Vampirism

The following is provided by... Wikipedia.

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in many cultures and in spite of speculation by literary historian Brian Frost that the "belief in vampires and bloodsucking demons is as old as man himself", and may go back to "prehistoric times", the term vampire was not popularized until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe, although local variants were also known by different names, such as vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to mass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism.

While even folkloric vampires of the Balkans and Eastern Europe had a wide range of appearance ranging from nearly human to bloated rotting corpses, it was the success of John Polidori's 1819 novella The Vampyre that established the archetype of charismatic and sophisticated vampire; it is arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century, inspiring such works as Varney the Vampire and eventually Dracula.

However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula that is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and which provided the basis of modern vampire fiction. Dracula drew on earlier mythologies of werewolves and similar legendary demons and "was to voice the anxieties of an age", and the "fears of late Victorian patriarchy". The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, video games, and television shows. The vampire is such a dominant figure in the horror genre that literary historian Susan Sellers places the current vampire myth in the "comparative safety of nightmare fantasy".

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Personally, I have always been fascinated by the subject of Vampirism. There is something truly magical and tantalizing about the possibility of ever-lasting immortality, such as is portrayed by Bram Stoker's novel.

But also, let's not forget where Mr. Stoker had originated his idea of a "walking dead guy" that had the need to feed off of the blood of the living...

And that would be in regards to Vlad The Impaler (Vlad's Story). He was a ruthless, dark, murderous ruler who had those he had captured staked *ALIVE* and then captured their blood in a cup and drank of it. Hence the true origin of Stoker's 'Dracula' character.

Although Vlad The Impaler dies, his alter ego, Dracula lives on in novels, movies, cartoons and even in CEREAL (Count Chocula).

                                   Mr. Bram Stoker, author of "Dracula" (1897)

               One of the most modern Television shows of my generation, "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" (based off of movie of the same name, featuring Kristy Swanson)

                               The most infamous "Dracula" portrayal of all time.. Bella Lugosi.

                              Vlad The Impaler, original ideal for Stoker's novel.

               
                                  Depiction of impaling prisoners of Vlad's. As you can see, Vlad would DINE at the impalings of his victims and drink of their blood that is collected.

       

                              Personally, I have never tried this cereal. Surprising, I know (lol)! But maybe one day I will. After all, I would kill for chocolate. (=

Poltergeists. It's not like in the movies!

You may have heard of, or have even seen the early 1980's movie, 'Poltergeist'. It revolves around a little girl named Carol Ann, who comes in to contact with an evil entity. This "man" reeks havoc among the girl and her family. The classic, and very well-known, timeless line is... "They're heeeeeere!", as Carol Ann sits in front of the family's television set.

A 'poltergeist' is what is also known as a "noisy ghost". Actually that is what the name is derived from, which is a German definition.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poltergeist

"About this sound Poltergeist (from German poltern, meaning "to rumble", "to make a noise" and Geist, meaning "ghost" or "spirit") is in mythology and folklore a ghost, spirit, entity, demonic spirit or being that manifests itself by creating noise or moving objects."

For the most part, Poltergeist Ghosts are not harmful. They move things, hide things and make noises to be heard and to communicate. Not to physically hurt you. Most cases are generally 'normal' and the people affected are not harmed.

Personally, I have had this sort of thing happen when I was a teenager. Though, it did not happen to me personally, the whole family unit was affected.

My grandma (Nana) had this one pair of reading glasses. She normally sat them beside her favorite chair, where she could read under the lamp light.

One day, she was looking for them and asked me to hunt them down. Of course I looked EVERYWHERE. I scoured the place top to bottom. As did my father and my step-mother.

For three solid WEEKS, we all looked for the reading glasses. To no avail. Of course, I got pegged for hiding them out of spite. At the time, Nana didn't believe that there was ghostly activity, and as a hard-core Catholic, vehemently stated that ghosts are of the devil's work.

We looked ALL over, high and low. Even in places that we should not have had to look in. Then, my step-mother struck gold! She found the glasses. But in the most unusual of places. It made all of our jaws drop. And made my Nana (finally) a believer.

My step-mom opened the china cabinet (as she did EVERY night for the last three weeks and before) to get the dishes out for dinnertime. Sitting there on the GOOD set of dishes, was my grandmother's reading glasses. Right there in plain sight. And they just "magically" appeared there.

There are other instances of hearing footsteps and things moving, and even voice activity that I alone have experienced. But that one really stood out to me. And the list is just too freaking long to talk about in one post (LOL).

Here is a book Author that I *highly* recommend to read. Including this book, out of the many he has written about all types of ghostly hauntings.

Here is a video of what types of Poltergeist activities CAN occur. All cases are extremely different. It is also has Ed and Loraine Warren (who are now both deceased), who are highly recommended and knowledgeable Demonologists. Some of what you are about to see, WILL shock you and make you think.