The original vampires of folklore have been given some hard knocks these days in comparison to their most popular literary descendants. For example, in Anne Rice's novel, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, Louis and Claudia encounter in Eastern Europe only dim-witted, savage vampires.

I agree that, in many cases from folklore, the vampire does match such an image. Sometimes their flesh still rots as the prowl at night. Nonetheless, in folklore there are special cases of vampires who closely approximate the modern literary vampires in regard to both intelligence and ability to pass as normal mortal human beings.

One Romanian folktale, recorded in the city of Botosani in the Romanian province of Moldavia, published in a Romanian journal of folklore **Ion Creanga**, vol. iv, p. 202 and reprinted in "The Vampire in Roumania" by Agnes Murgoci in FOLK-LORE, vol. xxvii, no. 5, 1926 begins with:

"There was a time when vampires were as common as leaves of grass, or berries in a pail, and they never kept still, but wandered round at night among the people. They walked about and joined the evening gatherings in the villages, and, when their were many young people together, the vampires could carry out their habit of inspiring fear, and sucking human blood like leeches."

In the article "The Romanian Folkloric Vampire" by Jan Perkowski, published in the September 1982 issue of the journal, EAST EUROPE QUARTERLY, there is the following tale recorded by the eminent Romanian linguist, Professor Emil Petrovici, in the Romanian town of Ohaba, in southwestern Transylvania, on June 21, 1936:

"Once a strigoi [i.e., a vampire] turned into a handsome young man and a young girl fell in love with him. They were married, but the girl also wanted a religious wedding. He rejected this idea. Her parents insisted, so he agreed to go to the church, but when they emerged from the church he looked at his wife in a strange way, baring his teeth. She became afraid and told her mother about it. Her mother said, 'Don't be afraid. He loves you. So that's why he bared his teeth.' When their parents came to visit them, they couldn't find them. They had locked themselves in, but the people could see them through the window. He was sucking her blood. When the people saw it, they shot him through the window."

There are also cases where undead vampires who have survived long enough after their burial reach a stage where they can not only pass as normal mortal humans, but can successfully maintain a regular job and marriage to a mortal woman, and raise children.

Matthew Bunson in his book, THE VAMPIRE ENCYCLOPEDIA, p.156, under "Life of a Vampire", says that in both Serbia and Albania it was believed that, if an undead vampire wasn't destroyed within thirty years after burial, it would become "human" and travel the world under a different name. Also, on page 148, under "Kukudhi", Bunson says that in some regions of Albania it was believed that the vampire grew stronger with time until it reached a final stage where it is called a kukudhi, and is no longer required to return to its grave and can live in a home during the day, and typically travels to other lands as a merchant.

In her article, "The Vampire in Roumania", Agnes Murgoci writes on page. 327:

"If the vampire is not recognized as such, and rendered innocuous [i.e.: if it is not recognized that a person dead and buried has become a vampire, and steps such as exhuming the corpse and driving a stake through its heart or cremating it are not taken], it goes on with its evil ways for seven years. First it destroys its relations, then it destroys men and animals in its village and in its country, next it passes into another country, or to where another language is spoken, and becomes a man again. He marries, and has children, and the children, after they die, all become vampires and eat the relations of their mother."

In his book, MYTHOLOGIE DU VAMPIRE EN ROMANIE, Adrien Cremene adds some more details to this. He states that, after seven to twelve years from the time of burial, the strigoi, the Romanian vampire, will have reached a stage where he is no longer tied to his grave, and will go forth in the world, moving to another village, marrying, and raising a family. At the beginning of this phase, the strigoi ceases to prey upon humans but instead attacks wild and domestic animals. But then he reaches the point where he can sustain himself on a normal diet and it is then that he goes off to another village where he passes as a normal mortal human. But even when the strigoi is living incognito in another village with another family and doesn't have to take nourishment from the living, he is still bound by the requirement of living for short periods of time as a vampire. Usually, these times are from Friday night until Sunday morning. During this time, he might find a resting place in a nearby cemetery or go cavorting with other strigoi. Being bound by this necessity of joining his own kind for this period each week, this type of strigoi must learn to be very cautious about his doings so as not to arouse suspicions about his true nature. This is a very hard thing to do for a long time, and also these strigoi are not affected by sickness or aging, so they have the reputation of being nomads. They wander into a village or town, take a wife, have children, and eventually find it necessary to wander again and make a new life somewhere else.

