00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.310
There are few creatures in history that have

00:00:03.310 --> 00:00:06.349
managed to remain quite as fascinating, terrifying,

00:00:06.889 --> 00:00:09.529
and let's be honest, weirdly attractive as the

00:00:09.529 --> 00:00:13.589
vampire. Today, vampires are everywhere. They're

00:00:13.589 --> 00:00:16.129
in films, they're in television, they're in books,

00:00:16.370 --> 00:00:18.730
they're in Halloween decorations. We've gone

00:00:18.730 --> 00:00:20.609
for being terrified that a vampire might call

00:00:20.609 --> 00:00:23.449
out of a grave, so wondering whether we'd actually

00:00:23.449 --> 00:00:26.589
quite like one to bite us. But here's the interesting

00:00:26.589 --> 00:00:29.780
thing. The vampire didn't start out as the handsome

00:00:29.780 --> 00:00:32.759
mysterious cape wearing heartthrob that we know

00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:36.219
today, far from it. The original vampire was

00:00:36.219 --> 00:00:39.840
something much darker, something diseased, something

00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:43.539
monstrous and in some cases something that people

00:00:43.539 --> 00:00:46.420
genuinely believed was responsible for entire

00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:49.320
communities becoming sick and dying. So where

00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:51.880
did the vampire actually come from and how do

00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:55.600
we go from terrifying undead creatures to Dracula

00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:59.479
to Twilight? Well, let's go right back to the

00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:27.780
beginning. Hello everybody, Ash Ellis here on

00:01:27.780 --> 00:01:30.480
Pursuit The Paranormal Podcast. If you follow

00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.239
our social media, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram,

00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:37.959
I recently did a six part series all about the

00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:41.980
vampires and the true history of this strange

00:01:41.980 --> 00:01:46.159
creature that's rooted in folklore. So this episode

00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:49.120
is going to be going in a bit deeper, into a

00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:51.620
bit more depth, into a bit more into the real

00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:57.780
history of the legend of vampire. So, grab a

00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:01.599
drink, get settled in, and let's find out together.

00:02:02.659 --> 00:02:05.040
So starting with the origins of the vampire,

00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:09.180
the history goes back thousands of years. We're

00:02:09.180 --> 00:02:11.979
talking about the cradle of civilization itself,

00:02:12.759 --> 00:02:16.639
ancient Mesopotamia, sometime between 2000 and

00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:21.020
3000 BC. And this is where we start seeing legends

00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:24.300
about supernatural beings that preyed upon humans.

00:02:24.810 --> 00:02:28.770
One example is Lamastu, a female demon said to

00:02:28.770 --> 00:02:32.129
prey upon children and drink their blood. There's

00:02:32.129 --> 00:02:35.370
also Lilitu, another supernatural figure associated

00:02:35.370 --> 00:02:39.490
with attacks on humans. But the idea wasn't limited

00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:42.550
to Mesopotamia. The ancient Greeks had their

00:02:42.550 --> 00:02:45.650
own terrifying creatures. One of them was the

00:02:45.650 --> 00:02:48.389
Empouser, a shape -shifting demon that was said

00:02:48.389 --> 00:02:51.949
to feed on humans. So even thousands of years

00:02:51.949 --> 00:02:54.639
ago, Humans were already telling stories about

00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.340
creatures that looked like us but weren't quite

00:02:57.340 --> 00:03:00.400
human, and eventually these stories developed

00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:03.719
into something much closer to what we would recognise

00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:07.520
as a vampire. When we move forward through history,

00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:10.979
Eastern Europe becomes particularly important.

00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:14.740
Countries such as Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria,

00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:18.740
Romania, and parts of Eastern Russia developed

00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:21.319
some of the oldest and most detailed vampire

00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:24.479
traditions. And of course, there's one place

00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:28.939
that immediately springs to mind. Transylvania.

00:03:29.539 --> 00:03:36.319
I'm just a sweet transvestite, transsexual transylvania.

