I am i bit confused to how vampires started. The only story I have heard is that when Kain killed Abel God punished him by making him a vampire. Does anyone else know any stories if so please post.

There is indeed the theory of Cain and Abel, but also that of Lillith. Other sources are in 1047 a Novgorodian prince is referred to as 'Upir Lichyj' or Wicked Vampire. Truthfully no one knows the exact origins of vampires or the legends. The vampire is one of few creatures that seem to have emerged from every culture, globally.

Theories range from seemingly mythological origins such as Atlantans and Fallen Angels to physical causes such as porphyria or Xeroderma Pigmentosum.

http://vampires.monstrous.com/vampire_origins.htm has several of the popular origins.

Interesting link. I could have saved myself some typing.

Please share them here anyway, for our sakes.. and in case that page ever disappears which sites tend to do.

Yes please. I don't always seem to be able to connect to those sites. I may have too much crap on my computer.

Of course Sire, FoL, for you I shall continue. This will be a rather long post. If there is a theory you know of I forgot to include let me know. I have years of research to shift through, I am certain I will make indeliberate omissions.

First thing that should be clarified is the origin of most vampires as we think of them. In China there are vampires with red eyes and pink and green hair. In other countries they are detached heads that leave their entrails hanging as they fly about in search of prey, usually newborns, lactating female, or pregnant females. Despite all the types and origins the one we most associate with is the European vampire. Many theories revolve around the fact there is no first vampire but rather vampirism is a condition of the body or soul.

This said...Many claim Lilith to have been the first vampire. The variations of her story are numerous. One claims she and Adam were created as twins joined at the back. She demanded equality and was therefore seperated and suffered expulsion from Eden. Her hatred and bitterness eventually turned her into the she demon we all know of. Although in this legend she slept with Satan, or the entity known as such, and became the mother of the Djinn, not vampires. Another claims Lilith the first wife of Adam. Adam married her because he was tired of coupling with animals. He demanded she lie beneath him during intercourse and she refused fiercely. She left voluntarily this time and copulated with demons. Again nothing of vampirism. Three angels, Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof were sent to threaten her to return. They threatened the lives of 100 of her children a day until her return. She, in retailiation, she said she would prey upon the descendants of Adam and Eve. Some of her children became the lilim, or lamia. I have found very few references to Lilith and vampirism outside of media and RPG, unless you consider a vampire a demon or descendant of.

Cain...I can find nothing other than RPG that alludes to Cain as the first vampire. (I have found a few vague references to Cain's vampirism being a Victorian belief but nothing substantial.) In fact the mark lain upon Cain was an act of mercy in Judaism. It meant no one was to kill him until he had borne seven generations, or the punishment of the one who caused his death would be severe. A member of his own seventh generation, Lamech, killed him. (Gen. 4:24) In the Torah he was said to be cursed to wander the Earth eternally. In 1836 a Mormon named David Patten claimed to have seen Cain in Tennessee. Cain supposedly told him he longed for death but was cursed to destroy the souls of men.

The Fallen Angels...The children of the Watchers and mortal women. They were the Nephilim (Book of Enoch). Though the Bible does make references to the consumption of blood in the Bible I usually find most bend it to their own use. The Nephilim were giants and ravenous creatures. They used up all the food sources rather quickly then turn to consuming humans, not merely drinking their blood. In that they were the offspring of human mothers this act could be considered cannibalism. In light of this it depends on your definition of a cannibal. If cannibalism includes partaking of blood and not flesh then perhaps the Nephilim could be considered as a source.

Nanobots...From the link at monsterous.com I have only recently heard of it and have not researched it. It seems extremely unsustantiated to me.
"Nanobots, created either by renegade scientists or a race of reptilians, were introduced into a handful of human bodies in order to repair damaged cells. These nanobots performed so well that they rendered their hosts immortal. However, the Nanobots themselves are not immortal and must self-replicate by utilizing the iron atoms from the hemoglobin in the host's red blood cells. The result of this nanoreplication process is the constant need for sufficient supplies of blood. Unable to keep up with the demand, the host has no choice but to seek out blood from others. If the colony of Nanobots exceeds the host's ability to supply sufficient RBCs, some nanobots may migrate into another host, usually the next victim of the primary host's bite."

Atlantis...based upon the idea that the Nephilim survived the Great Flood and again survived the sinking of Atlantis. Many claim Atlantans experimented with life and death. In this process and because of their advancement they were able to succeed to an extend with consequences some would deem dire. The need for blood. I have not researched this one well enough. It ranks, in my mind, with the Nanobots.

