VAMPIRES

Etymology

The word vampire was first used in 1734: "The bodies of deceased persons animated by evil spirits, which come out of the graves at night time to suck the blood of many of the living and thereby destroy them."

By 1862 Vampire meant a terrible BORE of a person And by 1911 vampire meant "a woman who intentionally attracts and exploits men" and by 1918 (July 9) the New York Times mentions a play called "The Vamp" starring Enid Bennett. Also the Verb to vamp means "to behave seductively and exploit" (ca 1920's)

If vampires are not detected they climb into the belfry of the church and either

a) call out names of villagers (who then instantly die) or

b) ring the death knell and anyone who hears it dies on the spot

If a vampire goes undetected for 7 years they can go to another country or place where a different language is spoken and become human again. They can never remarry but when they die the whole family becomes vampires (kids for first time & parent(s) again) There are 2 kinds of Vampire: the spirit of a dead person or a corpse reanimated by his own or another person (ie ethereal or physical) In some traditions, staking a vampire must be done IN ONE BLOW to do it right

BECOMING A VAMPIRE:

-The 7th son of the 7th son

-A cat jumping over corpse turns the corpse into a vamp (England); in Romania the same but the cure (antidote) is to put a piece of iron into the corpse's hand or place Hawthorn in the coffin

-A baby born with teeth or a caul or stillborn

-A dead body that has been reflected in a mirror

-Someone bitten by a vamp

-Suicides

-People who die suddenly & violently

-Those who do not receive proper burial

-People who have eaten the meat of a sheep that has been killed by a wolf

-Having red hair (Greece only)

-By renouncing the Eastern Orthodox religion (which is why the peasants may have thought Vlad was a vampire)

-By being excommunicated by the Greek Orthodox church

-Wild dogs jumping over a corpse

-Never leave any KNOT in the coffin, a tie or a rope since it was thought to prevent the corpse's decay and to disturb the dead person's ability to make the transition into another life.