00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:43.979
Sorry, can't help myself. The word vampire itself

00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:46.680
has a fascinating history. One of the earliest

00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:48.780
written references associated with the vampire

00:03:48.780 --> 00:03:55.740
goes back to 147 CE when the word upye appeared

00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:59.000
in a Russian text and apparently it may have

00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:02.180
actually been used as an insult. There are theories

00:04:02.180 --> 00:04:04.319
that it referred to a prince who wasn't particularly

00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.680
popular. Basically calling someone a vampire

00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:10.180
may have been the medieval equivalent of saying

00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:13.439
you're an absolute nightmare mate. The exact

00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:15.919
details are murky though. And that's one of the

00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:18.519
problems with vampire history. We're dealing

00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.800
with centuries of folklore, rumours, superstition

00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:24.759
and stories that were passed from one person

00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:28.399
to another, generation to generation. And somewhere

00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.079
along the way, the vampire became increasingly

00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.079
associated with the dead returning from the grave.

00:04:34.860 --> 00:04:37.120
In Romania, for example, there was the belief

00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.279
in the Strigoi, an undead spirit that could rise

00:04:40.279 --> 00:04:43.839
from the grave, spread disease, cause chaos.

00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:48.040
and drink the blood of the living? Sound familiar?

00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.279
It should. Because when you picture something

00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:54.160
like Nosferatu, you're looking at an image that

00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:56.480
is heavily connected to these older traditions.

00:04:57.660 --> 00:04:59.899
And here's where things get particularly interesting.

00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:03.379
A lot of vampire folklore may actually have been

00:05:03.379 --> 00:05:05.620
people's attempt to explain something that they

00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:09.319
didn't understand. And we're talking about disease.

00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:13.220
For centuries, people didn't have the medical

00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:16.180
knowledge that we have today they didn't understand

00:05:16.180 --> 00:05:20.040
bacteria they didn't understand how many diseases

00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:23.279
actually spread they didn't have modern diagnostic

00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.600
tools so when something happened that nobody

00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:30.360
could explain they needed an explanation and

00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:34.160
sometimes the explanation was supernatural and

00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.160
this is where vampires become particularly fascinating

00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.800
because several diseases have been suggested

00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.360
as possible influence on vampire folklore. One

00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.620
of the most common disgust is a blood disorder

00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:57.379
called porphyria. So many words in this story

00:05:57.379 --> 00:06:00.240
that I struggle to pronounce but I will try my

00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:03.300
best. One of the reasons it gets linked to vampire

00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:05.660
legends is because some forms of the condition

00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:10.060
can cause extreme sensitivity to sunlight and

00:06:10.060 --> 00:06:12.720
if you're extremely sensitive to sunlight you're

00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:14.339
probably not going to be spending much time outside

00:06:14.339 --> 00:06:17.399
in the middle of the day there's also another

00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:21.540
possible connection porphyria can also cause

00:06:21.540 --> 00:06:24.300
changes around the gums which can make the teeth

00:06:24.300 --> 00:06:28.819
appear more prominent almost like fangs and then

00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:31.720
there's garlic certain forms of this disease

00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:34.379
can be aggravated by compounds that are found

00:06:34.379 --> 00:06:37.120
in garlic So imagine living hundreds of years

00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:39.540
ago, watching someone become extremely unwell

00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:42.639
in the sunlight, noticing changes to their appearance,

00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:46.360
and seeing that garlic seems to make things worse.

00:06:47.300 --> 00:06:49.160
But you don't know what a blood disorder is,

00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:52.540
you don't understand the science. So what explanation

00:06:52.540 --> 00:06:55.339
do you come up with? Maybe they're a vampire.

00:06:56.459 --> 00:06:58.480
And then there's another disease which you will

00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:01.959
have heard of, with some remarkably vampire -like

00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:07.040
characteristics. Rabies. Think about it. Rabies

00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:10.120
spread through biting. Vampires bite people.

00:07:10.779 --> 00:07:14.360
Rabies can cause sensitivity to light. Vampires

00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.740
avoid sunlight. It can cause aggressive and erratic

00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:22.779
behaviour. Again, very vampire -like. So that

00:07:22.779 --> 00:07:25.100
doesn't mean vampires were simply people with

00:07:25.100 --> 00:07:29.060
rabies or porphyria. I'm not saying that. But

00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:30.779
when you look at the symptoms of illnesses that

00:07:30.779 --> 00:07:33.639
people didn't understand, You can start to see

00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.560
how certain elements of vampire folklore may

00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:40.360
have developed, and it gets even darker. Because

00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:43.639
diseases didn't just influence the stories, they

00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.339
may have also influenced what people did with

00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:50.199
the dead. So, come with me now, let's imagine

00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:53.860
a small community. Someone dies, their body is

00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:57.060
buried, then a few days or weeks later somebody

00:07:57.060 --> 00:08:00.540
else becomes seriously ill. Then another person.

