The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Vampire Myths
11:18 Apr 30 2011
Times Read: 548

Vampires Myths and Facts



The human mind is always wanting to know more about things that are unknown to us, including the existence of vampires. There are many vampires myths and legends that exist. Vampires have also been mentioned in many literature works and of course, the present online games on vampire wars is one of the most famous! Even television and movies have not been able to escape from the curiosity to know more about vampires. Watching Buffy the vampire slayer and the famous vampire 'Edward Cullen' in the Twilight series, we tend to believe what we see, be it on television! Below are some interesting vampire myths and facts that will help you understand about vampires in a more 'logical' way.



Myth#1: Vampires sleep in coffins only!

Well, this is just a myth which is originated from the ancient history of vampires! It was believed in many cultures that if an animal (cats, dogs, bats etc) jumped over or crossed over the death body of a person, then that tend body would transform into the 'undead', a vampire. Many gravediggers claimed to see these dead bodies rise from the grave and the myth formed that vampires sleep only in graves. As a matter of fact, they can sleep anywhere they feel safe and unseen.



Myth#2: Vampires can fly!

Vampires have been associated with bats because both are bloodsucking creatures. However, the belief that vampires have huge wings and can fly is completely a myth! Vampires are known to have exceptionally developed leaping skills which makes them look as if they are flying, but as a matter of fact, these are just unbelievably huge leaps!



Myth#3: Vampires melt/burst with sunlight!

Undoubtedly, sunlight does effect vampires, but the idea of melting and bursting is exaggerated way out of proportion! Vampires are highly sensitive towards sunlight and their body tends to burn like a sunburn, not like huge flames! Apart from the reaction that they suffer from sunlight, their eyes too are extremely sensitive towards it. Therefore, saying that sunlight will make a vampire burst into flames, is like saying that a slap will twist the head!



Myth#4: Vampires do not age!

Another popular vampire myth is that they do not age. The fact is that they do age, but their aging process is a lot slower than humans, due to which we tend to think that vampires don't age!



Myth#5: Vampire bodies remain fresh!

As mentioned above, in ancient times, when the bodies which were jumped over by animals would turn to be vampires, the relatives buried the bodies and later on checked the graves to have some vampire traces. They found that the bodies were bloated with almost no signs of decomposition. They were known to have red lips and rosy cheeks. If you apply the basic logic of decomposition, the low levels of temperature under the ground can refrigerate and bloat the body which results in slower decomposition. Also it is the lower temper that enables the blood to push on the skin's surface and the lips for them to appear as red as if they have drank blood.



Myth#6: Vampires are immortal

Well, if they are immortal, why do different ways of how to kill a vampire exist? Vampires can be killed by some ways. The wooden stake right through the heart is one of the most popular ways for the same. However, there are beliefs that holy cross and holy water can kill vampires. Or even the smell of garlic can shoo it away. All these are nothing but myths! Trust me, if vampires don't age soon, that means they live more and are more experienced in dealing with things that repel them. All these things won't work on an experienced vampire. It's the same like drowning can kill a human, but they have learned to swim!



Myth#7: Vampires don't have reflection!

This myth is again a result of the superstition that existed in the early ages. It was believed that vampires are the undead with no soul at all. Therefore, they didn't have a reflection! Although, vampires do have reflection. Your table and chair too doesn't have a soul, but you do see their reflection, right!



So these were some of the most common vampire myths that exist as a result of the vampire legends from around the world.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
12:59 Apr 21 2011
Times Read: 555






The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse make their debut appearance on the world stage in the biblical Book of Revelation, the last book of the christian bible. In chapter 6, the Lamb (Jesus) opens the first four seals of a scroll with seven seals which calls forth the riders of the apocalypse as follows (Rev 6:1-8):



First Seal: White Horse - Conquest - Bow

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.



Second Seal: Red Horse - War - Sword

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.



Third Seal: Black Horse - Famine - Scales

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"



Fourth Seal: Pale Horse - Death

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him.





They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

'Vampire' murderer dies in jail
16:00 Apr 19 2011
Times Read: 562






A man who claimed he committed murder after being visited by a vampire has been found dead in prison.



Alan Menzies, 23, was discovered at 0750 GMT in Shotts Prison, where he was serving a life sentence of at least 18 years for murdering Thomas McKendrick.



Menzies, from Fauldhouse, West Lothian, claimed he had been visited by the female vampire Akasha, a character from the film Queen of the Damned.



He bludgeoned his friend to death and drank some of his blood.



The Scottish Prison Service said police and Menzies' relatives had been informed and the death was being investigated.



Menzies' trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in October 2003 heard that he had watched the film more than 100 times.



He believed he was told he would be rewarded with immortality and would become a vampire in the next life if he carried out a murder.



Menzies said he had carried out the attack on Mr McKendrick after his friend insulted his vampire heroine, played by the late US singer Aaliyah.



After setting about him with knives and a hammer, he drank some of his victim's blood and ate some of his flesh.



Menzies had offered to plead guilty to culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility but this was rejected by the Crown.



The judge described him as an "evil, violent and highly dangerous man who is not fit to be at liberty".

Grandchildren have grandfather's ashes tattooed into their skin
15:51 Apr 19 2011
Times Read: 564






Grieving brother and sister, Andrew and Helen Bird, have paid a lasting tribute to their grandfather by having his ashes tattooed into their skin.



The siblings from Stoke-on-Trent came up with the unusual tribute after hearing about the idea on a TV show.



Andrew had an extract from one of the former RAF serviceman Reginald Alefs’ poems inked on to his arm.



Meanwhile, his 30-year-old sister Helen had a rose tattooed on to her back.



The tattoo artist mixed some of the ashes of the 90-year-old with ink to create the work.



‘We know grandad will always be with us now,’ said Andrew, 27.



Speak about the tribute Helen said: 'A lot of people have tattoos when someone dies, but using the ashes makes it more personal and it means a lot more to both of us.'



Mr Alef passed away in February after suffering from cancer.

Vampire' woman gets ‘horns’ implanted
15:42 Apr 19 2011
Times Read: 566






Maria Hose Cristerna, a mum of four from Mexico, showed off her unusual looks at a tattoo exhibition in Monterrey in California recently.



She had her body transformed as a reaction to enduring years of abuse at home.



The striking look is completed by specially shaped vampire 'fang' teeth, fake eye colours and massive earrings – but she's not finished yet! The 35-year-old claims that she wants even more horns implanted.



'Tattoos were a form of liberation for me – my way of being immortal - and the horns I have are a symbol of strength and were implanted without anaesthetic,' she told The Sun.



'I had the fangs done because I loved vampires as a little girl and I changed the colour of my eyes so they were how I really wanted them to be.'

A to Z Key of Common Gravestone Symbols
13:51 Apr 17 2011
Times Read: 567

Anchor Hope, or “at rest”. An early Christian symbol.



Angel The Agent of God, often pointing heavenwards; also the guardian of the dead.



Bed A deathbed, sometimes only a pillow.



Book Often with a cross lying on it, symbolizing faith.



Butterfly The Resurrection.



Circle Eternity; incorporated into the Celtic cross.



Column The broken column traditionally signifies



mortality; the support of life being broken.



Cross has several meanings, but it is above all the symbol of the Christian religion.



