Vampires: Overly Romantisized?

There is a deep history behind the myth of Vampires, they were though to be unholy creatures of the night that feasted on the essence of the living. They were not sweet nor romantic, and they did not save themselves for marrige. In later literature they were viewed as highly sexual, classy beings that had a conscience. Anne Rice was one of the main people to introduce this new view on the Vampire culture and fiction. Even now people are fascinated with Vampires, but are they bothering to look into the past and see where the myth has started?"

The original legend was based off of Romanian Warlords and bloodthirsty nobility. Many said that it all started with my ancestor. Vladamir Tepes also known as, Vlad the Impaler, Vlad Dracul, or Dracula. He was a Transylvanian ruler that conquered his enemys and put them to death in a rather brutal way. He resided in the now crumbling Poienari Castle in the mountains above the Arges River. He had a special hatred towards adulterous wives and women that had sex out of wedlock. He would often cut off their breasts, skin them and have them impaled in the town square, with their skin sitting on a table beside their body. His harsh punishments were probably one of the reason that one of the first famous Vampires were based off of him.

There is another Romanian that has become famous for what they call Historical Vampirism. Her name was Elizabeth Bathory. She was a Countess that is remembered as the "Blood countess". She was known for her penchant for taking young virgins from neighboring villages and having her assistants drain them of their blood so that she could bathe, shower and even drink it. She did this because she believed that their blood would make her appear younger. This may be one of the reasons that in modern Vampire myths they are listed as "immortal". But The "Blood Countess" Was discovered, Tried and sentenced to being barricaded in her bedroom for the rest of her life. She died in the year 1614 on the 21st of august.

There are many accounts of historical Vampirism, far too many to list in this article. But the movie twilight in many's opinions is not a true characterization of a Vampire. If anyone should look up medieval and more recent accounts of Vampirism there is little romance about it. They are depicted as either extremely sensual/sexual or as bloodthirsty. Your opinion of Twilight is your own. But these are the real accounts of the humans that the now world known myth of modern Vampires were based off of.