The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

The "First City" is recognized by Noddist scholars to be the first city of Kindred mythology as documented by the Book of Nod. This city was originally known as Ubar, ruled by mortals and inhabited by the "Children of Seth". After Caine wandered the Land of Nod, in loneliness for an "eon", he came to this city to be amongst mortals again. After ruling it for some time, he renamed the city as the "City of Enoch" and ended up turning it into a haven of second and third generation vampires. Though physically destroyed by the Deluge, the City of Enoch continued its existance in the Underworld, under the direction of the Black Hand.The former king, Enoch, desired Caine's power and begged for the chance to be like him. Caine thus granted the young man's wish and embraced him. After the embracing, Caine renamed the city after its former king, the "City of Enoch". At the insistance of Enoch for kindred brethren, Caine embraced Irad and Zillah. Thus, three Second Generation childer co-existed in this city. They in turn learned the ways of making progeny and had embraced the Third Generation. Under Caine's order, he declared it law that no more childer be made. Supposedly they obeyed and the city became the center of a mighty Empire, until the Deluge came and physically destroyed the city and the "Children of Seth". The kindred of three generations of vampires had all parted for some time.Some other notable locations were: the "Temple of Lilith", a large black-and-red building; the catacombs, which are now called the "Catacombs of the Antediluvians", that contained their tombs; the "Pool of Zillah", a small pool of crystal clear water that provides visions of the future to those who know how to see them; a prison house for criminals who were used as a source for meals; and the training houses of chatterlings. Finally, there is the High House of Caine, known as the "Dread Palace Ghemal", which stood in the very center of the city.Caine's palace, the "Dread Palace Ghemal", was a sacred location used to feast upon specially prepared blood of honored vessles. The first level of the palace served as the court of Irad where he led Caine's armies. In the middle of the chamber was Caine's Ivory Throne. The second level provided lavish havens for more than 200 vampires. The third level is thought to be a place where mortals were gathered in droves, to be fed upon by Caine and the Antediluvians. The fourth level may have been where Caine resided as his own personal level. No one knows what the fifth level was used for, however, the Black Hand suspects that it will be used as a place for Caine to pass judgement on all Kindred, come Gehenna.

""Dark Shadows" broke the stereotype of the evil vampire, by making Barnabas Collins a spiritual descendant of the Brontë sisters' mysterious, savage antiheroes. The 175-year-old Barnabas was originally supposed to be the bad guy. But classically trained Canadian actor Jonathan Frid played him as a sad, cursed being who yearned to be human again. Frid often looked mournfully lost in thought -- in truth, he was struggling to read the cue cards without his glasses -- and his sensitive mien elicited fans' sympathy for the devil. The writers obliged the burgeoning Barnabas cult with a back story recasting Barnabas as a victim of a vengeful witch, making him a lonely soul carrying a torch for his long-lost love." -Joyce Millman



Yes, we certainly see seeds of that in the present Vampire stories that are now so popular.

First of the famous vampires was, of course, the historical Vlad of Transylvania, Count Dracula of literature. Vlad the Impaler ruled Transylvania from 1456 to 1462 AD. His surname was Dracula.Vlad III and his brother Radu were taken to the Ottoman court, to serve as hostages to ensure his father's loyalty to the Sultan.

Vlad III was imprisoned and often whipped and beaten because of his insubordination. He developed lifelong hatred of the Ottoman Turks, the Janissary, his brother Radu for converting to Islam and the young Ottoman prince Mehmed II. Eventually, not without struggle, he ruled in his father's place. Vlad Dracula was actually a very able ruler who strengthened Wallachia, as the land was known at that time. However, through impalement and forced labor and other sorts of cruelties, he destroyed the Boyar nobility of Wallachia. His reputation became notorious in Western Europe. "The atrocities committed by Vlad in the German stories include impaling, torturing, burning, skinning, roasting, and boiling people, feeding people the flesh of their friends or relatives, cutting off limbs, and drowning." "It was reported that an invading Ottoman army turned back in fright when it encountered thousands of rotting corpses impaled on the banks of the Danube." (1) Thus the legend of Count Dracula began.



For many of us, Count Dracula was Bela Lugosi. Born in Hungary Bela Lugosi began his stage career in 1901; when he made the Dracula movie he did not speak English well and had to learn his part phonetically. The movie "Dracula" was based on Bram Stokers novel published in 1897. It was through the Bram Stoker version of the story and the movie rendition of Bela Lugosi that the characteristic Vampire legends, as we know them, were most developed.As an interesting sidenote, when Lugosi died in 1956 he was buried in his Dracula costume.



