Report: Real Vampire Sightings

Modern vampire [Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons]

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Think vampires only skulked about the soundstages of Universal and the old Hammer Films Studios? Think again. According to some vampire hunters the undead are all too real.

Transylvania, Romania is the recognized birthplace of vampires. Tales of vampirism spread after the blood-soaked campaigns of Vlad the Impaler sowed fear throughout Eastern Europe.

But real vampires existed long before Romania was even a nation. Tales of vampirism can be found in the misty records of Sumeria and Babylonia, and even among the otherwise fearless legions of Rome.

So, are vampires real, or just the subject of popular books and films? Some who have had encounters with those that live on animal and human blood swear vampires are real…and potentially deadly. There are those that hunt vampires today, and others that boldly step forward admitting that they are proud members of the growing legion of the bloodthirsty undead…the legion of the vampires.

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‘Vampir’ an 1899 woodcut [Ernst Stöhr – Wikimedia]

The vampire cults

Vampire cults have existed for many centuries. Some believe the early practice of vampirism was a sophisticated form of cannibalism and the individuals that developed a taste for blood—both animal and human—believed that partaking of the grisly elixir would endow them with supernatural capabilities. Some still believe that, although no solid evidence has ever supported that belief.

Actor Bela Lugosi first brought Dracula to the screen [Wikimedia]

The first appearance of the so-called “modern vampire” appeared in a story published decades before the famous Dracula. Author John Polidori wrote the tale of The Vampyre in 1819.

European and Asian history is rife with tales of vampires stalking at night. America too has its own history. One famous and well-documented vampire episode occurred in Dillsboro, North Carolina during 1788 to 1789.

The town rapidly became gripped with terror when the young daughter of a minister was discovered one morning dead in her bed. An attending physician discovered the telltale fanged puncture marks on her throat. [Vampires In The Mountains Of North Carolina]

Peter Cushing as the original vampire hunter, Professor Van Helsing [Wikimedia]

Joel Martin, vampire hunter

The New York vampire hunter, Joel Martin, is the modern day version of the fictional Professor Van Helsing. But unlike the make-believe character in the novel Dracula, Martin knows plenty of vampires and even talks with at least four on a regular basis.

Pulp fiction fueled public vampire fantasies [Wikimedia]

Martin, 57, has a tendency to see potential vampires anywhere. They can be police officers, teachers, your neighbor…anyone. “You honest to God don’t know if the guy driving the cab you’re in is one,” he once was quoted as telling a reporter for the New York Post.

Martin has helpful vampire hunting suggestions. He’s even compiled a list that can help people determine if they are actually vampires. He shared the list with LA Times reporter Michael Quintanilla in an article titled, 10 Easy Ways to Tell if You’re a Vampire.

Among the signs to look for, advises Martin, are tendencies to avoid daylight, looking much younger than your age, having elongated canine teeth, disliking garlic, but liking steaks rare and bloody. In all, there are ten tips that might reveal vampirism.

Christopher Lee played Hammer’s Dracula [Wikimedia]

Phillip Blackman, no-nonsense vampire hunter

Another vampire hunter, Phillip Blackman, is more old fashioned in his approach to vampires: He says he kills them. Blackman appears in an amazing segment of a documentary about monsters. During the course of his appearance he freely admits to helping anguished vampires die, upon their request of course.

An alleged ‘New Age’ vampiress [Wikimedia]

Vampires on the Internet

Real vampire sites populate the Internet. One popular site is for people that live the vampire lifestyle.

The site is run by vampires for people who are vampires (or are just fascinated by those with an obsession for blood).

According to the vampire section of Darkness Embraced real vampires “are born, not created by a mystical bite, or by a magickal ritual. The reason why we are the way we are, has yet to be discovered. But with the advances in the medical fields including genetics, maybe one day soon we will have an answer.”

No real vampire can transform another into a vampire with a bite, spell, or anything else.

Vampires are not immortal; they live normal human lifespans.

Despite the claims, the site provides a link to a Real interview with a vampire. The vampire is a man named Peter who claims to have been born in the year 1712 near Charleston, South Carolina. The interview appears here.

Mercy Brown, the Rhode Island vampire

Another famous vampire case, that of 19-year-old Mercy Brown, is related by Jeff Belanger in his article, Mercy Brown, the Rhode Island Vampire.

Belanger writes, “Mercy Brown has the distinction of being the last of the North American vampires — at least in the traditional sense. Mercy Lena Brown was a farmer’s daughter and an upstanding member of rural Exeter, Rhode Island. She was only 19 years old when she died of consumption on January 17, 1892. On March 17, 1892, Mercy’s body would be exhumed from the cemetery because members of the community suspected the vampire Mercy Brown was attacking her dying brother, Edwin.”

Alleged vampiress Mercy Brown’s grave [Wikimedia]

Italian archaeologist digs vampires

Matteo Borrini, a forensic archaeologist at the University of Florence, discovered a suspected vampire grave while undertaking an archaeological dig on the island of Lazzaretto Nuovo.

Photo: Skull of vampire impaled by iron wedge

“I was lucky. I [didn't] expect to find a vampire during my excavations,” he told National Geographic News.

In a sense, Borrini is a vampire hunter too…a hunter of very old vampires.

Are vampires everywhere? [Wikimedia]

Current vampires in the news

Dateline: San Diego, California. Suspect with ‘vampire teeth’ attacks homeless man.

A suspect with “vampire teeth” attacked a homeless man in the upscale community of La Jolla, California. La Jolla is a trendy, artsy community along the Pacific coastline just north of San Diego.

Amazed police sent out a citywide alert for the bloodthirsty suspect. The attack happened before sunrise just outside of an all night pharmacy.

Police confirmed that the suspect appeared to be a vampire and left the victim dazed and bloody.

Dateline: St. Petersburg, Florida. Florida ‘vampire’ attacks senior citizen

On the opposite coast, another vampire attack took place. This time the vampire, a 22-year-old woman, attacked a terrified 69-year-old, wheelchair bound man. The man survived, but was rushed to a hospital suffering bleeding wounds to his face, lip and neck, the New York Post reported.

The female vampire was tracked down by police. They found her covered with blood, none of it hers.

Dateline: Wellington, New Zealand. Real life vampire attack

“Authorities in New Zealand have charged three people for allegedly biting a man and drinking his blood in a “vampire” attack, a report said on Thursday.

“James Brooks, 22, and Xenia Borichevsky, 19, appeared in court on Wednesday and a warrant was issued for the arrest of the third accused, James Orr, 19, following the incident in Wellington in February, the Dominion Post newspaper reported.

“Brooks told the newspaper that all three bit the victim, but he did not personally drink any blood, although he added he understood some blood had been drunk.”

So despite popular belief, vampires are real—especially if they decide to put the bite on someone.

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