The History of Vampires

Dive into the captivating world of vampire lore as we unravel the centuries-old history of these immortal creatures. From ancient myths to modern pop culture, join us on a mesmerizing journey through the evolution of vampire legends. Discover the origins, folklore, and enduring fascination surrounding these mythical beings & their influence on culture, religion & philosophy.
Check out ESOTERICA's video here: • The First Vampires - H...
Find me and my music here:
linktr.ee/filipholm
Support Let's Talk Religion on Patreon:
/ letstalkreligion
Or through a one-time donation:
www.paypal.com/paypalme/letst...
Also check out the Let's Talk Religion Podcast: open.spotify.com/show/0ih4sqt...
Music by:
Jay Varton
Spectacles Wallet and Watch
Farell Wooten
Ethan Sloan
Experia
Sources/Recomended Reading:
Adams, Paul (2014). "Written in Blood: A Cultural History of the British Vampire". The History Press.
Barber, Paul (2010). "Vampires, Burial, and Death". Yale University Press.
Groom, Nick (2020). "The Vampire: A New History". Yale University Press.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:45 Pre-modern (ancient?) Vampires
05:53 The Origins of the (Modern) Vampire
10:31 Peter Plogojowitz
11:42 Arnold Paole
13:06 Vampires, Religion & The Enlightenment
17:48 Early vampire literature
18:29 The Vampire & Western European Literature
22:45 Dracula
26:14 The Legacy of Dracula
28:25 Conclusions
#vampire #halloween #dracula

[@ridleyroid9060]

Greetings from Serbia, so happy you covered some of our vampire stories, it's always frustrating when we are almost never mentioned in association with vampires in any way. EDIT: mostly referring to media/pop culture, thank you to a couple of people who pointed that they've encountered this in their education.

[@christopherellis2663]

I have a friend in Sarajevo whose grandfather was a vampire hunter.

[@tumslucks9781]

Slobodan Milosevic was a notorious bloodsucker.

[@Shadowman4710]

@@tumslucks9781 Don't know how much he drank but he spilled enough of it.

[@AC-dk4fp]

Peter Plogojowitz and Alnold Paole appear in basically every English language book on the topic I've ever read so they don't feel obscure to me. They're not in movies or TV but even the low brow myths and legends books from gift shops will at least make some note of them unless they're more specific like 'Irish Vampires' or whatever.

[@ridleyroid9060]

​​@@AC-dk4fpI'm happy to hear that. Also Im confused at the Plogojowitz spelling, I thought it was Blagojević (more natural in native Serbian) but I could be wrong lol. It is definitely a matter of perspective, as I am not a college educated person, my main window is pop culture, which of course is also limited to what I was exposed to in video games and movies.

[@christopherdrago]

In 1816, John Polidori was the personal physician to the poet Lord Byron, who spent that summer on in a chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva with Percy and Mary Shelley. After a night of reading ghost stories aloud, the group decided to try writing their own. Polidori came up with The Vampyre and Mary Shelley eventually wrote Frankenstein

[@bayou_babette]

that was the year without a summer

[@imagographics5096]

Yep, lol. As a New Orleanian, I remember in the 90s when the French Quarter was full of goth teens in Victorian garb with filed-down teeth or fake fangs, living the vampire dream. Of course, vampire stories in New Orleans started with Anne Rice, before then it was pretty much ghost stories. They're certainly part of local folklore now though.

[@zeepickens9049]

*Yep☝🏾!!!* #UptownGirl🎭

[@emZee1994]

As a Serb, I appreciate you letting everyone know how Serbian folklore significantly contributed to the vampire meme P.S. Peter Plogojowitz is I believe a German attempt to spell the name Petar Blagojević. We wouldn't spell it that way. Also I'm surprised you didn't mention Sava Savanović, his story is the most famous vampire story in Serbia. His story was even made into a movie in 1973, called Leptirica (The She-Butterfly), you can find it on KZbin with english subtitles for free

[@joannageorge7305]

Is that the actual translated film title in English? I'd like to research it. It should translate to moth not female butterfly. How true to the history is the film?

