Vampires

In folklore, the first written story that mentions a vampire (or strigoi)  appears in the 900s - even though the stories of people rising from the dead were circulated well before the birth of Christ.  Most of the folklore tales describe the vampires as being fat or bloated or "well-fed" and having skin that was darker than normal.  Occasionally, a person's death was blamed on a vampire, but usually tales began to circulate when livestock fell ill, or crops failed, or someone had a string of bad luck.  If a neighbor, or someone known to the area, had died recently, the dead person was blamed for the bad luck and/or illnesses. If the bad luck or illnesses continued, the recently deceased was dug up, and their coffin opened.  Due to decomposition, the body was usually bloated from decomposition gases.  Bloody-looking fluid was frequently seeping from the mouth, nose, eyes, and ears of the deceased - again, due to decomposition.  Without the scientific knowledge of today, it was assumed that these bodies were "returning from the dead" and "drinking the blood" of the living.  Depending on the time, and the area in which the deceased had died, some bodies were decapitated, some had iron or metal objects placed in their graves, some had bricks or stakes placed in their mouths, and some were staked through the chest.  The stakes were not meant to pierce the body's heart - they were to keep the restless bodies and souls literally pinned to the ground.
   Exposure of infants who were "different" was the normal practice around the world for many ages.  If a child was born with a visible physical defect, they were left to die in the woods or along a stream.  Babies born with port wine birth marks were also exposed.  If a child was born with a "red caul" (a bloody portion of the placenta) on it's head, it was regarded as evil.  If, for some reason, these children were not exposed, and were kept by their families, they were always looked upon as bad luck, evil, or possessed by demons.  If one of these children lived to adulthood, once they died, it was almost assured that they would be accused of causing death and destruction, and they would be dug up and the body desecrated after death.
   There are many tales in cultures all around the world that deal with spirits that rise from the grave and drink the blood of the living - some suck babies from pregnant women, some drain the blood from the victim entirely and kill him or her, others drink lightly and go on to other victims.  In many Eastern tales, the blood-drinking spirit just sent its head and neck (detached from the body) to seek its meal.  Most of the stories that give modern Europe and the Americas their basis for tales of vampires come from Western Europe, in Slavic areas, and mostly near the Carpathian Mountains.  And a large swath of land in the Carpathians is known as Transylvania....