The Vampire stories remained fairly consistent until the popular "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV series began to subtly change the mythos. No longer were Vampires the feared undead, in "Angel", the misunderstood and tormented Vampire begins to make an appearance. The Vampire who fights for good and no longer preys on humans.The meaning of Vampires in the communal consciousness is no longer of fears of bloodsucking life draining powers in the unseen world, now there is a subtle shift to the inner struggle of good and evil within the consciousness that is represented by the Vampire legend. Outward evil is internalized, and neutralized in its villainy. Count Dracula has his good side. And perhaps comes closer to the historically maligned Dracula - who had his psychological and time inflected reasons to become so horrible a torturer.



Mick, of Moonlight, took Vampires several steps closer to humanity in its inward struggle. The greatest desire for humanness, self loathing for his monstrosity, and a completely new set of characteristics. Now Vampires can walk in the daylight, and they have a set of mores... they even can change back to human... although not without difficulty. Shortlived as a series, we never saw the full development of what this was to mean.But Twilight movies, and the TV series of The Vampire Diaries is taking the Vampire myths and legends most fully into the human experience and the new set of representations. The inner struggle of good and evil proclivities with no real set of definitions for what is evil or what is good most completely reflects modern ideas of relativity. A new subset of "Original vampires" must arise to give meaning to ideas of fears and the effects of evil in the world. Taking cues from Buffy's dessicated "original" vampire, modern minds understand that there is evil in the world,but they no longer have the vocabulary to express it... with the great fear that the evil is resident within. And that it will destroy the hopes of the world as we know it, with a much worse case scenario to replace it.



In the meantime, we are enthralled with the continuing stories, the near escape from death, the feuding of powerful superpowers, and the hope that humanity will win out in the end.



But will it? And why do we think so?

Remember when Vampires couldn't go anywhere during daylight? When a stake through the heart killed them? When they recoiled at the sight of a cross? When they turned into bats and flew in through the windows? When Bela Lugosi was that last word in scary Vampires? No?



Follow the history of Count Dracula of Transylvania through his TV and movie evolution. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Moonlight, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries and more ...added to the legendary tale.

I think there are lots of subtle and not so subtle reasons that vampires have become a hit in our popular culture. They have truly become The Anti-hero" to which other anti-heros aspire (this would include other undead and revenant corpse types, such as zombies and those filthy shaggy werewolves). Let's consider the modern vampire myth and what it offers, primarily to the young.



1). Vampires are sexually attractive and charismatic.



2). They have superhuman intelligence and powers, such as the ability to fly and to crawl through tight spaces.



3).They can use mind control and telepathy with humans to get what they want.



4). They inspire fear and nobody messes with them without suffering dire consequences.



5). Vampires have pretty much conquered death and achieved immortality. Modern vampires have even developed a remarkable vaccine which allows them to function as normal humans during the day and to hide their true vampire identity (dude!).



6). Vampires can also use their powers to enslave other lowly creatures, such as wild animals and werewolves to do their dirty work for them.



7). Vampires are really starting to come around and to form loving relationships with humans. It is now the opinion of many, that vampires have been grossly mistreated and misunderstood in the past and that they have endured centuries of cruelty and wooden stakes through the heart, from ignorant humans.



Of course there is also a downside to being a modern vampire as well.



1).The vampire is still a symbol of fear and evil and no one wants to be on their dinner menu.



2). Drinking blood is still considered pretty gross and disgusting and most would cringe at a 100% blood diet.



3). Killing other people, even for food reasons, is unpleasant and still totally unacceptable in modern society.



4). It's also still a fact that vampires have few real friends and have to stay constantly on the move to avoid the zealous vampire hunters wishing to send them to eternal hell!



Vampires are interesting symbols which have truly come alive and evolved through literature and the gothic romance. A great escape from everyday life where real danger and evil are not always so apparent or interesting. The real fear and superstition of vampires has been transformed into an impotent but entertaining media genre in little more than 100 years time.

In 1897, with the publishing of his novel "Dracula," Bram Stoker succesfully transforms the image and the conventions of the Vampire from lowly sub-human parasite, to that of an intelligent, but somewhat evil superhero. Count Dracula resides in a castle, has superhuman powers and unlimited material wealth. He is a mysterious and genious intellect, who is (almost) immortal.



The new vampire is fantastically seductive and is almost omnipotent in his knowlege and power over humans.