[@CirKhan]

@@joannageorge7305 I don't think it was ever actually distributed in the English, hence no official translation, but you can find it easily on youtube and imdb. Script for the movie is based on Milovan Glisic's (19. century Serbian writer) short story, which in turn is closely inspired by actual folk believes and folklore. As an anthropologist I can testify that most of these motifs are still very much alive (or rather undead) in contemporary rural folklore in Serbia and Balkans in general.

[@Cross-Carrier]

I didn't realise that you and @Esoteric were combining to make two stand alone videos. On a Friday this brings me an unspeakable happiness 👍🏽

[@Imagination_Now]

Same!!

[@thekeysman6760]

@Cross-Carrier You spoke the "unspeakeable" happiness! 😉👍

[@randomchannel-px6ho]

The way Dr. Sledge described it sounds like the both independently decided to do vampire videos and just coordinated the release when they were talking to each other and realized that. (this whole sphere of youtube seems to be friends with each other, I love it)

[@NameLess-bm8jp]

There was a Vampire craze in the English colonies in North America during the 19th century called the Great New England Vampire Panic that contributed to the popularity of vampires in popular American culture.

[@Bildgesmythe]

Some gross stories on how they ended the outbreak. Sounds like it was tuberculosis that caused the deaths.

[@samrevlej9331]

That is actually somewhat of a misnomer. People believed an immaterial spirit was taking refuge in dead bodies and draining the life of the deceased’s close ones, but I believe it was specifically an immaterial creature they feared, and it didn’t supposedly drink blood as a classic vampire would. There are still similarities.

[@TuxDroid]

​@@samrevlej9331In reality, a vampire in folklore has always been a ghost (or demon) who possesses a corpse and steals the life force of the living (sometimes by hanging them and sometimes by drinking their blood). In the Romanian strigoi the barrier between a vampire and a ghost was almost zero because it could appear invisibly and break things like a poltergeist.

[@edwardspencer3906]

Just finished listening to Dr Sledge's opening and now, Your Turn! Having taken his advice about your show before, I knew I would be in Good Hands! Non-Theist myself but, just love listening to someone like you who doesn't throw flowery language or gloom and doom... just the Fascinating Facts! Thank You, Sir and Happy Halloween 👻

[@valmarsiglia]

Happy Halloween from New Orleans, where the vampire industry is in full swing. Of course, there were no vampire stories in New Orleans folklore prior to Anne Rice (lots of ghost stories though), but because of her, they're certainly part of New Orleans folklore now.

[@geminihexx9858]

Honestly upset she wasn’t mentioned in this and fucking Twilight was

[@michaelwall3393]

That’s not true. Anne Rice was influenced by several New Orleans and Louisiana Vampire Lore and Legends and werewolf folklore and mythology that inspired her writing. LeStat is based on or off of Count Saint Germaine.

[@valmarsiglia]

​@@michaelwall3393 OK, could you name some of these older Louisiana vampire and werewolf stories or some of their authors? Because I sure haven't seen any in any of the various collections of 19th- and early 20th-century Louisiana stories and folklore. As to the Count of St Germain (not Germaine), are you referring to the 18th-century French figure? If so, he never left Europe. If you're referring to the supposed New Orleans resident of the same name, he was completely invented in the late 20th century by unethical French Quarter tour guides. There is no record anywhere of a Count of St Germain or Jacques de St Germain living in New Orleans during any period whatsoever (and honestly, calling him "Jacques de St Germain" is about as subtle as naming a fictional Englishman Godfrey, Duke of London; that name is a huge red flag, lol). Find an actual source from the period in question corroborating his existence, then we'll talk.

[@davidcheater4239]

Fun fact. The scholar Elizabeth Miller disproved the assumption that Bram Stoker based Dracula on Vlad Tepes. When Professor Miller edited "Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition". she found he had never read far enough into the history of Romania to reach Vlad Tepes - the name Dracula (little dragon) had was a nickname of Vlad's father.

[@sticlavoda5632]

Dracul was Vlad the Impaler's father's nickname. Dracula was Vlad the Impaler's nickname. Bram Stoker must have known of the name.

