ENG111: Project #2: Exploring the Arts Essay

Vampires: From Folklore to Modern Incarnations

Vampires…The word itself stirs up the image of an attractive being, who is dark, mysterious, foreign to us, yet somehow the same. These all too human looking creatures stir the imagination, piquing our interests, and lure our thoughts to darker places. This was not always how they were viewed though.

A question arises from the seemingly endless supply of vampires in the modern world: Would they still be as prevalent, and hold such a fascination with the readers, if they weren’t presented as they are? Would grotesque, rotting beings, rising from their grave still drawn in the readers? If the vampire hadn’t shifted from folklore’s corpses, to the visage of handsome nobleman, would their tale be as well spread, or well-known?

Folklore didn’t speak as highly of the vampire visage, their appearance so unlike that which we take for granted in the modern day. The vampires of folklore were not wealthy aristocrats traveling the world in search of adventure, money, or love. These creatures were ghastly ghouls, peasants risen from the grave, adorned in dirty and tattered burial shrouds. These revenants came into being for various reasons; improper burial, death by suicide, dying with unresolved issues, victims of horrendous murders, and those who came back to avenge their deaths. Their sole purpose was to menace the living, to spread disease, and kill those they came in contact with.

Each culture has their own interpretation of the vampire myth, some still surviving, and others changing with the times. In parts of Greece, vampirism was considered as punishment after death for heinous crimes committed whilst alive; The vampire was condemned to prey upon those he had loved most in life (Bishop xii). Greek folklore speaks specifically of a creature known as a vyrkolaka, a demonically possessed reanimated corpse. This being drinks the blood of humans and animals alike, even tearing out their victims livers (Guiley 310). In Chinese lore a vampiric creature known as the kiangshi exists. It is said a kiangshi comes into existence when upon death the corpse is not buried, instead being exposed to sunlight or moonlight, which strength a second, evil soul. Instead of departing, this soul causes the corpse to ‘return to life’ at night, and seeking out a meal of blood (Guiley 170). New vampiric creatures still emerge into societies, such as the case of the chupacabra, also known as the goatsucker. This creature entered the Latin American culture, especially in Mexico and Puerto Rico, in the 1990’s. It is characterized as a monster that sucks blood of livestock, such as goats, horses, and cattle(Guiley 66).

History too lends to the vampire’s legend. Bram Stoker drew from the bloody history of Vlad Tempas, more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler, or Vlad Dracula. Folklore concerning Vlad indicate his favorite method of torture was to impale victims on stakes. A wood cut from the time shows him dining under several staked victims (Wikipedia). He was not the only historical figure that was likened to the vampire, Elizabeth Bathory was as well. The bloody countess killed hundreds of young women, believing that bathing in their blood would keep her young (Haining 163).

In 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre, the first English vampire tale, written by Dr. John Polidori, that image dramatically changed. Polidori’s vampire, Lord Ruthven, was presented as a handsome, wealthy, English nobleman. As such, Polidori could be considered the father of the modern vampire. Writer’s such as Bram Stoker and Anne Rice have used Polidori’s vampire as a base for their own, creating some of the most well known vampires in literature (Bishop xix).

In classic and modern literature, the archetype of the vampire crosses many boundaries, serving as not only villain, but hero as well. They have gone from being simply relentlessly evil destroyers, to victims, romantic figures, do-gooders, empathetic aliens, and even love interests. In Polidori’s, The Vampyre, Lord Ruthven is driven by his hunger for blood. He uses his handsome appearance, apparent wealth, and seductive charms to lure in his unsuspecting victims. After gaining a young woman’s trust, Ruthven then sucks them dry, before carelessly discarding their used corpses. Le Fanu’s Carmilla is not searching so much for the blood that she needs to survive, rather for a friend that she can keep eternally.

The draw of the vampire had made it’s way from literature to both the big and small screens, filling movies and television with the familiar archetype. The gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, introduced the Barnabas Collins, a sort of self-loathing vampire. Barnabas seeks to become human once more, finding a cure for his vampirism, and being reunited with the reincarnated soul of the woman he lost a hundred year before. Similarly, several years later, Forever Knight was created, following a similar theme. Detective Nick Knight, in an attempt to atone for his dark vampiric past, becomes a police officer in modern day Toronto. Upon meeting the stations coroner (after being brought in ‘dead’), they too embark on finding a cure for his vampirism. On the other side of the scale you have David from The Lost Boys. The leader of a vampire gang, who relishes his undead life. He and his group happily feed on humans, and wish to add to their own numbers.

Though thoughts continue to vary, changing over time, a few characteristics seem to help classify the typical vampire. They were once a living being (usually human, though vampiric animals have been written about as well), risen from the dead. Despite their reasoning for returning, they usual require the drinking of blood to sustain them. Traditionally they only come out at night, sunlight being fatal. Aside from exposure to sunlight, a stake through the heart, or decapitation, are the usual methods for destroying a vampire.

In the introcuction of her encyclopedia on the subject, Rosemary Guiley expresses her opinion that vampires will always be apart of our world. The creature itself is a ‘living’ reminder of our fears, the fears of the culture and society themselves. And like the vampire, when we belive we have overcome such things, they change form, and come at us anew (xiii).

I too believe that the vampire, in all it’s forms, will survive. It is the creature who in more modern time is so like ourselves, possessesing a darkness within that most would rather not acknowledge they have. Vampires are not only forced to acknowledge said darkness, but it is their driving force, whether for good or bad purposes. Fears of what will happen to one who gives into these aspect will continue to drive the folklorish aspects as well. If you do wrong, you will pay for it for eternity, perhaps even taking those you loved in life down with you.