However, he is a tragic hero who's eternal damnation and demise can be hastened by sunlight, and wooden stakes through the heart. He is also vulnerable to the beauty and innocence of attractive mortal women, who he must pursue, corrupt and discard.



Although impressively handsome and lonely, he can no longer experience the love and true companionship of a mortal woman and is surrounded by shallow creatures he has already corrupted and who once corrupted, can no longer be desired or loved.



The new literary vampire is incredibly popular, as the attractive, evil protagonist of the new Victorian Gothic novel. He becomes an enduring symbol of the anti hero.



Some writers have suggested that the Dracula novel represents the underlying sexual repression of Victorian society and the desire for male domination and the subjugation of women.



Clearly the dark lover representing dangerous and forbidden sex would have been a popular character in a society where open sexual expression was forbidden to women. Vampires embodied both forbidden sexuality and escape from death but their wretched form of existence was punishment for their transgression.

The story of the last official case of vampirism in the U.S. is that of 19 year old Mercy Brown of Exeter, Rhode Island, who died on January 17,1892.



The Browns were an upstanding farming family and pillars of their community. Mercy died of consumption (tuberculosis), which had previously killed her mother and sister and which now also seriously affected her brother, Edwin.



Mercy's father, George Brown was now faced with losing his entire family to this then misunderstood and incomprehensible disease. He was frantic and there were no answers available from science or medicine to help.



To save his son and only remaining relative, Edwin gave-in to the folklore suggestions of some of his neighbors, who felt the situation was indicative of vampirism in their community. It was asserted that the deaths and illnesses of his family were caused by vampirism. Son Edwin was slowly wasting away and it was necessary to immediately put an end to the vampirism in the Exeter community.



Mercy had been laid to rest in a temporary above ground crypt behind the Baptist Church in Chestnut Hill Cemetery. The ground was frozen in January and she could not be buried until Spring. On March 17,1892, George Brown and a group of neighbors went to the cemetery and inspected Mercy's body. Finding the body suspiciously well preserved, they cut out her heart and burned it on a rock - later mixing the ashes in a liquid concoction which they gave to Edwin to drink (as a cure). Mercy's desecrated remains were then reburied in a plot next to her sister and mother. Mercy's brother Edwin was not cured and died two months later.



Thus ends this tragic, but true tale of vampirism in the U.S. Unfortunately, due to the prevailing folklore and superstitions in the 19th century and the pervasive spread of consumption, these bizarre practices often occurred in Europe and the U.S.

We currently live in a pop culture world that seems obsessed with vampires. From gothic vampire novels, to endless movies, television and art, the vampire archetype continues to grow in popularity and sophistication.



What is behind this seeming obsession with vampires, in our western culture? Why does this endure? What does the vampire have, or do, that makes him/her so attractive and compelling? When did the transformation occur, from foul miscreant to suave tragic hero? Who is the vampire - really?



Vampire culture seems in stark contrast with the current technological age and advances in science. Starting out in the dim and obscure recesses of Eastern European folk tales and legends, the vampire has reached center stage in modern pop culture. From foul revenant of the grave, to super hero status within 100 years of evolution. Why?The vampires of folk history were totally repugnant creatures. They were depicted as crude, foul smelling, reanimated corpses, with a single parasitic-like motivation for blood. They are never actually observed in their vampire state, by the living, but their existence is confirmed by circumstantial evidence within the surrounding community.



The evidence for the existence of a vampire was thought to include such things as the sudden deaths of citizenry and livestock, under unclear or questionable circumstances. Also indicative of vampirism, was the sudden onslought of mysterious disease symptoms, especially those causing pale skin coloration and slow physical wasting (like tuberculosis - which was rampant and contagious during the 19th century in Europe and the U.S.).



Along comes a traveling vampire hunter, often a clergyman or other supposed learned person, with a specific knowlege of vampires and vampirism, and the cure.



The only cure of course, for the wretched, eternally damned vampire and for the welfare of the entire community, was to find the grave of the suspected vampire/corpse, dig it up, cut-off it's head and drive a wooden stake through it's heart.



Now the dug-up vampire/corpse would show certain characteristics that would confirm the vampire identity. These vampire/corpse characteristics included such things as long fingernails (supposed proof of continued life), reddened lips, cheeks and fingers, and finally, blood remaining in the heart, demonstrated when the stake was driven in.



There are actually many historical, documented cases in the U.S. and Europe where vampire hunts were conducted, along with the grisly cures. I will provide one such example from the State of Connecticut in the late 19th century.