In HOME OF NYMPHS AND VAMPIRES, published in 1924, the author George Horton gives several tales about the Greek vampire, the vrykolakas that he heard during his travels among the Greek isles. One of these involves the advanced class of undead vampire, though here it takes the vampire little more than a week to reach the advanced stage. He then leaves ihis home island and goes to another where establishes himself as the proprietor of a general store, marries a mortal woman, and has children. Here too the vampire, after he reaches the advanced stages, regresses from Friday night to Sunday. But he actually returns to his original grave on his home island during this time.

Another example of this class of vampire is given in TWELVE YEARS' STUDY OF THE EASTERN QUESTION IN BULGARIA by S. B. G. St. Clair and Charles A. Brophy (London: Chapman and Hall, 1877). Much of what the authors say about Bulgarian beliefs in vampires called obours can be found reprinted in the THE VAMPIRE IN EUROPE by Montague Summers, pp. 315-19.

According to St. Clair and Brophy, the Bulgarians in the village that they themselves were then currently living in believed that nine days after a person predisposed to become an obour is buried, "he returns to upper earth in aeriform shape", invisible except that in the dark he gives off sparks "like those from a flint and steel", and in the light he casts a shadow. His harm is confined to such activities as roaring out in a loud voice or calling out cottage dwellers in endearing terms and then beating them black and blue, and entering cottages to turn things topsy turvy like a poltergeist, spit blood on the floors, and smear cow dung everywhere.

But St. Clair and Brophy add that, after forty days from burial, the obour arises from the grave in bodily form and is able to pass himself off as an ordinary mortal human being "living naturally and honestly."

They give as an example an episode alleged to have happened thirty years before in the village they themselves were living in. According to what the villagers told them, a stranger arrived in the village, established himself in a trade, and married a wife. The newly wed wife's only complaint was that every night he stayed out until dawn. It was soon noticed that there were many dead horses and cattle about, partially eaten. This came to an end, but then cattle grew sick and died, and it was noticed that the blood had been drained out of them. When the villagers learned from the stranger's wife that her husband was always out all night, they suspected that he was a vampire responsible for the animal deaths They examined him and found that he had only one true nostril - a sure sign that he was a vampire. So, they bound him, took him to a hill outside the village, and burned him alive.

The following myth deals with the goddess Sekhmet and is found on the walls of the tomb of Seti. This myth has several different versions, the one presented here comes from "The Goddess Sekhmet, Psycho-Spiritual Exercises of the Fifth Way" by Robert Masters, published by LLewellyn Publishing; copyright 1991.

There was a time in ancient Egypt where "humans entered into a conspiracy to overthrow the Gods. They blasphemed against Ra, king of Gods and men, and heretical priests and magicians plotted ways to turn against the Gods for their destruction, using those very powers the Gods had given to men that they might flourish and grow great upon the earth.

"Ra, hearing of this plan, called to meet with him the most ancient and potent Deities, those who had been with him in the primeval waters before the time when with his eye, the sun, he had made life. The Gods counseled together and it was decided that Sekhmet, the force against which no other force avails, should manifest on the earth and quell the rebellion. Sekhmet would manifest and punish all those who had held in their minds evil images and imagined wicked plots.

"Then Sekhmet walked among men and destroyed them and drank their blood. Night after night Sekhmet waded in blood, slaughtering humans, tearing and rending their bodies, and drinking their blood.  The other Gods decided that the slaughter was enough and should stop, but they could find no way to stop Sekhmet, who was drunk on human blood.

"As the carnage went on, the Gods recognized that Sekhmet, Her rage sustained by intoxication, would implacably proceed with the killing until the last human life had been extinguished. Then Ra had brought to him from Elephantine certain plants which have been said to be the Solanaceae family and which can be brewed as powerful mind-altering drugs. Those plants, and possibly also opium or hemp, were sent to the God Sekti at Heliopolis. Sekti added these drugs to a mixture of beer and also human blood, until seven thousand great jugs of the substance had been made. The jars were taken to a place where Sekhmet would pass and there were poured out onto the ground, inundating the fields for a great distance. And when Sekhmet came to these fields and perceived what She thought to be blood, She rejoiced and drank all of the liquid. Then "Her heart was filled with joy," Her mind was changed, and She thought no more of destroying mankind.

