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A brief introduction of Vampires

Perhaps one of the most famous legends of them all, The Vampire.

The Vampire has played a part of peoples lives since as early as the first century. Originating in the European culture of the Slavic; creating the doorway for the mythology to spread to the greeks and eventually throughout Europe.

Interestingly enough, Mexico,  without any influence from the Europeans and before any first know contact by the Spanish in the 1500’s were known to have their own version of the Vampire. In Mayan the Vampire was called Camazotz.

“In Mayan lore, the Camazotz is a monstrous mix of a human male body with a head of a bat that may have developed its origins from the vampire bats of South America. The Camazotz personifies death and sacrifice, and people greatly fear the caves that are thought to be his lair.” -Karg.

Perhaps this Mayan encounters with the Vampire bats lead to tales, and the tales lead to legends. And traveling with the legends of the Mayan encounters with the Vampire bats lead to the modern association of the Bat and the Vampire.

It was not until the 1800’s that writers took the legend and began to create and elaborate on the elusive Vampire. Then, in the 1900’s the world took the words of many tales and lores and created ever lasting images in the minds of everyday people by putting them on the big screen. Vampire movies were born.

References

Karg, Barb, Arejean Spaite, and Rick Sutherland. The Everything Vampire Book. Massachusetts: Adams Media, 2009.