What is the Shadow World?



Humans think of themselves as apex predators. They are wrong. The rest of the world may be theirs to exploit, but there is another world: a Shadow World. In that world, there are creatures for whom humans are nothing but prey. Some of those creatures were once human; others never were. Among the former, the most numerous and notable are the vampires.

What are vampires?



Vampires were once human but have become something else: predators of their own kind, dependent on human blood for sustenance. They have existed alongside humans since the dawn of civilisation, treating humans as their herds. Though humanity has always known of the existence of vampires, they are adept at hiding, and in the modern world they are seen as fictional. This is a lie. They are among us, everywhere.

How do you become a vampire?



To become a vampire, a human must drink of a vampire’s blood and die at their hands. Once that is done, they will rise from the dead as something new: a predator, stronger and faster and with a thirst for blood. How does this happen? Some say it is a disease, passed on through the blood. Some say it is magic, for magic hides in the darkness of the Shadow World. Perhaps it is a little of both. Few, even among the vampires, know the truth.

What makes them different?



When young, vampires are faster and stronger than they were before their death, and their senses are heightened. As they grow older, these gifts only increase, and they can gain access to greater powers, such as confusing the minds of humans, changing shape and even tapping into the magic of the Shadow World.

What are their weaknesses?



Don’t believe the myths of vampires’ weaknesses and restrictions, many of which were spread by the vampires themselves. Younger vampires are easier to kill than their older kin, but the only sure way to ensure that a vampire is dead is to destroy the heart or remove the head. The one true weakness that all vampires have is sunlight, which strips them of their superhuman abilities. Younger vampires are better able to deal with this, whereas older vampires rarely ever venture into the light.

What do they want?



Vampires have a need for blood as persistent as the human need for food and water. That need drives their world: each vampire seeks to have a “herd” of humans under his or her control, and they will turn on one another, or recruit minions from among their own kind, in order to strengthen their hold on their source of fresh blood. Some even say that it was vampires who first encouraged humans to settle in cities, the better to watch over and feed from us.

And while there are many stories of vampires and vampire hunts all over Europe and the Caribbean one of the best documented vampire stories ever occurred over about a year period in and around Dillsboro N.C. from 1788-1789.



In the spring of 1788 a family arrived in the then small mountain community of Dillsboro N.C. Their last name was Alfort and their were rumors that they were descended from royalty. They bought land down by the river and built what was then a very nice large colonial home. Mr Alfort opened up a doctors office and pharmacy in rooms in the front of the house and people were at first really happy that a new doctor had arrived in their community. But very quickly two different men who had went to the new doctor to be treated for gout died. Both men had been well liked members of the community and it really angered a lot of people. However in a few months the local minister had made a peace in the community and for a time everything seemed to be fine. However the time of peace was short lived. That fall a young girl child of the Minister was found dead in her bed with puncture marks to her throat. The Ministers wife swore she had saw a dark form hovering over her daughter and she screamed but it was to late and the child had died.



This caused a huge up roar in the community and the people of the area started to claim a vampire or a group of vampires was loose in their midst. Many nights groups of men went out and searched but they found nothing. However some men claimed to have seen a large black bat like creature fly over them. A few nights later a young boy ran down the hill to his grandfathers house and told his grandfather something was up the hill in his Daddy's house attacking his Mom and Dad. The grandfather summoned other men and they ran to his sons house up the hill but the man , woman, and two girl children of 3 and 9 were dead with puncture wounds to their necks.



The area was immediately in a uproar and soldiers were called in and they searched the community. By February of 1789 things had quieted down when one evening screams were heard and when men arrived they saw a black form of a human run from the house and run down the hill and into the Alfort house. When the village men went into the house where the screams had come from they found the bodies of a young couple with vicious bite marks to their throats. Almost at once more men came and they were told that the murderer had ran down the hill and into the Alfort house. When the search party of men got to the Alfort house Mr Alfort refused to let them in. However as soon as the sheriff arrived they dragged Mr Alfort outside and tied him to a tree. When the men entered the house they found some strange things for sure. Their were bedrooms upstairs with beds but it was clear no one slept in them. When the Sheriff and search party got downstairs they found three caskets and Mrs Alfort dressed all in black was in one of them but very much alive. She hissed and cursed at them when she was pulled from the casket.



