Essay/Term paper: Vampires

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Biography

Although vampires
are recognized to be deadly creatures and their existence
is controversial, evidence substantiates that they do indeed exist.

Although vampires are recognized to be deadly creatures and their

existence is controversial, evidence substantiates that they do indeed

exist. The teachings and the records of the past give enough proof for

sane people. Horrible things happen today, due to vampire activity.

Humans are instinctively fearful of the truth, fortune and of death; but

human fear of the fact that some incidences are actually caused by vampires

leads man to ignore the problem and thus make himself believe that

vampires do not exist. Ignoring the problem only increases its severity.

The number of vampires is probably multiplying. Vampires would most likely

one day rise against humanity, to avenge their long dead ancestors, and

turn the human population into a vampire one. People need to be aware of

the problem, and educated about vampires, maybe even taught about them in

school, so that humans can destroy the legions of the undead and live in

peace.

If the issue of vampires' existence is to be discussed, then the exact

meaning of the word vampire should be clarified. Webster's New Collegiate

Dictionary defines a vampire as "a bloodsucking ghost or reanimated body

of a dead person believed to come out from the grave and wander about by

night sucking the blood of persons asleep" (qtd. in Baumann 5). This

statement is also supported by the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of

Current English and Encyclopedia International (950; 6). Dictionaries and

encyclopedias usually give limited information, but in this case they

actually gave an incorrect definition. Firstly, vampires are not

"believed..." to be, but their existence has been proven. Secondly,
they

do not just suck "the blood of persons asleep" but also of those
who are

awake. In short, the word vampire is applied to a dead and buried person

who rises out of the grave every night except Friday, and goes about

stealthily sucking the blood of whoever is available (Crow 252). Kipling

was absolutely correct in writing that "Some of him lived but the most
of

him died" (201).

Vampires have certain physical characteristics that distinguishe them

from humans. Generally, vampires are pale and skinny (Baumann 7). The

most widely known universal characteristic would be the fangs. Right

before the bloody encounter, the vampire uses its piercing eyes to

hypnotize its prey (Baumann 7). The vampire plunges these two, long, sharp

teeth into the jugular vein and sucks the blood from its victims (Baumann

7). It is well known that vampires cast no shadow nor a reflection in the

mirror (Stoker 245). A vampire can transform himself into a wolf (Stoker
245). Vampires can

also take the form of a bat to gain entry into a victim's house; It would

resume its normal form once inside (Baumann 7). Vampires, on certain

occasions, can also be seen as phantoms (Crow 252). Vampires are not

always spotted right away; but because of these morphological differences

between humans and vampires, it can be made.

Vampires have powers, but they can not always do as they wish because

their power is limited. A vampire will remain undead, as long as it feasts

on the blood of the living and is not killed (Stoker 245). A vampire can

not die like a human by the mere passing of time and the growing of age

because he can grow younger (Stoker 245). People who have died by the

hands of a vampire are at his command (Stoker 243).

A vampire "...can direct the elements: the storm, the fog, the thunder;

he can command all the meaner things: the rat, and the owl, and the bat

and the fox, and the wolf..." (Stoker 243). A vampire possesses strength

so overwhelming that it is estimated to be the equivalent of twenty people

(Stoker 243). A vampire can transform himself into a wolf, can come in

mist, can slip through hair breadth space, can see in the dark, and he can

come on moonlight rays as elemental dust (Stoker 245). A vampire can only

enter a house at first if invited, he can then come as he pleases (Stoker

246). A vampire is powerless in daytime (Stoker 246). If the undead

creature is not in its coffin, it can only transform itself at sunrise,

noon, or sunset (Stoker 246). A vampire can only pass running water at the

slack or the flood of the tide (Stoker 246). Garlic and a crucifix make a

vampire powerless (Stoker 246). A vampire with all its power still has to

abide by some of nature's laws.

