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When did vampires begin?  As with many legends, the exact date of origin is unknown, but evidence of the vampire tale can be found with the ancient Chaldeans in Mesopotamia, near the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, and with Assyrian writings on clay or stone tablets.  The land of the Chaldeans is also called the 'Ur of the Chaldeans' which was the original home of Abraham from the Bible. 'Lilith' was a possible vampire from the ancient Hebrew Bible and its interpretations.  Although she is described in the book of Isaiah, her roots are more likely in Babylonian demonology.  Lilith was a monster who roamed at night taking on the appearance of an owl.  She would hunt, seeking to kill newborn children and pregnant women.  Lilith was the wife of Adam before there was Adam and Eve, according to tradition; but she was demonized because she refused to obey Adam.  Naturally, she was considered evil for such radical desires and became a vampire who eventually attacked the children of Adam and Eve - namely ALL human descendants. References to vampires can be found in many lands, and some scholars believe this indicates that the vampire story developed independently in these various lands and was not passed from one to the other.  Such an independently occurring folktale is curious indeed. References to vampires can be found amount the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, India, Africa, Nepal, Mexico and Peru. Thus from ancient times and from a bounty of exotic lands came forth the vampires.  It is from these ancient fears about death and the magical, life-sustaining powers of blood that the vampires as we know them today have evolved.

DRACULA

Vlad Dracula was a real Romanian prince who lived in the 15th century who was noted for his military campaigns against the Turks.  In Romania he is considered a hero, even today. Vlad was a mass murderer and a fiend whose favourite form of killing was impalement.  This was a type of crucifixion except instead of hanging the victim on a cross, the victim was impaled with a long, sharp, wooden pole.

The body was then displayed for Vlad Dracula, who once enjoyed dining admist a forest of impaled bodies.  Allegedly Vlad once killed 20,000 Turks in this way and lined them up as scarecrows to terrify any further enemies. As to whether Vlad Dracula was an actual vampire, this is not likely.  However, Vlad did use the blood of his victims as a sauce with his meals, using human blood as a dip for his bread.  So, it is possible after all that Vlad did enjoy consuming human blood. In spite of all that we know about Vlad Dracula, he is still somewhat of an enigma with unresolved mysteries about his life and death.