“I’m the world’s most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in. My voice, my face, even my smell. As if I would need any of that. As if you could outrun me. As if you could fight me off. I’m designed to kill.” Edward Cullen (Robert Pattison), Twilight

For centuries, vampires have captured the interest of their prey; humans. We are attracted to the history of these creatures that both terrify and excite us. Now they take our hearts without even touching us, chill our blood even though we never will have to face one. They are the world’s most dangerous predator…

The Vampire

Historically, the vampire was a creature, once human, that rose from the grave with the sole purpose of feeding n the blood of loved ones until they too died. They were seen as a plague and with good reason. The legend says that if you were killed by a vampire, you would become a vampire. Over time, other vampire species legends were mixed together with the European myths, evolving the vampire into the creature that we know today.

Before Dracula was created, vampires existed with the lower classes. The general belief was that education kept the beasts away. That and the fact that the higher classes tended to have wealth and could pay to deal with such things if they occurred. However, Bram Stoker broke those beliefs with his usage of Vlad Tepes, revealing that the vampire was not restricted to the lower societies, but could spawn in all of them. This created a new legend, one that involved wealthy aristocrats. From wealthy aristocrats arose the first form of vampire temptation, wealth along with immortal life. However, the sexual aspect would only be revealed through the creation of Carmilla, but even then, the male vampires still had no sexual appeal other than living forever and money. 

Vampires obviously inhabited the human mind to the point that when the motion picture first appeared, the vampire was close behind, putting an image to the creature that had terrified us for centuries.

Vampirism

Vampirism really wouldn’t appear until the late 1900s, after the vampire was humanized into something of a lost soul who should be pitied instead of feared. That fascination of vampires evolved with the human vampire, slowly becoming, in some cases, an obsession. 

People became so infatuated with the ideal of the vampire that they wanted to become them. Some people truly believe that they are vampires. The live the lifestyle that they believe vampires would live; forsaking the day to live in the dark. They get night jobs, if they have to work, and tend to only move around after the sun goes down. They dress in gothic-style clothing and even drink human blood. 

Vampires and Vampirism

In mythology, no other creature lays such a strong claim on our imaginations and fears as the vampire. Movies are made revolving around the vampire myth. Books are written revealing the writer’s fantasy and their personal views of what the vampire is. And people choose to live that ideal. It leaves one to wonder just how far the vampire legend will go? All we know for certain is that the vampire is in no danger of fading from our memories any time soon.