“How then are we to begin our strife to destroy him? How shall we find his where; and having found it, how can we destroy?”
So Bram Stoker wrote in his infamous novel Dracula, published in 1897. Dracula, the compelling creature of the night, gained immortality by biting the swan-like necks of fair maidens and sucking their blood. A most terrifying figure, he was also portrayed as handsome aristocrat, well-dressed, and impeccably groomed (he was, after all, a count). He was dangerously seductive until the moment he sunk his teeth into a beautiful woman’s alabaster neck, upon which his face turned ghostly, exposing his pointed teeth and flaming red eyes. It was feared that women would invariably succumb to his charms.
The vampire is one of the most pervasive and recognizable symbols of evil in Western culture. He possesses supernatural powers; he is different than other evil monsters such as the hairy werewolf or clumsy Frankenstein. He is not easily recognizable. The image of the vampire is flexible. He can be so many different things -- a threat to society, at the same time he can serve as an enticement from our hum-drum lives. He is alluring and that kind of phenomenon, a supremely evil creature disguised as a man of charm and good breeding, has tremendous appeal in our culture. The concept is seductive.
So impressive was the impact of the vampire on certain people -- so real did he seem to be -- that people were warned to have weapons to deal with the presence of a vampire.
Steven's Auctions: Fully equipped with holy water, garlic, cross and candles, this kit sold in October 2008 for $15,000.What was the origin of these objects? Some vampirists claim such kits were common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, while others claim many were more likely assembled following the publication of Bram Stoker's Dracula and marketed to anxious British travelers to Eastern Europe. Forests were dense and the fog heavy in Eastern Europe. Tourists took a huge chance by going there; if they did they needed the protection.
Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA
A Professor Ernst Blomberg’s name appears on the label of many of these kits. On it he requests that the purchaser of the kit carefully studies the kit and should evil manifestations become apparent, he is adequately equipped to deal with them efficiently. The existence of Professor Blomberg has not been confirmed. Whether the whole things was a hoax or not, it didn’t matter; the image of the vampire in Western imagination was very vivid and real.
One thing is for sure and that is these kits have been selling for a lot of money on the market.
Garth's Auctions: September 1, 2006Why are we so fascinated with vampires? This fascination did not begin with Stoker, two centuries prior to the publication of his book; there was a hysterical rash of vampire epidemics reported in Eastern Europe. In 1704 a book entitled Magia Posthuma was published by a Catholic lawyer named Karl Ferdinand von Schertz. Von Schertz examined reports of the living dead who roamed about in Moravia and other places and harming the living. Two decades later Austrian officials were investigated a similar case that was reported in northeastern Serbia. The locals there called the mysterious figure a “vampire”.
As the decades went on more cases were reported. Local people developed several means by which they could control a vampire’s activities. The best method to neutralize a vampire was to drive a wooden stake through his heart. To be on the safe side, it was recommended that the vampire be decapitated and his body burned.
In Russia, Romania and the Balkan States, people in the eighteen century believed that the soul didn’t depart from the body it inhabited until forty days after death. They also believed that the soul could linger for years, which would delay decomposition of the body. To check on this, bodies were dug up after a period of years. If, after a certain length of time, there was no evidence of decomposition, it was believed that the corpse was that of a vampire. However, if there was evidence of decomposition, the bones were cleaned with water and wine, wrapped in linens and reburied.
Vampire kit disguised as a book. Garth’s Auctions – September 1, 2006
The vampire phenomenon caught on quickly in certain parts of Europe. By 1734, for example, the word “vampire” had entered in the English language. Those early vampires were described as frightening grotesque. Their bloated faces turned purple from drinking blood; their fingernails grew long, and their bodies exuded a horrific smell. Out of fear, knowing that vampires could appear dead when they were just sleeping, as a precautionary measure, people would dig up graves, open the coffins and ram a stake into the hearts of the corpses.
In 1755, Empress Maria Theresa sent a renowned scientist to the Slavic region to find out more about vampires. She began passed laws forbidding the exhumation and destruction of corpses. The Habsburg Empire brought the oral folklore from the Balkans and Transylvanian region to the Western mind.
Sotheby’s: April 20, 2007. Realized: $7,200
Gradually, the vampire motif began to creep into the European consciousness. It attracted the attention of artists, scientists, clergy, and scholars and of course the general population. It also caught the imagination of poets and authors of gothic fiction which by the mid-eighteenth century had become very important to middle-class Victorians. Dead corpses were believed to be able to rise through the earth; tales of this phenomenon were written down, plays were performed. By the time of the Victorian era, the fear of decomposing corpses, and all the harm they could cause, infected the society to an almost hysterical degree.
Sotheby's, New York: October 8, 2004. Estimated: $4,000-$6,000; realized price: $26,400
In it contains:
(1) An efficient pistol with its usual accoutrements
(2) Silver bullets
(3) An ivory crucifix
(4) Powdered flowers of garlic
(5) A wooden stake
(6) Professor Blomberg's new serum
Dracula represents a universal fear of premature burial, wherein a person might appear to be dead but is actually still alive. Why we still have this fascination, I am not sure, but it translates across genders and we see movies and television shows about it. One thing for sure, is vampires are always good looking, well-poised and very refined. You don’t see any hillbilly vampires.
Check out the vampire kit at Manions Internatonal Auction House.