Mythical Beasts (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Curse of the Vampire - full transcript
Terrifying new discoveries reveal the bloody truth behind the legends of vampires, and experts investigate why people believed these monsters had a taste for human blood.
Narrator: VAMPIRES...
NIGHTMARISH, MYTHICAL MONSTERS
THAT RETURN FROM THE DEAD
TO FEAST ON HUMAN BLOOD.
THE MEDIEVAL VAMPIRE WAS QUITE DIFFERENT
FROM THIS "TWILIGHT" IMAGE
THAT WE HAVE OF VAMPIRES.
THEY WOULD KILL YOUR CHILDREN.
THEY WOULD EAT YOUR COW.
THEY WERE PRETTY DISGUSTING, REALLY.
Narrator: VAMPIRES SUCK THE
LIFE FORCE FROM THEIR VICTIMS
WHO ALSO BECOME ONE OF THE UNDEAD.
BY DRINKING YOUR BLOOD,
VAMPIRES WERE TAKING YOUR SOUL.
Narrator: WHAT REALLY
INSPIRED THE IDEA OF VAMPIRES,
AND WHY WERE OUR ANCESTORS
SO CONVINCED THEY WERE REAL,
THEY MUTILATED CORPSES
TO KEEP THEMSELVES SAFE?
THE STAKE DOESN'T
ACTUALLY KILL THE VAMPIRE.
THE STAKE KEEPS THE VAMPIRE
CONFINED TO ITS COFFIN.
Narrator: NOW, EXPERTS GO
BEYOND VAMPIRE TALES AND MOVIES.
THEY USE NEW SCIENCE AND ARCHAEOLOGY
TO FINALLY REVEAL THE TRUTH
BEHIND THIS TERRIFYING MYTH.
Bell: SOMETHING INCREDIBLY
STRANGE HAPPENED HERE.
PEOPLE WERE DYING ONE AFTER ANOTHER.
Narrator: THEIR MISSION...
TO UNCOVER THE REASONS
WHY THE VAMPIRE LEGEND BEGAN.
♪♪
BULGARIA, EASTERN EUROPE...
A LAND OF MOUNTAINS, FORESTS,
AND TERRIFYING SUPERSTITIONS.
HERE, JUST OUTSIDE THE
ANCIENT CITY OF PERPERIKON,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DIG AN EXTRAORDINARY SITE,
A GRAVEYARD SAID TO CONTAIN
ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS MONSTERS
OF ALL TIME... THE VAMPIRE.
Maev: WE ARE OPENING AT
THE MOMENT 130 GRAVES.
BODIES WERE BURIED IN UNUSUAL WAY.
PEOPLE BELIEVE THEY COULD BE VAMPIRES.
Narrator: EVEN TODAY, THE
IDEA OF VAMPIRES IS TERRIFYING.
AROUND THE WORLD, EVEN AS LATE AS 2010,
PEOPLE WERE BEING MURDERED ON THE STREETS
BECAUSE THEIR NEIGHBORS
THOUGHT THEY WERE VAMPIRES.
Narrator: BUT WHERE DID
OUR MODERN UNDERSTANDING
OF THE VAMPIRE COME FROM,
THIS BLOOD-SUCKING BEAST
THAT COULD EVEN CHANGE SHAPE AT WILL?
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT
VAMPIRES, THE FIRST IDEA
THAT COMES TO MIND, OF COURSE, IS DRACULA.
BUT DRACULA IS MORE OF A RECENT CHARACTER.
Narrator: A CLUE TO THE ORIGINS OF THE MYTH
LIES WITH ONE OF THE EARLIEST
ACCOUNTS OF AN ATTACK.
♪♪
IN 1728, THE DEATH OF A SERBIAN MAN
CALLED ARNOLD PAOLE TRIGGERS
A SERIES OF STRANGE EVENTS.
PEOPLE START SEEING PAOLE
ROAMING THE VILLAGE AT NIGHT.
THEY CLAIM HE VISITS
PEOPLE IN THEIR BEDROOMS.
FOUR END UP DEAD.
THE VILLAGERS FEAR PAOLE
HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE.
THEY DIG UP HIS COFFIN
AND FIND PAOLE LOOKING
AS FRESH AS THE DAY HE DIED.
AS THEY DRIVE A STAKE THROUGH HIS HEART,
HE LETS OUT A TERRIBLE MOAN.
Paole: UGH!
STORIES LIKE THIS REVEAL
THAT OUR ANCESTORS BELIEVE
THAT VAMPIRES WERE SIMPLY
CORPSES THAT REFUSE TO DIE...
