Vampirism and the real Dracula. (First Part)

Bram Stoker is the author of "Dracula", the famous novel that inspired so many movies, comics and theatrical interpretations. It is thought that the character that inspired Bram Stoker was Vlad Tepes. There's another version that says that Stoker felt a big fascination for Erzsebet Bathory, that used to drink blood and take baths in it, seeing blood as a potion of Eternal Youth. But let us center in the figure of Vlad Tepes. Vlad Tepes was born in 1431 in Transylvania (Romania). He was son of Vlad Dracu, from whom comes the word Dracula (son of Dracu). The source of his power was his cruelty. It was so enormous that gave origin to many legends. His enemies were really terrified of him. When they saw him, many ran away horrified. In numerous times, he won battles that were impossible to win. In his last battle he commanded 200 men against 20,000. Vlad Tepes was also known as Vlad the Impaler. He used to lunch watching his victims, and used to take walks through the landscapes populated with impaled people. I prefer not to talk about his horrible tortures, created by a demonic and diseased mind. The Prince Vlad III the Impaler had all his people frightened, subdued to the most absurd whims. To go against his will could suppose to loose an arm, a leg, an eye... or their lives or the life of their most loved relatives or friends. He used to burn all that was in his way, poison the enemies' water, and throw people sick of tuberculosis as a kind of biological warfare. The origin of his castle: he invited some noblemen to a ceremonial dinner in the Easter. After the dinner, he impaled the old ones, and the young ones were condemned to rebuild a castle that was in ruins. That would be the castle of Dracula. Bram Stoker takes these elements of Vlad Yepes: the name Dracula, the image of his castle with everything devastated around it, and his superhuman strength. Vlad Tepes was the main figure of horrible stories of human cruelty. He was a much more terrifying being than the fiction character. Maybe one of the biggest sadists of all History. So he has not much to do with the sophisticated, polite and seductive fiction character of Count Dracula that movies showed us so many times. Marvel Comics published in the 70s "Tomb of Dracula", where Count Dracula is chased by Doctor Van Helsing. The origin of the so called vampirism is present in so ancient cultures like the Egyptian or Sumerian. I will write about it in the next part of "Vampirism and the real Dracula". -Emma Alvarez- © 2008 by Emma Alvarez. Link to this post without copying the text. Some Related Posts: If you liked this post, subscribe to Emma Alvarez Site or give yourself a gift Stumble it! Add me to your del.icio.us network