[@smez]

Dracula was actually killed in 1999 by Julius Belmont, and his castle was trapped in a solar eclipse. But in a few years he'll try to reincarnate as Soma Cruz.

[@rogerhinman5427]

Nosferatu is, for me, the scariest vampire movie.

[@2kesayota942]

I absolutely adore your channel. Thanks for all the knowledge that you share with us :)

[@klyanadkmorr]

Back in old times people were constantly judged dead and then buried so OF COURSE they would awaken in their tombs scared shtless starving and would eat their clothes or themselves before dying, screaming making noises people ear and let them die thinking monsters were there. That is the horror fright

[@Bildgesmythe]

Love the artwork you've used! Thank you.

[@mahmoudahmedshalabi]

The excitement has me in a grip of suspense. I thought this was premiering now and convinced myself that the notification was just not coming through 😅 I await!

[@gvillxtine2773]

I love when you and Dr. Justin Sledge collaborate. Thanks for this spooky study!

[@Angayasse]

I love your channel as much as I like Esoterica. Awesome content and scholarly, which is much appreciated.

[@the_Maenad]

Enormously happy you mentioned my girl Carmilla! 😈Great video!

[@dobees8183]

Utterly fascinating documentary!! Keep up the great work!!

[@CrimsonFrost]

Aww, I was sad to see it's only a 33 min video 😢 but glad you did this one! Love your content as always❤

[@margotbigorgne4683]

So excited for this !

[@1atWill]

As always, great video. Thank you for the great content. I’ll add that Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles also strongly influenced my thoughts around the Vampire myth.

[@traviswork7143]

Great video as always. lol @27:37 It sounded like you almost started cracking up.

[@swensandor]

Thank you for this very fascinating video. But I had hoped, as a swede you would probably mention my most beloved vampire of all times Eli. She is the main character of the Swedish movie "Låt den rätte komma in", the by far best vampire-movie of all times according to my taste. If you should not have watched it yet, please do - it is absolutely great. And also I wonder how can someone do a lecture on vampirism without mentioning BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER 🙂😀 Have a great time and thank's a lot for this video and all the others you produced so far. Please continue.

[@thekeysman6760]

"thanks", not "thank's/thank is" as you said. 👍

[@alex.r.g]

Yes. Let the right one in. Great movie. I prefer the original one, not the remake. 🧛🏻‍♀️

[@meesalikeu]

@@alex.r.g great movie spoopy -- i just ignore it was remade

[@robmch8940]

Thank you for this video. Great job!

[@genghisgalahad8465]

Oh man, my perfect sought after milieu of vampire lore, myth, historic superstition, and legend from ancient times as well!! Only few minutes in, this is already enthralling, Filip!!

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Yay!

[@Kane.JimLahey.]

What a wonderful channel! Fine work mister :)

[@janellemccoy09]

This really made my day.

[@giventaken1984]

❤❤great work as always

[@tomwoods1143]

19:34 really spooked me out when I saw the demon from exocist behind you

[@onefeather2]

Thank you for the research and great video. Happy Halloween.

[@ahobimo732]

I LOVED this collaboration! 👏👏👏

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Me too!

[@rogerburgner6325]

The video very nicely spans so much time, and shows us how our modern monsters trace from way back.

[@JamesHazlerig]

Awesome video! I love your work.

[@marcblur9055]

Good extra spooky addition of Captain Howdy/Pazuzu in the doorway. Gave me the tingles a bit.

[@dogukan7406]

İ thoroughly enjoyed the video❤ i appreciate your work man! ( I wish we had more written data from the middle Asian folklore and mythologies. I'm sure we would find similar concept to vampirism there too.We hear so little about them 😢)

[@cherrysanguine1995]

YOU ARE COVERING MY FAVOURITE CREATURES OF ALL TIME

[@DomoArigoato]

Please do more myth topics, not just for Spooktober. Thanks for all your hard work bro ❤🙏

[@madonnacicone4944]

Thank you for this good video.

[@GoblinWife]

Awesome video, I’m going to go rewatch Midnight Mass right now :)

[@butteredbananas1394]

I've been reading the Dracula original novel, I have to say this video has perfect timing

[@LetsTalkReligion]

Do you like it?

