Vampies are a staple in horror fiction the world over, the charismatic lady killer or

seductive succuby biting necks and sucking the blood of their victims as they sleep.

Equally popular in pop culture as they are to horror fans pouring over black and white B movies the character of the vampire

holds universal appeal and to most even those not usually prone to skepticism remain

completely fictional. How can we explain then the old folk stories stated

squarely and insistently as fact that vampires risen from the dead stalked

and terrorised entire villages at night.

Stranger still that remains excavated in Bulgaria, Slovakia and right across Europe,

staked into their coffins with iron nails, teeth removed and bricks forced into their gaping mouths

have been found in their hundreds, providing compelling evidence for said tales.

This is dark histories where the facts are worse than fiction.

The image that jumps into your mind when someone mentions vampires will most likely differ wildly depending on your age and location.

From the disturbing Count Orlock or the middle-aged pale face seduces of hammer films to the high school cataloged models of twilight.

Literature and popular culture has shaped what we imagine of a vampire for centuries.

Far from the rotting plague-bringers of medieval Bulgaria or the demon goddesses in ancient mythology, in the West and increasingly throughout the world, we're faced instead with numerous affluent

world-dressed vampires waiting to hunt prey at night or pop into the nail salon

for a quick manicure by day.

Before we dig too deeply on the long and grim history of vampires in the real world,

it's important to understand the distinction between what we expect of a vampire today

versus the blight infested monsters of folklore and more disturbingly the

reality of the Middle Ages and beyond.

It is often stated that the first work of pure fiction to include a vampire in its pages

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