FAR REMOVED FROM THE BAT-LIKE
CREATURES OF DRACULA FILMS.
Li: PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT
VAMPIRES WERE ALREADY DEAD,
SO IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL THEM.
WHAT YOU HAD TO DO WAS
INCAPACITATE THEM SOMEHOW.
Regal: THE STAKE DOESN'T KILL THE VAMPIRE.
THE STAKE KEEPS THE VAMPIRE IN THE COFFIN.
Narrator: WHAT INSPIRED
THIS BELIEF IN THE UNDEAD?
MODERN-DAY VAMPIRE HUNTER
IVO MAEV SEARCHES FOR EVIDENCE
THAT SO-CALLED VAMPIRE
STAKINGS REALLY DID TAKE PLACE.
WE EXPECT TO FIND SOME SKELETONS HERE
JUST BECAUSE THIS AREA
LOOKS LIKE A GRAVEYARD.
THE RITUAL FOR ANTI-VAMPIRES
ARE POPULAR AMONG THESE PEOPLE HERE.
IVO AND THE TEAM INVESTIGATE
THE REMAINS AT A SITE
OCCUPIED IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
MEDIEVAL BURIALS FROM THIS REGION
CONTAIN STRANGE MUTILATED CORPSES.
EXCAVATION LEADER PROFESSOR
NIKOLAY OVCHAROV EXAMINES
ONE SKELETON BURIED 800 YEARS AGO.
[ SPEAKING IN BULGARIAN ]
NIKOLAY UNCOVERS EVIDENCE
OF JUST HOW DESPERATE PEOPLE
WERE TO PIN DOWN THIS CORPSE.
HE PULLS OUT A SHOCKING
OBJECT, AN IRON STAKE.
[ SPEAKING IN BULGARIAN ]
PEOPLE HERE WERE TERRIFIED THAT THIS PERSON
COULD BECOME A REAL-LIFE VAMPIRE.
BUT STAKING CORPSES WAS
JUST ONE WAY THAT THEY HOPED
TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.
THE BODY IN THIS GRAVE WAS
SETTLED IN THAT DIRECTION.
FEET WERE HERE, HEAD WERE HERE.
Narrator: IVO THINKS THIS WALL WAS BUILT
AS AN ADDED INSURANCE AGAINST VAMPIRES.
IF THIS BODY IS SETTLED IN THAT DIRECTION,
OBVIOUSLY THE WALL WAS
BUILT OVER... OVER THE BODY.
THIS IS ONE MORE GUARANTEE
THAT THE BODY CANNOT RISE.
Narrator: EASTERN EUROPEANS
WERE TAKING NO CHANCES
WHEN IT CAME TO VAMPIRES.
THEY HAD A HUGE TOOL KIT
TO LOCK THEM IN THEIR GRAVES.
TO STOP VAMPIRES FROM WALKING,
THEY TIED THE CORPSE'S LEGS TOGETHER,
OR SIMPLY CUT THEM OFF.
TO PIN THE CORPSE TO THE GROUND,
THEY PLACED A HEAVY STONE ON THE CHEST
OR HAMMERED IN A STAKE.
AND A SICKLE ACROSS THE NECK
WOULD DECAPITATE THE
VAMPIRE IF IT REARED ITS HEAD.
PEOPLE HOPED THAT WITH ALL THESE MEASURES,
THE DEAD WOULD DEFINITELY STAY DEAD.
PREVENTING A SUSPECTED
VAMPIRE FROM RISING FROM ITS GRAVE
WAS NOT A JOB FOR THE SQUEAMISH.
♪♪
BUT JUST HOW DIFFICULT
WAS IT TO IMPALE A CORPSE?
PROFESSOR SARAH HAINSWORTH,
ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING EXPERTS
IN FORENSIC ENGINEERING, INVESTIGATES.
MY RESEARCH IS ON THE
FORCES REQUIRED FOR STABBING
WITH VARIOUS IMPLEMENTS THAT
YOU FIND IN STABBING EVENTS.
WHAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN IS
HOW MUCH FORCE WAS REQUIRED
TO STAKE A HUMAN BODY.
Narrator: SARAH WILL USE A
DROP TOWER TO PLUNGE A STAKE
INTO A SET OF PORK RIBS.
IT WILL ANALYZE THE AVERAGE FORCE
NEEDED TO PENETRATE A CORPSE,
LIKE THE ONE FROM BULGARIA.
USING THE PORK RIBS GIVES US A FEEL
FOR WHAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
LIKE TO STAKE A HUMAN BODY.