Later that night the Sheriff and the villages Minister announced to the crowd outside the Alfort house that the Alfort's and their son were vampires. The Alfort's were hung and then placed back inside the house that night. The house was set on fire and was burned to the ground. However the couples 15 year old son was never found and he was never seen in the area again. And their were no more vampire murders or unusual murders in the area. Were they really vampires no one will ever know. But something very strange indeed had went on and people at the time said that the Alfort's were vampires.



If the Alfort's were not vampires who was the vampire. Because something or someone was going around killing people and biting them on the neck.

While you may have never heard of him Arnold Paole was quite famous as a suspected vampire back in the 1700's and he is still remembered in the Serbian areas today. Many people in the area still believe he was a real life vampire even today.



The real life vampire story of Arnold Paole took place during 1727-1728 in the Serbian village of Meduegna. Arnold Paole was a soldier serving in the Austrian Army and he came home to his home village in the spring of 1727. But before he came home he said he was attacked and bitten by a vampire in Greece and he was able to kill it. But he told people in the Serbian village of Meduegna that he had started to feel weird and wake up at all hours of the night after being bitten by the vampire.



He was not back home in his village of Meduegna for long before he fell off a hay wagon and busted his head wide open causing his death. He was buried and before long people in and around the village would claim to have seen Arnold at night in and around the village. It was said he went to many peoples houses and they held their door closed and refused to let him enter their home. Two people in different homes in the village were found dead with puncture marks to their throats. The villagers burnt those bodies and scattered the ashes to make sure they did not turn into vampires.



Forty Days after Paole had died army troops arrived from Belgrade and they dug up Arnold Paole at the request of the village elders. When the casket was opened it is said that Paole was laying on his back but as soon as the sun fell on him he screeched and rolled up in a ball on his stomach. The soldiers fired their muskets over and over into the casket and then they dragged him from the casket chopped off his head and burned it and his body to ashes and poured them into the near by river. The vampire problems were then over in the village of Meduegna. Was he a vampire or was he not we can not say for sure. Its up to you to decide. But this is one of many documented tales of a real live vampires

There has been considerable debate among scholars concerning the meaning of the name 'Dracula'. The name is clearly related to Dracula's father's sobriquet 'Dracul'. Drac in Romanian means devil and 'ul' is the definitive article. Therefore, 'Dracul' literally means 'the devil'. The '-ulea' ending in Romanian indicates 'the son of'. Under this interpretation Dracula becomes Vlad III, the son of the devil. The experts who support this interpretation usually claim that Vlad II earned his devilish nickname by his clever and wily political maneuvering.



The second interpretation of the name is more widely accepted. In 1431 Vlad II was invested with the Order of the Dragon by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. The Order of the Dragon was a knightly order dedicated to fighting the Turk. Its emblem was a dragon, wings extended, hanging on a cross. From 1431 onward Vlad II wore the emblem of the order. His coinage bore the dragon symbol. The dragon was the symbol of the devil and consequently and alternate meaning of 'drac' was dragon. Under this interpretation Vlad II Dracul becomes Vlad II, the Dragon and his son, Vlad III Dracula, becomes Vlad III, the Son of the Dragon.



There is some confusion in the secondary sources concerning Dracula's exact title. In most of the sources he is referred to as Vlad III. However, many sources refer to him as Vlad IV or Vlad V. The lists of Wallachian princes would seem to make the correct title Vlad III. The only conclusion is that there is some confusion in the sources between the various Wallachian voivodes named Vlad and those named Vladislav. This argument gains credence when one realizes that Dracula occasionally signed his name as 'Vladislaus'.

The Daeva evoke the image of vampires as seductive, decadent, sexually transgressive predators who blur lust and hunger together, equating the act of feeding with sensual pleasure. Unrivaled in their grace and passion, the Daeva attract worship and jealousy from Kine and Kindred alike, but their insatiable hunger for pleasure and sensations old and new, and the inevitable frustration of wanting to experience human emotions make a quick road towards personality disintegration and surrender to the beast.



Daeva are especially gifted in the vampiric Disciplines of Celerity (superhuman speed), Vigor (superhuman strength), and Majesty (the ability to attract, sway, and control the emotions of others). Their clan weakness is an extreme difficulty in resisting indulging their vices. A Daeva who has an opportunity to indulge his favorite vice and fails to do so finds his resolve weakened (reflected in the game mechanics as lost Willpower points). Of course, indulging Vice carries its own drawbacks such as accelerated loss of humanity.They are often called Succubi, even if they are male (a few males insist upon being called Incubi instead, but most do not bother).