No one is born a vampire; yet, one can become a vampire if certain

conditions are met. According to legend, when a werewolf dies, it

immediately becomes a vampire (Baumann 7). Priests proclaim that people

who commit serious sins leave their graves at night because their souls can

find no peace (Baumann 7). A person can be buried for months, even years

before leaving the grave (Baumann 8). People excommunicated by the church

are also liable to become vampires; so are people cursed by their parents,

and wizards, and people who commit suicide (Baumann 5). But horribly

enough, some people became vampires solely by having their blood sucked,

during life, by another vampire (Crow 252). Even after death a person can

become a vampire, that is if an animal jumps over the corpse or if a bird

flies over it (Crow 252). These undead or living corpses are doomed to

live as vampires until they could be destroyed. Certain procedures have to be
employed if one desires to keep

vampires away and ensure safety from them. The most common method is

placing garlic in front of all doors and windows (Baumann 8). A person

wearing a crucifix or rosary is also supposed to be safe, so is someone

standing in a circle of holy water or salt (Baumann 8, 76). If a vessel of

holy water is thrown onto a vampire,it would be burned and scarred (Baumann

8). The same result would be achieved using Holy Wafer (Stoker 302). It

is said that placing a wild rose over a vampire's coffin would prevent him

from leaving it (Stoker 246). For people living in fear of vampires, it is

reassuring to know that they can protect themselves from them.

The best news is that vampires can be killed, but they simply do not

die as easily as a normal human. As a human dies and turns into a vampire,

it is as if it has just been born again, but as a vampire this time who has

been baptized with blood. Morning is when vampires are usually found in

their coffins; they must be killed immediately before they recruit some

more troops. There are many ways to kill a vampire such as driving a large

nail across the head, through the temples, driving a stake through the

heart, or cutting the head off or burning the whole body (Crow 252). If

the coffin is found empty, usually at nighttime, a crucifix is placed in

the grave so the vampire will not be able to get back into it; then when

the sun rises, and its rays will transform the vampire into a shapeless

pile of dust (Baumann 3). A vampire can also die if a sacred bullet is

fired into the coffin (Stoker 246). Vampires will live on and on, feasting

on the blood of the living, unless one of the mentioned anti-vampire

remedies is used. Dracula, often assumed to be a vampire, did exist; sixty
years after

the publishing of Dracula, his identity has been firmly established

(Baumann 10-11). Dracula means "son of the dragon" or "son of
the devil"

(Baumann 13). If it had not been for Bram Stoker, the real Dracula would

very likely have been lost to history (Baumann 13). Dracula's childhood

may explain why he "...was one of the cruelest and most barbaric rulers
in

recorded history"

(Baumann 13). At eight, Dracula was imprisoned by the Turks for four years

and, as a result, he became eager for revenge (Baumann 16). Dracula was

released from prison and he ruled Walachia (Baumann 16). On one occasion,

three hundred Tartar soldiers entered Walachia; Dracula had several of

them fried in oil, made their companions eat them and he told them that

they would continue eating each other if they do not agree to fight the

Turks with him (Baumann 18). He got into more trouble with the Turks than

he could handle and fled to Hungary, but there he spent seventeen years in

prison (Baumann 18). Even though Dracula was imprisoned, he still had to

see blood flow. Guards brought him creatures and the Russian ambassador to

the Court of King Matthias (the king of Hungary) reported that: "Dracula

particularly enjoyed plucking all the feathers off chickens. He would

watch in fascination as they ran around his cell in wild circles. When the

novelty of that finally wore off, hewould slit their throats (Baumann
19)."

Dracula's long years in prison were not entirely unpleasant; the sister of

the King liked him and as a result, he was given special treatment by the

guards (Baumann 19). He ate and drank well, and he spent much of his time

in the palace because the King enjoyed showing him off to his visitors

(Baumann 19). Dracula married the Princess when he was released from

prison (Baumann 19). Dracula was killed on the field of battle by

anonymous assassin(s), who cut off his head and sent it to the Turkish

Sultan in Constantinople; it was openly displayed on a stake (Baumann 19).

