Vampires are freakish mischief-makers and appear throughout history. Here are four accounts of vampires.
The Buckinghamshire Vampire
In 1196 a vampire drifted about the Buckinghamshire belt of England. The story is recorded in Historia Rerum Anglicarum. The essayist of the story is a friar named William of Newburgh. A vampire, which was the phantom of a freshly deceased man, attacked his victims at night. He was a classic vampire; one who slept each day in a grave at the town burial ground. When the sun set the vampire would come alive and attack his widow while she was asleep. It is commonplace in vampire folklore for vampires to attack their past family members.
Even though he did not slay his widow, each night he returned to her bed chamber and attacked and annoyed her. The widow sought out family members to stay with her and keep her from falling asleep after dark. The vampire then began attacking her family members in the house. After a while, the total town was afraid of falling asleep.
The vampire's grave was exhumed by the local townspeople. The corpse hadn't decayed and was in a fresh state. The villagers buried the corpse again. On the chest of the vampire they put a holy scapula. The vampire did not rise from the grave again.
The Folktale of the Vampire of Berwick
In an additional story of William of Newburgh's Historia Rerum Anglicarum, a rich man who lived in the hamlet of Berwick grew sick and died of plague near the boundary of Scotland and England. After his death he was reported to be roaming the streets at night. The dogs of the hamlet would bay deep into the night while the vampire was roaming. The townspeople, who were scared that plague might spread through the hamlet due to the vampire's proximity, dug up the corpse, dismembered it, and set it aflame. The vampire was never seen roaming the town after sunset again. However, plague still infected the hamlet and it was attributed to the idle spiritual essence of the vampire.
The Vampire Folktale of Arnold Paole
In this famous Austrian legend, a Serbian bandit named Arnold was subject to a vampire attack during a night time walk in a graveyard. Arnold located the vampire's grave and beheaded the monster with a spade. The vampire curse was a legend that made the killer of a vampire turn into a vampire themselves. In an attempt to thwart the curse, Arnold ate a small portion of the dirt around the grave. Arnold would live a normal life for a few more years.
Sometime later Arnold died from a fall in which he broke his neck. After his entombment his apparition was found lurking in the village late in the evening. Numerous villagers were found dead in the morning, all drained of blood. The unmitigated speculation was that Arnold had fallen prey to the vampire curse. The Austrian army was commanded to probe the matter. They dug up the body and were surprised by what they found. The body had not decayed and there was sparkling blood seeping from the nose, mouth, and eyes. The fingernails had elongated and new skin had grown also.
The townspeople drove a stake through the heart of the remains. The carcass began bleeding from the wound and the remains began murmuring in distress. The vampire was never seen again.
The Vampire Folktale of Peter Plogojowitz
This event was one of the most colored and well documented cases of vampire panic. The story is written in Imperial Provisor Frombald, authored by an Austrian dignitary who witnessed the vampire attacks of Peter Plogojowitz.
In 1725 Peter Plogojowitz, a Serbian peasant, lived in a village named Kisilova. Immediately after Plogojowitz's demise, nine or more other townsfolk perished. They died slowly and on their death beds they maintained that Plogojowitz was strangling and attacking them at night.
The townsfolk dug up the remains and examined it for signs of vampirism. They found out that the remains had not decomposed, that the hair and nails had grown, and that a beard had grown. Blood was found in the mouth of the remains. The villagers staked the remains through the heart. Blood began spraying from the nose and ears. Afraid that the vampire would rise again, the townsfolk lit the body on fire.
Conclusion
Vampire tales share very common story lines. When a character dies and rises as a vampire, the creature usually attacks former family members first. Before dawn the creature goes back to its grave to seek shelter until the next night. When the carcass is dug up it doesn't contain signs of decomposition. After the corpse is destroyed by fire or staked through the heart, the vampire is not witnessed again.
Gen Wright is a contributor to the online community Vampire Rave, a social network with a vampire theme. He also contributes to SciFi Section, a science fiction community.
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