Immortal Blood Drinkers

We've all seen the typical vampire hunter of fiction. He or she is armed with a crucifix, a wooden stake, and perhaps a vial of holy water or a bit of sacred wafer. Often, the hands that hold those items are trembling, and the look on the face of their holder is anything but one of confidence. Yet the hunter still enters the graveyard or castle lair of the vampire(often, too close to sunset for comfort), and eventually finds the undead. A struggle might then ensue, although sometimes the mortal is lucky enough to dispose of the fiend before it can awaken.
Interestingly, the vampire hunters portrayed is books and movies are not must different from their historical counterparts. It is the "real-life" vampires and their surroundings that are different. Forget about the castles shown in the movies. Also forget about the eerie night-time encounters with the undead, or any struggles they might give upon being discovered. The real-life hunters had it much easier.
The only lair the hunters visited was a graveyard(in the daytime, and in large numbers); the only foes they faced were bodies that did not come to life in any way, yet displayed "obvious signs of the vampire condition." Strange things were reported when bodies were staked, but an alleged vampire never attacked a hunter. Were those corpses really undead, or simply mistaken as such by people who couldn't possibly know any better given their medical knowledge?
Here we'll attempt to answer that question by examining documented cases of immortal blood drinkers in folklore. Because most of the witnesses discussed in the cases were the hunters themselves, it seemed only fitting to begin this discussion with their mention. Of course, there are also the testimonies of the victims who managed to survive a vampire's attack for at least one night. However, these accounts were often taken down by the hunters, who might have been influenced by their own preconceived notions.
The following should become evident shortly: Of the four types of vampires described, the evidence that supports the existence of immortal blood drinkers is the weakest, primarily because of its age(the most recent case here is seventy-five years old). "Facts" reported many years ao are not verifiable and cannot always be accepted blindly(neither can "facts" reported today, for that matter; tabloids are proof of that).
Therefore, please explore the following pages with an open mind. Both sides of the evidence will be presented in each ease: the eye-witness accounts, as well as some possible non-vampiric explanations for the phenomena. Finally, when our examination of the cases is complete, we'll take a look at some of the occult theories put forth that attempt to explain the existence of immortal blood drinkers.
You might notice that a few of the vampires mentioned display some phantom-like attributes. In fact, Peter Plogojowitz, was just such a vampire. However, phantom-like attributes do not necessarily make a creature a psychic vampire. Because blood drinking was associated with the aforementioned case, and because the alleged undead was disposed of in the same way as other immortal blood drinkers, the case is included here.

Arnold Paole and His Successors

Peter Plogojowitz

The Vampires of Haidamaque

Let's now look at a couple of cases from other regions in Europe, starting with this tale from England.

The Croglin Grange Vampire

The Vrykolakas of Pyrgos

Some Occult Explanations

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