Mortal Blood Drinkers of the Past

Dracula. The name has become synonymous with vampirism in the past century thanks to Bram Stoker's 1897 movel of the same name and Bela Lugosi's portrayal of the character on the screen. Of course, the Dracula of the silver screen does not closely resemble the literary Dracular. Whoever reads the novel after seeing any of the hundreds of images of vampires that fill stores every Halloween is likely to be quite shocked.
Lugosi's Dracula, a portrayal that has been copied again and again, was a sophisticated-looking monster dressed in a tuxedo and cape. Stoker's Dracula never wore a cape(the cape was an invention of Hamilton Dean, who adapted Dracula as a play). Lugosi was considered by many to be a very handsome vampire, which is anothe contrast to the literary Dracula, who was an almost animal-like creature with ears that were "at the tops extremely pointed", hairy palms, and sharp nail.
There are, of course, differences between other actors who played Dracula and the literary count in Stoker's novel, but those variations between print and film are not the end of our Dracula comparison. It seems that there are also a few differences between Stoker's Dracula and, as you might have guessed, the real Dracula.
Who was the man who inspired the world's most famous literary monter? According to those who wrote about the real Dracula's endless atrocities, he was a monster as well. In fact, as we shall see, Vlad Dracula committed many acts that rival the literary Dracula when it comes to cruelty. However, why did Stoker turn him into a vampire in his novel? Was Dracula a vampire?
The creatures dscribed in the pages that follow possessed no supernatural powers, yet still thrived off the blood of others. They are the mortal blood drinkers of the past--humans who earned the title of "monster" or "vampire" because their unexplainable bloodlust. Prepare yourself for a look at some terrifying mortals who have proven, in some cases concretely, that their category of vampire exists.

Vlad Dracula
The Blood Countess
Gilles de Rais
Fritz Haarman
John Haigh

Back to Mortal Blood Drinkers of the Past
Back to Main Page