Arnold Paole was once attacked by a vampire, and even then he knew exactly what he had to do to save his soul. He followed the monster to its grave, then drove a stake through its heart and smeared its blood all over his body. Afterward, he often spoke of his achievement to the villagers, inspiring great admiration. Everything continued normally until Paole died from a broken neck. He was buried in the local cemetery. Soon after, some began to say that Arnold had been resurrected.
Residents complained of being harassed by Paole, and bodies were also found drained of blood. Rumors of a prowling vampire reached the Austrian army, and a group of officers was dispatched to investigate. They exhumed the body, and what they saw confirmed everyone's fears.
The officers found that Paole's body "was untouched by decomposition, with fresh blood oozing from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His old fingernails, toenails, and skin were replaced by new ones. Concluding that Paole was a vampire, they drove a stake through his heart, to which he responded with a loud groan, and blood flowed profusely from his body."
This is one of many cases of vampirism recorded by Austrian officers in the 1730s. The report, titled Visum et Repertum (Seen and Discovered), includes accounts of numerous other exhumations and vampire sightings. It is undeniable that something strange happened to the villagers' bodies after death, but are these really symptoms of vampirism?
David Farrant is a member of the British Psychical and Occult Society (BPOS) and has been known as a vampire hunter since 1970.
I began investigating reports of a tall, mysterious figure appearing in Highgate Cemetery in London, and one night I saw it myself. It was indescribably tall, over six feet tall, and had two orange pince-nez, which I mistook for eyes. I concluded the reports were true, which prompted BPOS to establish psychic contact with the figure.
One night, we arrived at the cemetery with a medium, but before we could begin, the police showed up and arrested me with what they called a stake and a crucifix in my hand. In reality, the stake was intended to be used to trace a circle on the ground where we planned to materialize the figure. The police charged me with entering a restricted area with the intent to commit an illegal act, believing I had gone there to neutralize a vampire.
Do you think vampires really exist?
Contrary to popular belief, no—at least not if a vampire is understood as an entity that sucks human blood. I believe vampire tales originate from attempts to explain attacks by succubi and incubi (spirits that enter into bodily contact with the living).
Does this have anything to do with the figure in the cemetery?
We found inverted pentagrams and black candles there, which I believe means that Satanists brought some evil spirit to this place that remained on earth.
Research conducted by scientists at the University of California indicates that 27 percent of Americans believe in the existence of vampires. When asked what a vampire looks like, they presented the figure of the specter that appears in hundreds of films devoted to the subject, whose origins lie in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula . The vampire is depicted there as a handsome aristocrat whose sexual preferences were open to both sexes. By day, he rests in his coffin in his castle, and at night, he goes out hunting for victims, from whom he can suck blood. Despite his extraordinary abilities, he is afraid of light, crosses, and the smell of garlic.
There is another type of vampire, present in many cultures around the world. This vampire differs significantly from the one encountered in literature and films. Instead of an eccentric, we are dealing with an ordinary peasant. He doesn't live in a castle, but in a cemetery, where he is usually buried without a coffin. Unlike the "worldly" aristocrat, he rarely ventures outside his village. As you can see, the difference between these two types is enormous.
The origins of folk beliefs in vampires can be traced back over two hundred years, when many diseases were undiagnosed and the phenomenon of human decomposition remained a mystery. Most people believed that illness and death came from God. Some cases led them to believe that a more sinister force was behind them.
Vampirism – Fiction or a Rationally Explainable Phenomenon?
Comparing eyewitness accounts of vampirism, such as the Austrian officers' report Visum et repertum , with current medical knowledge indicates that vampire legends were an attempt to "explain" incomprehensible phenomena related to illness and death.
"(...) he sucked their blood..." One of the vampire's most distinctive features was its teeth (long fangs). From a medical perspective, this phenomenon could be the result of ectodermal dysplasia, which causes most teeth to be short and blunt, giving the fangs an unnaturally long, conical appearance.