Crown The emblem of the Christian martyr who may expect reward in heaven



Cypress Tree Mourning and death on account of its dark color, and because once cut down, it never grows again.



Dove The Holy Ghost or peace.



Gates Entry into Heaven.



Hands When clasped are a symbol of farewell. On Jewish tombs two outstretched hands with thumbs touching symbolize a descendant of Aaron, the High Priest (nearly all named Cohen).



Heart Love and devotion.



Horse Strength, courage or the swiftness of the passage of time.



Hourglass The traditional symbol of Father Time, who also carries a scythe.



Ivy The evergreen, symbolizing immortality or friendship.



Labyrinth In popular usage, symbolizes eternity; used in esoteric tradition to represent the inward path.



Lamb Innocence, sometimes used on a child’s grave.



Lamp Immortality, knowledge of God.



Laurel Fame, often of literary or artistic figure.



Lily Purity.



Lion Courage, strength, the Resurrection.



Obelisk Eternal life, from the Egyptian sun-worshipping symbol.



Palm Triumph of a martyr over death.



Passion Flower Christ’s passion, sacrifice and redemption.



Phoenix Christ’s Resurrection.



Rocks The Church or Christian steadfastness.



Rose Sinless, usually associated with the Virgin Mary or Paradise.



Scythe or Sickle The passage of time and death.



Shell Pilgrimage, the badge of the pilgrims who travelled to Compostella in Spain.



Ship The Christian church, symbolically carrying the faithful through the world.



Skull Mortality.



Snake With its tail in its mouth, symbolizes eternity.



Sundial Passage of time.



Sword Justice, constancy or fortitude.



Torch Immortality; upturned, symbolizes life extinguished.



Tree Life, regeneration and immortality.



Urn Draped and empty, symbolized death, derived from classical cinerary urns; if flaming indicates new life.



Water A hand pouring water from a flagon may occur on Jewish tombs of the Levites whose duty in the synagogue is to pour water upon the hands of the priests.



Wheat Fruitfulness harvested.



Willow Grief and mourning.



Yew Mourning, on account of its dark color and its association with churchyards.

Waking the Dead
13:46 Apr 17 2011
Times Read: 571

Deal on, deal on, my merry men all,

Deal on your cakes and your wine;

For whatever is dealt at her funeral today

Shall be dealt to-morrow at mine.

–Maria Edgeworth, 1810



When many people think of a wake, they envision the typical Irish wake. Friends and relatives of the deceased gathered to have a big hurrah to send their loved one(s) off to their final reward. Drinking, eating, telling stories. But this is not the way the tradition originally began. Over the centuries, the wake has gone from a somber vigil over the dead to a boisterous event condemned by local officials and scorned by the church.

Earlier wakes were a more practical affair. Ancient Greeks waited three days between death and burial, observing the dead to make sure they had actually transpired and to protect them from harm, just in case. Ancient Hebrews would also hold a vigil over the body to avoid premature burial and to investigate for signs of foul play. Early Christians continued the practice and allowed relatives and intimates to come and pray for the body and scrutinize it for signs of life.

Over time, this practice evolved to include more lively activities as guards attempted to enliven the tedious task by “rousing the ghost.” This often included practical jokes on superstitious relatives of the deceased and black magic rituals to raise the dead. This became so common that the Council of York forbade any attempts to raise the dead in 1376 and one guild would only allow members to stand watch if the agreed to “abstain from raising apparitions, and from indecent games.”

In some cases, the corpse would play a part in the practical jokes. After the limbs of an arthritic corpse were tied down to straighten them, a prankster would cut the ropes to make the body move or sit up. Irish wakes and their Scottish equivalent, the lykewake, were the most notorious for their rowdiness. Whiskey, wine and porter flowed freely and food was plentiful. In 1896, the Records of Inverness and Dingwall Presbytery wrote of lykewakes, “ƒthey were more boisterous than weddings, the chamber of the dead being filled night after night with jest, song and story, music of the fiddle and the pipe, and the shout and clatter of the Highland reel.” The typical wake included storytelling; the singing of love, patriotic or religious songs; music and dancing (often including the deceased for a reel or two!); and card playing, with the deceased often dealt into the game or being used as the card table. British, Germany and Scandinavian wakes often became even bawdier with lewd games, courtship and lovemaking taking place in the hall.

Attempts were made to decrease the debauchery of the wakes. In one instance, a Scottish schoolteacher removed the corpse and had an accomplice hide under the sheet. He was supposed to rise up and scare the partygoers, but instead he himself passed away! This so frightened the assembled that the merrymaking at lykewakes ceased for a period. In 906 AD Regino, the abbot of Lorraine, France ordered his monks that “diabolical songs be not sung at night hours over the bodies of the deadƒ let no one there presume to sing diabolical songs nor make jest and perform dances which pagans have invented by the Devil’s teaching.” The custom of wake soon diminished in France as his word spread.

As immigrants found homes in Colonial America, the tradition of the wake found its way here, as well. Often it was the only time, aside from weddings, when citizens were allowed to publicly drink alcohol. In 19th century America, the body was displayed in the home and viewing the remains replaced the custom of visiting before and during death. True to form, the Irish immigrants brought their rowdy practices to the Colonies. At one particular wake in the late 19th century, two brothers died in a railroad accident a passenger train collided with their handcar. One of the brothers was decapitated, but revelers placed his severed head on high stool with his pipe in his mouth so he could watch the whole affair. Often in the coal mining regions of Pennsylvania, the coffin had to be checked before burial to make certain the deceased was inside. Revelers would often remove the deceased in order to sleep off their inebriation in the comfort of the casket instead of on the hard floor.

The practice of “waking the dead” is not restricted to European society. In South America, the Jivaro Indians would prop up the fully dressed body of the deceased and play dice for his possessions. Food and drink were plentiful during these festivities. The Tana Toradja tribe of Sulawesi held a mourning ritual that would last for months or years, during which the corpse remained in its home. His wife would continue to care for him and provide him food. A festival would be held, with drinking and games. Finally, when the body was naturally mummified, it would be buried. The Isneg and Apayo tribes of the Philippines went even further by leaving the body to rot during their festivities. During this time, the living spouse is required, by tribal custom, to continue sleeping in the same bed as their dead mate. Once the body had reached an advanced state of decomposition it would be buried. As a result of this practice the tribes have developed a strong stomach in order to handle the constant stench. The Ilongo tribe of the Philippines is less extreme, only requiring that no one bath during the wake.

Over time, the wake has evolved into the contemporary “viewing” where the body is placed on display for respects to be paid to the family of the deceased. Food is still provided in most viewing, but the overall mood has become one of somber respect. Some vestiges of the old-fashioned wake still remain. In one case, B.T. Collins, a state legislator for California arranged to have a wake held in a ballroom in Sacramento. It included three bars, a seven-piece band and a buffet with a massive ice sculpture. It was attended by nearly 3,000 partygoers who saw him out in style. Statistically, only 22% of Anglo-Saxon Americans want a wake held for them, and only one-fourth of them want it in their homes. Some psychologists defend the value of the wake to the bereaved. Bertram S. Puckle maintained that a delay between death and burial conditioned friends and relatives to the changed condition of the deceased and allowed them to observe the corpse to quell hopes that it might return to consciousness. Still, there are those who oppose the wake as a gruesome and needless activity. Perhaps the future will see a return of the traditional Irish wake or Scottish lykewake, but only when we can come to terms with our societal stigma on death.



