the roof while spying on his unfaithful wife, the owner of the estate was mortally wounded. He forgot to confess before you die and came back as the unrepentant vigilante. The villagers were accused of being in the tent, and the local priest soon organized a group to dig up the corpse and destroy it. After the body of the Duke was burned, the problems stopped, although this was only the beginning of a legend.

The vampire of Melrose Abbey

The Abbey Of St Mary Melrose was founded in 1136 as the main house of the country. Although it is now partly in ruins, its halls was also a Cistercian order of monks and the Ghost of the 12th century. In this case, the vampire was a priest who died without confession, and then returned to feed on the blood of innocents. In life he was nicknamed "Dog priest" because he was fond of hunting with dogs. After his death, he wandered around the Abbey and terrorized the monks. However, the creature was stalking his former mistress, the monks organized an ambush after dark, and hit him on the head. After it burned, the ashes scattered across the area, although legends say that his shadow is still wandering in the Abbey.

Vlad Tepes, nicknamed Dracula

Although he was a fierce warrior, Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, was not a vampire. He was born in 1431 in Targovishte, his house was beset by conflict because they were sandwiched between Christian Europe and the Muslim Ottoman Empire. In his youth he was kidnapped and raised by the Turks, and returned, after the nobles ousted and killed his father. Vlad was a very good model for Dracula, especially when you take into account his vicious tendencies in the war and his title of son of the Knight order of the Dragon.

Vampires and plague

The black death was one of the worst pandemics of mankind, as the bacterium Yersinia pestis killed about 200 million Europeans. While the deaths reached a peak around 1350 BC, outbreaks have occurred even in the 18th century. At the same time, plague led to a huge upheaval, beliefs quickly changed. This included the growth figures of the "vampire", which was a little-known Eastern European legend until the beginning of 1700-ies. Superstition has spread through Western Europe, leading to mass hysteria. It was said that the vampires brought the disease or ate its victims. Worse, conditions that are associated with decomposition, such as the dark fluid in the stomach, was recognized as evidence for the existence of the living dead.

Elizabeth Bathory

"The bloody Countess" is known for having bathed in the blood and fed on the blood of innocent people, in order to maintain their youth. However, it started out as a noblewoman in Hungary, who married the count Nadasdy, managed his estates during the war and after his death. However, the problems began in 1609, when a local Lutheran priest suspected her in the disappearance of local girls. Authorities soon uncovered a murder decades, even though historians now point to the evidence of a court conspiracy. Along with several accomplices Bathory allegedly lured peasants and ladies to his castle to work or etiquette lessons. Then they were beaten, burned, frozen, starved. In the end, the Countess was immured in his house. Although it is said that she lived another 5 years in this state.

Jure Grando

Another version of "vampire" is the Eastern European term strigoi, strigun or strigon, which describes blood-sucking creature with mystical powers. The monster is the first documented case of the existence of the vampire. In 1656 the farmer Jure Grando died in the village Kringa. Over the next 16 years, he terrorized a city in Croatia, wandered at night and knocking on people's doors because of what someone died a few days later. He even attacked his own wife to commit a sexual act resulting in his children fled to Italy. Soon the priest and several villagers went to his grave, dug up Jure and beheaded his corpse.

Peter Blagojević

Another early story was about a Serbian peasant Peter Blagojević. In 1725, he died from a strange illness in the village. However, the official Austrian documents describe in detail how the within 8 days after his death, 9 rural residents died as the result of a strange disease. Before his death, everyone said that Blagojevich choked them in their sleep. Even his family was not safe, because the son of a Blagojevich died after a meeting with Peter in the kitchen and his wife ran away, after he appeared in her bedroom. In the end, the villagers exhumed his body and found signs of vampirism, including the growth of hair and nails and no decomposition. With the permission of the local priests, they burned his body.

The vampire of "Croglin-Grunge"

According to "my life Story" August hare, Amelia Cranwell and her brothers Edward and Michael moved to "Croglin-Grunge" in Cumberland (England) in 1875. One summer night, Amelia saw a strange lights under my window and saw a creature with glowing eyes outside. It entered the house and attacked. Her brothers came to the cries Amelia, but this figure slipped, but managed to bite her neck. The frightened trio went to Switzerland, and in 1876 returned with a vengeance. When lady Cranwell slept, the brothers approached the vampire attacked him and was shot. The next day they organized a group to explore the cemetery and found an open tomb, open grave, in which he was shot dead. They burned him, and the villain is never given any further trouble.

New vampires in New England

Experienced outrage and panic in New England in the 19th century. Since the outbreak of tuberculosis had devastated the land, withering bodies of people was interpreted as eating the spirits of deceased relatives. Treatment included their ritual burning, or even eating their internal organs. For example, after the death of Lemuel ray the bodies of his father and brothers in Connecticut in the mid 1800-ies were looted and reburied to prevent damage.

Supreme vampire

Highgate cemetery London has more than 150,000 residents, including one vampire. In this case, the sprawling cemetery and nature reserve was under the gun of the media in 1969. The report focused on the tall dark figure in grey, who exuded evil and would chase people and animals. As increasing number of exhausted animals and also a growing number of human victims who had been hypnotized. Although in 1970 the number of so-called vampire hunters rose so high that the cemetery was under threat of extinction, the observations decreased during the year, and the vampire forgot.

In most of these cases the real roots of vampirism, it seems, lie in a lack of understanding of the process of decomposition at which the human body often exude a dark liquid. In some cases, maybe people were buried alive, as on the roofs of the coffins were discovered the marks of the nails. Regardless of their origin, these stories about vampires have become important standards for larger myths. Thus, this is not their last message and not the last time a person asks a question that may be hiding in the dark in the local cemetery.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»