"He spilled the blood of thousands of people, but he never drank any of

it. Contrary to common to popular belief the real Dracula was not a

vampire" (Baumann 13).

Although Dracula was not a vampire, the existence of vampires has

been proven. Men centuries ago signed statements saying that Arnold Paole

became a vampire because he was bitten by one during his lifetime in 1727

(Baumann 46). Within months after Arnold's death, a number of villagers

claimed that they have been haunted by him and his nightly visits left them

weak; some of them died soon afterward (Baumann 48). A party was sent to

destroy the vampire; when the grave was found and opened, Arnold's eyes

were wide open and blood stained his lips, he looked as if he died recently

(Baumann 49). As a stake was driven through Arnold's heart, the corpse

shrieked (Baumann 52). The same was done to the people who died because of

him and no more attacks were reported (Baumann 52-53). Many similar

stories are told, including ones about the Vampire of Croglin Grange and

the Vampire Shoemaker (Baumann 61-68; 32-39). For people living in the

eighteenth century, there was proven evidence of the existence of vampires.
One might wonder why there is no evidence of

vampire activity today,

there is! Highgate Cemetery is an unkept and a rather frightening place in

London, England (Baumann 69). An epidemic of ghost sightings began in 1967

and still continues; there is evidence that at least one of the ghosts is

a vampire (Baumann 70). Dead foxes and rabbits were found in the Cemetery;

they had wounds around their throats and their bodies have been completely

drained of blood (Baumann 70). Manchester, President of the British Occult

Society, personally investigated the matter and found that the most

accurate description of the phantom came from a man who had been attacked

one night while walking in the Cemetery (Baumann 73). Elizabeth Wojdyla

had the symptoms of a vampire victim and contacted Manchester; she bore

the "mark of the vampire" on the side of her neck (Baumann 74-75).
On

several occasions, Elizabeth went into a trance and sleptwalk to the

northgate of the Cemetery and then came back (Baumann 76). She was

attacked several times by the vampire and desperate measures were taken to

prevent further attacks (Baumann 76). The attacks stopped, which indicates

that "the ancient anti-vampire remedies still worked in the twentieth

century" (Baumann 77). The vampire, unfortunately, found another victim

"Lucy", who refuses to reveal her real name, and who developed the
same

symptoms as the ones Elizabeth had (Baumann 77). Manchester believed that

if Lucy were followed sleepwalking, the vampire's grave would be found,

which is what happened; but he could not give it the vampire treatment

because disturbing a corpse was against the law (Baumann 77-81). The

entrance to the tomb was sealed (Baumann 82). Four days later, a body of a

dead man was found in the Cemetery; he had died from a vampire attack

(Baumann 82). Things that can not be explained logically still happen in

Highgate Cemetery (Baumann 82). "Twentieth-century man may refuse to

believe in vampires", says Manchester, but he insists that they are by
no

means a thing of the past (Baumann 74).

People must face the fact that vampires exist and do something about

it. Vampires will not disappear if they are forgotten; that is like

asking whether a falling tree in a desolate place makes a noise or not.

Vampires and humans were probably created at the same time and for

centuries neither race became extinct, but the vampire population is

increasing and is ready to strike. It is a war that has to be fought and

humans have to take the first step which is, since the existence of

vampires has been proven, making the public believe in vampires in order to

be watchful and control them.

Works Cited

Baumann, Elwood D. Vampires. New York: Franklin Watts, 1977.

Crow, W.B. Witchcraft Magic and Occultism. Hollywood: Wilshire

Book Co., 1974.

Hornby, A.S. "Vampire." Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of

Current English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974.

p 950.

Rudyard Kipling. "The Vampire." Treasury of Poems. Chicago:

Book Production Industries, 1985.

p200.

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.

"Vampire." Encyclopedia International. 1963. ed.

p6.