"After that, Ra addressed Sekhmet as the One Who Comes in Peace, praising the beauty and charm of the Goddess.�

Sekhmet is one of the oldest deities in the world.  She is known as the daughter of Ra but is also described as older than Ra.  She was a deity who was imported from another culture but it is not known which culture.  She has over four thousand names, some of which hint at the other origins.    Some authors have linked her with the �Goddess of the Kundalini energy constellation�..which is often improperly attributed to the Indian Tantra.�   Egyptologist Sir Wallis Budge comments that the name Sekhmet is connected or comes from the word sekhem which means to be strong, mighty & violent.

Sekhmet is the goddess most often depicted with the head of a lioness, occasionally with the sun disk. There are more large statues of Sekhmet than of any other deity. Like many deities, the Goddess Sekhmet was a Lady of many contradictions.  She is the bringer of disease & the Great One of Healing.  She is the Goddess of War and the Goddess of Love.  She is also an underworld deity, known for her destructive tendencies. She has the power to completely destroy not only human bodies, but also their souls  - total destruction.  She, additionally, is the protector of the dead in the underworld.  To become an initiate in the temple of Sekhmet, candidates were actually put to �death� where they had to deal with its horrors.  These �horrors� included facing �fiends and vampires.�  Those who did not succeed in overcoming their fears, if they survived, were disqualified.  Unfortunately, no other reference to the Egyptian beliefs in vampyres could be located. Her priests & priestesses were considered to be extremely powerful � both as physicians and as practitioners of magick who had the power to destroy and command demons.    The demons of Egypt were divided into two categories: those that serve Sekhmet & those that are of the underworld.  Sekhmet�s demons were dispatched to send disease, chaos & pestilence.  The demons of the underworld were considered to be worse as they stole body parts from the dead & would eat the hearts of the �undeserved.�  Celebrations for Sekhmet included wild orgies, which earned her the additional titles of Great Harlot & Lady of the Scarlet-Coloured Garments.  Those celebrations also included the drinking of the exact substance given to Sekhmet to quench her thirst � sans the blood according to several authors.

There is only the one myth that discussed the blood lust of Sekhmet.   It would seem that any additional information of this has been lost, not yet uncovered, or contained in resources not available to this author.   Of her four thousand names, only a few hundred have survived.  Some of the hint at a possibly deeper connection to the realm of the vampyre: Lady of Transformations, Enrapturing One, Giver of Ecstasies, Mother of the Dead, Lady of the Bloodbath, Devouring One, & Terrible One.

There are three basic vampyres that I have found in Sumerian myths - the Ekimmu, the Uruku (Utukku), and the Seven Demons.

The Ekimmu: This creature was said to be created when death happened violently or the burial was not handled properly. Author Konstantinos believes that these creatures were intentional psychic vampyres. These creature were astral in nature, they hunted for a victim they could "seize and torment." The person could only be released by an exorcism performed by a priest or priestess.

The Uruku (Utukku): This creature is referred to as a "vampyre which attacks man" in a cuniform inscription. I am attempting to locate more information on this reference which also came from Konstantinos.

The Seven Demons: These demons are mentioned in many texts and incantations of the Mesopotamian cultures. One Sumerian banishing rite describes them as immortal blood drinkers.

Tibet has a great deal of references to creatures that can be considered vampyres. Below are descriptions of two.

The first myth includes a demoness who falls in love with a monkey. The monkey was gifted with magickal powers and vows to become an upasaka. The Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara sends him to meditate in Tibet. While there the demoness passes by, sees him, takes the form of a woman and attempts to seduce him. When he refuses, she threatens to die right then and there. The monkey allows her to sleep beside him in order to appease her. She begs him to marry her and if he refuses she threatens to mate with a demon, kill large numbers of living creatures, and give birth to a race of demons which will devour all creatures who live in Tibet. The monkey finds himself in conflict with his compassion for the demoness and his vow of chastity. He transports himself at lightening speed magickally to Avalokitesvara. He orders the monkey to marry the demoness. The goddesses Bhrkuti and Tara give their consent and Avalokitesvara fortells that the doctrine of Buddha will be preached in Tibet in the future.