00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:04.540
Then another. Maybe livestock start dying, cows

00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:08.800
and sheep start dying, maybe crops fail, maybe

00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.480
something else goes wrong, and suddenly someone

00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:16.220
says, maybe the dead person is responsible. So

00:08:16.220 --> 00:08:19.519
the grave is opened, the body is examined, and

00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.420
people might discover things that, with modern

00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:25.319
eyes, look horrifying. The body may appear swollen,

00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:28.540
there may be blood around the mouth, the hair

00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:31.759
and nails may appear to have grown. None of these

00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:34.240
things necessarily mean the person has returned

00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:37.440
from the grave, their natural parts of decomposition,

00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:43.159
but people didn't know that, not everybody. So

00:08:43.159 --> 00:08:45.879
the conclusion became, the vampire has returned,

00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:49.539
and sometimes the response was brutal. Bodies

00:08:49.539 --> 00:08:52.759
could be exhumed, organs could be removed, and

00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.179
in some cases those organs were burned, all because

00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:58.480
people believed they were stopping the dead from

00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.750
harming the living. And you think that's horrifying.

00:09:02.809 --> 00:09:06.929
Wait until you hear about Mercy Brown. In the

00:09:06.929 --> 00:09:10.230
late 1800s in Royal Exeter, Rhode Island in the

00:09:10.230 --> 00:09:14.190
USA, a young woman named Mercy Brown became part,

00:09:14.429 --> 00:09:16.889
which is now one of America's most famous vampire

00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:20.169
stories. And the reality behind it is incredibly

00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:23.429
tragic. Mercy came from a family that had been

00:09:23.429 --> 00:09:26.509
devastated by tuberculosis. Her mother died in

00:09:26.509 --> 00:09:33.950
1883. her sister died in 1888 then in 1891 both

00:09:33.950 --> 00:09:37.629
mercy and her brother edwin became ill mercy

00:09:37.629 --> 00:09:43.269
died in 1892 she was just 19 years old and here's

00:09:43.269 --> 00:09:46.730
the thing at this point scientists actually knew

00:09:46.730 --> 00:09:50.129
that tuberculosis was caused by bacteria but

00:09:50.129 --> 00:09:52.169
scientific knowledge doesn't travel instantly

00:09:52.169 --> 00:09:54.950
not in them days not in rural communities the

00:09:54.950 --> 00:09:58.720
19th century So the people around Mercy didn't

00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:01.039
necessarily have access to the medical understanding

00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:04.480
that we take for granted today, and tubal closes

00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:07.240
kept spreading through the family. People were

00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:09.799
frightened, they were desperate, and they started

00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:13.019
looking for an explanation. Eventually they became

00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:16.480
convinced that Mercy herself was somehow responsible.

00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:20.080
They believed that she was a vampire. The idea

00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:22.519
was that she was rising from her grave and draining

00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:24.779
the life from the remaining members of her family.

00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:28.299
Even the local doctor advised against what happened

00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:32.200
next. But the community was desperate. Mercy's

00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.179
body was exhumed. Her heart and liver were removed

00:10:35.179 --> 00:10:38.500
from her body and burned in the cemetery. And

00:10:38.500 --> 00:10:41.460
then, in an attempt to save Edwin, the ashes

00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:44.340
were mixed with water and given to him to drink.

00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:47.860
Let's just think about that. So a 19 year old

00:10:47.860 --> 00:10:50.700
girl has died from TB. Her family is devastated.

00:10:51.299 --> 00:10:54.039
Her brother is dying. And the people around them

00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:56.639
generally believe that consuming the ashes of

00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:01.159
her organs might save his life. It didn't. Just

00:11:01.159 --> 00:11:04.580
two months later, Edwin died too. It's easiest

00:11:04.580 --> 00:11:06.440
for us looking back from the modern world to

00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:08.480
think, how could anyone possibly believe that?

