Vampire High - part 2

Crazycatgirl looks at myth that inspired the films, the freaks and fiction
 
Lesson two: Count on it...

It was John Polidori who first introduced the idea of the vampire being more then blood crazed monster, using an idea he allegedly stole from Lord Byron, in the nineteenth century. But it was Bram Stoker who put the nail on the coffin of the vampire as savage.

When Stoker’s gothic novel, Dracula, hit the shelves in 1887 it showed the vampire in a whole new light. Count Dracula was sophisticated and charismatic, and unlike the beasts from which had been drawn, old Drac’ had class!

Now the original novel has been translated in to over 21 languages, countless films and its central character has become legend.

Of course dear old Bram didn’t suddenly have a Eureka moment and think, “hey, I know I’ll write about this count guy who’s a vampire… now, what should I call him…” And suddenly sit down and pen Dracula. No, first he did his research.

The parents of Dracula…

There are many figures that Stoker could have drawn on when creating his title character, but there are two in particular who have come to be seen as the parents of Dracula. Both of these historical figures were less then pleasant during their lifetime, and though neither were vampires you can see why they could’ve been inspirational.

Vlad the Impaler

The first of these characters is Vlad Dracula, more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler. Vlad was, to all intents and purposes, a sadistic psychopath who lived in the early fifteenth century in a province of Transylvania.

Born the son of a knight of the order of the dragon (the word Dracula means “son of the dragon” in Romanian, though ironically can also be translated as son of the devil!) Vlad grew up with tales of his fathers bloody exploits in battle against the Turks, fights that he himself would continue in adulthood and which would earn him hero status in Rumania even today.

However, it was the fact that he impaled somewhere between 20 and 100 thousand of his enemies on long wooden sticks, reportedly eating meals amid his dying foes, that earned him his reputation throughout the rest of Europe.

Elizabeth Bathory

But there is no evidence that Vlad, however gruesome his actions, ever drank the blood of his victims; it took Elizabeth Bathory to bring that to the mix. Anyone who has played DVD/board game “Atmosphere” will know the name of Elizabeth Bathory, the evil vampire countess. But what you may not realise is that Bathory was a real person and her bloody escapades have placed her in the history books.

Lady Elizabeth Bathory lived in a castle in the Carpathian mountains, which all sounds like the beginning of a fairytale but I wouldn’t be expecting the Disney adaptation of this countess’ life any time soon.

Born in 1560, Bathory was a beautiful woman whose life and family were dogged by more scandal and controversy then Britney Spears! She was betrothed at 11 and had an illegitimate son and a husband who disappeared off to be a soldier before she was 16 years old.

Yet, despite all this scandal, it was a bloody altercation with a maid that turned the Countess from eccentric noble woman into the monster of legend.

During this particular episode Bathory, unhappy with something the young servant girl had done, delivered a swift blow to the woman’s head. Blood spurted from the woman’s nose covering the Countess.

Whilst wiping it from her pale skin Bathory found that the blood she had been covered in enhanced her complexion, giving her skin a radiant quality. She took at first to bathing in the blood of young woman, then devising a contraption that allowed her to shower in their blood. Eventually the bodies of her later victims were discovered covered in bite marks where she had torn at their flesh with her teeth and reportedly drunk their blood.

During her lifetime Elizabeth Bathory killed around 650 young virgins in the name of vanity! She was eventually imprisoned and only escaped execution for her crime because she was of royal blood. She died in prison.

There are many who have influenced the character and perception of the vampire since Stoker, but there is no doubt Stokers tale of the charismatic count continues to be a landmark in both vampire culture and gothic literature.