Werewolves and their Origins

Werewolves

Werewolves also known as Lycanthropes have been a popular myth that goes back as far as 1 A.D and farther. Werewolves were commonly known as cannibals as they started out as an Ancient Roman Myth called Metamorphoses written by Ovid. It was a story about a man that offended the Gods by feeding them human flesh at a dinner. They cursed him to take the form of a wolf to continue eating human flesh with less of a offence. In the fifteen hundreds werewolves were hunted and killed like witches. It was a way to get rid of serial killers as many people saw serial killers as nonhuman so they thought someone would have to not be human to commit such crimes. There are even recording of people executed on the premise of being a werewolf. Some of the accused also did admit to being a murderer.   One of the most famous cases of werewolfism is the case of Peter Stuppe (seen in the photograph to the left) in the sixteenth century. He was accused of being a werewolf after he was found with a corpse by a group of men. He admitted that he murdered thirteen children, two pregnant woman and a man. He also admitted to killing his son and eating his brains and flesh. He was put to death, having his skin pulled from his bones, his arms and legs broken, being decapitated and this body burned to ashes. 

Werewolves in Media

Werewolves are popular legends that exist in many cultures. They are often seen in fantasy movies, TV shows, books, music and video games. 

Werewolves in Movies

Many movies that are fantasy or horror based have werewolves in them. Many times they are seen with vampires. Very popular movies on werewolves include Wer (2013), Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), Twilight (2008), Skinwalkers (2006), The Howling (1981) and Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man (1943).

                                           Werewolves in TV

Many TV series that people enjoy also include werewolves of many kinds. Popular TV shows include Teen Wolf (2011), The Vampire Diaries (2009-), Being Human (2011), and Supernatural (2005-)

 

Werewolf Myths and Legends

There are few ways that it has been told to kill a werewolf. One of the most common ways you can kill a werewolf is with silver to the heart, whether its a silver bullet to the heart or small bits of silver introduced to the blood stream, only a small piece of silver is needed to kill a werewolf. Another, alternative way to kill a werewolf is to cut off its head and limbs or remove his heart. It is also said that you can repel werewolves with wolfsbane. Werewolf legends exist all over the world, in different languages and different heritage. It is one of the most ancient and widespread legends.     

Sources:  http://www.historicmysteries.com/history-of-the-werewolf-legend/

http://mythicalrealm.com/humanoid-mythical-creatures/werewolf/       

Vampires and their Orgins

Vampires

Vampires have been around for hundreds of years. They have been in movies, TV, books and even music. Commonly vampires are known as blood sucking demons that feed on beautiful women and are ice cold, sometimes they are ugly creatures that can't stand in the sun without burning. No matter where you are or what you are watching or reading Vampires are never described as the same. So where did they originate from? Why are they one of the most common demons? Dracula is the most well know and famous Vampire. Dracula was modelled after a Romanian Prince, Vlad Tepes.  (Also known as Vlad the Impaler) Vlad Tepes was named Vlad the Impaler because of his preferred way of torture and execution. Impalement was a slow and painful process for victim.  

Vampires in Media

Vampires are still one of the most well known demons thanks to today's media. Many TV shows have Vampires in them, adding a little fantasy to their shows. Movies such as Vampire Academy (2014), Dark Shadows (2012) Twilight (2008), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) are only some examples in recent years. In many of these movies the vampires are seen as beautiful creatures but also in many fantasy\horror movies vampires are seen as evil, awful creatures that hunt during the night and feast on human blood by ripping into their throats with long teeth and drinking them dry.

Vampires in TV

Just like movies, vampires can be very common in TV. Not one show describes them the same but they are always either extremely beautiful or ugly and awful. Examples of vampires in TV are Hemlock Grove (2013-2015), True Blood (2008-2014),The Vampire Diaries (2009- ), The Originals (Spin-off of the Vampire Diaries, 2013-) Being Human (2008-2013),and Supernatural (2005- ) and In many of these TV shows vampires are the featured

Popular Beliefs and Legends

Vampires were told about in stories even before Bram Stokers' Dracula. There has been legends of them in Egypt, Japan, China, Rome, Greece and beyond. They are all different legends but many of them contain the same facts about vampires; they are demons of the night that drink blood and feed on humans and they attack people and feed on their life force. In some legends it is said that vampires burn in the sunlight, you can't see their reflection in a mirror, they burn when touched by holy water, 

they can't enter churches because they are a place of God and demons aren't allowed to go near holy places, or they can't enter households without permission of the owner, some are even said to be able to turn into bats or wolves. All of these are used in stories but they are all rarely used in the same legend. It was also written many times that to kill a vampire you could stake it in the heart or chest. This stemmed from medieval times when vampires were quite common. After death any villager that was suspected to be or become a vampire he was staked to the ground. The people thought that it would keep him pined to the ground if he came back to the earth with evil intent. There was also the idea of decapitation, people would also shove bricks or garlic into the mouths of the body, another way that medieval people would keep the "vampires" away would be to shove metal rods into their body after death, they would also keep a bag of salt with themselves at all times because when being chased by a vampire you could simply dump the salt on the ground and the vampire would be obligated to count every single grain before continuing. Vampires have been around longer then many people believe, they have showed up in children's stories, novels and legends. They continue to be a part of our fictional society. Many people are divided on the fact of whether vampires and other mythical creatures exist. Some people only believe in few mythical creatures, some believe in all mythical creatures and some believe that they are just that, mythical. There is no proof that any of these creatures exist but it will always be there, in the back of believers, authors and directors minds.   

Sources: livescience.com, voices.nationalgeographic.com, fvza.org, google images