Are vampires and werewolves real? Or are they simply myths and legends told to entertain and scare? Throughout history there have been sightings, cases, and unexplained facts that prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they do indeed exist. Skeptical people claim that there is a rational explanation for these events, but the proof of existence can be found anywhere. Vampires and werewolves, creatures that are held in awe and are feared by the general public, do exist, and they walk among us today.
Vampires
A vampire, the most awed creature of the night, is said to be “a corpse which refused to surrender their lives” that requires fresh blood from other living creatures in order to continue their undead lives (Bloomsbury Publishing, 1996, ¶1). The medical profession tries to reason with society and comes up with their explanations on these creatures, and on the other side, religious cults have arisen due to the allure of the true vampire. Both of these groups have their own opinions and claim to have the answer to the question of whether vampires exist or not, but neither one of them have conclusive evidence. Some medical professionals came up with explanations that apply to a limited amount of test subjects, and the cults claim that vampires are simply a religious group that follows their own beliefs. The vampire that has appeared in history, time after time, would definitely argue the truthfulness of these two groups.
The vampire that is well known throughout today’s society is the image of a sexual creature of the night that can change shapes at will, such as into a bat or a wolf. Stories also claim that vampires can be warded off with the use of garlic or crosses, and that they can be killed with wooden stakes driven through their hearts, or even by exposure to sunlight (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2006). These are simply ploys by the media used to increase sales by making the people fear the unknown. Vampires can not shape shift, they do not live forever, and they can not be killed by sunlight or driven off by garlic or crosses. A true vampire prefers the night because they are sensitive to the sunlight due to the lack of proper nutrients in their bodies, and they do not have inhuman strength, which is another concept made up by the media (Lee, 2002, ¶5).
The proof of existence can be found throughout history by documented cases and stories. One of the most accepted books in the world, The Bible, accounts three different vampire cases. The tales of Caine, Lilith, and Judas Iscariot all show that vampires have been a menace since the dawn of time. Of course, there are different interpretations of these biblical versus, but the vampire cults of today use the passages to prove that these three figures were condemned by God to eternally walk the earth, craving the blood of God or Jesus (Larae, Melissa, and Ransim, 2007). The only way to acquire the blood of these two would be through the blood of Christians. Therefore, the vampire was born.
The vampire case that is the most well known involves the Croglin Grange Vampire that occurred in Britain in the early 19th century. The story was told by Captain Fisher and was documented by an author of the time, Augustus Hare (Harrap, 2007, ¶2). The story is told by saying that Amelia Cranswell, while laying in bed one night in the Croglin Grange house in Cumerland, Cumbria, watched out the window as a vampire glided across the lawn and scratched at her window. The vampire broke a pane of glass out of the window, rushed into the room and bit Amelia on the neck. Amelia and her brothers consequently left their home for a short time and returned later in the fall of the same year. The following March, the vampire once again came to her window, but her brothers managed to chase it away. The brothers then went into town the next morning, gathered up some volunteers from the local village, and tracked the vampire down in its coffin in a vault in a nearby churchyard. The villagers burned the vampire and no other attacks have occurred in this area since.
Many other references to true vampire cases can be found in various reference materials, but the best source for actual documented stories would be from The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency (FVZA). This agency specializes in cases which normal police officers can not find solutions for, and they were formed by Ulysses S. Grant in 1868 after the Copper Creek Siege, which consisted of an entire California town being overtaken by a group of vampires (Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, 2008, ¶1). The following examples are a few selected cases from there files, along with their case numbers for easy referencing.
Report number 322. The Opium Vampires. On December 15, 1880 a San Francisco policeman spotted a vampire feeding on a prostitute and chased it off. Following this initial attack, attacks occurred in neighborhood that bordered Chinatown. All of these incidents’ had eye witnesses. The vampires were tracked down in an opium den in Chinatown and were destroyed. In the end, over 100 hundred vampires were killed. Along with this, the lead investigator, Jin Don Song, had to be put to death because he had sustained a bite while being ambushed during the raid (Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, 2008).
Report number 8369. The Andy Warhol Incident. On the morning of June 3, 1967 police dispatchers received a call from a frantic Andy Warhol, who claimed to have been attacked by a vampire. FVZA agents conducted their investigations and found that the female vampire, Olga Kulbis, had fled to her apartment that she shared with another vampire. The agents staked the apartment out, and exterminated the couple as they were leaving the building (Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, 2008).
Report number 9336.The Magic Wanda. On December 11, 1971 Ian Allen, who was the lead singer for the band Mr. Crowley, the first band signed to Led Zeppelin’s new label, was approached by a female vampire. Ian was infatuated by her so he walked out of the building trailing behind her. After 24 hours had passed, Ian showed up and after the show left with three women, who consequently disappeared. After an investigation, the FVZA found a den of vampires in a house located next to Cedars, the bar where Ian had resurfaced. The agents killed over 30 vampires with 12 agents being injured (Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, 2008).
The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency is a government supported group that specializes in vampire and zombie eliminations. Their files contain case after case of real vampires that they have had to eliminate over the years, which proves without question that vampires are real and that they live side-by-side with in today’s society..
