Famous Vampires

This section is dedicated to the famous cases of vampirism, as they were considered at the time they occurred. Today, we would probably call it mass-murders.

The two main characters that inspired Dracula are Vlad The Impaler and Erzsebeth Bathory. Let us not forget Gilles de Rais “Blue Beard” who lived in the same period and is also considered by many as a true vampire. The involvement of demons in the latter case is relevant for many other stories of vampire.  

In the twentieth century, the concept of clinical vampirism was developed to account for such behaviors. It is described as "the act of drawing blood from an object (usually a love object) and receiving resultant sexual excitement and pleasure". The condition is believed to be a rare form of schizophrenia and has been displayed by numerous serial killers, the most famous being Jeffery Dahmer.