"Those who are killed by a vampire become vampires themselves." In the past, anyone who showed signs of a vampire attack—for example, fang-like marks—was suspected of being a vampire themselves. Many skin diseases, such as pemphigus vulgaris, cause bite-like wounds, which for many 18th-century villagers were sufficient evidence that a vampire was in the area.
"...she fed on human flesh...". Those suffering from scleroderma - a disease in which the lower lip can turn purple - were suspected of drinking human blood.
"At midnight, she emerged from hiding (...)." Vampires were nocturnal creatures, and light was believed to be lethal to them. Modern medicine recognizes diseases such as porphyria, one of whose symptoms is hypersensitivity to light. The affected person's skin is normally pale, but when exposed to light, it turns red and swells. In some cases, it blisters, develops sores, and the skin dies.
"Old fingernails fell off... and new ones grew in their place." As a body decomposes, fingernails may fall off, but they are not replaced by new ones. Reports of new hair, fingernails, and teeth growing back stem from two types of changes that the human body undergoes after death. First, muscles tighten, causing hair to stand on end; second, the skin around the fingernails and teeth shrinks, making them appear longer.
"The skin on the hands and feet was peeling off [revealing] new and fresh skin." Eyewitnesses might have thought the deceased had shed old skin, before which a new layer had grown. They were partially correct: as the body decomposes, the epidermis dies, exposing the dermis layer, which appears to be fresh tissue.
"She became unusually plump and looked very good." During the vampire epidemic, numerous exhumations were carried out in search of the culprits. If the unearthed corpse was red and swollen, a stake was usually driven through the heart and the body was then cremated. However, these signs of "life" were actually the result of gases accumulating in the rotting flesh and the darkening of the blood due to bacterial decomposition.
In times when medical knowledge was very limited, the blame was placed on supernatural factors, such as a vampire who had sucked the victim's blood to maintain his immortality. Subsequently, speculation arose that the "victim" also turned into a vampire.
The bodies of people who died suddenly were unearthed and searched for evidence of vampirism, including skin regeneration, the growth of new nails and hair, a ruddy complexion, and bleeding orifices. The specter was also said to moan and blow loudly.
Today, the phenomenon of decomposition has been scientifically explained. In the past, however, the processes a body underwent after burial were shrouded in mystery. As it turns out, what were considered signs of immortality were actually related to the process of decomposition.
During putrefaction, gases are drawn out, accumulating within the body, causing swelling. The delicate tissues of the genitals also fill with gases, which in men causes the reproductive organs to enlarge to a size rarely seen in living humans. In the past, a body exposed at this stage could appear well-nourished. An erection, on the other hand, could suggest that the corpse was, at least to some extent, sexually active.
After an exhumed corpse was deemed a vampire, a variety of methods were employed to ensure that the unfortunate soul could finally rest in peace. One of the most popular techniques was driving a sharpened stake into the ghost's heart. This resulted in a violent release of gases and fluids, accompanied by sounds resembling moans and the breaking of wind. In many cultures, the heart was extracted from the "vampire's" body, the rest was burned, and the ashes were drowned in a river.
If this didn't help, and cases of "vampirism" continued, a search for further bodies suggesting immortality began. Methods for catching vampires varied from country to country, but once the search began, it was certain to be successful. Suspicion fell not only on humans but also on animals.
In this way, an unknown infection could have resulted in the emergence of entire herds of vampires, especially if many people came into direct contact with decomposing bodies during their exhumation. Studying historical sources on vampirism, it must be acknowledged that the observations made were often accurate – the body could appear larger and healthier than in life. Corpses appeared to have new skin, longer nails, teeth, and hair, and appeared to be filled with fresh blood, which oozed from the nose, mouth, and other orifices. Sometimes the corpse also appeared to moan and break wind.
However, the interpretation of these observations was flawed, as the available medical knowledge was too limited. It is understandable why belief in vampires arose in so many different cultures – people tried to explain the phenomena of disease, death, and decay based on their own knowledge and experiences.
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