Vampire Legends

Vampire Legends Returns

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:27:00 +0000

Vampire Legends are Back on the Line of Darkness

I wont deny that this blog is one of many that I have and in time I may show other that I have set up. But for the time being I will let you keep enjoying Vampire Legends without any interruption. I have to say sorry folks for the slight delay in posting again but other matters have taken priority at present however I can safely say that I have not succumbed to the dark side and taken on a life of eternal nights. I still remain a day walker in the same way that hopefully you are and not like the beloved Blade. Talking of which I don't rate the new TV series of Blade as much as the Blade film trilogy but hey what can you expect when they want to rinse the bucks out of an idea. Its like sucking the blood from a corpse but better than trying to draw it from a stone I guess.

So now that I am back I will finish up my posts on the legends of Dracula and other infamous vampires. However whilst I was away from this I had a few ideas for future posts and thought I would give you my take on whats out there in the paraphernalia of the vampire world. This will include all the literature and movies as well as the great fantasy world links out there and even a few wines!!

So please keep it peeled for a future host of vampire frolicking on the invisible line of the internet and see what nonsense I have posted onto this world concerning Nosferatu and his night time colleagues. Incidentally if you work a night shift have you ever found yourself thinking "Do I work with a Vampire?". If so then do let me know the details and I will post them up here.

Laters

All Content is Copyright of Vampire Legends

Master Vampire Legends Creator

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Bram Stoker's Dracula - the story

Unless you've been hiding out in a cold war bunker or just arrived from another planet chances are you have heard of Count Dracula and know that he is a vampire from a fictional tale written by Bram Stoker. Chances are you know another character within this vampire legend. Abraham van Helsing first apeared in this story also but not as most of you know him to be. Van helsing is another story for another time but he is the main 'good' guy fighting the evil of the "Dark Lord".

First published in 1897, the tale of Dracula has gone on to spur many other great, and many bad, novels and films and entertained many throughout the century and decades since it release. It is told in diary format from different characters, notably Jonathan Harker, his fiancee, Wilhelmina "Mina" Murray and the Doctor Abraham Van Helsing.

Harker is a solicitor sent on to Transylvania to have Count Dracula sign some leagl documents for property he is buying up around London. This becomes quite an encounter as he is chased to the castle by wolves and greeted by a very strange man (who happens to be the great count himself). You get a history of the Dracula's life and how he lost his great love whilst fighting the Turks. Just by chance Jonathan Harkers fiancee Mina Murray is the spitting image of Draculas one true love and he sees a picture in the solicitors hands.

The Count heads off for England but not before leaving Harker enslaved by his "three brides" who drain just enough blood to keep the young man weak and unable to escape. But escape he does and manages to get himself to a nunery where he seeks refuge and rest. Here he writes to his dear Mina to come and join him. Anyhow the arrival of Dracula in England is met with a storm that crashes the ship he arrives on leaving only one body on board. The captians log entries tell of very strange occurances on board the ship where crew dissapear and a large dog leaps of the sip before it crashes.

Dracula, now in England, starts ot seduce Mina, who does not take kindly to hima t first but eventually succumbs. We also meet Mina's friend, Lucy Westenra, who the Count makes his tasty morsal and "bride of the night". At this point everyone starts worrying for the young Lucy and Professor Abraham Van Helsing is called in to assist. Van Helsing realises quickly that it is a vampire that has caused this effect on Lucy but keeps it to himself for now. Lucy dies soon afer a wolf attack that also caused her mother to die of shock. Van Helsing leads a group to her grave to decapitate her head and stake her body.

It is around this time that Jonathan Harker arrives back home from his recouperation in Budapest, where he and Mina married. The group coalate together to kill the evil Count Dracula. The Count learns of this and in turn bites Mina at least 3 times and feeds her his blood to ensure he has a conection to her and the ability to control her. As such Mina slips to and from a hypnotic state at Dracula's request and it is through this that the group are able to find Dracula to kill him. However before they are able to do so Dracula escapes back to his Transylvanian castle closely followed by Van Helsing's group. They manage to find the Count just before sundown and they destroy him by shearing through the throat and stabbing him in the heart with a Bowie knife. At this the great Count Dracula crumbles to dust and his spell upon Mina is lifted. Quincey Morris is killed in the final battle, however the survivors return to England.

