The first thing I should mention
Is that the Gentleman
Pictured above is the real
Dracula. His name means "Son of the Dragon"
an honorific bestowed on him because
his Father was a member
of the Order Of the Dragon; an
order of the Catholic Church
Sworn to protect Catholicism from
heathens and unbelievers.
Vlad Tepes was something more horrible
and dangerous
than any mythical monster or Demon.
He was an accomplished politician.
In the context of the historical
period in which he lived,
he was a national hero
who struck fear into the hearts
of the enemies of his people.
While he merits the description
of "Blood Thirsty"
he was by no means a Vampire and
his defense of
Romania against the Turks, and
other outsiders has earned
him a high place in the hearts
of modern Romanians.
The Book "Dracula" has been available
in Romania
for less than ten years as of this
writing and the Romanians are not grateful
to Bram Stoker for turning one
of their founding Fathers
into a monster. However, I can
say from personal experience
that such monsters definately do
exist.
The biggest names of the 19th century whose
work started
the Vampire on its way to its present popularity
were Bram Stoker, Sir Philip Burne-Jones AND
Rudyard Kipling!
Bram Stoker wrote the book , "DRACULA"
in 1897.
In the same year Sir Phillip Burne-Jones did
his most famous painting,
"The Vampire".
Rudyard Kipling, alledgedly inspired by the
painting,
contributed his work "The Vampire"to
the exhibition catalogue!
starred
in the movie, "A Fool There Was" in 1915.
The role instantly made her an international
star and made
"The Vamp" a house hold word as well as a
lasting cliche.
My own childhood memory is of some actress
telling Jethro
on the"Beverly Hillbillies ",
"I'm gonna VAMP you." !!!
FLASH! Click The Vamp for another VAMP
entry !
Look at Perfessor Bill's main menu and click 
Scroll down until you hit.. What Else?!
The Vamp by Byron Gay (1915
- C 1919)
complete with sheet music covers AND a midi
file!!
AND note the name BYRON !!!
Read on!!!
Our web master is pretty excited.
While the first sheet music cover
shows a vamp who looks like Theda Bara
the shot above is of sheet music
recently purchased and now
belonging to him!
Another interesting note is that either "The
Vampyre", written by John
Polidori
(but begun by Lord Byron at the same time
Mary Shelly began "Frankenstein")
and/or the German Opera, "Der Vampyr"
By Heinrich Marschner
both from the early 1800s did not escape the
roving eye
of Messers Gilbert
and Sullivan who used the character Ruthven
in their own Supernatural Operetta "Ruddigore".
In 1928 Montague
Summers published "The Vampire: His Kith and Kin".
And in 1929 he released' "The Vampire in
Europe".
Click the book for my page with other modern
books on Vampires!
What this is all leading up to is simply that
the owner of the books
shown above bought it because of a personal
experience AND...
Yes, Virginia, some people qualify as real Vampires!
