The vampire’s strongest side was, that it was C. Baker VAMPIRES The Original Vampire contd. almost immortal; only some very special rites could kill them such as: putting a stick through their heart, chop their head off or burn the body. This type of vampire is also the most known type, especially Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula. Vlad Tsepesh a. k. a. Dracula Vlad Dracula or Vlad the Impaler was the real life prince upon whom Bram Stoker based his famous Count Dracula. Dracula was born in Transylvania in 1431 in the town of Sighisoara.
Sighisoara was then a German settlement called Schassburg, and the house in which Dracula was born was a typical German burgher’s house of fifteenth century, set in a cobbled lane. But the boy did not stay long in that environment. The family moved often, following the C. Baker VAMPIRES Vlad Tsepesh a. k. a. Dracula fortunes of the father, who was an ambitious soldier and a good one. In 1431, Vlad the father was given the Order of the Dragon by Emperor Sigismund of Nuremberg; by that honour he was bound to fight against the Turks, who were trying to swallow up Eastern Europe.
The emblem of the order was a dragon (Dracul) with spread wings, hanging on a cross. The name Dracul means dragon or devil. His connection with this symbol, Vlad the elder was nicknamed Vlad Dracul (Vlad the Devil), and the nickname Dracula, son of Dracul, passed on to his son. At the age of only 13, the Turks who “taught” him to torture and impale people captured Dracula; but it was under his reign of Wallachia in 1456 to 1462 that he actually got a chance to use his knowledge.
It is also from this time, most of the stories happen, here is an example: Once Dracula saw a man on the street with a dirty and ragged shirt. Dracula asked if he had a wife, and the man says “yes. ” Dracula sees that she is healthy and has plenty of faults, and calls her lazy, so he has both her hands cut off and her body impaled. He procured a new wife for the man and showed her what happened to her lazy predecessor as a warning; the new wife was definitely not lazy. C. Baker VAMPIRES Vlad Tsepesh a. k. a. Dracula
Dracula’s other name Tsepesh (or Tepes) means impaler. Vlad was named this because of his penchant for impalement as a way of punishing his enemies. Impalement was a particularly gruesome form of execution. It was done by pulling the victim onto a stake by horse, which was sharpened at the end and oiled, so it would NOT cause immediate death. Unfaithful wives and immoral women were punished by Dracula by cutting off their sex organs, skinning them alive and exposing them in public with their skin hanging from a nearby pole.
Dracula especially enjoyed mass executions where several victims were impaled at once and their stake hoisted upright. As they hung suspended above the ground, the weight of their bodies would slowly drag them downwards, causing the sharpened end of the stake to pierce their internal organ. In order to better enjoy the mass spectacles, Dracula routinely ordered a banquet table set up in front of his victims, and would enjoy a leisurely supper amid the pitiful sights and sounds of the dying.
The actual castle of Dracula is in the northern Wallachian town of Tirgoviste. Vlad Dracula died in 1476. Some stories tell that he died in battle where he had disguised himself as a Turk. As victory was near he became excited and ran to the top of a hill to see it all, but was mistaken for a Turk and therefore killed by his own men. Vlad’s tomb was opened in 1931 but it was empty except for a badly deteriorated skeleton, a golden crown, and a necklace with a serpent design and fragments of a red silk garment with a ring sewn on.
Unfortunately all these rings have been stolen from the History Museum of Bucharest where they were deposited. C. Baker VAMPIRES The Common Vampire It’s impossible to give a complete picture of the vampire as it is in books, because there are many different versions of this myth. Just about every thinkable ability and weakness has probably been assigned to vampires at some point. The best vampire writings entertain us with suspense, horror, romance and sensuality, while providing an opening for our aggressive instincts and antisocial behaviour.
It is impossible to predict what form it will take in the future, for the vampire has surpassed horror writings to become a powerful and fascinating parable for exploring our concerns about mortality and life after death. However, we can be sure that Dracula and his descendants will continue to entertain generations of new fans in whatever shape they assume. So, are vampires apparently ordinary human beings that sink his or her teeth into a “donor’s” flesh and suck blood as an act that produces a sexual explosion that excites and satisfies?
Will we ever know? I guess only time will tell … … The Common Vampire It’s impossible to give a complete picture of the vampire as it is in literature, because there are many different versions of this myth. Just about every thinkable ability and weakness has probably been ascribed to vampires at some point. The best vampire literature entertains us with suspense, horror, romance, and sensuality, while providing an outlet for our aggressive instincts and antisocial behavior.
It is impossible to predict what form it will take in the future, for the vampire has transcended horror literature to become a powerful and fascinating metaphor for exploring our concerns about mortality and life after death. However, we can be sure that Dracula and his descendants will continue to entertain generations of new fans in whatever shape they assume.
