Legends about vampires and werewolves still live today

The modern culture is abundant with stories about vampires. Film producers make many movies about vampire hunters every year, lots of books about vampirism and vampires appear regularly. Feeding on blood has become one of the top issues discussed at a variety of forums, especially of Gothic teenagers. What is the official medicinal opinion about vampires today?

	Legends about vampires and werewolves still live today
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Almost all cultures existing in the world have stories telling about living corpses that raise from the dead to feed on human blood. In all epochs blood was considered to be the source of vital force, and creatures known for their ability to suck human blood were awfully terrifying. In oriental countries, evil gods and sinister spirits were said to be bloodsuckers while stories about dead people transformed into vampires were well-spread in the European culture.

The present-day notion of vampires is generally based upon the Slavic mythology. Popular superstitions about East European vampires exerted great influence upon people from neighboring countries, and soon the vampire image got universal for the entire of the world.

Slavic people believed that those who died as a result of killing and suicide stood higher chances of becoming vampires after death. Peasants believed that those who died at their not really old age would keep on living their lives even after death. They said that such deceased needed the vital force of those staying alive and sucked people’s blood as they wanted no other food.

If people apprehended that their deceased relatives could turn into vampires after death they took necessary measures beforehand to avoid such a tragic transformation. It was considered that a dead human would not turn into a bloodsucker after burial if a crucifix or garlic are placed close to the body in a coffin, if a dead man’s clothes are nailed to a coffin or if the heart of a deceased is pierced through with an aspen stake. It was believed that a dead body with a broken heart stood no chance of reviving, and also people thought that a vampire would not rise from a grave if his or her body is fastened tight to the ground.

In Romania, dead bodies of children and young people were kept unburied for several years so that others could have a chance to see if they had turned into vampires or not; at that those staying alive could watch decay of dead bodies. If the process of decay was normal then the dead body was buried completely; and if it turned that dead bodies remained intact for a longer period of time then such deceased were decapitated, garlic was put into the mouths and bodies were pierced through with stakes.

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