VAMPIRES
Let's be blunt here: vampires are the most rubbish monsters ever created.
Draculady -- Lamia -- Lamia Queen -- Miss Vampire -- Mother Lamia -- Vampire -- Vampire Girl -- Vampire Lady -- Vampire Lord -- Vampire Thorn
Breoadly speaking, the word "vampire" is used to describe either a being (corporeal or spiritual) that sucks something associated with life (blood, psychic energy, unborn babies) out of a living person, or a corpse that comes to life until being destroyed in a certain manner (details vary, but the most well-known method of vampire- killing is a stake through the heart). Often a vampire is a combination of both, and any number of pieces of folklore have been connected to vampires over the ages: vampires have no shadows or reflections in mirrors, vampires cannot cross running water, garlic keeps vampires away et cetera. A story recorded in the middle ages tells of a creature known as the "Berwick vampire", which, interestingly, didn't have the ability to drink blood - or, at least, didn't use it. The vampire was, in life, a merchant from the border town of Berwick-on-Tweed, who was said to have obtained his wealth through shady means. After he died, the town was haunted by apparitions of dogs. Later, the hauntings got worse, and the merchant himself was seen, being chased by the dogs - the people began to think that the dogs were hell hounds, sent to punish the merchant every night for his sins. A group of men exhumed the corpse, and, in doing so, accidently hit it with a spade, causing it to bleed - a sure sign of a vampire. The body was dismembered and burnt, and the apparitions ceased.VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE GIRL, VAMPIRE LADY, VAMPIRE LORD, MISS VAMPIRE, DRACULADY
It's interesting to note that, as the corpse had to be dug up, the vampire, if it was indeed the merchant's corpse, was apparently able to pass through the coffin lid and soil. This is an example of the spiritual aspects of vampires.
The story of another British vampire, sighted at Croglin Hall in the 17th century, will be more familiar to modern ears. According to legend, an inhabitant of the Hall heard a scratching noise at her window and saw, to her understandable surprise, that they were caused by a shrivelled, rotting man who soon gained access to her bedroom. After biting her in the neck, he fled. At a later date the vampire returned, only this time his victim's brothers, who had been told of the story, were prepared and shot him in the leg. The next day, the Hall's tenants opened a nearby vault in search of the creature, and saw that all but one of the corpses had been removed from their coffins and were "horribly mangled and distorted". The hunting party opened the remaining coffin and found the vampire inside, complete with pistol wound. Like the Berwick vampire, it was burnt and never returned.
In 1897 Bram Stoker's novel Dracula (the origin of the Draculady's name) was published, cementing a number of conventions in the vampire myth that remain today. It also led to the Wallachian prince Vlad II's association with vampires, much to the chagrin of the Romanians, who consider him a national hero.