Six monkeys were born to the demoness and the monkey, each reborn from the six states of transmigration (gods, titans, men, animals, tormented spirits, and beings who live in the hells). The monkey leads his children to the forest and leaves them. He returns 3 years later to discover that they now number 500. The forest can no longer provide them enough food so they beg their father for food. He travels at lightening speed to Avalokitesvara concerned that he will be reborn in hell for marrying a demoness. Avalokitesvara climbs to the center of the earth to extract 5 grains which he scatters over the earth. When the offspring consume the grains, their fur and tails become shorter. They learn to speak, make clothing, build homes, etc and it is from these offspring that the Tibetan people are descended.

Another version of this myth (found in the Mani bka-'bum) states that the six children "because they had a monkey for a father, their bodies were covered with fur, and their faces were red. Because they had an ogress (demoness) of the cliffs for a mother, they were without tails and craved raw meat and blood."

In the "Book of the Words of the Ministers" yet another version appears. In this version only one child was born - a son. He stood upright and had "a red, flat face, and no tail. He ate red meat and drank warm blood" (Snellbrove 1957: 124-26).

Another Tibetan text, "Scroll of the Words of the King" from the 14th century tells a tale of a time before the first king when demons ruled Tibet. "First a black demon held sway, and the land was known as the land of devils....As a result sprites called nyen-po and tsen-po appeared. Next a devil and an ogress held sway, and the country was called the land of the two divine ogres. As a result, red-faced flesh eating creatures appeared."

Blood sacrifice was very common in Hindu rituals and in temples. Whether or not it was vampyric in nature is open to conjecture. The following myth is one of the better detailed references to a possible vampyre creature.

Cundalai MadaN: The goddess Parvati, after problems with her husband and her request for a child, is sent to the infernal regions. While there she is to gather a spark from a sacred lamp in the hem of her clothing. The spark becomes a shapeless mass which causes Parvati to complain to Siva, her husband. He then makes the lump into a child, but instead of feeding him milk, the child eats from a corpse. From that point on, the child is called Cudalai MadaN. Because of his actions, he cannot reside in Siva's paradise, however the child imposes conditions before he leaves. He demands a female counterpart and a cult. The gods prepare for this on the cremation grounds. the MadaN demands meat offerings, animal victim, alcohol and human sacrifice. Siva causes the birth of the Kaniyar singers and dancers who willingly offer their blood as a narabali (I have yet to find a translation of this). MadaN is then satisfied and goes to the Earth to receive the offerings of men. While on Earth he stops at various towns to worship. He oppresses the people of each town until they worship him. He takes the women, devours the fetuses of pregnant women, kills men, burns houses, and uses "disquise and illusion to spread confusion." His story continues with more blood sacrifice, death and destruction.

The mythology of the Africans is rich in tales of demons and flesh-eating creatures.  Black magick abounds in the forests and jungles waiting to prey on the unsuspecting victim.  Most of the creatures described in the myths make it difficult to separate demon from vampyric creature.

Blood, in and of itself, has a rich mythology in Africa.  Each tribe attributes different powers to it, however there are certain almost universal myths regarded by most of the African tribes.
 

• Blood that flows from the deceased is said to carry the soul into the earth where it will wander seeking revenge.
• Those who bind themselves together with blood can no longer kill the other, nor will their descendants.
• To many African tribes, blood is not to be touched, as it carries a great deal of magical power.  The spirits drink blood and feast on flesh.  People who become possessed will also need drink blood.  The type of spirit that inhabits a person determines the type of blood they must drink as each spirit needs the blood of a specific type of animal.  Some spirits, according to the oldest tales, require human blood.   Mediums of Bantu Africa will often drink blood during the possession rituals to encourage the spirits to speak through them.  Covens of such mediums will often drink blood ceremonially to swear each other to secrecy - most often to protect themselves from crimes that they might commit during possession.
• Blood was used in war rituals.  Some tribes drink the blood of enemies before a battle during the war-dance to make them drunk.  As in other cultures, the blood of the enemies was drunk after the battle and the livers of the enemies were eaten.  Tribes like the Maasai in Eastern Africa mix blood with milk which is then drank by young warriors ( it is an excellent source of protein).

