The Evolution of the Vampire

The Vampire. 1893–94. Edvard Munch.

In early Hebraic writings, Lilith took the form of a winged demon with the body of a woman with owl-like talons for feet. She was reported to be the first wife of Adam (before Eve was created). Lilith was formed of the same earth from which Adam was created, therefore she considered herself his equal. That being the case, Lilith refused to be submissive. She was subsequently banished from God’s presence to the demon realm. Lilith’s offspring were damned to become demons with Lilith taking the title of “Mother of Demons.” In more contemporary interpretations of Lilith's story, she is considered to be the earliest account of the Vampire. When Lilith was banished all of her children were destroyed by God. Lilith's answered this violent act by vowing to feed off of the children of Adam, namely, human beings.

The literary vampire first appeared in 18th century poetry, before becoming our typical idea of the vampire with the publication of the novel The Vampyre by Polidori and was loosely based on the life of well know writer and playboy, Lord Byron.

The vampire of Byron's poetry was a cruel creature damned to forever suck the blood and drain the life of his closest friends and relatives. AKA heartless, evil, cursed monster. 

From there we of course move onto the most iconic image of vampire-dom

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Dracula. Literary and film icon named for the historical figure Transylvanian-born Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler that turned the vampire from poetry into one of the stock figures of modern gothic fiction.

He vants to suck your blood mwuahahahaha

Skip over a few years and one numerically challenged muppet.

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And somehow you end up with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. As mildly homoerotic vampires with a gift for story telling and a penchant for dramatic lighting and 90's style over-acting.

Interview with a Vampire

But fear not, the puffy shirts and effeminate nature don't last long.

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Wait a second...

Oh ok, she seems bad ass enough. So what about him?

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..... I think we've seen enough here. This concludes our lesson.