[@mecahhannah]

Awesome as always thanks

[@Klaus.anal.Schwab]

This is going to be very interesting

[@NeilEvans-xq8ik]

I love your videos, buddy.

[@finisterfoul]

Great essay

[@Sarke2]

Really greeat video, enjoyed both your and Esoterica video on theme on vampirism, greetings from the land of original vampire tales, Serbia :)

[@ladylongsleeves3175]

Great video, and great timing since I'm gonna watch Nosferatu with my best friend tonight! Happy Halloween

[@haroldoftherock8973]

Great analysis of the history of Vampire folklore. I always find your video's engaging and thought provoking. The channel Atun-Shei Films did an in-depth cultural/historical analysis of Bram Stoker's Dracula a few years back that viewers may find interesting, if they enjoyed this video.

[@7_BeAtree]

The photos in this 🎥 are beautiful. Happy🎃

[@oddevents8395]

Love Dr. Sledge's stuff. He has great colabs also, Mr. Zevi (sp?) & Dr. Puca

[@CiceroMoraes]

Thank you very much!

[@elizabethdavis1696]

Please do a similar video on werewolves

[@johnsteiner3417]

Justin's video led me here. Great stuff.

[@bojanhasan408]

I can't believe you didn't mention Jure Grando, I'm glad you investigated and mentioned the case of my Serbian brothers, but the first documented case in the world is my Croatian Jure Grando. Don't think that I criticized you, you have a good channel, keep up the good work 👍

[@octagonseventynine1253]

Great video. Just want to add that Dracula is also an Irish novel, not just Carmilla

[@MrGksarathy]

Bram Stoker was a very...interesting Irishman.

[@user-lc4xh7ts7h]

I'm actually writing a novel about Vampires. I always wanted to write one, but didn't know how to at first, until I discovered the Necroscope books by Brian Lumley which gave me inspiration. His Vampires were not romantic and were the scariest kind that I ever read. It was there I found inspiration and decided to craft a story set in a post-apocalyptic future where Vampires and Lovecraftian Cosmic Horrors exist. I was also heavily inspired by religion, mysticism, and the occult, and religion does play a big part in this story that I am currently writing It has gotten so large in scale and vision that I could classify this as an Epic Horror. My aim is to merge gothic horror with cosmic horror, apocalyptic horror found in religious eschatology and exorcist movies, and other genres of horror and blend them all together I was also inspired by a lot of heavy metal records and music from so many bands, and a lot of books, movies, video games, and other media that I liked growing up in the 90s. The Vampires that I have crafted are what I describe as the wolves not caring about the opinions of the sheep. They are evil, visceral, and very in your face. They are also quite twisted and sadistic in their methods. After being disappointed by Hollywood for so long and bad writers who just want to copy Blade and Anne Rice, it felt good to write a story where Vampires are just monsters. One thing that is unique about them is they come in various clans with their own unique looks, styles, cultures, and even languages, like nations of people. In fact, I have written Vampire language to be so otherworldly that it is impossible for Humans to even make the correct vocabulary sounds from vocal chords let alone even understand.

[@thekeysman6760]

When you say "impossible for humans" (lower-case h, please! 😉) don't you mean 'non-vampires'? As vampires are also human but with a difference. Or not, with your vampires?

[@thekeysman6760]

Btw, there is no such sub genre as " Horror", it's just a superlative for when describing something that is subjectively epic in your opinion.

[@user-lc4xh7ts7h]

@@thekeysman6760 You have no friends do you.

[@nesicus]

Send me your draft. I'd love to proofread it.

[@thekeysman6760]

@@StarryRamen Imagine you made all that baseless comment up, without realising that language & spell-ings are how we are divided, controlled, and misled 💉. And then let me do me. I have my reasons for helping people.

[@bobmcbob9856]

Talking about Petar Blagojević is an instant like from me

[@RosaLuxembae]

I found the parts about fitting through locked doors, barred windows and tiny holes in walls to attack people in their sleep because it's the opposite of the common feature of vampires only being able to enter a property with explicit permission. I wonder where the latter comes from.