Cannibals:


Each region of Africa has a slightly different take on cannibals.  They all agree that though they look human, they are not.  They can be of either sex but it seems that most accounts depict the cannibal as a handsome young male.  The distinguishing mark that separates them from humans is their left thumbnail.  It is very sharp and jagged, like a good steak knife.  They seem to have different preferences on how to pick their victims.  Some like to seduce young women and convince them to go to another village.  On the way to the village, the cannibal reverts to its true self and devours the woman.  Others find soon to be brides, disguise themselves as girls in order to get into the wedding party and then devours the bride.  Some descriptions of cannibals say that in their true form they have long tails with a mouth on the end.  They also have the capability of shape changing.  Some cannibals have been know to take human wives.  They can also father daughters.  Generally human-cannibal marriages don't last long - the wife is quick to realize that the meat the male brings home is human.  However, once discovered, the wife is also eaten.

Mukasa:


  Mukasa was the supreme god of the Buganda people (Uganda).  He is considered to be a benign god since he does not require human sacrifice.  However, he drinks the blood and eats the hearts and livers of the animals that are sacrificed to him.

Dogirs


Most of the tales regarding this creature describe it as being a water sprite.  In those tales it lives rather peaceably with humans.  However, the further south you go, the tales become much more terrible.  Some depict them as terrible monsters which feed on humans.  They appear only at night and have eyes that glow.  They could disguise themselves as humans during the day.  They only sign that they were dogirs was swelling in the lower back.  In 1929, the police in the village of Dabod actually searched the village for people with the swelling to stop these man-eaters.  The swelling was said to be caused by the stump of the tail that became apparent after the person was transformed.  This transformation took place when such people rolled in ashes.  They then took on the appearance of a werewolf, in some accounts.

The Bat



• In Uganda and Zimbabwe, people believe that bats are the spirits of the dead who wander the earth to haunt the living while they sleep.
• In Ghana, people say the giant bat, Sasabonsam, is pure evil.  Though it is a fruit-eating bat most known for destroying crops, the people of Ghana say that it waits in the forest to kidnap travelers and take them to the evil spirits of the forest.  It is believed that the Sasabonsam came from another land since it has hooks on its wings, red hair and a beard.  They also believe that it cooperates with both the Mmoatia, the dwarf sorcerers, and the Avayifo, the witchcraft experts.

In Southern Africa the tales of the bats are divided.  One side paints the bats to be like little people with almost human faces, who once they were offered blood, would assist the brave in finding treasure.  The other side believes that they are evil and bring disease.
 

Biloko:


Tales of these creatures come mainly from Zaire.  The Biloko are dwarves with a rather large dislike for humans.  It is thought that the Biloko are spirits of the dead with grudges against the living.  They live and protect the deepest darkest parts of the rainforests and the treasures contained within.  Only the strongest of hunters ever successfully enters and leaves such areas.  These hunters must be very powerful magicians in order to hunt the prize game that is to be found in these areas.  The biloko are described as having long, sharp claws, piercing eyes, and snouts with mouths large enough to swallow a human.  They are hairless, but are covered with grass that grows on their bodies and wear leaves as clothes.  They live in large hollow trees.  They use small bells to put people under their spell so that they can eat them.  Only those who possess amulets and fetishes with strong protections magicks will escape the spell.

Ghosts


The belief in ghosts is very strong in Africa.  People lock there doors and stay home at night for fear of meeting a ghost.  Ghosts are the spirits of the dead, obviously, that linger for various reasons.  In some villages, shrines are erected for specific ancestral spirits that are so powerful they are actually believed to be running the clan though they have been dead for hundreds of years.  In the regions of Cameroon, the Congo and Zaire, the belief in ghosts is the strongest.  In villages of those regions, it is not uncommon for huts to be built specifically for ghosts.  These regions also hold the belief that ghosts are flesh eaters.  They are seen only at night and are white, though transparent, and retain the shape of their former body.  If challenged and battled with, they can break apart into bones which makes dogs a very useful tool in dealing with them.  The only solid part visible by humans is the left thumbnail.  This is very pronounced and resembles a butcher's knife.  Ghosts are very fond of antelope flesh but prefer human flesh.  It is believed that if a ghost can eat enough human flesh then it may be able to regain a body.
 

