#vampirehistory

[undeadassociation]

Mythology Musing – Celtic Roots & The Irish Dracula

Bram Stoker was Irish, and frankly, it shows. Long before Dracula, pre-Christian Celtic Ireland gave us the unnerving legend of the Abhartach (Game, n.d.).

Folklore from the fifth and sixth centuries describes the Abhartach as a tyrannical dwarf king and dark sorcerer who repeatedly rose from his grave at night to feast on the blood of his subjects (Game, n.d.). The only way to stop him? Slain with a wooden sword, buried upside down, and trapped beneath a massive stone. Vampirism in these early stories was closely linked to visceral, prehistoric fears surrounding blood as the ultimate source of human vitality (Buzea, n.d.). The veil between life and death has always been terrifyingly thin, especially around Samhain.

There is a deeply auditory element to Celtic horror that gets overlooked. The ancient Celts were oral storytellers, meaning these monsters lived in the breath and the voice. When we pluck the strings of a Celtic lap harp or weave sweeping ambient layers into our tracks, we are trying to capture that exact, ancient chill—the feeling of cold wind tickling a burial mound.

The Abhartach (Wikipedia)

Samhain and the Celtic Underworld (Wikipedia)

Game, P. B. (n.d.). The History of Vampire Folklore.

Buzea, T. (n.d.). How a Book Changed a Nation.

[ofgraveconcern]

In Malden, Massachusetts in the early 19th century it was difficult to be anti-social, the small community which had first been established by Puritans in 1640, was a couple of thousand strong, and therefore the chances were that by a few degrees you knew everyone else. It is for this small community ideal that it is strange that a man like Ephraim Gray chose to live there. If there was one definition that would describe him it was anti-social, even his house carrying an aesthetic that reflected his avoidance of people, a large house that drove away visitors from its very appearance. At some point during the first few decades of the 19th century people began to see him less and less, the few interactions he had had before this period were few and met with scorn for the community; so Gray’s presence was not missed. A man servant would be seen gathering groceries, and other essentials, leading to the question of where Ephraim money derived from, he had no career, no family, no romantic attachments, and never left the house. Further those that did walk by the house returned with tales of shut curtains and a horrible odour that emanated from the house, a cacophony of chemicals that drifted into the street like a miasma reducing the outside passersby to nausea. What was it that Ephriam Gray was doing in the house? When asked, his servant gave few clues, and it was only upon the death of his master at some point in the mid 19th century, that the residents began to know the truth. In his will Gray had left everything to the Man Servant, and all Ephriam possessions would pass to him upon one condition stipulated in the strongest terms, on no account was the body of his master to be (continued in the comments). #ghostart #ghoststories #ghoststory #ghost #gothicromance #tombstones #graveyards #cemeteries #cemeteriesandgraveyards #gothictales #gothicvictorian #victoriangothic #victoriangothicstyle #newenglandhistory #historicalcemetery #cemeteriesofnewengland #vampirehistory #exhumation #darkhistory #strangehistory #historystories #historicaltale #vampireillustration #vampireart #vampireartwork #vampirefiction #vampyre #vampyr #gothichistory #vampiretales https://www.instagram.com/p/CTCyjk_Htg-/?utm_medium=tumblr

[ogeecircleman]

Peter Plogojowitz: The First Documented Vampire in History

In the 18th century, Central Europe was the setting for numerous cases of alleged vampirism, but one

In the 18th century, Central Europe was the setting for numerous cases of alleged vampirism, but one of the most well-documented and famous cases is t...

[ofgraveconcern]

21st July 1725. The Hungarian newspaper ‘Wienerisches Diarium’ publishes the first use of the word vampire in published history. The story was a copy of a manuscript from the Hungarian Gradisker Distrikt, (modern day North West Serbia) detailing the account of a Serbian peasant named Peter Plogojowitz who died that year, and was believed to have become a vampire. The account written by the Imperial Provisor, (an official of the Austrian administration), named Frombald details how upon the death of Plogojowitz he rose from the grave killing nine people by throttling them. Upon viewing the exhumed body he records his astonishment that the local vampire beliefs are true, Plogojowitz’s beard and hair had grown, along with new skin and nails, blood was also seen in his mouth. The body was then staked through the heart. The newspaper is still in existence and is now printed with the title ‘Wiener Zeitung’. The report and others like them led to the 18th Century Vampire Controversy in Europe, which would influence the birth of Gothic horror later in the century, and the emergence of vampire fiction early in the 19th Century. All art shown is original and influenced by the 18th century Vampire controversy, and the gothic literary reaction from it in the 19th century. The artwork is for sale at: www.ofgraveconcern/mythology You are also invited in to follow more dark tales of history @ofgrave.concern #vampirehistory #exhumation #darkhistory #strangehistory #historystories #gothictales #historicaltale #vampireillustration #vampireart #vampireartwork #vampirefiction #vampyre #vampyr #historicalillustration #gothichistory #vampiretales #bramstokersdracula #gothicliterature #bramstokerdracula #dracula #vampire #draculalive #vampires #horror #vampirelife #bramstoker #gothicstyle #hungarianhistory #18thcenturyhistory #regencygothic https://www.instagram.com/p/CRrValLlQMC/?utm_medium=tumblr