[@brandonwinstead7137]

Tomorrow's lunch gonna be 🔥

[@nick-beukan]

Strigoi is not a vampire. I'm from south of Romania, here, in Bulgaria and Serbia it's the same culture, based on the immortal Dacians. Strigoi are normal people, only that when they die their body is still warm after 3 days. And when this happens, you just have to put a pike in their heart before burial. it's pretty common. If this is not done the dead will somehow appear from time to time, sometimes to chat, do stuff like throwing the corn out of the barn or even serious harm. Until you spike their heart, no other drama is needed.

[@Angie2343]

Bitara, Eliza, and many other fictional vampires are amazing.

[@ioan_jivan]

I am from a village in Romania. In a neighboring village there are traditions like stabbing a dead body with a stake before burying it or after a few years taking the coffin out of the ground, checking it and burying it in another place. In my village (only 8km away) no such things were present

[@buca505]

I just want to point to 2 things I think you missed in all other aspects great video. First one is that first historical writings about case of vampirism you can find is in now day Croatia, is is case of man named Jure Grando, his case is not become wildly known outside the area he lived, but it is officially oldest recorded case. Second, Serbian author and writer Milovan Glisic, one decade before Bram Stocker, wrote down one of the best short novels, called “butterfly girl” or “Leptirica” in Serbian, where he explored and explained vampirism strictly from folklore point of view, and he wrote inspired with case that was been known in one village around Belgrade in Serbia, decade before . It is opinion that he wrote that, cause he was annoyed with rise of Gothic vampirism in popular literature of 19th century and he wanted to wrote something that is closer to original belief. Unfortunately his masterpiece was little known in west Europe, where gothic horror fiction of Vampire, even more exploded after Stocker’s Dracula. BTW Dracul is Dragon, not a Vampire, and reason why Tepes family had those nick names is the fact that they were Knights of Dragon Order, same as lot of Serbian and Hungarian nobility of that time, but history of Dragon Order is topic for some other time.

[@Matthiastalks]

Loved the video. Only a little addendum: the name Lugosi Béla is pronounced like it is written (he was Hungarian).

[@moongirl786]

19:30 Oh hey Pazuzu

[@lionspirit360]

When describing narcissistic personality disorder, people often refer to energy vampires... Basically as a metaphor to describe a human, living from the life force of another person...

[@UndoEverything]

Oh, I thought my purrrrfect ginger baby was the first vampire. But, thanks for clearing the mist of my lack of knowledge.

[@christopherellis2663]

Béla Lugosi ( Blaskó) was born in Lugoj ( Lugozs) the next town down the line from here, Timișoara ( Temesvár). Moroi are the Undead.. This is the Danube Valley, it's 𝕸𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖚𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖊. Not the Don and Volga Vlad Țepeş.

[@BlondeManNoName]

30 Days of Night and Låt den rätte komma in were great modern vampire movies.

[@thescoobymike]

4:30 this is the craziest medical advice I’ve ever heard

[@darkstarr984]

I just dressed up as a vampire and now I find this video!

[@bigsarge2085]

Interesting.

[@thefurrybastard1964]

Some of the qualities we associate with Vampires today were taken from other mythological creatures, I think I can name at least two sources. The lack of a reflection or shadow is commonly found in ghost lore, the inability to cross running water unaided is from witch lore, as is the need to be invited into a dwelling.

[@migoreng7789]

in poland it was common to call serial killers a 'vampire'. like karol kot. whose psychiatrist was an infamous fundamentalist (co-esponsible for creating the 'conscience clause' aka doctor can refuse performing life saving abortion on grounds of faith) and she didn't diagnose him with anything, only prescibed vitamin B complex for "help" with his "masturbation problem". not long after he killed a boy. oh and the psychiatrist was john paul ii's best friend

[@omarmaxwell6971]

ty

[@mikeharrison1868]

Midnight Mass is wonderful. I'm sad that Buffy didn't get a look in.

[@stephanieparker1250]

5:04 Skyrim 🤗🥰

[@thescoobymike]

Midnight Mass is great!

