Almost every culture has tales about vampires ranging from superstition to
legend. The earliest mention of vampire like activity dates back to ancient
Egypt in ceremonies performed by the acolytes. The dead would return to
earth to drain the life of the living. ¹ The story of Lilith, Adam's first wife
before Eve, depicts her as succubus who would drain people of their
energy or blood. There are tales of red eyed vampires in China with green
or pink hair. In India the fanged Goddess Kali was said to drink blood,
most notably that of Raktabija. In Ireland there is a fairy called Leanhaum-
shee who seduced men to drain their energy. Japan's vampires range from
creatures who live in ponds to beautiful women who were insane and later
possessed by a demon. Malaysia has tales of a female creature,
Penanggalans, who have flowing entrails and prey upon children and
women in labour. There are many more examples of vampires in different
cultures.and some countries even have more than one type of vampire.
The vampire archetype has capivated mankind for centuries. However,
it became more popular when literature began to explore vampires. The
first english vampire story is said to be "The Vampyre: A Tale" by John Polidori,
published in 1819. There were rumours that Lord Byron was the true author of
the story and it caused quite a scandal when it was published. Lord Byron
denied writing the story though and his comment was, "I have a personal dislike
to Vampires, and the little acquaintance I have with them would by no means
induce me to reveal their secrets". (David J Skal, Vampires: Encounters With
The Undead, New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc, 2001, 38)
Vampires in literature were often portrayed as evil predators bent on destroying
mankind by drinking their blood. However, one that does not follow this theme
is "La Morte Amoureuse"(Loving Lady Death) by Theophile Gautier. Published
in 1843 "La Morte Amoureuse" gave us a young priest who was not repulsed
by the vampire, but fell in love with her instead. The beautiful female vampire did
not feed on large amounts of blood, but seemed pleased with very little. This is
quite the contrast to the vampire who drains their victim completely of
blood. Predatory evil vampires remained the norm though and was solidified by
the publishing of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" in 1897. After "Dracula" was published
the popularity of the vampire rose dramatically. In 1976 Anne Rice released
"Interview With The Vampire" and changed the most common way vampires
were portrayed in literature. She made the vampire beautiful and deadly but did
not make them completely evil. Readers were introduced to a whole new way of
of viewing vampires and perhaps that led to the immense popularity of a somewhat
idealized vampire.
To be continued...
¹Manuella Dunn Mascetti, Vampire:The Complete Guide to the World of the Undead,
(London:Penguin Group, 1992, Introduction).
©2002 Ravena Lee |