[ofgraveconcern]

1st June 1675, birth of Italian writer, art critic, and antiquarian Francesco Scipione Maffei. Writer of plays and broadsides upon Etruscan antiquities, Maffei also produced works arguing against the existence of supernatural magic and witches. These writings upon the supernatural were later incorporated in Augustin Calmet’s, ‘Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants of Hungary, Moravia’, published in 1751, during the 18th century Vampire Controversy. Calmet was greatly admired by the philosopher Voltaire who declared after reading this work ‘What! It's in our eighteenth century and there are vampires!’ Art shown is for sale at www.ofgraveconcern.com/mythololgy For more Vampires, get your teeth into the dark history posted daily at @ofgrave.concern #vampirehistory #weirdhistory #halloweeniseveryday #dracula #draculaart #worlddraculaday #varneythevampire #vampire #vampireillustration #vampireart #vampireartwork #vampiresinpolitesociety #vampirefiction #pennydreadful #victoriangothic #victoriangothicstyle #gothicvictorian #johnwilliampolidori #vampyre #vampyr #historicalillustration #gothichistory #regencygothic https://www.instagram.com/p/CPoPlxenY9j/?utm_medium=tumblr

[ofgraveconcern]

2nd January 1611, trial of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed. Over 300 witnesses attest to the torture, murder and mutilation of hundreds of girls and young woman between 1590 and 1609, (one witness stated 650 victims, as she claimed to have seen a list written in Báthory’s own hand). Believing that her public execution would bring disgrace to Transylvania, Báthory upon being found guilty was immured in a windowless room in Čachtice Castle, dying four years later. Later folklore involves the stories of her bathing in the murdered girls blood, although this was never claimed during her trial. Although the drinking of blood (especially the blood of those executed) was thought to transfer their energy and spirit, the legend of Elizabeth Báthory’s blood bathing may have originated with her epilepsy, and the common treatment of the period; in which blood from a non epilepsy sufferer was rubbed onto the lips, alongside pieces of skull. Available as shown are reproductions of Vampire tracts, alongside original artwork, and other Vampire themed historically based art. Including a reproduction alongside original artwork of John William Polidori’s ‘The Vampyre’. All books are made using actual antique salvaged books, which are repaired and repurposed as artwork to be hung on a wall, for a unique display item. See link in bio for all art shown. #elizabethbathory #vampirefiction #vampirehistory #strangehistory #strangehistories #weirdhistory #darkhistory #interestingfacts #macabre #macabrehistory #hiddenhistory #hiddenhistories#historymystery #historymysteries #historyfacts #darkhistory #vampireillustration #vampireartwork #vampireart #vampireartist #historicalillustration #darkillustration #illustrationartwork #transylvania #transylvanian #bathory #vampirestyle https://www.instagram.com/p/CJlrDv2nRR2/?igshid=1n9m9szpvvv8n

[ofgraveconcern]

8th November 1431, possible date of the birth of Vlad III Dracula, known as Vlad the Impaler in Sighișoara, Transylvania, Romania. In wonderful historical irony, also on this day in 1847 Bram Stoker was born, author of Dracula. Despite there being no supporting evidence as yet, it is suggested by some historians that Vlad the Impaler was the model for Count Dracula. What is certain however is that the name for Stoker’s character came from Vlad the Impaler. All art shown is original and is for sale on the website. See link in bio. Ofgraveconcern hanging books are made from actual antique salvaged books with a reproduction of the title page of a historical work, alongside original artwork illustrated in the same style as the literary works history. The pages are fixed so that the unique piece of art can be hung on a wall like the picture shows, and displayed as a unique work of art for a home library or surrounded by antiques. #vampire #vampires #vampireart #vampireillustration #vampirehistory #vladdracula #vladtheimpaler #vladtepes #bramstokersdracula #bramstoker #bramstokerdracula #vampirefiction #reproduction #varneythevampire #pennydreadful #ofgraveconcern #18thcenturyvampire #18thcenturyvampires #illustration #illustrationartists #darkhistory #macabreart #macabreartist #macabre #strangehistory #coincidental #history #gothaesthetic #gothicart #vampireartist https://www.instagram.com/p/CHVbHfmgTao/?igshid=373wfuwzpn7c

[shanasaki]

My Reading to-do list for the rest of 2020 Part 1: Non-Fiction (edited) The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander Ain't I a Woman: Black Women & Feminism by Bell Hooks Angela Davis: An Autobiography Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes by Maya Angelou African Samurai: The True Story of a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan by Geoffrey Girard and Thomas Lockley Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson The Vampire: A New History by Nick Groom Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington (Been avoiding this but I have to face it now.) #books #reading #blackhistory #vampirehistory #japanesehistory #feminism #blackfeminism https://www.instagram.com/p/CBlGmRZhUKc/?igshid=umbk5wkwkk0j