Genetics...Many believe vampirism is simply a condition you are born with. Some claim it runs in their family while others, such as myself, can make no such claim. Most believe there is something lacking in the genetic makeup which causes the body to need prana to remain healthy.

Aliens...Thank you H.G. Wells for "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid" (sarcasm) This book spawned all sort of theories about aliens and possibilities of them being parasitic. Though I believe most refer to a presence alien to our body hence the symbiont theory.

Symbionts...A hotly debated topic in the vampire community. In gist a symbiont attachs itself to a human host and is the cause of the vampirism. There are those of the psi vamp persuasion who are now claiming to be able to see and remove them and thereby "cure" the vampirism. Often when they fail they claim the vampirism is "innate" and that the subject was born with it. So...what was the thing they saw? I will leave this one alone. It always tends to spark controversy. I am not typing all this for so that someone might focus on this topic...

Diseases and Viruses


The first reference I heard to a virus as a cause of vampirism was, honestly, Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend. (published in 1954) Since then many theories have evolved from viruses and vampires. Most were discredited quickly. Vampire V5 / V-5 / VRH-5 Virus theory just one amongst many. None of which were proven beyond White Wolf. Sire already has a very nice thread in the vampire section on this topic.

Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP)...from WebMD:
"A group of rare inherited skin disorders characterized by a heightened reaction to sunlight (photosensitivity) with skin blistering occurring after exposure to the sun. In some cases, pain and blistering may occur immediately after contact with sunlight. Acute sunburn and persistent redness or inflammation of the skin (erythema) are also early symptoms of XP. In most cases, these symptoms may be apparent immediately after birth or occur within the next three years. In other cases, symptoms may not develop until later in childhood or, more rarely, may not be recognized until adulthood. Other symptoms of XP may include discolorations, weakness and fragility, and/or scarring of the skin."
Yet this only explains a small part of vampirism.

Porphyria... again from WebMD:
" is a group of at least eight metabolic disorders that arise as a result of a malfunction in one of the eight steps in the body’s synthesis of a complex molecule called heme. Heme is essential for the transport of oxygen to cells in the body. If any step in the synthesis of heme is blocked, an intermediate chemical accumulates in the cell, resulting in oxygen depletion. Those intermediate chemicals, known as porphyrins or porphyrin precursors, are the substances of which heme is composed."
This theory is generally disregarded.

The first reference I have located to the Cain story is the White Wolf mythos.

Symbionts... pardon me whilst I murmur a little evilly about that one. I had someone tell me that I had one of these and offered to remove it for me. I told this person that I am happy as I am, thankyou, and if removing a beastie from me is going to change me, please just let it alone.

I can tell you that I believe it is genetic in me... my father was as I am. I do not believe that everyone is like myself. 'Tis just me.

I have observed that vampire origins/creations vary completely with the culture in which they evolve. To list them all is impossible. Literally. At one time, long before the age of the computer (aye, there was a time before the computer) I tried to ascertain the number of myths and legends. I stopped around 200 and have forgotten most of them.

Now we have nanobots and symbionts. Aliens and Atlantis. We have disease vectors and viruses.

Vampire legend, boys and girls, has entered the 20th and 21st century.

Please secure your belongings, fasten your seatbelts, and keep your hands within the vehicle.

Enjoy the ride.

Pardon the spam but I forgot something.

Bloody nice post Audoin!

You mention my all-time personal favorite disgusting vampire legend:



BLECH!

There is one even grosser but nobody has heard of it. Harlan Ellison (bless his twisted soul) was challenged to write the most disgusting story ever. He wrote a story about the Snot Vampire. It was so disgusting that it never made regular publication.

Ah thank you Rikkar. You have to love Ellison. The most strange and rather disgusting story I have seen published was "Croatoan". Aborted fetuses on alligators....

ha ha ha... yum Actually, that has given me an idea for a vampire/horror (obviously horror) story.

I have a few vampire anthologies...a vampire in one story consumed his wife's bodily productions...think that was Poppy Brite's updated book of tales.

I'd rather stick to the vampire erotica, me thinks. (Except for my new snot vampire story, Kelly and the Snot Vampire.) ;) barf

I do not recall that one but... how can one not love Ellison, indeed?

I remember the series where he actually entered the drug culture (I believe he used) so he could write about the realities of it.

I believe I need to read Ellison again.

