Are Vampires The World’s Oldest Monster?

Vampires didn't always sparkle. In fact, until about 1897, they weren't even called "vampires". The monster we know today is derived from a number of so-called "vampiric" legends and folkloric creatures which stretch back to the earliest days of literature. So what were the first vampires, and how did they come to be the recognizable blood suckers of today's lore? Welcome back to The Lore Lodge...

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[notbanjelacic]

To be honest, I'm suprised that you straight up didn't mention Carmilla.

Written about 25 years before good ol' Drac by Sheridan Le Fanu, an Irish writer, it's basically the same, from Carmilla being a Countess, she shared a "dream" with Laura, who narrates the story, her mother forbids her to say anything about herself or where she's from to anyone, she gets pissed when Laura starts singing/praying as a funreal procesion is passing, she shapeshifts into a giant cat and a black undefined shape when needed, sleeps in late, her coffin is filled with blood as she lay in it, they drive a steak through the heart and cut off her head, burn the remains and throw them into a river.

Plus she's specifically targeting women, and the guy who puts an end to her, Vordenberg, found out that one of his ancestors was romantically involved with Carmilla before she passed of mysterious illnesses, just like other victims. Laura survived because Carmilla didn't feed off of her enough to kill her/drink her blood.

There have also been a ton of retellings of this too, like Dracula, from movies to web series' to comics (even manga and anime). I guess it's because Dracula is more famous, but it's interesting that Le Fanu wrote it before Stoker did.

[Ammo]

It's understandable that owls would be scary. Watching one attack a squirrel, a rat etc. is something to see. They are quiet as a ghost. One flew right over my head one time and all I saw was a huge black shadow nail a young squirrel that was minding his own business...and they are creatures of the night. I would like to mention two very good more modern vampire novels: They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon and The Summoning by Bentley Little...both are excellent reads.

[kildaremoonshadowmoonshado]

Fun fact. As a Polish person I can attest that even now in Pomerania part of Poland ( where I'm from) old people will refer to an owl by calling it Strzyga. Or for non Polish speakers Striga.

[Varja]

as a romanian, can confirm that varcolac is our word for werewolf. regarding strigoi, its a bit more complicated. at least in south-west romania, they are not vampires, but vampires can sometimes be refered to as strigoi. in general its understood that strigoi are very visibly dead, and its current jargon to call an ugly animal a strigoi simply because its ugly. personally, the closest i ever got to an english word would be the wight, as long as its the walking corpse sort of wight and not the ghost kind. strigoi are corporeal. they are also distinctly not people, unlike vampires or werewolves.

[zack-nlgr]

Little known fact, ancient Aztec stone masks are also known to turn people into vampires.

[fvardona]

It would be funny if in the end vampire the masquerade the rpg is only a parody of a real-life sect of vampires who control the world...

[DanielGomez-fkon]

So we got a guy named Giorgio trying to (re)kill a guy named Grando who is now a not quite vampire.

That's just bizzare.

[osirisatot]

Yeah Vlad was one of those dudes who went hard on the intimidation and fear aspect of war, including sending plague victims to his enemies. The book Dracula is interesting because it kind of bridges the gap between folklore vampires and modern vampires;. There is eroticism in it to an extent and he drinks blood and hates sunlight; but he also turns into animals, commands animals and the weather, and sunlight doesn't actually kill him. The Strain is the only fairly recent fiction I can think of where the vampires are monsters again, and are even called Strigoi.

[Tyrhor]

There are 17th century Czech (Bohemian) texts, using words "upír" (vampire) and "revenant" interchangibly. If you are interested, I have a friend who wrote one of her university thesis on history of Czech legends on vampires.
Also, it seems Stoker originally wanted to place Drakula to Bohemia, however after realising that it was industrious and rich part of Europe, moved the book further east to Transilvania

[NicK-dmck]

Carmilla predated Dracula as a book, and I think it's considered likely that it influenced Dracula. I know almost nothing about Sheridan Le Fanu, but it looks like he was Irish, so it definitely makes sense that the stories you mentioned would have been influential. Just thought that was interesting!
I'm glad you ultimately decided to make this one! I've been binging your stuff for a few weeks now and I love the way you approach everything, your stuf is great!