Ghouls


Ghouls are described as being people, but not "children of Adam" (not human).   They are covered in thick hair and have large tusks.  In some regions, they are described as have one large eye (akin to cyclops), a long neck and body (like an ostrich) and can disguise themselves as humans to entice their prey.  They love to eat human flesh, but can (and do) fall in love with humans on occasion.  They can be both male and female.  It is not uncommon for Ghouls to capture humans and mate with them.  These unions have created a new species of creatures:  savage, fast and effective hunters and killers who like to rape human girls.

Ghoulas


Though this is the feminine form of Ghoul, in regions like Algeria, only the females are talked about.  They are believed to live in a castle in the mountains and can easily disguise themselves as beautiful human women.  In one tale, the Prince Bousetta was taken on a hunting trip by is jealous brothers.  They intended to get him close to the Ghoulas castle in hopes they he would be captured and eaten.  However, before they could abandon him, they were surrounded by the Ghoulas, disguised at beautiful women and were taken to the castle.  The brothers were afraid, naturally, except for Bousetta.  While the brothers slept, Bousetta tended to his horse who had kept him awake by licking him.  The Ghoulas came into the room and took the brothers one by one and flew away to a much larger castle deeper in the mountains - all except Bousetta who never went to sleep and was with his horse.  It is believed that the brothers were probably not eaten but were forced to marry the Ghoulas are still live in the second castle.

Gishu


This is the religion of the Bangesu tribe of Uganda.  The Bangesu traditionally eat their dead.  In ceremonial style, the body is carried by the men of the tribe to a secret location.  The woman then go to it after dark and carve the pieces they want cooked.  The bones and remaining pieces are then burned with the exception of the skull.  The skull is placed in a shrine in the house of relatives so the ghost has some place to reside.


Vlad the Impaler


by Angie McKaig


Although his actual birth date is unknown, historians estimate that Vlad Tepes (the Impaler) was born in 1430 in Schaassburg, a town in Transylvania. His father, Vlad Dracul, was the Prince of Wallachia.

Vlad was imprisoned (along with his family) by the Turks in 1438. This was meant to guarantee his father's loyalty to the sultan. It was during this imprisonment that he developed the "cynicism so evident in his approach to life and infused in him a Machiavellian attitude toward political matters." ¹

After his father's death in 1447, Vlad was unable to take the throne that was rightfully his thanks to the political machinations of the governor of Hungary and other ruling families in Wallachia. Eventually, though, he would retake the throne and rule Wallachia for several years.

During this time he fought against the Turks as well as built Castle Dracula with slave labour. However, it was his brutal methods of seeking revenge against his enemies that earned him the title of the Impaler. Battlefields would become littered with bodies of dead and dying turks, impaled on a long stake that was driven into the ground.

Other brutal acts only served to heighten his reputation as a savage dictator. People were burned, impaled, and tortured - often without good reason, according to some. "He had a good meal prepared for all the beggars in his land. After the meal he had them locked up in the sheds in which they had eaten, and burned them all. He felt they were eating the people's food for nothing and could not repay it." ²

After death, Vlad has continued to fascinate. Although there is some uncertainty about its historical accuracy, Vlad is believed to have been buried at the Snagov monastery. Not all historians believe this, however. "His headless body was buried at Snagiv, near Bucharest, but tales persisted that the grave was empty, Vlad having risen." ³

Vlad's reputation grew even larger when historians and scholars began to speculate that Bram Stoker used the historical figure of the Impaler as the basis for the main character in his novel, Dracula. This topic has stirred a great deal of debate between scholars. It is a commonly held belief that Stoker's character shares at least some traits (particularly geography) with the famous villain, Dracula. In the film, Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), director Francis Ford Coppola went to great lengths to portray the early Dracula as Vlad the Impaler himself.

