#vampire

#vampire

Facts About the Historical Vampires of EuropeThe modern concept we have of vampires came from the movies, which mostly came from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. The legends of vampires that go back hundreds of years in Europe were more like pop culture zombies. They were dead people who rose from their graves to kill the living. (As an aside, the term zombie came from Haitian tales of people who were resurrected and kept as slaves even after death. Our modern idea of zombies was cemented by the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.)Hundreds of years ago in Eastern Europe, death by mysterious means was rampant, due to wild animals, disease, and murderous bandits. Vampires were an explanation for many deaths, assisted by the strange way some human bodies decompose. The natural response to vampire fears was to bury the dead with insurance against their return, such as driving a stake through the body. When that didn't work, bodies were exhumed to further curb their powers. Besides the legends, we have archaeological evidence of defensive tactics against vampires. Read about those practices and the legends that spawned them at Mental Floss.(Image credit: Edvard Munch) #vampire #legend #folklore

The 25 Best Vampire Movies EverOkay, we are halfway through August, and it's time to check out some movies to make up your October horror playlist, or to include in your at-home Halloween film festival. The list of the 25 best vampire movies from IGN may be another movie list you can argue over, but it's more than just that. You know a vampire movie list that ranks the 1931 Dracula at number ten is wide-ranging. This list includes plenty of films made outside of Hollywood -all over the world, in fact- and probably includes some you've never seen, or even heard of. They aren't judged on any scale except quality, because it includes blockbusters, art films, experimental films, quiet psychological dramas, and a comedy or two. There's at least a Western! These movies range from violent (From Dusk Till Dawn) to trendy (The Lost Boys) to erotic (The Hunger) to ridiculous (Norway) to whatever floats your boat. So I wouldn't worry too much about the rankings; this list is better used as a portal to vampire stories you have yet to see. As for your Halloween film festival, some of them may take you a bit of time to round up for viewing. -via Digg #vampire #movie #horror #film

1369 Vampires Gather at Whitby AbbeyThe organization English Heritage is going all out to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. One of the events was a gathering of vampires at Whitby Abbey in North Yorkshire on May 26. The purpose was to break a Guinness World Record! They succeeded, with a total of 1369 people dressed as vampires all at once. To be considered "dressed," each participant had to wear black trousers with a waistcoat or shirt, or a black dress, plus a black cape or collared overcoat, and upper fangs. They had to stand together for five minutes to set the record. Oh, you can bet many pictures were taken, which you can see at BBC. Now, that's the kind of celebration you can sink your teeth into!English Heritage's year of Dracula centers around Whitby Abbey, which Bram Stoker visited in 1890 to drink in the Gothic setting for his vampire novel. Dracula fans visit the ruins at all times of the year, and some even ask where Dracula's grave is- forgetting for a moment that he is a fictional character. If you missed the record-breaking vampire gallery, you can still catch Dracula there. The story will be performed live every weekend from July 23rd to August 21st in front of the historic abbey.#Dracula #vampire #GuinnessWorldRecord #WhitbyAbbey    

Historic Inspirations for the Legend of VampiresWhile our modern idea of vampires has been codified by Count Dracula, stories of dead people returning as blood-sucking monsters have been around since ancient times. The legend varied by place, at least until Hollywood got hold of the idea. We don't know exactly who first told tales of vampires or vampire-like creatures, but it seemed to have happened in a lot of different places. The ancient myths seem to have arisen as a convenient way to explain why bad things happen. But there are natural phenomenon that added layers to the vampire myth.

The War Against the First Dracula FilmBram Stoker was not the first author to write about vampires, but his 1897 novel Dracula was the most widely-read up to that point, and established the concept of a vampire in the minds of his readers. It was the only novel Stoker wrote that was bringing in any money at the time of his death in 1912. Stoker's widow, Florence Balcombe Stoker, was not fond of Dracula, but she was fiercely protective of her husband's legacy, and the profit it produced. German expressionist filmmaker F.W. Murnau made a movie based on the novel, titled Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horrors, in 1922. The names of the characters were changed, but it was obviously the same story, which the producers admitted was "freely adapted" from the novel. But they did not ask the permission of Stoker's estate. When Florence Stoker heard of the movie, she went after the movie and its distributors with a vengeance, leading to a years-long court case. Thanks to a German version of "Hollywood accounting," there was no money to pay Stoker, so she set about destroying Nosferatu.As the greatest example of this phenomenon in film history, the copyright owner of what is essentially valuable intellectual property demanded every last print of an unauthorized adaptation be burned at the stake. Florence never saw Nosferatu; she had no interest in ever seeing Nosferatu. She only knew Nosferatu violated her rights and should be eradicated from the face of the Earth.This scheme not only destroyed Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horrors and came close to wiping it from history, but it also led to our popular image of Dracula that hardly resembled Stoker's character at all. Read what happened and the 100-year legacy of the cinematic Dracula at Den of Geek. -via Digg#vampire #Dracula #Nosferatu #BramStoker #FlorenceStoker #horror