The Bloody Truth About Vampires

Just my thoughts

I love vampire stories, especially the ones where the hunky male can shapeshift, mesmerize his victim and then indulge in kinky pleasures. Seriously, I’m jealous that Bram Stoker found a way to create an everlasting character from a real-life diabolical source. Yes, it’s always best to start at the beginning.

Vlad Tepes—the atrocious source

Count Dracula, the fictional character created by Bram Stoker in 1897, is based on the depraved exploits of Vlad the Impaler, a 15th-century Wallachia (modern-day Romania) prince. Vlad Tepes is renowned for his sadistic brutality, especially during his war with the Ottoman Empire. For instance, he flayed and cooked living people, forced mothers to EAT their children, and, most notably, executed his victims by impaling them. ( I would opt for beheading by axe, which seems like a swifter end than a spike through the torso while alive and praying for death.) Vlad didn’t invent impaling. He simply used the method to kill thousands. A notorious example of his sadistic cruelty was noted when the military leader Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II reached the Targoviste city. He saw approximately 24,000 impaled Turks decaying on wooden stakes (some poor souls had been impaled while alive) and stuck upright in the earth, where they rotted. I can imagine the rivers of blood, birds plucking out soft bits—eyes, nose, innards—and the overwhelming stench. The grisly sight had to have been haunting. Some people love the macabre, and to this day, the fiend’s fortress is a popular tourist destination.  

So Why the Attraction with Dracula?

Although Vlad Tepe is a national hero in his country, most of the world tends to view the sadistic exploits of the actual person as depraved. We wonder, if he had been analyzed, would psychiatrists condemn his behaviors as psychopathic or sociopathic? His indifference to life and excessive cruelty do indicate some type of pathological hatred. I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist, or sociologist. Nah. But what I find fascinating is how Bram Stoker morphed this human demon into an enduring character. AND let’s give credit to the movie industry, too, because primarily due to Bela Lugosi’s portrayal of him on the silver screen, the monstrous Vlad Tepes was fictionalized as an alluring sex symbol. It isn’t odd that the penetration of a vampire’s teeth also hints at another kind of penetration. Or maybe it’s just me.

So—with a few notable exceptions, such as Stephen King’s, Salem’s Lot, or the creepy Nosferatumovies, many vampires are portrayed as young, or youngish, downright sexy, and often quite sinister. While some people find real-life serial killers fascinating (and they have groupies), those embracing the fictional Dracula mystique are drawn to his magnetic aura while understanding it is fantasy based on remnants of fact.

Ah, yes, Dracula.

His sensual kisses offer everlasting life, and for those hapless youths who die early in his embrace, his oral caresses also promise eternal beauty. There’s no worry of ever growing old. The price for perpetual youth, of course, can be a dealbreaker—losing sunlight and indulging in meals primarily consisting of blood.

Still, there is something very sexy about giving up your power, your control, to a handsome or beautiful stranger who enters your bedroom and, with only their sultry gaze, demands your love and consent. And why not? I’m only fantasizing, you tell yourself, it isn’t real. Then they crawl over your willing body, and you enjoy the most mind-blowing sex ever, so much so that when they bite, you really don’t mind.