Tonight we address a force ubiquitous with the word monster. For centuries, thousands of hooded boogeymen, giggling witches, and downright grotesque monstrosities have gone bump in the night, yet arguably none has been so influential and universally provocative as the vampire. These revenants rose from the grave, often with hearts yearning for love or fuming vengeful pique - not - upturned collars on flowing capes or sparkly teenage angst.

The roots of the vampire are as deep as the folklore that spawned it. What many casual moviegoers and readers are not aware of, is that the vampire has changed vastly from its roots in folklore. It has seen itself reimagined in several times over. Walk now, into the past, and learn the ancient lore of these captivating night walkers.

Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name...

Strigoi, vampyr, ghuleh, lugat, nosferatu allare just a few of the names attributed to blood-sucking creatures frequently out at midnight. This family of reanimated ghouls seemingly have relatives across the globe.

In the Philippines, we have the manananggal, that splits its upper torso from its waist to fly the night and suck blood from the wombs of pregnant women.

There is the Chinese jiangshi, which hops around with extremely long arms in exquisite aristocratic clothing sucking the life force from victims.

The soucouyant of Carribean folklore lives as an old woman by day but strips its skin to travel the night air, draining blood from the arms of sleepers.

Other cultures describe the vampire as appearing as a sack of blood with glowing crimson eyes. Sometimes the draining of blood occurs through a bite, but other times these creatures use a long proboscis-like tongue. Still, others still do not even possess tangible physical form as they stalk the night.

There are however traits these fiends shared. Monsters that satiate themselves on the blood of the living is common across cultures all around the globe, and none can bear the all illuminating light of the sun.

Raising the Dead

The character Bram Stoker would eventually make internationally infamous finds its origins in middle Europe, where everyday fear of the undead was significant.

The monster of this world was more malignant, nasty and insidious than the descendants we know today, reflecting the unhappy place it came from. The folkloric vampire often bit the chest and strangled or smothered the victim. The people of this time did not know where or why the vampires would attack. It was thought that the creature simply assaulted whoever was closest to its grave, but at times it seemed to attack members of the family. It was also believed that while they sucked blood, they spread disease and pestilence, simply through their presence.

These beliefs are inborn in part, for lack of science and rampant superstition. Mankind has always held an insipid obsession with the monstrous "other" -- the "other" being whatever doesn't fit into the generally accepted worldview. In these darker passages of human history, the people of the land looked upon any deformity with fervent supernatural fear. In the case of vampirism, any sort of disease or malformation of the human body might mean those afflicted were destined for un-death. Other inconsistencies like an inconvenient event might be interpreted as a curse or the effect of an evil spirit in the area.

The attributes of a vampire find their roots directly in misinterpretation of the decomposition of the human body. Villagers who suspected demonic or other influence upon their town would unearth the bodies of recently deceased. The common folk would, of course, assume without modern education that a body always decomposes at the same rate. This is untrue if buried in a sealed coffin in the winter. After death, the skin around the hair and fingernails recede, presenting an illusion that both the former and the latter have been growing. On top of this, internal bloating causes blood to come up from the stomach, leaving streaks of crimson along the mouth of the dead.

Imagine for a moment the horror; a group of common people whose loved ones are dying of tuberculosis unearth a deceased member of the village, only to find their body not only preserved, but possessing elongated fingernails and a streak of blood down the side of their mouth. Of course in modern day these things are understood the world over, but in the medieval world, this was undeniable proof of supernatural phenomena.

Given the level of ignorance of science, it becomes obviously clear that common fears of unfortunate events and the dead were incredibly easy to combine into pervasive myth.

(Re)Birth

This begs the question as to where the powerful legend of the vampire began. According to folklorists and historians, this is exceedingly difficult to pinpoint.

The human race has struggled since the dawning of communication to explain our universe. Several of the larger questions deal with our origins or what exactly gives us our life. Because of this, and lack of organized education or science in ancient times, we begin to develop belief systems to explain the unexplained. With this, blood becomes representative of our sacred life force.

This can be seen across a staggering number of cultures. Christians drink the blood the Christ, sects of Haitian Hoodoo use the blood of animals as well. A multitude of pagan beliefs use animal blood as sacrifice. Blood is seen to release special power. This makes sense as it courses through all forms of sentient life that ancient humans would come into contact with.

The idea of returning from the grave is just as old. In ancient Egyptian magical tradition, it was taught to preserve the ka, known as the "astral" part of the spirit. This ethereal part of the soul could leave the body, even after death. However, without some form of energy usually received through offerings, this being could not sustain itself and would turn to invading the homes other people and suck their life force.

With the combination of these ideas, we have the basis for the blood eating, life draining revenant that would someday inspire Bram Stoker to create the dark figure that dominates our interpretation of the vampire today.

Destiny

The story of the vampire's evolution doesn't stop at medieval Europe or ancient Egypt. Its power as a mercurial, evolving archetype is a long and storied history and can be traced alongside modern horror itself. It is a beast that grows and transforms based on what it consumes. That which is whatever is floating in our blood at the time. Sometimes he is awoken by superstition, and other times by the macabre creativity or a particular artist.

To be sure, the vampire will continue to evolve. It will be staked and burned, captured and thrown into the sunlight, only to sink into darkness and rise once again from the graveyard of our fears. That - which truly never stays dead.