Tomorrow is the day I have been waiting for since I saw the movie trailer for “Daybreakers.” I am so excited about this movie, and for my birthday, on Saturday, I would really love to go and see it, hint, hint. I love everything about vampires, including scary vampire movies, and even books. I have told my husband that if I ever met a vampire, he had better watch out….lol. The book series “Twilight” was absolutely wonderful. I read “Twilight” in four days, “New Moon” in 3 days, and “Eclipse” in four days too. I was so upset that I did not have another book to read. Anyway, “Daybreakers” is going to be good, I just know it! The movie trailers give away more of the movie than I am going to, but here goes, the movie takes place in the year 2019, and most of the human population is infected by a virus that causes them to turn into vampires. The vampires start farming the remaining humans for their blood, and the blood supply begins to diminish, as does the unaffected human population. Ethan Hawks’s character discovers a cure for the vampire virus, and he tries to convince them to become human again. The vampires become offended, because they like what they have become. The vampires don’t believe there is anything to cure, and well, I am sure there is going to be a lot of blood shed, guns, and fighting, the battle of the vampires and what little is left of the human population. Anyway, I found yet another movie trailer for it on YouTube and I am posting it here for you to watch. I really can’t wait to see it, and I know that I am not going to be disappointed.
One of the most famous female vampires in history was Erzsebet Bathory (1560-1614). She was known as The Blood Countess of Hungary, and her victims numbered more than 650. She lured young women to her castle with the promise of well-paying jobs and, once there, she imprisoned them. She then tortured her victims by mutilating their hands, biting off the skin of their faces, and severe beatings that almost always ended in death. Bathory then bathed in the blood of her victims in hopes of retaining her youthful beauty. She was tried and convicted of 80 deaths of young girls and women, and was bricked into her castle where she died four years later.
Vampires have stalked the earth since the early twelfth century, and it is believed they continue to walk the earth today. Two of the most famous of vampires are Gilles de Rais (1404 – 1440), and Peter Plogojowitz (died in 1725).
Gilles de Rais, was an evil Frenchman, who tortured and killed between 80 and 200 children. Once a Catholic, he turned sadist, and began killing children and feasting on their blood and internal organs. It is not known if appetite for children was that of a madman, or that of a man who was inspired by an occult. Thankfully, he only lived to be 36-years-old.
Peter Plogojowitz, was a Serbian peasant, from the small village of Kisilova. He was thought to have become a vampire after his death, going on a an eight day rampage, and killing 9 of his fellow villagers. All of these villagers were said to have mentioned Peter Plogojowitz in their dying breath. His was one of the most well documented vampire cases which was witnessed by Austrian authorities. His body was exhumed and his body was found to have continued to grow, and fresh blood found in this body. There was also witness to blood smeared across his face. The villagers staked his body and burned his remains.
Well, the second in the series of the three “Twilight” movies, “New Moon”, proved to be a hit this weekend bringing in over $140 million dollars in its first weekend and breaking records with the third highest debut ever. As much as I would have loved to watch “New Moon”, there was one movie that I had not seen that I had to see first. “The Fourth Kind”, which came out on November 6th was still showing in my small town and so my husband and I went to see it this afternoon. I was prepared for disappointment but surprisingly I was not disappointed at all. I enjoyed it, however I am not so sure that the supposed video and audio evidence is actual or not. I tried to look up some information about this Dr. Abigail Tyler, but was not able to find anything but other reviews about the movie, which were not so good. I totally believe in UFO’s and abductions so it is not that difficult to make me believe the evidence was real, but for others who are more skeptical…..I am not so sure. I did enjoy the movie though.
I also got a sneak peek at two other scary movies that will be coming out at the begining of the year. I look forward to watching these. The first is “Daybreakers” starring Ethan Hawke which has an arrival date of January 8th, 2010. It’s definitely not like any vampire movie I have seen in the past, and I look forward to seeing it. I found a trailer on YouTube, so here it is…….Enjoy!