[@Zorezore1111]

This was fantastic in every way! Maybe you should consider making a video about asian mythology, ex yokai creatures

[@Friezadragonballz]

Vampires are a combination of fear, myth, legend, awe, and our dark desires. In my opinion the best Dracula movies I've seen will be a tie between Luke Evans and Gary Oldman

[@d-au-d7696]

Is there any mention of dracula or vampire in Islamic myth? BTW I love ur videos ❤

[@MrGksarathy]

There's an interesting trend I've noticed in modern vampire fiction, and that's the linking of traditional European-style vampires with Mesoamerican, especially Aztec, sacrifice rituals. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure did it first, probably, but even Castlevania: Nocturne has connected the two via the character of Olrox. How old is this connection, and what forms has it taken in popular culture?

[@carolineaustin4138]

Surprised that there was no discussion of Anne Rice's novels and their translation to cinema.

[@Batcountryrat1227]

Hi Filip, I was wondering if you can do video about some of the similarities between Dune and Islamic references such Lisen Al-Ghaib,The Mahdi etc… I was watching the movies recently and heard many fimilar words that caught my attention. Thank you

[@Duiker36]

You'll want to google the "Orange Catholic Bible" which is where those words come from.

[@MichaelYoder1961]

Happy All Hallow's Eve!

[@Svartalf14]

While Stoker borrowed Dracula's name, there is no evidence of the character having had been influenced by the real life eponym

[@user-gr7wd4kg3e]

My God... Now we know Peter Thiel *does* have a patron saint! Marsilio Ficino specifically...

[@danielschannel4966]

Dragon sounds to me like something from Elder Ring

[@Uzair_Of_Babylon465]

Great video keep it up you're doing amazing things also have to thank Mohammed Al Fatih aka mehmed II why vampires are billion dollar business as he beat the original Vlad Dracula 😁👍.

[@lightbeings6243]

Lol

[@thefurrybastard1964]

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall the makers of Nosferatu were successfully sued by Stoker's widow for breach of copyright.

[@Mousction01]

vampire joined us around 19:33

[@Lauraleighnjg]

Colin Robinson is my vampire crush

[@whinfpproductions94]

Mine is DIO!!! ZA WARUDO!!! And he’s confirmed bisexual like me.

[@asprywrites6327]

"Various" already 28:56 means "different." Love the channel! Great work, thank you!!

[@crabofchaos7881]

I'm him, I've been him, I will continue to be him

[@tracyking4518]

Claudia sent me here, hermeneutics and all that

[@seanrush3723]

Looking for a great vampire movie this Halloween? Check out "Boys from County Hell" if im remembering the name correctly. Good humor and frightening depiction of a vampire's powers

[@TiagrajI]

The best depiction of vampires was in the game legacy of kain.

[@silentkilla14]

Careful there's Dracula behind you at 19.32

[@sanctuserenus]

17th century Evliya Celebi also wrote about blood sucking vampire witches

[@dogukan7406]

Oh i didn't know about that

[@cb4n409]

Its so so weird that nobody making these videos ever talks about Buffy. I know Joss Whedon turned out to be a piece of excrement, but I've seen several "histroy of vampires" style videos that act like the jump between Bela Legosi and Edward Cullen in popular culture is this mysterious missing link style thing. Actually, its not just a Buffy issue, KZbinrs consistenly skip like 30-40 years and just act like Twilight came out of nowhere. There's a pretty clear chain between the Universal style Vampire and Twilight, and it goes straight through Buffy the Vampire Slayer (both the movie and TV show) after stuff like Lost Boys and Fright Night in the 80s. The evolution includes the video game/comic book sort of Matrix inspired Vampire seen in Blade and Underworld. The 80s, 90s and early 2000s all changed how pop culture looks at Vampires in pretty radical ways that would be easy for viewers today to recognize that lead directly into Twilight. Its so weird that so many intelligent content creators on KZbin act like those years are sort of a mystery. A lot of your viewers grew up watching that stuff. ETA: Otherwise, great video as usual

[@malcolmarchibald6356]

Also, Castlevania.