00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:11.559
But that's the important thing. These people

00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:14.460
weren't acting out of cruelty. They were frightened.

00:11:14.899 --> 00:11:17.240
They were desperate. They didn't understand what

00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.580
was happening. And when you don't have the correct

00:11:20.580 --> 00:11:23.059
scientific explanation for something you make

00:11:23.059 --> 00:11:27.159
one, and sometimes the explanation becomes a

00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:31.539
monster. Now of course we can't talk about vampires

00:11:31.539 --> 00:11:33.700
without talking about the man who became one

00:11:33.700 --> 00:11:37.240
of the biggest inspirations for Dracula. Vlad

00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:40.360
D. Impala. Even his name sounds like it belongs

00:11:40.360 --> 00:11:44.600
in a horror film. Vlad ruled Belatia, a region

00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:47.080
of what is now Romania, three separate times

00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:52.620
between 1448 and his death in 1477. And his reputation

00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:56.879
was, well, absolutely horrific. Stories about

00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:00.500
Vlad's cruelty spread throughout Europe. He was

00:12:00.500 --> 00:12:03.720
associated with torture, mutilation and execution.

00:12:04.679 --> 00:12:07.100
And his preferred method of punishment was, as

00:12:07.100 --> 00:12:11.000
the nickname suggests, impalement. Victims could

00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:13.580
be placed onto wooden stakes and left to die.

00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:16.960
And in some accounts, the process was deliberately

00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.600
prolonged, sometimes for hours. sometimes even

00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:23.919
days. Vlad was also said to demand confessions

00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:26.700
from his victims before their punishment, and

00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:28.659
their fate could depend on things such as their

00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:33.600
age, rank, sex, and even their final words. So

00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:36.220
where does the name Dracula come from? Well,

00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:40.159
Vlad's father was known as Vlad Dracul. Dracul

00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:43.519
was connected to the word for dragon, and Dracula

00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:45.860
essentially referred to being the son of Dracul.

00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.460
And although there is another fascinating twist,

00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:53.440
in modern Romania, Dracula is associated with

00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.220
the devil, which definitely didn't do Vlad's

00:12:56.220 --> 00:12:59.080
reputation any favours. There are also stories

00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:01.580
that Vlad drank the blood of his enemies, and

00:13:01.580 --> 00:13:03.779
some accounts even claim that he dipped bread

00:13:03.779 --> 00:13:06.860
into their blood. Whether every one of these

00:13:06.860 --> 00:13:08.960
stories is true is another question entirely,

00:13:09.539 --> 00:13:11.919
but Vlad's reputation grew dramatically after

00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:14.730
his death. with stories about him being written

00:13:14.730 --> 00:13:17.789
and repeated for generations, and eventually

00:13:17.789 --> 00:13:20.990
those stories travelled far beyond Eastern Europe.

00:13:21.629 --> 00:13:27.350
Vlad moved to Transylvania in 1475, and stories

00:13:27.350 --> 00:13:29.250
about Dracula would eventually spread across

00:13:29.250 --> 00:13:31.929
the world. But here's the important distinction,

00:13:32.649 --> 00:13:35.169
Vlad the Impaler wasn't a supernatural vampire,

00:13:35.850 --> 00:13:39.309
he was a real historical figure. The vampire

00:13:39.309 --> 00:13:42.049
was the legend that grew around people like him.

00:13:42.250 --> 00:13:46.690
And then in 1897, one writer would bring all

00:13:46.690 --> 00:13:52.110
these ideas together. Enter Dracula. Graham Stoker

00:13:52.110 --> 00:13:55.990
published Dracula in 1897, and suddenly the vampire

00:13:55.990 --> 00:13:59.690
had a new identity. Gone was simply the bloated,

00:13:59.950 --> 00:14:02.850
diseased corpse rising from the grave, now he

00:14:02.850 --> 00:14:05.909
had something much more sophisticated. A mysterious

00:14:05.909 --> 00:14:10.549
aristocrat. Powerful, charming, seductive, and

00:14:10.549 --> 00:14:13.779
absolutely terrifying. Stoker drew inspiration

00:14:13.779 --> 00:14:16.279
from stories surrounding Flanty and Paler, as

00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:19.600
well as wider European vampire folklore, and

00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:21.659
the result became one of the most vampire stories

00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:24.980
ever written. But it didn't stop with the book,

00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:27.399
which is a great book by the way, definitely

00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:29.919
get it, it's not like a normal book, it's so

00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:33.779
good. In 1931 Universal Studios released Dracula

00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:37.519
starring Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi, and this

00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:39.600
is where the modern image of the vampire really

00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:43.399
began to take shape. The cape, the aristocratic

00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:46.899
manner, the accent, the charm, the hypnotic stare.