Another movie trailer that I saw was for a movie starring Benicio del Toro, and Anthony Hopkins (my favorite), called “The Wolfman” is due to be out early February 2010. Looks like a great movie with some really good special effects, and how can it not be great when Anthony Hopkins in it! Here is the trailer I found on YouTube, it looks awesome! Enjoy!
If you thought vampires only exist in fairy tales I have a story for you. Vampire legends date back as early as 500A.D. and are well known in Europe among the Russians and Ukrainians. The story I am about to tell you takes place in 1726 in what we now know as Bulgaria and Serbia. It is one of the first and most well documented vampire accounts that caused panic all over Europe because of the direct involvement of Austrian military, physicians, surgeons, and officers. It begins with a man named Arnaud Paole. Arnaud or Arnold was a militia man or Hajduk. At that time Serbians were offered large areas of land in trade for their military services. This story originated as the Serbians and Bulgarians were settling into these new territories. Arnaud, returned from his military service to the village of Meduegna. He supposedly told his wife of his meetings with a vampire named Gossowa or Kosovo while he was in Greece. Afraid for his life and not wanting to become one of the undead, Arnaud, ate the soil from Gossova’s grave and smeared his vampire blood on himself. Apparently this was thought to be the cure for vampirism. Well, Arnaud goes on with his life and one day while he is out tending to his chores he falls from his haywagon, fractures his neck and dies days later. Soon after his death the people in the village started seeing Arnaud around the village and even in their own homes. Those that saw Arnaud in their homes eventually died. The villagers sought help and were advised by their hadnack (a military or administrative title) who had been a witness to similar events to exhume the body of Arnaud. When they opened his grave they found Arnaud’s body had not decomposed but was puffy and full, his skin pink/red rather than pale, his nails and skin had fallen away and had been replaced with new and fresh blood lined his mouth and nose. This confirmed that Arnaud was indeed a vampire and so they drove a wooden stake through his heart as he moaned and bled. They also burned his body and the ashes were thrown into the river. They exhumed his four victims as well, drove stakes into their hearts, and burned their bodies so that they would not become vampires.
That isn’t all of the story though. In 1731 there was a second wave of deaths. More than ten people died in less than 2-3 days of a mysterious illness. Austrian officials were sent to investigate after the villagers sought the help of authorities to help them rid the town of vampires by exhuming the graves of those that died. Glaser reported his findings to the Jagodina Commandment office and even named each victim, sex, and age in his report. In his report he writes that within six weeks 13 people have now died. All complaining of stabbing in their sides, chest pain, prolonged fever, and jerking of their arms and legs. Among those listed as dead are a 50-year-old woman named Miliza, a 14-year-old boy named Milloi, a 15-year-old boy named Joachin, a 15-year-old boy named Petter, a 20-year-old woman named Stanno along with her new born child, a 9-year-old boy named Wutschiza, a 20-year-old woman named Milosova, a 24-year-old man named Radi, and a 40-year-old woman named Ruschiza. This second epidemic was thought to have originated with Miliza who six years earlier had eaten two sheep that had been killed by vampires. She also smeared vampire blood on herself in hopes of not becoming a vampire after her death. After having examined one of the exhumed bodies Glaser also recommended that Austrian authorities honor the villagers request to exhume the bodies of the deceased.
Austrian authorities then sent a second team of investigators which included Johan Flukinger and two other surgeons Siegele and Johan Freidrich, two officers, and lieutenant and colonel Buttner and JH Von Lindenfels to the scene which now consisted of 17 deaths. All 17 graves were opened and the findings of these investigators were recorded. They reported that five of the seventeen corpses were decayed, while 12 were complete and undecayed and exhibited traits that were commonly associated with vampirism. They go on to say that chests and other organs were filled with fresh blood. They reported the internal organs to be in good condition. The corpses were plump and had a redish tint to their skin rather than the paleness expected and skin and nails had fallen away on their own and new fresh nails and skin replaced them. They called this “vampyric condition” or “Das Vampyrenstand” and once the investigation was complete the villagers were allowed to cut the heads off of all the corpses and they were burned and thrown into the river.
The date of this report is the 26, January 1732, Belgrade and it bares the signatures of all investigators. Believe it or not, the reports are available for translation as they are all in original German!
