The Different Types of Vampires Throughout History

Iconic vampires in pop culture include Dracula, Angel, and Edward Cullen, but the lore can be traced back even further than the earliest thought of each of these icons. Doctor Guiley, a paranormal enthusiast, has researched countless tales of vampires, and has been able to divide her research into five different generalized areas. Doctor Murgatroyd, a professor of humanities at McMaster University, has studied references to vampires and other supernatural creatures throughout the literary history of our world. Doctor Jason Dittmer, a professor of Geology and Geography at Georgia Southern University, speculated on why Dracula was centered in Transylvania, and how it represented the mindset of the world at that point in time.

Doctor Rosemary Ellen Guiley classifies five different kinds of vampires in her book The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters. Folkloric vampires, living vampires, literary vampires, psychic vampires, and psychotic vampires are all distinctly different. According to her, they all share a few common traits and a few distinctly different ones. She defines vampires as, “a supernatural entity, revenant or supernaturally endowed person who attacks living things, weakening and possibly destroying them.” This is the broader term that applies to all the different types, though each type is, within itself, distinctly separate from its fellows.

Folkloric vampires are classified as “demonic beings who have supernatural powers and characteristics and drain the vitality or blood from the living.” According to Dr. Guiley, such vampires were said to have died suddenly and violently. Sometimes the deaths would be unnatural, causing the body to become reincarnate. Some examples of optional deaths include ...

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...s and vampire lore have been present all throughout European history. It is not a new fad to find vampires and other bloodsuckers in pop culture. Though science has more-or-less made the fear of vampires virtually nonexistent, they are still shown in many a horror film in the cinema. While vampires and the dark are combated often in modern society, human still fear these blood-sucking creatures of the night.

Works Cited

Dittmer, James “Teaching the Social Construction of Regions in Regional Geography Courses;

or, Why Do Vampires Come from Eastern Europe?” Journal of Geography in Higher Education 30.1 (2006): 49-60, PDF

Guiley, Rosemary E. The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters. New

York: Visionary Living, 2005. Print.

Murgatroyd, Paul. Mythical Monsters in Classical Literature. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co,

Ltd, 2007. Print.