possessed of superhuman strength. He also has his allies, whom he controls and who will always do his bidding. The wolves obey him, and legend also states that he has complete dominion over flies, mosquitoes, spiders and all blood-drinking creatures, whom he can readily call to his assistance. Yet in fiction, with the rising of the sun, all his terrible powers leave him and he is at the mercy of any who may cross him.
Many cultures, as has been stated, believed in and continue to believe in vampirism. On the African continent, immediate action is taken after the death of a man considered to be in danger of becoming a vampire. It is imperative to remove his power of movement and of speech; with this in mind, the victim's tongue is cut out and the arms and legs detached from the body of the corpse.
In Catholic countries, a corpse can be kept in his grave by the placing of a Eucharistic particle in the grave or in the mouth of the corpse itself. The deeper the grave, the less likely the possibility of the vampire rising from it, despite his ability to vaporize. If the thorny stem of a wild rose is placed in the folds of the shroud, the monster will become entangled in the cloth and be unable to leave the grave. Or a vampire's head can be forced to the coffin by driving a nail through the skull.
Most common precaution among the peasant people is the scattering of mustard seeds on the roof or threshold of the house where the vampire's visit is expected. Some unwritten law of vampirism makes it essential that the monster stop to count each and every one of these seeds. Nor can the vampire bear the odor of garlic, which reacts against him much like poison gas.
The most effective means against the vampire is, however, the crucifix. Devout Catholics throughout the world still wear such an emblem today to ward off evil, and, at least in the more backward regions of Central Europe, this evil includes the horrifying attack of the undead.
Accidental annihilation is a fear of which every vampire is constantly possessed. For instance, a single beam of light falling upon his body will bring instant, complete and absolute disintegration. Or, at the reading of absolution over the excommunicated vampire, the body will instantly crumble to dust. Montague Summers reports several accounts of such absolution. But the time-honored means of destroying a vampire is with the stake through the heart. This must be done during the daylight hours, or, according to some ancient legends, on a Saturday (Christmas Eve is also the time for vampire hunting, since those born on that day have considerable powers against vampires). But not just any wood will serve for the stake. The most acceptable is aspen, which is believed to have been the wood from which the cross of Christ was fashioned.
Of great importance is the tool used for disposing of the vampire: the sexton's sharp-edged spade for severing the head--a sword, knife, or axe will not serve. The spade is used as well to drive the stake through the vampire's heart.
The vampire sleeps but in most cases is fully aware of what is going on about him. His red eyes are open and staring, watching every movement of his would-be assassin. It is only the imprisonment of the daylight hours and the lethargy, which invariably follows his nights feeding that prevents the vampire from defending himself. The vampire screams horribly when he feels the blow of the stake, which sends him to eternal damnation; he also releases a torrent of blood, all of which he has stolen from others.
A second blow of the spade will have the opposite effect, restoring the creature's full power as the would-be destroyer becomes the next victim. But once the vampire is destroyed and his head severed, his mouth is quickly stuffed with garlic. Even more efficacious is burning the vampire to ashes so that there is nothing to restore him. Some legends state that burning must follow the ritual of the stake in order to make his destruction more certain. But any insect, worm, spider, etc., which escapes unseen from the funeral pyre may contain the spirit of the vampire. A silver bullet is sometimes used as a means of bringing death to a vampire; however, a vampire killed by a silver bullet can be restored by the touch of moonlight.
Although the belief in vampires is today most common in Greece, Stoker set his home in the wilds of Transylvania.
Montague Summers cites Goethe's Die Braut von Korinth and Burger's poem "Lenore," which, chiefly through the interest of Sir Walter Scott, was first translated into the English language in 1796. "Lenore" was to have considerable influence on later writers, and even Coleridge, in "Christabel," is said to have been strongly influenced by this work. It was not until 1819 that the first great vampire made his appearance: Lord Ruthven, in The Vampyre by John Polidori. In 1820, The Vampyre was presented on the French stage in a dramatization by Charles Nodier.
