Dracula, the First Vampire?
Dracula and vampire legends in literature, film, and history.
Since Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, books, movies, TV shows, and other stories about vampires have become very popular, especially around Halloween time. Recent well-known examples include: Hotel Transylvania, Blade, Twilight, Underworld, Van Helsing, Interview with the Vampire, Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and many remakes of the original Dracula novel - see list of movies here.
In many ways, Dracula is considered the “first” or “parent” vampire. When Dracula bites, he has the ability to turn other people into vampires. This ability to create new vampires gives him a kind of father-like quality.
Many vampire movies also present Dracula as a much older demon figure with a historic and princely heritage. For example, in Blade, Dracula (“Drake”) is presented as a mythological character from the time of Mesopotamia and Ancient Babylonia (4,000 BC) who had incredible powers and gave birth to vampires as a new species - see more information here.
Like Frankenstein, Dracula was created by a British writer who pulled together stories from many sources, and Dracula became popular through early cinema. Today, stories about vampires are part of our entertainment and cultural history, and we refer to vampires in our daily conversation: “Why are you eating your steak so rare - are you a vampire?” “You’re so pale you look like a vampire.”
Vampires both terrorize us and intrigue us.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is based on the 1400’s Romanian military leader “Vlad the Impaler” or “Vlad Dracul” (Dracul means “dragon” or “devil”). At the time, leaders in Wallachia, Transylvania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire fought each other for control of the territory. Vlad was the most brutal. He impaled the opposing army on stakes to discourage other armies from fighting against him. Stories about this spread throughout Germany and Russia, and he became famous for his brutal fighting.
Today’s vampires are more like bats. But, originally, they were also more like werewolves. Bram Stoker describes howling werewolves near Castle Dracula, and Dracula himself has very hairy paw-like hands. These characteristics are based on much older stories - see below.
Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi
Dracula became a movie star in the 1920s and 1930s with Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi’s Count Dracula.
Nosferatu was a silent German film that starred famous actress Greta Schroder (she played the victim). The vampire is a tall and slightly hunched-over mouse-like figure. He has a bald head, a long pointy nose, big eyes, sharp teeth, and long pointy fingers like a bird’s talons.
In contrast, Bela Lugosi’s Count Dracula represents the traditional aristocracy. He wears a dress shirt, vest, and suit, a cape, and a stately medal around his neck. He is calm, polite, and a likable guy at the start of the movie. Later on, though, he uses this charm to hypnotize his victims, and that’s when the terror begins.
Bela Lugosi established the appearance of Count Dracula. Since then, movies and cartoons have used Lugosi’s costume and attitude to depict Dracula.
Vampires in Mythology and Folklore
Dracula is the most famous vampire, but he is not the only one. There are many traditional folk stories about vampires throughout Europe. In Albania, they are called “shtriga” and in Greece “vrykolakas,” but Europe probably got the name of “vampire” from the Slavic “vampir” or “wampir.”
Vampire stories are about the mysterious and terrifying afterlife. In ancient Greek and Roman mythology, a female serpent-like character called “Lamia” seduces men and drinks their blood in order to stay youthful; she also eats babies. Modern stories of Lamia include Coleridge’s poem Christabel and John Keats’s poem Lamia. There are also many famous paintings of beautiful, youthful Lamia girls.
More modern vampire stories are about common people with a possessed, tormented, or vengeful spirit - people who cannot rest peacefully in the afterlife. There are many stories about dead people coming back to life, drinking blood, and terrorizing the living, especially in the Balkans. In the 1700s, there were several specific vampire incidents in Serbia that were recorded by government documents.
In some cases, the vampire is an evil spirit that has entered a dead person’s body. A vampire could also be a person who was brutally murdered and now seeks revenge. It could also be a person with a tormented spirit - this person may have violated religious practice, committed witchcraft, or died by suicide.
Vampire stories are also about dangers posed by other cultures. In Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula plans to move to England to spread his vampirism and affect England’s colonies and territories. And movies like Nosferatu depict alien-like characters who represent other cultures. These examples depict the fears and concerns Europeans had about people from other cultures who were coming into Europe and making it a more diversified community.
Stories about the spread of vampirism also depict scientific and medical fears about diseases and illnesses. At the time, people didn’t have effective means of fighting illnesses. As a result, stories about people fighting vampires with garlic and wooden stakes and silver would have made sense to Europeans who used potions, natural treatments, and home-made remedies against common illnesses.
Do you like vampire stories? What have you read or watched? What is most terrifying or intriguing about them for you? Feel free to respond to this email.
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