The last form of vampirism that needs to be discussed is the vampire cults, which are religious groups that were formed in the 1970’s during the Gothic movement. Vampire communities of these kinds consider vampirism to be a religion and they follow their own believes. These groups deny the fact that vampires live forever, and they also deny the fact that they are only nocturnal people. According to this religion, a vampire can only be made at birth, and not by being bitten. The vampire goes through a phase called an awakening, where they realize what they are and then they seek out others with the same beliefs. Vampire communities do drink blood, from willing donors, but that is the only likeness to the actual vampire. Communities that claim to be vampires are simply people acting out on their personal beliefs, and as such they are just another religious group.
The final argument against true vampires comes from the medical field. These specialists have come to several conclusions to explain these creatures, and they claim that these medical conditions cause symptoms which resemble the conditions of a vampire. The three medical conditions that are being blamed are anemia, catalepsy, and porphyria (Vampire Vineyards, 2007). Anemia is a blood disease which causes the red blood cell count to be extremely low and this causes the symptoms of having a pale complexion and having digestive disorders. Catalepsy is a nervous system disorder which causes a person to appear dead. The final condition, which is the closest explanation that the medical professionals can give, is porphyria. This is a rare blood disease which gives a person the symptoms of sensitivity to light and the tightening of the skin around the gums. All these medical conditions explain a few conditions from which a vampire suffers from, but none of them can explain every symptom. The medical profession has found a way to explain vampirism, and what causes it, but after a little scrutiny, the fact remains that there is no logical explanation for the existence of a true vampire.
Werewolves
The werewolf, the most feared nocturnal creature, is “a man that turns into a wolf “then they devour animals, people, or corpses to sustain its life” (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2008). People try to say that the werewolf is a story made up to entertain and scare, and the medical profession states that there is a logical explanation for the numerous werewolf sightings. The truth is, though, that werewolves walk with us during the day and they feed in our communities at night.
The werewolf that is known by the general public is once again a blown out of proportion
description used by book writers and movie makers to increase sales. True werewolves do have to eat raw flesh in order to sustain life, and they can be found at night during any phase of the moon, but contrary to what the media portrays werewolves are not unstoppable. The silver bullet is a myth propagated by the media to increase the fear factor to their audiences. A werewolf can be killed with any type of normal weapon, as the following actual cases will show.
Documented cases throughout history show that the werewolf is more than just a legend. Even though, most cases do not involve unprovoked attacks or the slaughtering of innocent people, different people from different areas around the world describe the same type of creature. Following is a list of only a few documented sightings and cases that can be found in numerous references.
The first documented case of a werewolf was in the year 1000 when King Canute of England stated within one of his laws of the land: “lest the madly ravenous werewolves too savagely tear or devour too much from a godly flock (World Histories and Mysteries), for centuries.
In 1598, in Angers, France, a beggar named Roulette was found not far from a mangled corpse. Roulette was covered in blood and after an examination by detectives, human flesh was found under his fingernails. Roulette confessed to the crime, and answered the judge by stating that he had murdered the person while in the state of being a werewolf.
In 1958, in Greggton, Texas, Mrs. Delburt Gregg was lying in bed and heard a scratching at the bedroom window. As a bolt of lightning sparked across the sky she glimpsed a werewolf scratching at the screen that covered her window. The beast fled away when the lightning flashed and ran away into a clump of bushes. After a short time, out of that exact clump of bushes, an extremely tall man hurried out of the shrubs and left (Werewolves: Werewolf Sightings, 2008, ¶1-3).
The werewolves of Wisconsin have been sighted throughout recent history starting in 1936, and the last reported sighting was in October of 1999. Various stories accounted the sighting of the same type of creature, which due to firsthand accounts as well as footprints found at one of the scenes, was dubbed as the Bray Road Werewolf (Taylor, 2002).
Some medical professionals explain the reported sightings of werewolves by using three different medical conditions (Crystalinks, ¶32). Hypertrichosis, which is the excessive growth of hair that covers the entire body, is the first explanation given by medical professionals to explain why people see werewolves. The second medical condition that they attribute to the sightings of werewolves is porphyria, which is an enzyme disorder that causes hallucinations and paranoia. The third medical condition, called clinical lycanthropy, is a rare mental disorder that causes the affected person to believe that they can transform into an animal, including a wolf.
Final Thoughts
Are vampires and werewolves real? The documented cases prove that they are. There are many different groups that still claim that there is a rational explanation for these creatures, but the cold, hard truth is that vampires and werewolves do exist today. They work, play, and love right next to you during the day. But at night, they hunt.
References
Bloomsbury Publishing Vampires CREDO Database
Crystallinks Werewolf Crystallinks.com
Harrap, Chambers Grolin Grange Vampire CREDO Database
Encyclopedia Britannica Online Vampires and Werewolves Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency A History FVZA
Larae and Melissa Caine Aquilus.net
Lee, Ravena Dark Dreams Angelfire.com
Taylor. Troy Werewolves Prairieghosts.com
Vampire Vineyards Vampires Vampire.com
Werewolves Werewolf Sightings Hellhorror.com
World Histories and Mysteries Werewolf CREDO Database