00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:49.500
Suddenly, the vampire wasn't just something you

00:14:49.500 --> 00:14:52.039
were terrified of, it was something you could

00:14:52.039 --> 00:14:55.179
become fascinated by, and that completely changed

00:14:55.179 --> 00:15:00.539
the genre, because vampires became sexy. At some

00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:02.500
point in history, humanity looked at the undead

00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:04.559
creatures we'd spent centuries being terrified

00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:08.639
of, and collectively decided, actually, hear

00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:13.740
me out. Then came another major shift. In 1976,

00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:16.399
Anne Rice published Interview of the Vampire.

00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:19.259
And suddenly, vampires weren't simply monsters.

00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:23.919
They had emotions, identity, trauma, relationships,

00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:26.980
conflict. They could be sympathetic. They could

00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:30.899
be tragic. They could even be the hero. And from

00:15:30.899 --> 00:15:35.240
there, vampire stories exploded. Blackula brought

00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:37.769
a black vampire to mainstream film. Buffy the

00:15:37.769 --> 00:15:41.509
Vampire Slayer arrived in 1997, then came Twilight,

00:15:41.929 --> 00:15:45.289
True Blood, The Vampire Diaries and countless

00:15:45.289 --> 00:15:48.389
other books, films and television shows. My favourite

00:15:48.389 --> 00:15:51.110
of all time is like the right one in, Swedish

00:15:51.110 --> 00:15:54.450
based on the book, then remade and with Hollywood

00:15:54.450 --> 00:15:56.549
didn't let me in. Absolutely incredible film.

00:15:56.649 --> 00:15:59.590
Swedish one, miles better than the American one.

00:15:59.970 --> 00:16:02.809
Definitely watch that if you're not. But The

00:16:02.809 --> 00:16:05.789
Vampire kept changing. Sometimes terrifying,

00:16:05.909 --> 00:16:08.450
sometimes romantic. sometimes tragic, sometimes

00:16:08.450 --> 00:16:11.769
funny, sometimes completely ridiculous. But the

00:16:11.769 --> 00:16:14.529
basic idea remained, something that looks human,

00:16:14.950 --> 00:16:18.309
but isn't, something that lives among us, something

00:16:18.309 --> 00:16:21.669
that feeds from us, and something that somehow

00:16:21.669 --> 00:16:24.470
never seems to die. But here's where the story

00:16:24.470 --> 00:16:27.850
takes a turn, because vampires didn't disappear

00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:29.690
when we stopped believing that dead bodies were

00:16:29.690 --> 00:16:32.970
climbing out of graves, they evolved, and some

00:16:32.970 --> 00:16:37.710
people today actually identify as vampires. There

00:16:37.710 --> 00:16:40.909
is a modern underground vampire community, and

00:16:40.909 --> 00:16:42.690
within that world there are different beliefs

00:16:42.690 --> 00:16:45.309
and practices. Some people simply have an intense

00:16:45.309 --> 00:16:48.370
fascination with vampires, while others generally

00:16:48.370 --> 00:16:53.470
identify as vampires. Some are known as Sangrenarians.

00:16:54.909 --> 00:16:57.029
These are people who believe that they have a

00:16:57.029 --> 00:17:00.210
physical or psychological need to consume blood.

00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:03.129
For some, this is connected to beliefs about

00:17:03.129 --> 00:17:05.890
health, energy or chronic fatigue. then there

00:17:05.890 --> 00:17:07.789
are people who describe themselves as psychic

00:17:07.789 --> 00:17:10.609
or energy vampires. Rather than drinking blood,

00:17:10.930 --> 00:17:13.349
they believe they absorb energy from other people.