Why do cemeteries all have walls?

It’s silly beyond a doubt;

The people outside don’t want to get in

And the people inside can’t get out!

Looking Upon Death With Different Eyes
13:44 Apr 17 2011
Times Read: 572

from the ancients to modern day, every culture has their own particular way of explaining death. Many ancient cultures believed in separate deities who ruled over the dead and were associated with death. The Greek knew Hades, the dark god of the lifeless underworld and the realm of the dead. In Greek mythology, he is known for kidnapping Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the grain and harvest goddess. The Romans knew him as Dis or Pluto.

In Norse mythology, Hel is the goddess of the netherworld and ruler of the dead. Half her face had human features, and half her face was blank.

In Indian mythology, Siva is the terrifying god of destruction, a deity so fearsome, people use flattery to avert catastrophe. His wife, Kali, was a bloodthirsty fertility goddess decorated with emblems of death.

The ancient Aztecs were a bloodthirsty race who believed human sacrifice was an essential part of maintaining life and balance. Through the gods’ offerings of their blood, they created the human race. In acts of bloodletting and sacrifice, the Aztecs were simply continuing the tradition of the gods.

Modern day Christianity explains that death came about with Adam and Eve’s fall from grace in Eden. Their disobedience brought sin and death to this world.

One legend mentions Lilith, wife of Adam prior to Eve. She refused to partake in his male-dominant way of intercourse and ran off to become a daughter of the devil. She became mother to the Lilim, a race of succubi. The succubi were known to seduce men at night. Lilith is known as a dark goddess of death.

In Persian mythology, there are demons or div, which are described as the personification of Ahriman, the devil. These div actually represent a particular group of enemy kings. Female div were called pairaka who were active during the night and had a witch-like personality. Pairaka could disguise themselves as a rat or a shooting star, or just like the Lilim, they could make themselves beautiful to seduce men.

The darkest angel of them all, Lucifer, has various aliases: Satan, Sammael, Mastema, Beliel, Azazel, Beelzebub, Duma, Gadreel, Sier, Memphistopheles, and Asmodeus. Lucifer, meaning the Bearer of Light, was originally one of God’s beloved Seraphim. At the dawn of time, his pride led to his downfall; he was jealous of God’s new creation, man. Because of this, Satan was banished to Hell, along with a third of the angels who agreed with him. In Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan was once a beautiful Seraphim who figured it was “better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven”, and the underworld became his realm. In Dante’s Inferno, Satan is a hideous creature who dwells in the last icy circle of Hell. His three mouths chew on the three betrayers of humankind: Cain, Brutus, and Judas. Satan has also been depicted as a satyr; horns, hooves, and a forked tail... very much modeled after the pagans’ horned god.

The subject of death is quite taboo in our modern day culture. Funerals and grieving are gone about in different ways here in America compared to Europe or Asia. In western culture, black is the color of mourning. Wearing black clothing at funerals comes from a very old custom, dating back to pre-Christian times; it was introduced to England by the Romans. The black clothes were supposed to hide the relatives of the dead person so that his/her spirit would not haunt them. In eastern culture, the color of mourning is white. In Tibetan Buddhism, death is not a hard situation to deal with. As a person is dying, they are told that they are dying; the dying person’s mind and body are deteriorating but they gain a higher consciousness, since he/she is being told the truth. Death and birth are merely a part of the cycle of life.

Burial customs depend on the country and religion of the society. Ancient societies would bury their kings or a wealthy person with all their possessions as well as their servants (think the Egyptians and the pyramids). Vikings would place their dead captains on their ships and set them aflame as they drifted out to sea. The ancient Greeks (around the time of Homer) believed in cremating the dead, since their bodies were of no use to them.

Today, cremation is forbidden among the Muslims and the Jewish. The Muslims believe in reincarnation, so cremation would be inhibiting; the Jewish believe cremation denies the resurrection of the body. In most countries outside the United States and Canada, embalming is rare, unless a person dies far from home and is being buried in his/her native land.

Americans grieve while Mexicans truly cherish their dead and celebrate. Day of the Dead is a large celebration held on November 1st. It’s an even bigger holiday than Christmas in Mexico, and families save their money to buy candies, “presents” for the dead (things the deceased family member would have enjoyed), and calaveras. Calaveras are any skeleton or skull image found in candies, ceramics, and toys. On Day of the Dead, entire families hold celebrations and picnics in the graveyards, wherever their loved ones are buried.

I think people truly do not know how to deal with death in this country. I suppose it’s mostly out of fear because no one can really claim to be an authority on the subject. (How many people do you know that have come back from the dead to tell you what it’s like? So stop pretending to be a vampire! – ha ha ha)

Whether or not there is an afterlife is a thought hanging over people’s heads...

enticing vampires
15:52 Apr 14 2011
Times Read: 579

he prevailing belief in European countries was that vampires were the ghosts of suicides or others who had died violent deaths and were forced by the devil to leave their graves at night and feed on the blood of men and women, and any who died at the hands of these dreadful creatures also became vampires. In this way beautiful women became vampires and enticed young men and fed on their blood and flesh. It was believed that they had power to assume any shape or form desired between sunset and sunrise and that they committed most of their awful deeds at midnight. They were powerless in the daytime and were generally in a torpid state. Garlic and wild rosebushes were guards against them, and crucifixes were feared by them. To prevent suicides from becoming vampires they were buried with n stake driven through their hearts, and the straw they had slept on was burned. All the dogs and cats in the village were locked up, for if a dog or cat jumped over a corpse it was sure to become the home of a vampire

sin eaters
15:44 Apr 14 2011
Times Read: 580

Sin eaters and the custom of sin eating seem to come from Wales. Early descriptions of the ritual all mention the bread eaten over the corpse, as well as the payment of sixpence to the person assuming the sins of the dead. Below are two 19th century accounts of sin eaters.



"In the county of Hereford was an old custom at funerals to hire poor people, who were to take upon them all the sins of the party deceased, and were called sin-eaters. One of them, I remember, lived in a cottage on Ross high-way. The manner was thus: when the corpse was brought out of the house, and laid on the bier, a loaf of bread was delivered to the sin-eater over the corpse, as also a mazar-bowl (a gossip's bowl of maple) full of beer, which he was to drink up, and sixpence in money; in consequence whereof, he took upon him, ipso facto, all the sins of the defunct, and freed him or her from walking after they were dead. In North Wales, the sin-eaters are frequently made use of; but there, instead of a bowl of beer, they have a bowl of milk. This custom was by some people observed, even in the strictest time of the Presbyterian government. And at Dyndar, volens nolens the parson of the parish, the relations of a woman deceased there had this ceremony punctually performed according to her will. The like was done in the city of Hereford in those times, where a woman kept many years before her death, a mazar bowl for the sin-eater, and in other places in this county, as also at Brecon, at Llangore, where Mr. Gwin, the minister, about 1640, could not hinder this superstition."