The book closes with a note about Mina's and Jonathan's married life and the birth of their first-born son, whom they name Quincey in remembrance of their American friend.

And that is the conclusion of this great Vampire Legends, for now........

The Original Vampire Legend

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 10:06:00 +0000

Who is Count Dracula

So as this is the first part of the Count Dracula series on Vampire Legends, we ask "who is he?". A very valid question indeed if you think about it as the great legendary and most known vampire has had many interpretations about him covered in many books and films. But to find out who he really is we need to look to Bram Stoker, the author of the book "Dracula".

Commonly known as a fictional character, Count Dracula is the star of the gothic horror novel Dracula written by Irish author Bram Stoker in 1897. It is believed that the character was inspired by a Prince Vlad III also known as Vlad the Impaler who ruled over a province near Transylvania called Wallachia.

Count Dracula (his first name is never given in the novel) is a centuries-old vampire, sorcerer and Transylvanian nobleman, who claims to be a descendant of Attila the Hun. His abode is a crumbling and decaying castle near the Borgo Pass, in the Carpathian mountains. Dracula is portrayed with the veneer of aristocratic charm which masks his unfathomable evil.

Appearance wise he is described by Jonathan Harker as having strong facial features, including a high bridged nose, domed forehead surrounded by scantily growing hair on the temples and profusely elsewhere. he had massive eyebrows that met in the middle and a cruel thick moustache, below which was a wickedly evil mouth with strangely protruding sharp white teeth. His chin was broad and strong and his cheeks firm with an unfathomable pallor.

In an excerpt from Abraham Van Helsing, we see that the comparison of modern minds placing Count Dracula to that of Prince Vlad Teppes III is easily done. He states that:

"He must indeed have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turks... If it be so, then was he no common man: for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the 'land beyond the forest'."

In Dracula's youth it is written that he was a student at the academy of Scholomance where he learned about the black arts and with this he also became proficient in alchemy and magic. Upon the death of his wife, Count Dracula uses his knowledge of the black arts to return from death and become a vampire. He lives in his castle for many centuries following this with only his newly found three wives for company and titillation.

Count Dracula is fortunate to possess an abundance of mystical and unnatural powers common to the known vampire world. In addition he maintains the skills learned from his studies in the dark arts and alchemy and he has a powerful strength that Van Helsing described as equivalent of 20 men. Using his dark powers he is able to control the weather, creating a perfect cloak to hide within, and he has the power to shape shift into various creatures of his choosing. He also maintains a control over animals entailing their subservient loyalty.

The only way to destroy the Count would be to decapitate him and then stake him through the heart, although it is mentioned that a sacred bullet has the ability to destroy him. Sunlight will not kill him but only render his powers to a weakened state. Dracula can rejuvenate himself from almost any harm (bar decapitation followed by impalement of the heart) by taking quantities of fresh blood and also by doing so stops himself from aging at a rapid rate. It should be noted that he is no fan of garlic or crucifixes either but they effect him in no other way than to repulse him. He will also be unable to enter anyone’s abode until invited to do so at which point he can and will return at leisure with no further invite needed.

So that was the Who is Count Dracula and the conclusion of the first part of this series. Keep visiting to see the next instalment outlining Bram Stokers Dracula. Keep it here at Vampire Legends.........

Count Dracula - Upcoming Vampire Legends!!

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:30:00 +0000

I just thought I would drop a post to tell you whats coming up in the next few weeks on Vampire Legends. As you guessed from the title its all based on Count Dracula. The upcoming articles will focus on the history of Dracula, who he was based upon, the story by Bram Stoker, the legend that surrounds Abraham van Helsing and the modern day adaptation of the story.