00:17:14.049 --> 00:17:16.069
And of course, outside of vampire communities,

00:17:16.869 --> 00:17:18.430
you've all met someone who seems to drain the

00:17:18.430 --> 00:17:21.609
life out of us. You know the type. Spend 20 minutes

00:17:21.609 --> 00:17:23.150
with them and suddenly need a free hour nap.

00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:25.849
That's most people with me to be honest. I'm

00:17:25.849 --> 00:17:29.089
not gonna lie. But there are also much darker

00:17:29.089 --> 00:17:31.609
stories connected to the modern vampire subculture.

00:17:32.630 --> 00:17:34.869
One of the most notorious is Aaron Todd Hoy,

00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:38.900
better known as Father Sebastian, he became associated

00:17:38.900 --> 00:17:41.819
with an underground vampire community and hosted

00:17:41.819 --> 00:17:45.220
vampire fiend balls. And according to accounts

00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:47.940
these events could involve people gathering around

00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:50.200
him while he sat in this kind of regal chair

00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:53.559
and supposedly absorbed their energy. It sounds

00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:56.079
bizarre but then there's a genuinely disturbing

00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:59.759
mystery connected to one of these events. A journalist

00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:02.619
named Susan Walsh attended one of Father Sebastian's

00:18:02.619 --> 00:18:05.480
vampire balls whilst investigating New York's

00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:08.720
underground vampire and sex worker scenes. The

00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:13.619
following day, July 16th in 1996, Susan Walsh

00:18:13.619 --> 00:18:16.740
disappeared. She left her belongings behind,

00:18:17.259 --> 00:18:19.859
and she was never seen again. Her disappearance

00:18:19.859 --> 00:18:23.700
remains officially unsolved. There has been speculation

00:18:23.700 --> 00:18:25.720
about whether Father Sebastian had anything to

00:18:25.720 --> 00:18:28.799
do with it, but there has never been proof establishing

00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:32.180
that connection. But it's important to make that

00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:36.759
distinction. The timing is disturbing. The circumstances

00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:40.440
are strange, but that's not evidence. Father

00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:42.619
Sebastian could, for all we know, simply be someone

00:18:42.619 --> 00:18:45.720
who embraced the vampire persona. But there are

00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:48.579
other cases where the vampire identity became

00:18:48.579 --> 00:18:53.559
far more sinister. The Vampire Clan One of the

00:18:53.559 --> 00:18:56.720
darkest examples is Rod Ferrell. Ferrell claimed

00:18:56.720 --> 00:19:00.920
to be a 500 year old vampire named Osago. He

00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:03.599
was associated with a group known as the Vampire

00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:06.279
Clan. Members reportedly met at an abandoned

00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:08.700
cement structure they called the Vampire Hotel,

00:19:09.420 --> 00:19:11.180
and their activities could include drinking each

00:19:11.180 --> 00:19:13.500
other's blood and participating in death related

00:19:13.500 --> 00:19:17.619
rituals. Then, in 1998, everything became much

00:19:17.619 --> 00:19:20.579
darker. Ferrell pleaded guilty to the double

00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:23.440
murder of a couple from Florida. At the time,

00:19:23.819 --> 00:19:26.200
he became the youngest person on death row in

00:19:26.200 --> 00:19:28.910
Florida. And this is where the story of vampires

00:19:28.910 --> 00:19:32.049
takes us into a very different place. Because

00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:34.190
there's a huge difference between being fascinated

00:19:34.190 --> 00:19:36.910
by vampire mythology, dressed up as a vampire,

00:19:37.390 --> 00:19:39.990
reading vampire novels, and believing that you

00:19:39.990 --> 00:19:43.410
genuinely are a supernatural being. The vampire

00:19:43.410 --> 00:19:46.210
has existed in our culture for thousands of years.

00:19:46.990 --> 00:19:49.049
But what makes it so fascinating isn't necessarily

00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:51.849
the question of whether vampires are real, it's

00:19:51.849 --> 00:19:55.630
the question of why we keep creating them. Think

00:19:55.630 --> 00:19:57.369
about the journey we've just taken in the past

00:19:57.369 --> 00:20:01.349
15 minutes. We started in ancient Mesopotamia.