In some part of Wales a very extraordinary rite was observed. "When a person died, the friends sent for the sin-eater of the district, who on his arrival places a piece of salt on the breast of the defunct, and upon the salt a piece of bread. He then muttered an incantation over the bread, which he finally ate; thereby eating up all the sins of the deceased. This done, he received the fee of two shillings and sixpence, and vanished as quickly as possible from the general gaze; for as it was believed that he really appropriated to his own use and behoof the sins of all those over whom he performed the above ceremony, he was utterly detested in the neighbourhood -- regarded as a mere Pariah -- as one irremediably lost."



Sin-eating was not a Bardic idea, it seems to have been a perverted and perverse tradition, probably reaching Wales by an oriental channel, in which the Jewish scape-goat and Christian Eucharistic Sacrifice are blended in disguise and distortion. "The popular notion in Pembrokeshire, with reference to the placing of salt on the bodies of the dead, was that it kept away the evil spirit."

facts and fiction (vampires)
15:42 Apr 14 2011
Times Read: 581

The word "vampire," aside from its current slang significance, suggests superstition, ghosts, werewolves, hobgoblins, purely fabulous monsters, fiction tales of so-called "mystery and horror" based on highly wrought literary imagination rather than any shred of fact.



In these weird tales the vampire is sometimes a huge bat, sometimes a beautiful woman, sometimes, as in the case of Count Dracula, a man with a mania for sucking human life-blood. Dracula is the classic type of fictional human vampire. He was created by Bram Stoker, a British writer of horror stories, and instantly became the literary rage all over the world. The Count's popularity has lasted twenty years; he is now the hero of a play based on Stoker's book, adapted by the American journalist, John Balderstori, and enjoying runs in York City and London. Women frequently faint at the matinee performances.



It seems now proved beyond any possibility of scientific doubt that such sinister and dangerous creatures, both bat and human, actually exist. Only a few weeks ago from mysterious Haiti, but from the quite modernized town Of Aux Cayes in that tropical West Indian island, where American Marine officers in motor cars pass every day, came the authenticated confession of a coppery-haired, handsome mulatto woman, by name Anastasie Dieudonne, that she had for several months been draining the blood from her nine-year old niece.



The child, once healthy and robust, had begun to fade away. Neighbors and relatives thought she had some wasting disease. Physicians, including those of the American clinic at Trouin, could find nothing wrong with her. Then an old black native doctor was called into conference. "She is the victim," he said, "of a vampire, or a loup garon. The life-blood is being secretly sucked from her body. If the monster is not discovered, she will die." "Bosh!" said many of the natives, who are not very superstitious in a modernized town like Aux Cayes. It looked like, bosh, indeed, when the old man carefully went over the girl's entire body and found not even a pinch-prick. But he was not satisfied and made a second examination. This time he discovered, a small, clean, unhealed incision hidden on the middle of her great toe. Anastasie Dieudonne subsequently confessed that she had been giving the girl a stupefying vegetable drug and then sucking her blood. She was, of course, an unbalanced creature, driven to this dreadful practice by an uncontrollable urge. She was literally, in actual fact, a human vampire.



That there are and have been other human vampires, in both high and low walks of life, and in circumstances much more terrible and dramatic than the case in Haiti, will presently be shown.



With reference to bat vampires, Dr. August Kronheit of the German Academy of Science, and member of a number of leading American societies, has made an elaborate study of them in South America.



He discovered that the true vampire is a montrous blackish-brown bat, with a wing-spread of about two feet, with razor-sharp teeth and a hideous snout like a pig. It flies chiefly in the late hours of the night, attacking sleeping horses, other animals and human beings. It lives almost entirely by sucking blood.



Dr Kronheit cites the specific case of a young girl in Bolivia, who was sleeping during the Summer on the unscreened porch of her father's house. By merest accident the father, who was planning a hunting trip next day, went out on the porch, just as dawn was lighting the sky, to observe the weather.



He saw the huge bat crouching against his daughter's bare shoulder, and with horror recognized it for what it was. He seized it and crushed it to death with his hands. It was then discovered that the vampire had sucked almost a pint of blood from the girl.



These true accounts of the vampire need frighten no reader in the continent of North America. The true vampire bat is confined exclusively to tropical countries, and never comes even so far north as Florida. The bats of the United States are harmless and, in many cases, useful. The useful ones live on insects; others by sucking the juice from fruit on trees. In the United States there is a large bat with a wingspread of more than fourteen inches, which is sometimes called "vampire," but which is known to science under the name of "false vampire," because it sucks only the juices of fruits.



But the existence of the real blood-sucking bats in tropical countries has been conclusively proved by science. One reason why people m general have hesitated to believe in them and regarded them as fictitious is that it has been difficult to understand, in common sense, why victims do not awaken when the vampire fastens upon them. Those who did believe in them invented the fantastic explanation that some insidious, sleep-producing poison was first injected from the bat's fangs into the victim's body. The true explanation is simpler. The upper front teeth of the vampire are flat, thin, unpointed and razorsharp. The vampire, properly speaking, neither bites nor sinks fangs like a needle into its victim. Instead, it delicately shaves off a thin portion of the skin, not deep, and the wound is practically painless. Then it applies its lips only to the spot, which is little more than an abrasion, and by suction alone keeps up a constant flow of blood.



Human vampires, on the other hand, are demented or semi-insane people who have a mania for drinking human blood. Recent investigations both current and historical, have shown that it is not so rare an occurrence as one might suppose.



The most completely authenticated case in history, since it is a part of actual old court record, is that of the beautiful Countess Bathori, who lived in Hungary about three hundred years ago. The complete minutes of the trial, her final confession, the testimony of her servants, the record of the conviction and the amazing punishment inflicted on her by the law-all still exist.



She was rich and owned a castle on the edge of the Carpathian Mountains, which had a mysterious and evil reputation in the neighborhood. For many years the peasants believed that she practiced magic, and was, in league, like Faust, with the devil. They did not dream, however, of the even more dreadful secret that the castle actually hid, for what occurred there, over and over again, was more terrifying than anything in the Bluebeard stories or the horror tales of Poe.



Over a period of several years a number of young and pretty peasant girls and boys had disappeared from the neighborhood and had never been heard from again. For a long time it was supposed that they had been carried off by bandits from the mountains. But finally suspicion was directed toward the already mysterious castle of the Countess Bathori, and after an investigation a company of the King's Guard appeared suddenly one night with search warrants from the Emperor, placed the Countess under arrest and thoroughly searched the castle.



In an underground dungeon they found six of the missing children, emaciated, but still alive, chained so that they could not kill themselves, which they would all too willingly have done to escape the slower death they were suffering. The bones of several others who had finally died were found in an oubliette. The Countess herself, under subsequent threats of legal torture, confessed that each night she went to the dungeon, opened a vein in the arm of one of the prisoners, drank quantities of blood, and also bathed her face and shoulders in it. She believed, in her mad, magical superstition, that this would keep her always young and beautiful. As a matter of fact, the records say, she had a marvelously smooth and lovely skin, a complexion like "snow and roses." It was a cruel period, and Hungary in those days was a cruel country. Instead of executing the Countess Bathori, the judges sentenced her, making the punishment fit the crime, to have the skin flayed from her face and neck. So her face became an object frightful to look upon instead of beautiful, as it had once been.