He wrote one about a planet that had humanoids that were being raised for food and being harvested occasionally. The remarkable thing was, when one descended to the planet, the dark lines at the edges of the continent. The humans landed to realize that these were masses of the humanoids gathering to the oceans to try to get enough food and water to live, walking over the bones and rotted bodies of those who had died in this effort, fighting and scrabbling to exist.

The planet was near harvest time and the humans somehow realized this and got the hell out of there fast.

I loved 60's and 70's science fiction!


Just read it m'Lady.

Now, I do prefer erotica but a change of pace is, well, nice.

One of these days I am going to look into some of the stranger of the vampire stories written at the time Ellison wrote his. If they are available I shall provide links. Some of them were just amazing.

I would love it if you did provide some links. :)

Vampires were created the same way that Klingons were; God was bored one day so he desided to make a creature. But this creature became envious of gods power so the creature killed and ate god. It found in gods stomach another creature of the opposite sex, and you all know the rest.

I just realized that there is one missing from the list above. It mentions lizards from Atlantis and the K5 virus, but it doesn't mention magic at all. For example, if the whole thing was started ages ago by some necromancer that was trying to attain immortality. Performs the ritual, and then dies. During the day, when necromancy is historically weakest, the vampire was weakened or incapacitated. Necromancy requires blood sacrifices, and the vampire needed to feed on blood once per night to meet the requirements of the ritual. Since the ritual has been internalized into the vampire, the sacrificed blood must be swallowed. But, as the ritual is recommited and reinforced, the power of the binding ritual becomes stronger, lending more and more power to the vampire the longer it remains. It should be possible to expand the ritual as it is recommited (drinking blood, if you recall), but the specifics of that would depend on the conditions of the original ritual.
That would cover (in order!) immortality, supernatural nature, corpselike appearance, nocturnalism, feeding on blood, gaining power with the years, and turning others to vampirism.
In fact, just about everything but fangs. Oh, and there's no silver platter, either. Sorry. ^_^

There is also one of the ancient vampire mythologies. The one that tells us the story of the Asetians, a secret bloodline of vampires that trace their origins back to Ancient Egypt. These vampires are said to endure still in our days, protected by an ancient brotherhood, called the Order of Aset Ka. Many is not know yet about those mysteries, but it looks like that is about to change if we follow the "news" and rumors in the vampire subculture. Something is about to happen this year...

Winged Angel

That information has been covered in other threads. This one is for discussion, theories, stories, or research into the origins of vampires as a race. Where they came from, and how they came to be. Do the Aset Ka have any insight into this, that you know of? I know the Egyptian angle, but I do not believe that I have read anywhere what their explanation for the vampire race is.

Yes, the Aset Ka has a very interesting and valuable insight into the origins of vampires, like how and why they came into being in the first place. It has some relations with magic, metaphysics and even religion. But that is all part of their own cosmogony (creational theories), which I am afraid I don't know if I should comment in here. However, as I said, something is going to happen during this year... and I am really confident that many of this until-now secret texts and information will be revealed to all of us. Like they stated on their website, this is going to be a year for you (all of us) to remember...

Winged Angel

The Asetians are the primordial vampires. Isis (Aset) created them with what is called The Black Kiss which blessed them with immortality. They are still here.

It's called Dark Kiss, not Black Kiss, using the Asetian own terminology.

And the nature of the Dark Kiss, as an initiatory and sacred procedure, is thought to be far more subtler and at the same time mystical than a blessing for eternal life.

Do you see them as truly immortal, in a physical sense, or their immortality being related with the gift of an eternal and immortal soul?

Winged Angel

My Portuguese is not that great so I may have misinterpreted the word Dark for Black!
I wouldn't go by everything on that Wiki article anyway, not everything is correct
The Asetians have been reborn from the days of ancient Egypt, they are the children of Isis.
Where do you get your info on them if you don't mind me asking?

Yes I know that the wikipedia article on the Aset Ka has some incorrections. I wasn't building my comments simply on that information. I am an occultist scholar and mainly a researcher, so of couse I get plenty of research towards the Asetians, the so-called children of Isis. They are a must to any interested in metaphysics, especially vampirism.

You said you may have misinterpreted the word Dark for Black in the Portuguese language. So, do you have any access to Asetian sacred texts or inside information from the Aset Ka? Or else why would you be translating from Portuguese? I am not a Portuguese, but I can translate a few things accurately, precisely from my long research about the origins of vampirism, that lead me to the Aset Ka Order. So we might be able to share some information if you're interested.

Winged Angel

I think or i thought vampires were an invented story from the old times in London 14 century don't know exactly from were or how but i am sure they cam from the London city.