00:20:01.650 --> 00:20:04.390
We travelled through Greek mythology into Eastern

00:20:04.390 --> 00:20:07.549
Europe folklore. We saw the vampire become associated

00:20:07.549 --> 00:20:10.190
with disease. We looked at people who generally

00:20:10.190 --> 00:20:12.150
believed the dead were responsible for illnesses.

00:20:12.990 --> 00:20:16.730
We met Mercy Brown. We met Vlandrin Baylor. Then

00:20:16.730 --> 00:20:19.250
Bram Stoker transformed these stories into Dracula.

00:20:19.950 --> 00:20:23.160
Hollywood turned Dracula into an icon. Anne Rice

00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:27.059
gave vampires emotions and complexity, and eventually

00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:29.720
vampires became part of mainstream pop culture,

00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:33.299
but beneath all of it is a common thread. Fear

00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:37.140
of death. Fear of disease. Fear of the unknown.

00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:40.759
Fear that someone we love could die and somehow

00:20:40.759 --> 00:20:43.640
come back. For centuries the vampire gave people

00:20:43.640 --> 00:20:45.599
a way to explain things they couldn't understand.

00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:48.319
A mystery illness? Maybe the dead are feeding

00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.359
on us. A strange corpse? Maybe it's a vampire.

00:20:52.059 --> 00:20:55.000
A family repeatedly dying from tuberculosis?

00:20:55.420 --> 00:20:58.480
Maybe someone's rising from the grave? But today

00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:01.619
we have science. We understand disease. We understand

00:21:01.619 --> 00:21:04.420
decomposition. We understand much more about

00:21:04.420 --> 00:21:06.839
what happens to the human body after death. But

00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:10.319
yet, the vampire hasn't disappeared. If anything,

00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:12.880
we've made it bigger. We've made vampires beautiful.

00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:15.779
We've made them romantic. We've made them heroes.

00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:18.119
We've made them villains. We've made them teenagers.

00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:20.400
We've made them billionaires. We've even made

00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:24.119
them sparkle. But perhaps the real reason vampires

00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:27.220
have survived for thousands of years is because

00:21:27.220 --> 00:21:30.440
the vampire isn't really just a creature. It's

00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:33.220
a reflection of us. Every generation takes the

00:21:33.220 --> 00:21:36.059
vampire and changes it into whatever scares or

00:21:36.059 --> 00:21:40.359
fascinates or obsesses us at that moment. Maybe

00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:42.460
that's why after thousands of years we're still

00:21:42.460 --> 00:21:44.400
telling stories about the dead coming back to

00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:47.859
life. Something that has been through all cultures,

00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:49.740
through all religions, through all countries

00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:53.250
for thousands of years. because, deep down, you'd

00:21:53.250 --> 00:21:55.150
never really stopped wondering what might be

00:21:55.150 --> 00:21:59.349
waiting for us on the other side. So, on that

00:21:59.349 --> 00:22:01.789
rather cheerful note, we leave the graveyard

00:22:01.789 --> 00:22:05.410
for tonight. But before you go, I want to know,

00:22:05.650 --> 00:22:07.589
what's your favourite vampire story, your favourite

00:22:07.589 --> 00:22:11.349
book, film, tv show? Give us a comment, comment

00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:13.049
on the show, comment on our social media, let

00:22:13.049 --> 00:22:15.170
us know. I love talking about vampires as you

00:22:15.170 --> 00:22:17.470
might be able to tell. Some of my favourite movies

00:22:17.470 --> 00:22:36.869
are vampire movies and books. Thanks for listening

00:22:36.869 --> 00:22:39.329
to Pursuit of the Paranormal, title music created

00:22:39.329 --> 00:22:42.589
by Steve Yarwood and Ambienfinity. If you like

00:22:42.589 --> 00:22:45.349
the show, please follow us on Facebook, YouTube,

00:22:45.589 --> 00:22:48.809
TikTok, X, and Instagram. And if you really like

00:22:48.809 --> 00:22:51.150
the show, please rate and review the show wherever

00:22:51.150 --> 00:22:54.509
you are listening. It really does help. See you

00:22:54.509 --> 00:22:56.809
next time, and until then, stay weird.