Whether Stoker actually used Vlad as a template for his character or not may always be in debate. But as the historical character becomes embroiled in the debate, his story passes forever into the annals of vampire lore.




¹ The Vampire Book: Encyclopedia of the Undead, J. Gordon Melton.

² from a pamphlet printed in Nuremburg in 1488.

³ The Vampire Encyclopedia, Matthew Bunson.




Elizabeth Bathory


by Angie McKaig


Some call her the queen of blood. Others call her the first true vampire. Whatever her label, Elizabeth Bathory has gone down into the history books as a sadistic woman, and whose horrific crimes have made her one of the most infamous women in vampire lore.




Elizabeth Bathory was born a noblewoman in 1560. Her family held lands throughout Transylvania, and were considered one of the most powerful families in the country. When she was teenager, she was betrothed and married to an equally powerful nobleman by the name of Count Ferencz Nadasdy. Throughout their marriage she took many lovers.

At age 25, Bathory began to be terrified of growing old and losing the beauty that she had come to depend on so greatly. After Count Nadasdy's death in 1604, she moved to her family's lands in Vienna, where her obsession would quickly grow dark and evil. Bathory had by this point in her life, according to some accounts, begun to dabble in some forms of sorcery, attending rituals that would include the sacrifice of horses and other animals.

Bathory's personal obsession with blood started quite harmlessly, by all accounts. One of her servant girls had not been performing to her standards, so Countess Bathory struck the young servant girl in the face with scissors. The servant girl's blood sprayed across Bathory's hands. When the Countess went to rinse off the blood, she felt her skin looked smoother and younger than it had in years. The tenuous connection between blood and youth had been made, and it was from here that she began her bloody descent into evil.

Convinced that blood, particularly the blood of young girls, was the secret to eternal youth and beauty, Countess Elizabeth Bathory began to devise scheme after scheme to provide herself with the blood, and therefore the youth, she so desperately sought. During her reign of terror, which lasted several years, some accounts of her murders number in the 600 region or more. Some of these six hundred women killed were noblewomen like Bathory, albeit of a lower station, that she persuaded to come and work for her.

The murders were not as simple nor as straightforward as you might think. Bathory did not deal in simpicities like slitting the throats of the young girls she killed. Most of these servant girls were tortured by Bathory for weeks or even months before they were killed. They were cut with scissors, pricked with pins, even prodded with burning irons onto sharp spikes in a cage hung from the ceiling to provide Bathory with a "blood shower".

No one, not even a noblewoman, can continue these types of crimes indefinitely without questions being raised. The year 1610 marked the first of the inquiries into her crimes. By December of 1610, she was put on trial for her crimes. It has been speculated that the trial was brought about so speedily not only to bring quick justice for the murdered girls, but also (and primarily) to allow the local government to confiscate her family's not inconsiderable land holdings. Many believe the main reason the noblewoman was put to trial at all was for this reason.

No one can accomplish such a venerable feat as six hundred murders alone. Erzsi Majorova, the widow of a local tenant farmer, has long believed to be both the instigator and the brains behind the procuring and the disposal of the murdered girls. Many other accomplices, not named, were also put to trial, and found guilty. All accomplices, including Majorova, were put to death, each by different methods depending on the roles they played in the crimes.

Due to her nobility, Bathory was not allowed by law to be sentenced to death. She was sentenced to life imprisonment at the top of her castle in Cachtice. Her small room had no windows, no doors, and only a small opening in the wall to allow food to be passed through. There were few slits for air, and that was the total of her contact with the outside world. Elizabeth Bathory died in that room in August of 1614.

Her reputuation as a vampire grew not only from her greed for blood to bathe in to maintain her youth, but also for rumours that surfaced during the trial. It was said she bit the young girls and drank their blood outright. Evidence of this was difficult to come by as her court documents were sealed after the trial due to their scandalous nature. They resurfaced later, but were never found in intact form.

Bathory's reputation as a vampire has been celebrated numerous times in film. The movies Daughters of Darkness (1970), Countess Dracula (1971), Blood Castle (1972), Ceremonia Sangrienta (1972) and La Noche de Walpurgis(1972) all have brought Countess Elizabeth Bathory's story to the big screen.




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