BLOGPOST 8: Vampires Death

Dracula's Death In Bram Stroker's infamous novel, Dracula, he tries to explain the life of the undead, then continues to explain how to kill these creatures of the night. We find out that you must stab a vampire in the heart with a wooden stake, and then slash off their head. This is the only way that we are led to believe that you may be able to kill these undead. We learn this through Stoker's vampire expert Van Helsing, he seems to be the most educated on the subject of the undead and creatures of the night, otherwise known as vampires. 

I read an article written by Shannon Dunlap, "The truth about stakes" from the site brokendownhalo.aftn.co.uk.  Usually, legend state that a wooden stake through a vampire's chest, specifically the area of the heart will kill it but  stabbing anything through the heart with any sharp object will kill it. they will only temporarily hurt, but not kill a sanguine vampire. This process only paralyzes them in stasis until the stake is removed, whereupon the wound then heals. It does not matter, in this case, what material the stake is made of. 

Certain types of wood are used are thought to be more effective over others, because wooden stakes are very helpful for killing evils. Wooden stakes were sometimes planted in the ground above the grave, so if the corpse was to rise, it would stab itself on the stake. Staking was also a psychological coping mechanism to deal with death. By performing the vampire rituals to destroy the corpse through staking, it destroyed the dead persons psychological attachment to the living, allowing their family and friends to cope with their grief and move on. The most familiar vampire myths and legends are thought to have originated in the far East and from places like Tibet, India and China, to Europe to places like Transylvania. 

According to  Shannon Dunlap, "It is customary to hit the stake only once, because hitting it twice will revive the vampire." Different countries have different ways of dispensing of vampires. The most widely known is that of wooden stakes. Other common myths are used just to ward off vampires-such a crucifixes and garlic. These items do not kill the vampire as wooden stakes do. But not all countries and cultures use this method as a remedy.

I read the article of  Agency staff, "Grab the garlic! 'Vampire' skeletons with iron rods stabbed through their hearts found in Bulgaria" from the site mirror.co.uk. Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons dating back to the the Middle Ages with iron rods pierced through their chest to supposedly stop them from turning into vampires. Vampires are super-strong and super-fast, much stronger and faster than humans. They can punch through brick walls and run 100 metres in three or four seconds. National history museum chief Bozhidar Dimitrov said: "These two skeletons stabbed with rods illustrate a practice which was common in some Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th century. 

If a vampire entered the Olympics, he’d win every gold medal in every event. To kill a vampire, you have to drive a stake through his heart. The stake doesn’t have to be made out of wood, hard plastic or steel will do too. Another way to kill a vampire is to cut off his head and stuff it with garlic. Or you can burn him. Or, if you can find him while he’s sleeping in the day, you can drag him out into sunlight and leave him to burn. 

According to Agency staff, "Villagers believed that by plunging a stake into the heart of the dead it would pin them to their graves and stop them from leaving at midnight to feast on human blood." Although vampires are recognized to be deadly creatures and their existence is controversial, evidence substantiates that they do indeed exist. Humans are instinctively fearful of the truth, fortune and of death; but human fear of the fact that some incidences are actually caused by vampires leads man to ignore the problem and thus make himself believe that vampires do not exist. Ignoring the problem only increases its severity. The number of vampires is probably multiplying. People need to be aware of the problem, and educated about vampires, maybe even taught about them in school, so that humans can destroy the legions of the undead and live in peace.