Vampires originated in Serbia and other Balkan states.One named Sava inhabited an old mill.He drank the blood of workers whilst they were working.The enraged villagers promptly staked it. Streams of blood poured from it's ears and mouth.In 1725 vampire Petar was said to throttle villagers on their deathbeds and upon exhumation his corpse later was found to be fresh with rosy cheeks.Later it was burnt for total destruction of the vampire.The fascination of new skin growing and nails growing after death is only a stage of decomposition but in the 16th century it heralded disaster and caused panic in the population wherever it appeared.
British Vampire tales appear around the same period as Balkan ones and could have come to these shores via advances in train travel. The Victorians were great explorers and of course tale tellers.A buttoned up society with strict etiquette and repressed sexuality, came during the Victorian Age with it's massive advancements in medicine. There was a general fear of contamination especially blood contamination because that could mean dreaded operations.This coupled with the fear Victorian ladies experienced on watching bats swooping low at dusk fearing they would be bitten or bats would entangle in their hair became one of the most iconic images of Vampires in the UK, along with wolves and ravens.
William Doggett the Blandford Vampire who stole his employers entire mansion whilst the man was away on holiday in Italy, shot himself when discovering the imminent early return of his employer.He was said to have done away with himself in the library of Eastbury Hall where the library doors have been seen to randomly open by themselves even later than the event.Over at Croglin Grange meanwhile two sisters were being terrorised by a creature with flaming eyes and long nails which it used to open windows and gain entrance.These tales surely spiced up the mundane life of Victorian England, populating it with strange imaginings in abandoned churches and mansions or on lonely roads at night.Pass the smelling salts loosen the bodices, the vampires are coming.