The list goes a little something like this:

- Count Dracula - Who is he?
- Bram Stoker's Dracula - the story
- Prince Vlad Tepes - Who Dracula based on
- Dracula - How the Legend lives on
- The Historian - a modern day adaptation of Count Dracula

Hopefully thats wets your appetite for now. I'm off to drink from my chalice and savour the anticipation of the articles to come from Vampire Legends.........

The Highgate Vampire - More Modern Legends

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:50:00 +0000

A Modern Day Legend of the Highgate Vampire

Previous posts on tales of the Highgate Vampire Legend include how the legend originated, stories of strange appearances by the cemetery, down Swains Lane and other witness accounts from the late 1960s – early 1970s. Also covered are the capers and high-jinx of Sean Manchester and David Farrant as modern day Van Helsings against the legendary Count Dracula.

So what of anything seen or heard since the high profile accounts of David Farrant and Sean Manchester and the massive witch (or vampire) hunt set up via the Hampstead and Highgate Express and ITV coverage – nothing was found incidentally, but then what do you expect when you publicly state such a thing!! In truth I can find nothing beyond 1974 and even that is only an account from Sean Manchester’s own book that states he saw coffin and corpse in a cellar in the Highgate area of which he staked (the corpse that is) and burned it. Since then Sean Manchester has gone on about the legend claiming it all as truth and in 1991 claimed to have found another vampire near Robin Hoods grave which is in the Kirklees Estate grounds in Yorkshire. I wont go into too much detail here as I will cover in a later post but it is now known as the vampire nun of Kirklees and she is believed to be a prioress (a religious sister from a priory) in the vicinity. All very interesting stuff.

So what about David Farrant? Well he claims that the vampire legend is nonsense and that this tag only came about from press coverage of the reported blood drained animal he found after all the stories about the mystery figure in Swains Lane and the cemetery. He does state however that he believes ‘something mysterious’ to be present in the Highgate area.

So there is no further evidence it seems to back up this legend. Could what Sean Manchester be saying about staking and burning the corpse in the cellar be true and if so could that have been the destructive end to the Dracula like figure of Highgate. On the other hand, could it be that after all the harassment and the ‘vampire hunt’ the ‘mysterious something’ went on to pastures new. Alternatively, could it all be a load of cock n bull?

If you have heard of any stories and strange occurrences in the Highgate Village area then please let me know. Drop a comment onto the bottom of this page and share with all. I’m sure this is not the end of the Highgate Vampire Legend.

The Highgate Vampire Legend - part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:45:00 +0000

So here we are again detailing the further mysteries surrounding the legend of the Highgate Vampire. In the previous post I explained a brief synopsis of what the legend is, that its based around the London cemetary in Highgate village, and described the stories that lay the background to the legend.

I left stating that I would detail more information on Sean Manchester and David Farrant and the roles they had to play in the whole schenanegans (why would anybody spell schenanegans like that when we all know it should be shenanigans?) and I ahvent lied but I will get to those pesky souls a little later.

It must be noted that Highgate was an old roman settlement and that it is not far from the kicking scene of the sixties and seventies revolution in London hotspots like Camden Town, East Finchley, Regents Park and Hampstead Heath. Its true, you shouls check it out on the map of Highgate village. could it be said that our potential Dracula was hob-knobbing with the stars or even the Queen during the rocing times of swniging London. Can anyone imagine the gothic images of the dark lord, Count Dracule in the flares and spaced out sunnies of the time (a night time leisure activity obviously).

So here we come to the two that made all this famous.

David Farrant, who now denies any of this has to do with Dracula, vampyrzs or any other related mirth, although he does state it was no hoax, did kick most of this off. David was one of a member of an occult group that was frequenting the Highgate cemetary in order to undertake ritualistic practices. One night he thouht he should stay the night there (why not eh? any other normal person would do exactly the same). Whilst undertaking this crazy thought he was witness to a grey figure which he considered to be of supernatural means. He wrote a letter about this in the local rag and asked if others had seen this or similar occurance and on the 13th (anything sus there?) received several replies (all signed Vlad or E. Bathory??). Anyway the replies all said they had seen a grey ghostly figure in the cemetary or vicinity of Swains Lane but none could give the same description of the ghouls image.

