A vampire is a being from folklore that
subsists by feeding
on the life essence
(generally in the form of blood) of the
living.The charismatic and sophisticated vampire of modern
fiction was born in 1819 with the publication of the Vampyre by John Polidori; the story was highly
successful and arguably the most influential vampire
work. In European folklore, vampires were undead beings
that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths
in the neighbourhoods they inhabited when they were alive.
They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and
of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from
today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th
century.
Vampiric entities have been recorded in most cultures ; the
term vampire, previously an arcane subject, was popularised
in the West in the early 19th century, after an influx of
vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where
vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and
Eastern Europe.
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