Edward Cullen. Bill Compton. Sure, you might like vampires, but how much do you really know about them? You might be surprised to know that a lot of the things that you think you know aren’t historically accurate at all. Take for instance sunlight. It’s like RAID for vampires, right? Well, not exactly. Vampires disintegrating or bursting into flames when exposed to the sun is actually a recent addition to the vampire mythos, originating in the early days of cinema with F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu,” a classic of silent film that came into being as an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.”
What about the stake? That’s how you kill a vampire. Or maybe not. Many European myths prescribe a stake to the heart as a final cure for the vampire’s condition. But not all of them. And for even more of them, the stake is only one part of putting a vampire in its grave for good. Further steps might include the removal of the suspected vampire’s head, stuffing its mouth with garlic, and burning the entire corpse. Probably.
How do you identify a vampire? That’s easy enough, right? Look for the fangs. no, scratch that. Fangs weren’t connected with vampires until Sir Christopher Lee took on the role of Dracula. Alright, then, what about an unnatural pallor? Nope, sorry Dr. Van Helsing. Surviving accounts of the disinterment of supposed vampires comment repeatedly on their flush complexions. Well, in that case then you can look for other signs. Except that there’s no real consensus on those. The vampire is emaciated, or he’s plump. He smells of death, or flowers. He’s tall, he’s short, he’s everything and he’s nothing.
All we’re left with blood, then. A vampire is defined by its lust for blood. Maybe. Vampire-like creatures from other cultural traditions prey upon…er…other vital fluids and even stranger things. Like their own burial shrouds.
If you’ve found that your own knowledge of vampires isn’t as solid as you thought it was, or maybe you’d just like to learn a little bit more about the facts behind the fiction, then you’ll probably enjoy “Vampire Forensics,” a thoroughly engrossing look at the origins of the vampire myth. Author Mark Collins Jenkins entertains as he elucidates, casting the bright light of science into some very dark corners. Readers will find that the historical vampire is every bit as interesting as his fictional counterpart and that the dividing line between the two isn’t as clear as it may seem.
“Vampire Forensics” is a companion volume to an episode of National Geographic Explorer by the same name. Watch it on the National Geographic channel on April 24, and visit the website here.
It’s all been done before, NatGeo. “Vampires, burial and death” by Paul Barber came out in 1988. It’s excellent.
It’s all been done before, NatGeo. “Vampires, burial and death” by Paul Barber came out in 1988. It’s excellent.
I read “Vampires, Burial and Death” the year it came out, and while I heartily agree with your assessment that it is an excellent (and groundbreaking) resource – one that is actually cited in “Vampire Forensics,” at that – I urge you not to disregard this title. The book covers more than just the way that the natural processes of death and disease have been misinterpreted and thus formed the basis of the vampire myth. While this is certainly covered in the book, so is the interpretation of vampire in other cultures and various other areas of interest.
I would say that while “Vampire Forensics” isn’t the most exhaustive or comprehensive book on the topic, it is substantive – especially compared to most of the pseudoscientific drivel on the market – and an ideal entry point for the layman looking to discover the cultural and historical roots of vampirism.