Sean Manchester on the other hand wrote a letter to the same local rag, the Hampstead and Highgate Express, stating that he believed the ghostly figure to be an undead king vampire or as he better puts it, "a King Vampire of the Undead" (I like that, it possesses a certain ring to it). This King Vampire was a great nobleman from the medieval times in Wallachia (known location of the beloved, or dreaded, Count Vlad Dracule the Impaler) and Sean Manchester believed him to have arrived in London, England in the early 18th Century. Sean goes on to state that he believed occultists who were practising the dark arts in that cemetary had aroused the mysterious figure and that the body shoudl be found and staked, even though this would be illegal.

After this Sean Manchester and David Farrant had a little war of words and the hype around the Highgate cemetary and attached Swains Lane grew further until ITV covered it. A mass vampire hunt was organised to occur on the 13th day (consequently a Friday) of March 1970 of which reached a mas rally that police could not control. The village of Highgate was under attack, but this time by lots of Buffy the Vampire Slayer types, although back then maybe they were more Abraham Van Helsing types.

So how does this modern day legend fit into the history of vampyres (or wampyres as one local rag put it). Well we have already discussed Sean Manchesters theory that the vampire came from Wallachia, the home of Dracula, so could it be a descendant or the one and only Count Dracula himself. But then it could be Elizabeth Bathory related also as she herself was from the same region. Hang on a minute, I think this needs further investigation. Could they both be related???? Could this be the missing link of the history of vampires. Matbe this Legend is only just beginning. Is that the last of the shenanigans (or shall I keep spelling it schenanegans). Maybe there are more Highgate stories to tell. I shall have a look into this some more and report back very shortly. Sweet dreams.............

The Highgate Vampire Legend

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:59:00 +0000

The Vampire Legends continue with one of the most notorious modern day myths around vampirism - The Highgate Vampire.

So Whats the Highgate Vampire?

Quite simple. Its a vampire legend based around London (thats in England, UK for all you geography buffs) and in particular the Highgate Cemetary around the 1960s & 70s. No links have been made to Dracula but Im sure it s only tiem before theres mention of Count Dracula in London. In fact I'm sure I saw Dracula only last week, or was that a dream.

The claims come from (in the main) two different sources who didnt want to remain anonymous at all and even have their own websites based on Vampires and the Highgate mystery. These two young gentleman went by the names David Farrant and Sean Manchester.

So who are David Farrant and Sean Manchester?

Quite frankly from what I can gather they are a couple of degenerates who heard some rumours that had started in the local vicinity and decided to hype it up some more for their own fame and fortune. There are many strange stories around this legend from many different sources but the names seem to be kept back for purposes of anonymity or quite frankly they were made up. Now let me say this. I dont believe this to be made up, but I dont believe it to be true either, however there may be some truth in it or it may have been a story concocted from a cult horror movie. Now this blog isnt here to rubbish vampire legends or support them, just merely present them in a manner I am accustomed to. Am I right for doing this so. Why not? Its good to have some objectivity on the web for once. So the next thing I need to do is tell you some of the stories.

So what Stories Surround the Highgate Vampire?

The Legend begins in 1963 when two young (16 year olds but no report of whether they were sexy or not) convent girls were walking home late at night (very stupid thing to do as we have learnt many times from horror flicks!!). Believe it or not they walked right passed the Highgate cemetary in London (another very silly thing to do) on Swains Lane. There in front of them appeared bodies raising themselves right out of their graves and tombs. And there the story stops. We do not find out if these fair young maidens are sacrificed or escape although common sense says so as the story survives, unless of course it was reported by a witness!!