The most famous case of a modern human vampire attested by the courts and legal record is that of Fritz Haarman, in Hanover, Germany, who was executed after the World War. He was a true vampire, scientifically speaking. He lured no less than twenty-seven youths into his home and drank their blood.



The existence of such living human monsters as Anastasie Dieudonne in Haiti, Fritz Haarman in Germany and the Countess Bathori in Hungary is believed to be the basis for the legends concerning a third type of vampire which exists only in superstition and folklore. That is the vampire ghost, the dead man or woman, who periodically emerges from the grave to feed upon the blood of a living person. A whole literature has been built up around these folklore legends, and there are thousands of hair-raising stories. The best of them all, perhaps, is the "Succubus" by Balzac, which was illustrated by Gustave Dore. The most famous of them is probably "Dracula," with Robert Louis Stevenson's "Ollalla," a blood-curdling story, as runner-up.



These stories, common to the peasantry of all European countries, tell how, when the vampire's grave is opened, the body, no matter how long dead, is found to be still fresh and rosy. To put a stop to the ravages of the supposed vampire, the people go solemnly to the cemetery, open the grave and drive a stake through the heart. Then the grave is closed again and boiling oil and vinegar are poured upon it.

THE FARMER AND THE GODDESS - A MODERN STORY OF REBIRTH
09:09 Apr 03 2011
Times Read: 596

The night was quiet and peaceful, with only the occasional call of

a whippoorwill to break the tranquil silence. The Moon was an

iridescent ball of silver perched high in the heavens, illuminating

the Earth below. The sky, a lovely shade of midnight blue, was

sparsely speckled with the twinkle of stars. I peered out my

window, enchanted by the beauty of the night. As my eyes wandered,

they came to rest upon the corn field - the corn field that had

broken my very heart.



In the beginning, I had worked patiently and diligently tending the

soil. I tilled it - turning it over and over, so that the new

could surface and the old could rest. I carefully pulled away the

weeds and the remnants of the old crop to make the field ready for

new planting. I fertilized and nurtured it, smoothed and moistened

it. Day after day, I toiled to make it ready. Finally, I plowed

it into even rows and lovingly planted it.



Every day, I tended the seed and watched for new sprouts.

Tenaciously, I ripped the weeds from Earth that would rob the seeds

of the nutrients necessary for their growth. And then one day, I

saw it - a single, solitary sprout that had pushed its way through

the soil! Within the week, the entire field was covered with a

very thin mesh of green, and I felt a joy in my heart that words

cannot describe! The hard work, the aching muscles, and the tender

care with which I had nurtured the field was not in vain - the

Earth which I loved had given birth, and was alive in the greening

of the seed I had sown.



Daily, I worked in the field, delighting in the growth of the corn

- revelling in its freshness - exulting in the part I had played in

its birth. The rains came down, drenching the earth and the roots

grew deep. The sun shone brightly on the young plants and they

grew tall, reaching for the sky. Ears began to form on the stalks,

and all was well with the crop.



But then the drought arrived, and the rains came no more. The sun

still beamed brightly, and the roots moved deeper and deeper into

the Earth in their desperate quest to find water. Alas, there was

not a single drop left with which they could quench their thirst.

The once luxuriant green leaves began to yellow and wither. The

stalks which had stood so proudly against the sky began to shrivel

and crack, and the tender ears, so newly born, dried up in death.

Yes, the corn which I had helped to birth - that which I had loved

so dearly - was gone. Dried up. Dead.



A tear fell from my eye as I stood looking at the field that night,

remembering. A gentle breeze rustled through the old and withered

stalks as I wiped away the tear. And then...I saw something! Or

was it someone? Slowly and silently I crept toward the corn field

to take a better look. I felt my heart beating faster and faster,

as panic began to consume me. After all, it was nearly midnight

and too late for visitors! Whomever was in the field was obviously

up to no good, and I wanted them to leave immediately! My legs

moved faster and faster - more quickly than I had dreamed they were

capable - until I was, indeed, on a dead run! When I reached the

old oak tree that shaded the northern edge of the field, I opened

2412



my mouth to shout my displeasure at the trespasser; however, I fell

silent as my eyes focused on the sight, and my mouth gaped wide.

For there, in the center of the corn field, was a young woman in

white - her hair as gold as the maize - glowing in the shimmering

iridescence of the moonlight!



Questions ravaged my tired brain, as I tried to assess the

situation and size up the intruder. Who was She? What was She

doing there? Surely She knew She was trespassing - and most

certainly She knew that it was illegal! As much as I wished to

call out to Her, I was mesmerized by Her very presence and found

that I could say nothing. Helplessly, I watched as She moved

through the rows of death. She stopped to caress a dry and

withered leaf, and then smiling, held it to her cheek. Gently, She

reached out and wrapped Her arms about the cracked, brown stalk,

hugging it closely to Her breast. She released the stalk and bent

down to look at one of the ears - perfectly formed, but shriveled

in its deathly demise. Quickly, She snapped the ear from its

stalk, tugged away its husk and swiftly moved toward the outside

perimeter of the field.



Holding the ear of corn high above Her golden head, She began to

dance upon the barren Earth. As if in slow motion, She twirled

about the outside edges of the field, as she softly hummed an

unfamiliar tune. Round and round the field She danced, picking up

momentum as She worked Her way toward the center. Louder and

louder She sang, the volume increasing as Her feet flew faster and

continued to spiral toward the center. Within the matter of a few

seconds, She had become a whirling dervish - dancing with such wild

abandon that the kernels of corn were loosed from their cob, flying

helter-skelter across the field! She glistened in the moonlight as

droplets of perspiration formed upon Her body, and in the frenzy of

Her dance, they too, were flung upon the Earth. Her feet and voice

reached the ultimate crescendo at the center of the corn field, and

She fell upon the ground in total exhaustion.



All was silent. The sounds of the nocturnal creatures had been

stilled. All was enveloped in an unnatural hush - as if time

itself, had stopped. She lay on the Earth, unbreathing, unmoving,

immobile - as still as Death, itself! I stared at Her in horror,

the panic which I had forgotten, rushing back into my brain with

full force. Was She alright? Good Heavens! Was She dead??



Finally, I gathered my wits about me, found my feet and rushed

toward the center of the corn field, where She had fallen in

collapse. My heart beating wildly, I reached out to Her - but She

was gone! She had disappeared into the very ether! All that was

left in Her place was a single corn cob, void of its kernels - the

kernels which had flung from their resting place in the midst of

the Lady's spiral dance.



The sun was shining hotly on my face as I rubbed my sleepy eyes

into total alertness. Where was I? This didn't feel like my bed!

What was causing this blinding light? I was soaked to the bone!

Just what the hell was happening here? Cautiously, I opened my

eyes and surveyed my surroundings. To my dismay, I was lying

smack-dab in the middle of the corn field and my head was resting

in a rather large mud puddle. Clenched tightly in my fist, like



some precious jewel in need of protection, was a solitary corn cob.

I scrambled to my feet and tried in desperation to collect my

thoughts. What was I doing here? Had I lost my mind?



And then...I remembered! I remembered the cornfield in the

moonlight - the Lady and the dance. I also remembered how Her

drops of perspiration had dropped to the ground in the frenzy of

Her movements. I looked at my feet and the Earth beneath them.

