Vampire History

The Secret History Of Vampires: Their Multiple Forms And Hidden Purposes by Claude Lecouteux
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Undead have been among us for centuries if not millennium. Upon the death of a community member it was common practice to make sure that all the funeral rites were performed properly and that the dead were given their proper respect, or else they would come back. The Dead live even after their bodies stop functioning. A more generic term would be revenant, which was a corpse that came back from the dead.

The vampire is just another breed of revanent.Revants have been with us since prehistoric times. Now vampires are known for coming out only at night, drinking people's blood and shape shifting. but there is more to it. Who usually became a vampire upon their death. Legend and lore say that usually suicides, sinners, witches, werewolves and those born with a caul around them would become vampires when they died. Vampire are notorious for haunting their local village after they have died and usually they claim those that were closest to them. There were several ways of stopping the vampire or killing it. The most popular way was to cut off the vampire's head and place it at the feet of the corpse. Of course you would drive a wooden stake through it heart first. Some times the corpse would be burned and the ashes would be strewn into the river. Sometimes someone who had been victimized by vampire would need to drink the ashen water in order to recover.

There were several types of vampires. the summoner would call peoples name and those that were called ended up dying. The knocker did the same thing by knocking on your door and nonicide killed 9 people before stopping. The chewer ate his clothes and each time he ate his clothes someone would die. There is also the famished who was eternally hungry. Sounds a lot like zombies.

Fear of vampires was especially prevalent in the 18th century especially after the witch craze died down. The fear of vampires is alive even unto this day. People, especially in Slavic countries, will still nail coffins shut with iron nails, execute corpses and even dress themselves with garlic. One man in America even choked in his sleep on a piece of garlic. He kept garlic in his mouth to protect himself from vampires. To stop a vampire from rising from it's grave the village people employed a few strategies. One was to stuff the mouth with garlic or earth. Another such strategy was to bury the corpse face down. An old strategy was to cut off the head and leave it by the feet. When people went to destroy vampires they usually found them well fed, their blood fresh and the corpse really well preserved.

Scientists have looked for ways to explain the vampire myth. Mythologist have looked for answers in the myths. Th author makes the argument that the vampire or revanent is actually an astral double. The astral double explains the shape shifting ability and it's ability to get in through cracks and small places. It also explains why it leaves no reflecting. One way to stop a vampire was to plug up a whole in it's grave or in the house it was haunting.

This book is an excellent book for those who wish to learn about vampires. The author does a thorough investigation of legend and lore and explains it in simple terms to the reader. Very short and very thorough. I definitely want to read more of his works.

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