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Vampires are ghoulish miscreants and emerge throughout history. Here are four accounts of vampires.

The Buckinghamshire Vampire

In 1196 a vampire meandered through the Buckinghamshire district of England. The story is recorded in Historia Rerum Anglicarum. The scribe of the story is a monk named William of Newburgh. A vampire, which was the specter of a recently deceased man, attacked his prey at night. He was a classic vampire; one who slept each day in a grave at the town burial ground. When the sun set the vampire would come alive and assault his widow while she was asleep. It is customary in vampire folklore for vampires to assault their previous family members.

Even though the vampire did not physically hurt his widow, each evening after sunset he came back to her bed chamber and assailed and annoyed her. The widow sought out family members to stay with her and keep her from falling asleep at night. The vampire then began attacking other family members in the house. Before long, the complete hamlet was terrified of going to sleep.

The vampire’s burial grave was exhumed by the local villagers. The corpse hadn’t decayed and was in a fresh condition. The villagers buried the corpse again. On the chest of the body they set a holy scapula. The vampire never rose from the grave thenceforth.

The Folktale of the Vampire of Berwick

In another account of William of Newburgh’s Historia Rerum Anglicarum, an affluent man who lived in the town of Berwick died of plague near the boundary of England and Scotland. After his death he was reported to be wandering the streets at night. The dogs of the village would bay deep into the night while this vampire was roaming. The villagers, who were spooked that plague might infect the village because of the vampire’s proximity, exhumed the body, tore it apart limb from limb, and set it aflame. The vampire was never seen wandering the hamlet after sunset thenceforth. Despite the actions of the townspeople, plague still infected the village and it was attributed to the loitering spiritual essence of the vampire.

The Vampire Folktale of Arnold Paole

In this famous Austrian story, a Serbian outlaw named Arnold was subject to a vampire attack during the course of a moonlit walk in a cemetery. Arnold discovered the vampire’s grave and beheaded the monster with a shovel. The vampire curse was a legend that made the slayer of a vampire turn into a vampire themselves. In an attempt to hinder the curse, Arnold ate a small portion of the dirt around the grave. Arnold would live a traditional life for several more years.

Sometime later Arnold died from a fall where he broke his neck. After his funeral his ghost was discovered lurking in the town late in the evening. Many villagers were discovered dead in the morning, all drained of blood. The austere speculation was that Arnold had fallen prey to the vampire curse. The Austrian army was commissioned to look into the matter. They exhumed the corpse and were astonished by what they discovered. The corpse had not decomposed and there was new blood seeping from the mouth, nose, and eyes. The fingernails had elongated and new skin had grown also.

The villagers drove a stake through the heart of the body. The corpse began to bleed from the wound and the body began murmuring in agony. The vampire appeared no more.

The Vampire Folktale of Peter Plogojowitz

This instance was one of the most hair-raising and well documented cases of vampire panic. The tale is found in Imperial Provisor Frombald, written by an Austrian administrator who witnessed the vampire meanderings of Peter Plogojowitz.

In 1725 Peter Plogojowitz, a Serbian countryman, lived in a town named Kisilova. Immediately after Plogojowitz’s demise, no less than nine other villagers perished. They died gradually and on their death beds they alleged that Plogojowitz was strangling and attacking them while everyone else was sleeping.

The townspeople exhumed the remains and inspected it for signs of vampirism. They discovered that the body had not decomposed, that the hair and nails had grown, and that a beard had grown. Blood was discovered in the mouth of the body. The townspeople staked the body through the heart. Blood began squirting from the ears and nose. Afraid that the vampire would rise again, the villagers destroyed the body by fire.

Conclusion

Vampire folktales share very similar elements. When a person dies and is reanimated as a vampire, the vampire most of the time attacks past family members first. Near dawn the vampire returns to its tomb to seek protection until the next evening. When the corpse is exhumed it lacks signs of decay. After the body is destroyed by fire or staked through the heart, the vampire is never seen again.

Gen Wright is a contributor to the online community Vampire Rave, a social network with a vampire theme. He also contributes to SciFi Section, a science fiction community.
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Vivienne D’Avalon? has a fascinating article about modern day vampires available at Instant Magick that I highly recommend.