Joy and wonder rose in my heart. It had rained! Merciful Heavens!

It had rained - the Earth was soaked with moisture - the drought

was over!



Gleefully, I ran through the cornfield, feeling my bare toes dig

into the wet Earth - the same Earth which had been so cracked and

dry and barren just yesterday. I ran in joy. I ran in ecstasy. I

ran in sheer celebration of the soil's return to richness - and

then, I stopped dead in my tracks. Something was amiss. Something

had changed. Something was quite unlike it had been before.

Scanning the field, I realized that it was once again covered with

delicate green mesh of newly sprouting corn! In awe, I reached

down to cradle a newly-formed sprout and as my fingers touched the

verdant green leaf, a feminine voice began to speak:



"You were born of me! You are my child and at death you shall

return to me. Fear not of death, dear one, for within its

realm I shall bring you new life! Just as the corn lives again

- so shall it be with you! For all that falls shall rise

again, and that which dies shall be blessed with the gift of

rebirth - the gift of My love!"

top ten evil serial killers
17:17 Apr 02 2011
Times Read: 599

(1) Gilles de Rais, Born 1404



Gilles de Rais (a French nobleman) is considered to be the precursor to the modern serial killer. Before he began his killing spree, he rode as a military captain in the army lead by St Joan of Arc – though it is unlikely that she knew him. He was accused and ultimately convicted of torturing, raping and murdering dozens, if not hundreds, of young children, mainly boys.



According to surviving accounts, Rais lured children, mainly young boys who were blond haired and blue eyed (as he had been as a child), to his residences, and raped, tortured and mutilated them, often ejaculating, perhaps via masturbation, over the dying victim. He and his accomplices would then set up the severed heads of the children in order to judge which was the most fair. The precise number of Rais’s victims is not known, as most of the bodies were burned or buried. The number of murders is generally placed between 80 and 200; a few have conjectured numbers upwards of 600. The victims ranged in age from six to eighteen and included both sexes. Although Rais preferred boys, he would make do with young girls if circumstances required.



At the transcript of the trial, one of Gilles servants Henriet (an accomplice to his crimes) described the actions of his master, which were essentially:



Henriet soon began to collect children for his master, and was present whilst he massacred them. They were murdered invariably in one room at Machecoul. The marshal used to bathe in their blood; he was fond of making Gilles do Sillé, Pontou, or Henriet torture them, and he experienced intense pleasure in seeing them in their agonies. But his great passion was to welter in their blood. His servants would stab a child in the jugular vein, and let the blood squirt over him. The room was often steeped in blood. When the horrible deed was done, and the child was dead, the marshal would be filled with grief for what he had done, and would toss weeping and praying on a bed, or recite fervent prayers and litanies on his knees, whilst his servants washed the floor, and burned in the huge fireplace the bodies of the murdered children. With the bodies were burned the clothes and everything that had belonged to the little victims. An insupportable odour filled the room, but the Maréchal do Retz inhaled it with delight



(2) Richard Trenton Chase, Born 1950



Richard Trenton Chase (May 23, 1950 – December 26, 1980) was an American serial killer who killed six people in the span of a month in California. He earned the nickname The Vampire of Sacramento due to his drinking of his victims’ blood and his cannibalism. He did this as part of a delusion that he needed to prevent Nazis from turning his blood into powder via poison they had planted beneath his soap dish.



On December 29, 1977, Chase killed his first victim in a drive-by shooting, Ambrose Griffin, a 51-year-old engineer and father of two. Chase’s next victim was Teresa Wallin. Three months pregnant, Teresa was surprised at her home by Chase, who shot her three times, killing her. He then had sex with the corpse and mutilated it, bathing in the dead woman’s blood. On January 27, Chase committed his final murders. Entering the home of 38-year-old Evelyn Miroth, he encountered her neighbor, Don Meredith, who he shot with the same .22 handgun. Stealing Meredith’s wallet and car keys, he rampaged through the house, fatally shooting Evelyn Miroth, her 6-year-old son Jason, and Miroth’s 22-month-old nephew, David. As with Teresa Wallin, Chase engaged in necrophilia and cannibalism with Miroth’s corpse. Chase returned to his home, where he drank David’s blood and ate several of the infant’s internal organs before disposing of the body at a nearby church. A witness saw him leaving the scene where he left perfect fingerprints and shoe-prints – leading to his arrest.



On May 8 Chase was found guilty of six counts of first degree murder and was sentenced to die in the gas chamber. Waiting to die, Chase became a feared presence in prison; the other inmates (including several gang members), aware of the graphic and bizarre nature of his crimes, feared him, and according to prison officials, they often tried to convince Chase to commit suicide. On December 26, 1980, a guard doing cell checks found Chase lying awkwardly on his bed, not breathing. An autopsy determined that he committed suicide with an overdose of prison doctor-prescribed antidepressants that he had been saving up over the last few weeks.



(3) Jeffrey Dahmer, Born 1960



Dahmer murdered at least 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, with the majority of the murders occurring between 1989 and 1991. His murders were particularly gruesome, involving acts of forced sodomy, necrophilia, dismemberment, and cannibalism. Dahmer committed his first murder when he was 18, killing Steven Hicks, a 19 year-old hitchhiker. Dahmer invited Hicks to his house, and killed him because he “didn’t want him to leave.”



On September 25, 1988, he was arrested for sexually fondling a 13-year-old Laotian boy in Milwaukee, for which he served 10 months of a one year sentence in a work release camp. However, in 1988 there was not yet a law requiring offenders to register when convicted of a sex crime against a minor. He convinced the judge that he needed therapy, and he was released with a five-year probation on good behavior. Shortly thereafter, he began a string of murders that would end with his arrest in 1991.



In the early morning hours of May 27, 1991, 14-year-old Milwaukee Laotian Konerak Sinthasomphone (the younger brother of the boy Dahmer had molested) was discovered on the street, wandering nude. Reports of the boy’s injuries varied. Dahmer told police that they had an argument while drinking, and that Sinthasomphone was his 19 year-old lover. Against the teenager’s protests, police turned him over to Dahmer. They had no suspicions, but reported smelling a strange scent. That scent was later found to be bodies in the back of his room. Later that night Dahmer killed and dismembered Sinthasomphone, keeping his skull as a souvenir. By the summer of 1991, Dahmer was murdering approximately one person each week.



On July 22, 1991, Dahmer lured another man, Tracy (Traci) Edwards, into his home. According to the would-be victim, Dahmer struggled with Edwards in order to handcuff him. Edwards escaped and alerted a police car, with the handcuffs still hanging from one hand. Edwards led police back to Dahmer’s apartment. The story of Dahmer’s arrest and the gruesome inventory in his apartment quickly gained notoriety: several corpses were stored in acid-filled vats, severed heads were found in his refrigerator, and implements for the construction of an altar of candles and human skulls were found in his closet. Accusations soon surfaced that Dahmer had practiced necrophilia, cannibalism, and possibly a form of trepanation in order to create so-called “zombies.”