There was another incident down Swains Lane when a lady reported seeing a hideous figure hovering behind the North Gate of the cemetary. Apparently its face had an expression of tremendous terror. And another incident of similar stature was reported a few weeks later. Now as far as Im concerned that sounds like a pretty good zombie trick by some drunken students from nearby college or university. It would be interesting to find out the time of year these sightings occurred. Any where near Halloween I wonder. To go with these stories blood drained animal bodies were found in the vacinity and then the Vampire link was made.

In 1971 a young 'maiden' reported seeing and being attacked by a vampire. This seems very unlikely to me as I imagine not surviving a vampire attack or even if I did I would be 'turning'. Apparently a car turned up just at the right moment and the vampire disapeered. Oh yeah, there was a report of a man being hypnotised by something that had approached him from behind. A tall dark figure is how he was described. Hmmm let me think about this. A London cemetary late at night, a man being approached from behind by another man in the middle of a time of sexual awakening!!! Im not going to draw any conclusions from this but I think it paints it own pretty picture dont you!?!?

One story even went so far as to state that the vampire of Highgate was seen sucking on the neck of the Queen as she went for a midnight walk (OK, that one I made up and I can categorically state that it is totally unfounded, but it would've been a better story than some of those reported).

There is more to this Highgate vampire legend but I'm going to leave it for now and entice you all with a follow up some time in the very near future. No doubt it will contain som information on the young (at the time) scruffians, Sean Manchester and David Farrant. Until then, sweet dreams.........

Vampire Legend Origins

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 23:36:00 +0000

Vampires according to popular legend, are creatures of the night that suck on the blood of victims (often depicted as young damsels) sometimes turning them to one of their own. It cannot survive during daylight and as such returns to its resting place, most notably a coffin, grave or tomb containing earth from its native land / original burial place. However it has to be said that according to some legends the vampire can survive in daylight, but his powers are severely weakened. There are also many different takes on how to keep off or destroy them. Some say garlic and crosses or crucifixes work and others say they do not. Then theres the stake. To some it destroy them to others it is a paralytic. The same is said of silver.

There are many legends of vampires across all cultures but the most notable and notorious tale is that of Count Dracula. This tale was made popular by the novelist Bram Stoker and was based on the life (or after-life) of Prince Vlad Tepes of Walachia (Vlad the Impaler). He went on to rule this now Romanian province as King on 3 separate occasions, although born in Transylvania, and defended it from the might of the Ottoman Empire. Anyway that’s enough of the history, we’re here for legends. It is from this Bram Stoker tale that many people make the assumption of thinking the legend of Count Dracula was Transylvanian. A lot of films and stories have since been based on that one legend and the story depicted by Bram Stoker however, there are still many other not so known vampire legends and that is what this blog aims to show you.

Other not so notable vampire legends are:

The Highgate Vampire, based in London, England;
The Richmond Vampire, based in Richmond, Virginia, USA in 1925;
Energy Vampires;
Nosferatu & the Count Orlok;
Armand & Marius from ‘The Vampire Chronicles’ by Anne Rice;
Lord Ruthven of England;
Elizabeth Báthory of Hungary;
Victor Renquist & Lamia the Great Vampire;
The Vǎrkolak of Bulgarian folklore;
And not forgetting the notorious “Vampire Pumpkins & Watermelons”.

I will cover these great legends in greater detail in their own individual articles and maybe you or I or all of us together can figure out if there are real life vampires out there. I hope you enjoy these and many more Vampire Legends.

Vampire Legends Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Fran) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:10:00 +0000

Welcome to Vampire Legends. This site provides legendary tales of all your favourite vampire characters be it Dracula (aka Vlad the Impaler or Vlad Tepes Dracul), Rasputin (yes some say it so!), Elizabeth (Erzsébet) Báthory, the Highgate Vampire and many others. If you have any vampire stories to contribute or disagree with some of the vampire legends within this blog then please email me at vampire-legends@hotmail.co.uk.