[archangel]

I always thought in the original story in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, that in order for you to be turned into a vampire you not only have to be bitten by one but you also have to ingest some of the vampire’s blood as well. So correct me if I’m wrong but it wasn’t just in the Lost Boys film, it also goes all the way back to the original vampire fiction of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

[stiliqnastancheva]

As a Bulgarian girl I was amazed of how perfect you said "varkolak" but the plural form was not correct - it is "varkolatsi". Just saying, I absolutely enjoyed every minute of the video and the chanel at all. Keep the great work you do!

[andythedishwasher]

The fact that you feel that everything in the 90s was dark and scary means that my side of the culture war in the 90s won. The pastel windbreakers were lost to history as they should have been.

[hillbillyhistorian]

The fact that Abhartach being buried upside down keeps him from rising is very interesting as it is linked to another Irish legend, that of Queen Maeve’s Tomb at Knocknarea in County Sligo:

“Some say Knocknarea means "the hill of the moon, ” others, "the smooth-topped hill, " but the received opinion is that it means “the hill of the king, ” i.e, of Eoghan Bel, King of Connaught, who received his death-wound in the great battle of Sligo between Connaught and Ulster, A.D. 543. He told his followers to bury him upright in Rath O'Fiachrach with his red javelin in his hand and his face towards the north, on the side of the hill where Ulster would pass when flying before Connaught. The legend adds that thereafter the Connaught men won every battle against the Ulstermen, till at length the latter, hearing of the talisman Knocknarea contained, came in great numbers, raised the body of Eoghan, carried it over the river to Calry and buried it there, face downwards, thus breaking the spell.” (S.M. Scholastica, 1912)

[laylatto]

USELESS FACTS: The Lost Boys movie was initially gonna be the lost boys from Peter Pan story. The movie went through a ton of changes and the Peter Pan lore being eliminated was one of many.

Also, the close up with Keifer Sutherland having the tear fall from his eye wasn't planned. The contacts back then were very uncomfortable and caused red watery eyes. When they filmed that shit, they loved the look and this kept it

[hathhath]

As a kid I got a book from a library with Slavic legends and holy shit did I not sleep for months afterwards! It was illustrated as well, so nothing left for imagination. I've never heard of them before and no wonder why. Definitely not child friendly!

[AcademicServant]

In the show Supernatural, vampires did not infect humans by drinking the human's blood, rather, the human would have to ingest the vampire's blood, or have their blood contaminated by fang blood. Also, the new vampire could be cured of their vampirism(making them a normal human again) if they were given a potion that included the blood of the vamp that turned them. The potion had to be consumed orally BEFORE the new fang in question fed.
The main way that hunters killed vampires was by decapitation and the Colt, but some other ways were by woodchipper and leviathan cornsyrup. The vamps were weak to sunlight, but could go outside in the day without burning to ash. Another weakness was dead-mans blood, which acted like strong anesthesia when injected directly.
After being killed, their soul would end up in Purgatory, the realm where all monster souls go to prey upon each other for eternity.

One of the main characters was turned into a fang for a short time before being cured.

[roguetrooper]

I've now played this upload four times, finally got to the end without falling asleep, not due to the content but because I put it on before going to bed.
Some of us actually enjoy the folklore uploads. 👍

[Alanssil]

What I find interesting is that the Bulgarian word Aiden keeps referencing ''varkolak'' or something, reminds me of the Polish word for werewolf ''Wilkołak''. So what maybe happened is that the vampire lore got a bit mixed up with the werewolf lore in the Eastern Europe at some point?

[anotherpreparedamerican]

I'll never stop laughing at the intros to the lore lodge. I feel like the Aidans and I would be good buddies lol