The court found Dahmer guilty on 15 counts of murder and sentenced him to 15 life terms, totalling 937 years in prison. At his sentencing hearing, Dahmer expressed remorse for his actions, also saying that he wished for his own death. On November 28, 1994, Dahmer and another inmate named Jesse Anderson were beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver while on work detail in the prison gym. Dahmer died from severe head trauma in the ambulance en route to the hospital.



(4) Albert Fish, Born 1870



Albert Fish, also known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria and possibly the Brooklyn Vampire, boasted that he molested over 100 children, and was a suspect in at least five killings. Fish confessed to three murders that police were able to trace to a known homicide, and confessed to stabbing at least two other people. He was put on trial for the murder of Grace Budd, and was convicted and executed.



Fish was visited in prison by the mother of his victim Billy Gaffney to get more details about the death of her son. Fish said:



[I c]ut one of my belts in half, slit these halves in six strips about 8 inches long. I whipped his bare behind till the blood ran from his legs. I cut off his ears, nose, slit his mouth from ear to ear. Gouged out his eyes. He was dead then. I stuck the knife in his belly and held my mouth to his body and drank his blood. I picked up four old potato sacks and gathered a pile of stones. Then I cut him up. I had a grip with me. I put his nose, ears and a few slices of his belly in the grip. Then I cut him through the middle of his body. Just below the belly button. Then through his legs about 2 inches below his behind. I put this in my grip with a lot of paper. I cut off the head, feet, arms, hands and the legs below the knee.



In addition to this horrifying description, Fish confessed to eating parts of Billy:



I made a stew out of his ears, nose, pieces of his face and belly. I put onions, carrots, turnips, celery, salt and pepper. It was good. Then I split the cheeks of his behind open, cut off his monkey and pee wees and washed them first. I put strips of bacon on each cheek of his behind and put them in the oven. Then I picked 4 onions and when the meat had roasted about 1/4 hour, I poured about a pint of water over it for gravy and put in the onions. At frequent intervals I basted his behind with a wooden spoon. So the meat would be nice and juicy. In about 2 hours, it was nice and brown, cooked through. I never ate any roast turkey that tasted half as good as his sweet fat little behind did.



At his trial, several psychiatrists testified about Fish’s sexual fetishes, including coprophilia, urophilia, pedophilia and masochism. X-rays of Fish’s pelvis show needles which he inserted in to his skin for sexual pleasure.



(5) Andrei Chikatilo, Born 1936



Andrei Chikatilo was a Ukrainian serial killer, nicknamed the Butcher of Rostov and ‘The Red Ripper.’ He was convicted of the murder of 53 women and children between 1978 and 1990. In 1978, Chikatilo moved to Shakhty, a small coal mining town near Rostov, where he committed his first documented murder. On December 22, he lured a nine-year-old girl to an old house which he bought in secret from his family and attempted to rape her. When the girl struggled, he stabbed her to death. He ejaculated in the process of knifing the child, and from then on he was only able to achieve sexual arousal and orgasm through stabbing and slashing women and children to death. Despite evidence linking Chikatilo to the girl’s death, a young man, Alexsandr Kravchenko, was arrested and later tried and executed for the crime.



He established a pattern of approaching runaways and young vagrants at bus or railway stations and enticing them to leave. A quick trip into a nearby forest was the scene for the victim’s death. In 1983, he did not kill until June, but then he murdered four victims before September. The victims were all women and children. The adult females were often prostitutes or homeless tramps who could be lured with promises of alcohol or money. Chikatilo would usually attempt intercourse with these victims, but would usually be unable to get an erection, which would send him into a murderous fury. The child victims were of both sexes, and Chikatilo would lure them away with his friendly, talkative manner by promising them toys or candy. In the USSR at the time, reports of crimes like child rape and serial murder were often suppressed by the state-controlled media, as such crimes were regarded as being common only in “hedonistic capitalist nations.”



In 1988 Chikatilo resumed killing, generally keeping his activities far from the Rostov area. He murdered a woman in Krasny-Sulin in April and went on to kill another eight people that year, including two victims in Shakhty. Again there was a long lapse before Chikatilo resumed killing, murdering seven boys and two women between January and November of 1990. He was finally caught when trying to approach young children whilst under police surveillance. He went to trial on April 14, 1992. Despite his odd and disruptive behavior in court, he was judged fit to stand trial. During the trial he was famously kept in a cage in the center of the courtroom; it was constructed for his own protection from the relatives of the deceased. The trial had a very disturbing atmosphere. The relatives kept shouting threats and insults to Chikatilo, demanding the authorities to release him so that they could execute him on their own. He was found guilty of 52 of the 53 murders and sentenced to death for each offense.



He was executed by firing squad (shot in the back of the head) on February 14, 1994 after Russian president Boris Yeltsin refused a last ditch appeal by Chikatilo for clemency.



(6) Joachim Kroll, Born 1933



Kroll was a German serial killer and cannibal. He was known as the Ruhr Cannibal (Ruhrkannibale), and the Duisburg Man-Eater (Duisburger Menschenfresser). He was convicted of eight murders but confessed to a total of 13.



On July 3, 1976, Kroll was arrested for kidnapping and killing a four-year-old girl named Marion Ketter. As police went from home to home, a neighbor approached a policeman and told him that the waste-pipe in his apartment building had blocked up, and when he had asked his neighbor, Kroll, whether he knew what had been blocking the pipe, Kroll had simply replied; “Guts”. Upon this report, the police went up to Kroll’s apartment and found the body of the Ketter girl cut up: some parts were in the fridge, a hand was cooking in a pan of boiling water and the intestines were found stuck in the waste-pipe.



Kroll said that he often sliced portions of flesh from his victims to cook and eat them, claiming that he did this to save on his grocery bills. In custody, he believed that he was going to get a simple operation to cure him of his homicidal urges and would then be released from prison. Instead he was charged with eight murders and one attempted murder. In April 1982, after a 151-day trial, he was convicted on all counts and was given nine life sentences.

He died of a heart attack in 1991 in the prison of Rheinbach, near Bonn.



(7) Dennis Rader, Born 1945



Rader is an American serial killer who murdered at least 10 people in Sedgwick County (in and around Wichita), Kansas, between 1974 and 1991. He was known as the BTK killer (or the BTK strangler), which stands for Bind, Torture and Kill, an apt description of his modus operandi. Letters were written soon after the killings to police and to local news outlets, boasting of the crimes and knowledge of details. After a long hiatus these letters resumed in 2004, leading to his arrest in 2005 and subsequent conviction.



Using personal jargon for his killing equipment, Rader casually described his victims as his “projects” and at one point likened his murders to euthanizing animals by saying he “put them down.” Rader created what he called a “hit kit,” a briefcase or bowling bag containing the items he would use during murders: guns, tape, rope and handcuffs. He also packed what he called “hit clothes” that he would wear for the crimes and then dispose of. Rader bound, tortured, and killed his victims. Rader would strangle his victims until they lost consciousness, then let them revive, then strangle them again. He would repeat the pattern over and over again, forcing them to experience near-death, becoming sexually aroused at the sight of their struggles. Finally, Rader would strangle them to death and masturbate to ejaculation into an article of their clothing, usually underwear.



