Posted on 14th June 2012

Vampires!

Vampires have always been a popular feature of myths, legends and novels, and now some real vampire skeletons have been found in Bulgaria! Archaeologists have discovered two skeletons with iron rods in their chests. According to legend, driving a stake through the heart kills vampires and prevents people from turning into them. It is thought that the bones date from the medieval era, so they are really very old indeed! The practice of stabbing people in the heart was prevalent in eastern European villages until the early 20th Century and dates back thousands of years.

Eastern Europe is steeped in stories about vampires, and thanks to Bram Stoker’s famous novel, Dracula, there’s a castle that is linked to the deadly creatures. The 14th-Century castle in the Carpathian Mountains, about 100 miles north of Bucharest attracts thousands of visitors each year because Prince Vlad ‘the Impaler’, on whom Bram Stoker based Count Dracula lived there.

Although it is Stoker who is most famous for his novel about vampires, the creatures appeared in literature well before Dracula. In fact Lord Byron wrote about similar characters in his poem ‘The Giaour’. If you fancy reading Byron’s amazing poem, click here and you’ll find it.

Most recently vampires have been in the spotlight thanks to the immensely popular Twilight novels and films and the television programme Being Human.

If you’re a fan of vampire fiction, here are some links to book recommendations…
Click here and here.

Enjoy (and make sure you’re stocked up on garlic!).