Rader was particularly known for sending taunting letters to police and newspapers. There were several communications from BTK during 1974 to 1979. The first was a letter that had been stashed in an engineering book in the Wichita Public Library in October 1974 that described in detail the killing of the Otero family in January of that year. In early 1978 he sent another letter to television station KAKE in Wichita claiming responsibility for the murders of the Oteros, Shirley Vian, Nancy Fox and another unidentified victim assumed to be Kathryn Bright. He suggested a number of possible names for himself, including the one that stuck: BTK



A sample of one of his letters:



The victims are tie up-most have been women-phone cut- bring some bondage mater sadist tendencies-no struggle, outside the death spot-no wintness except the Vain’s Kids. They were very lucky; a phone call save them. I was go-ng to tape the boys and put plastics bag over there head like I did Joseph, and Shirley. And then hang the girl. God-oh God what a beautiful sexual relief that would been. Josephine, when I hung her really turn me on; her pleading for mercy then the rope took whole, she helpless; staring at me with wide terror fill eyes the rope getting tighter-tighter.



Rader plead guilty and was sentenced to life in prison – a sentence he is currently still serving.



(8) John Haigh, Born 1909



John George Haigh (July 24, 1909 — August 10, 1949), the “Acid Bath Murderer”, was a serial killer in England during the 1940s. He was convicted of the murders of six people, although he claimed to have killed a total of nine, dissolving their bodies in sulphuric acid before forging papers in order to sell their possessions and collect substantial sums of money. He acted under the mistaken belief that police needed a body before they could bring a charge of murder. As a consequence, he was convicted through forensic evidence and executed on August 10, 1949.



After hiring rooms in Glouster Road, London, he bumped into an old wealthy boss William McSwann in the Goat pub in Kensington. McSwann introduced Haigh to his parents, Donald and Amy, who mentioned that they had invested in property. On 6 September, 1944, McSwann disappeared. Haigh later said he hit him over the head after luring him into a basement at 79 Gloucester Road, London SW7. He then put McSwann’s body into a 40-gallon drum and tipped sulphuric acid on to it. Two days later he returned to find the body had become sludge, which he poured down a manhole.



He told McSwann’s parents their son had fled to Scotland to avoid being called up for military service. Haigh then took over McSwann’s and when Don and Amy become curious about why their son had not returned after the war was coming to an end, he murdered them too. On July 2, 1945, he lured them to Gloucester Road and disposed of them.



Detectives soon discovered Haigh’s record of theft and fraud and searched the workshop. Police not only found Haigh’s attaché case containing a dry cleaner’s receipt for Mrs Durand-Deacon’s coat, but also papers referring to the Hendersons and McSwanns. Further investigation of the sludge at the workshop by the pathologist Keith Simpson revealed three human gallstones.



It was reported that Haigh, in the condemned cell at Wandsworth Prison, asked one of his jailers, Jack Morwood, whether it would be possible to have a trial run of his hanging so everything would run smoothly. It is likely his request went no further, or, if it did, the request was denied. Whatever the case, Haigh was led to the gallows by Chief Executioner Albert Pierrepoint on August 10, 1949.



(9) Javed Iqbal, Born 1956



Javed Iqbal Mughal (1956?-2001) was a serial killer from Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. He claimed he killed 100 boys during an 18 month period. He had been arrested in June 1998 for sexually abusing 2 boys for money. He went off on bail, and began murdering boys shortly afterwards. Iqbal found boys on the street, charmed them into his confidence, and then drugged, raped, and strangled them. He then cut the body into pieces and put them in a vat filled with hydrochloric acid. Once all of the remains were liquified, he dumped them. He first used the sewer, until neighbors complained of an acrid stench. He then decided to use the Ravi River. The partially liquified remains of two boys, one of whom was named Ijaz, were the only ones found of Iqbal’s victims. He kept the rest in an acid drum outside his house. He also kept clothing and shoes as trophies of his crimes. When he got to his fiftieth victim, he started taking pictures of them.



No one had noticed the disappearance of the boys that Iqbal killed. Iqbal claimed that he could have killed 500 if he had wanted to. He reportedly said “I am Javed Iqbal, killer of 100 children … I hate this world, I am not ashamed of my action and I am ready to die. I have no regrets. I killed 100 children.”



From a letter written by Iqbal:



“I had sexually assaulted 100 children before killing them,” read the first placard. “All the details of the murders are contained in the diary and the 32-page notebook that have been placed in the room and had also been sent to the authorities. This is my confessional statement.”



Iqbal was sentenced to death by hanging, although the judge said he would have liked Iqbal to be strangled 100 times, cut into 100 pieces, and put him in acid. Before this sentence could be carried out, he was found strangled with his bed sheets in his prison cell on October 7, 2001. One of his accomplices, Sajid, was also strangled. Pakistani authorities say that the men committed suicide. Another accomplice had previously fallen to his death from a CIA window.



(10) Ted Bundy, Born 1946



heodore Robert ‘Ted’ Bundy (November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) is one of the most infamous serial killers in U.S. history. Bundy raped and murdered scores of young women across the United States between 1974 and 1978. After more than a decade of vigorous denials, Bundy eventually confessed to 30 murders, although the actual total of victims remains unknown. Typically, Bundy would rape then murder his victims by bludgeoning, and sometimes by strangulation. He also engaged in necrophilia.



He would approach a potential victim in a public place, even in daylight or in a crowd, as when he abducted Ott and Naslund at Lake Sammamish or when he kidnapped Leach from her school. Bundy had various ways of gaining a victim’s trust. Sometimes, he would feign injury, wearing his arm in a sling or wearing a fake cast, as in the murders of Hawkins, Rancourt, Ott, Naslund, and Cunningham. At other times Bundy would impersonate an authority figure; he pretended to be a policeman when approaching Carol DaRonch. The day before he killed Kimberly Leach, Bundy approached another young Florida girl pretending to be “Richard Burton, Fire Department,” but left hurriedly after her older brother arrived.



After luring a victim to his car, Bundy would hit her in the head with a crowbar he had placed underneath his Volkswagen or hidden inside it. Every recovered skull, except for that of Kimberly Leach, showed signs of blunt force trauma. Bundy often would drink alcohol prior to finding a victim.



On death row, Bundy admitted to decapitating at least a dozen of his victims with a hacksaw. He kept the severed heads later found on Taylor Mountain in his room or apartment for some time before finally disposing of them. Bundy also confessed to visiting his victims’ bodies over and over again at the Taylor Mountain body dump site. He stated that he would lie with them for hours, applying makeup to their corpses and having sex with their decomposing bodies until putrefaction forced him to abandon the remains.



Despite having five court-appointed lawyers, he insisted on acting as his own attorney and even cross-examined witnesses, including the police officer who had discovered Margaret Bowman’s body. The Judge, when passing sentence said:



“It is ordered that you be put to death by a current of electricity, that current be passed through your body until you are dead. Take care of yourself, young man. I say that to you sincerely; take care of yourself, please. It is an utter tragedy for this court to see such a total waste of humanity as I’ve experienced in this courtroom. You’re an intelligent young man. You’d have made a good lawyer, and I would have loved to have you practice in front of me, but you went another way, partner. Take care of yourself. I don’t feel any animosity toward you. I want you to know that. Once again, take care of yourself.”



Bundy was executed in the Electric Chair at 7:06 a.m. local time on January 24, 1989. His last words were “I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.”