Narrator: SARAH PREPARES THE MECHANISM.
WILL THE WOODEN STAKE
PENETRATE THE RIBCAGE?
♪♪
IT'S ACTUALLY HIT BETWEEN TWO RIBS,
AND IT'S PUSHED THE
RIBS, SEPARATED THE RIBS,
SO WE HAVEN'T ACTUALLY
PENETRATED INTO THE CARTILAGE.
Narrator: THE WOODEN STAKE FAILS TO TRAVEL
ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE RIBS.
SARAH'S EXPERIMENT SHOWS
THAT SEVERAL VERY STRONG BLOWS
WOULD'VE BEEN NEEDED.
THIS WAS NO EASY JOB.
TO DO IT, PEOPLE MUST'VE
BEEN TERRIFIED AND DETERMINED.
BUT WHY WERE PEOPLE SO CONVINCED
THAT THE DEAD REALLY
WERE RISING FROM THE GRAVE?
♪♪
[ THUNDER RUMBLING ]
Narrator: INVESTIGATORS
ARE HUNTING FOR THE TRUTH
BEHIND VAMPIRE MYTHS.
WHY WERE PEOPLE CONVINCED
THAT THE DEAD WERE RISING
TO ATTACK THE LIVING?
HISTORIAN STEPHEN CURTIS
THINKS A CLUE MAY LIE HERE,
IN LONDON, DEEP INSIDE
THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
HE DISCOVERS OFFICIAL RECORDS THAT SUGGEST
THESE FEARS HAD TRAVELED TO ENGLAND.
A CASE HERE TALKS ABOUT
A MAN CALLED PRICE IN 1786.
HE WAS PUT IN THE FIELDS AND A
STAKE DRIVEN THROUGH HIS BODY.
MARY TERRELL, BURIED IN THE HIGH ROAD,
WITH A STAKE DRIVEN THROUGH HER BODY
IN THE PRESENCE OF A
VAST CONCOURSE OF PEOPLE.
Narrator: THE RECORDS SUGGEST
THAT FEAR OF WANDERING CORPSES
HAD BECOME A WIDESPREAD PHENOMENON.
PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT VAMPIRISM AND VAMPIRES
WERE VERY MUCH A KIND OF EASTERN EUROPEAN,
MEDIEVAL NOTION,
AND A LOT OF THE SUPERSTITIONS AROUND IT
CAN ONLY BE REALLY SEEN IN
THE KIND OF SMALL VILLAGES
YOU GET IN VAMPIRE FILMS AND LITERATURE.
BUT ACTUALLY SOME OF THE
PROCESSES WERE TAKING PLACE
IN ENGLAND INTO THE 19th CENTURY.
Narrator: SO WHY WAS THERE
SUCH FEAR OF THE UNDEAD HERE?
STEPHEN FINDS A COMMON
LINK BETWEEN ALL OF THE CASES.
IN EACH ONE, THE DEAD
PERSON HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE.
1785, THE MAN WAS
FOUND HANGING IN HIS CELL.
THE CORONER'S INQUEST BROUGHT
IN THEIR VERDICT... SELF-MURDER.
AND HE WAS BURIED AND A
STAKE DRIVEN THROUGH HIS BODY.
Narrator: SUICIDE WAS BELIEVED TO BE A SIN.
THOSE WHO KILLED THEMSELVES WERE BURIED
ON THE FRINGES OF SOCIETY,
THEIR SOULS DOOMED TO WANDER FOR ETERNITY.
Curtis: MOST PEOPLE WOULD
GET BURIED IN A CHURCH YARD,
BUT BECAUSE THE ACT OF
SUICIDE WAS AN ACT AGAINST GOD,
YOU HAD TO BE BURIED SOMEWHERE ELSE.
CROSSROADS WERE THE SAFEST
PLACE BECAUSE ANY RETURNING GHOST
COULD NO LONGER FIND THEIR
WAY BACK HOME LIKE THAT.
Narrator: STEPHEN BELIEVES
THAT THIS IDEA OF A LOST SOUL
IS KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE VAMPIRE MYTH.
THIS KIND OF TREATMENT
TO THE BODY OF SUICIDE
WASN'T JUST CONDONED
BY THE JUDICIAL PROCESS
BUT WAS DEMANDED AND EXPECTED.
RITUAL TREATMENT OF SUICIDE
CONNECTS THINGS SO CLOSELY
TO THE WIDER VAMPIRE MYTH.
Narrator: SUICIDE WAS JUST ONE
OF THE WAYS OF BECOMING LOST
ON THE WAY TO THE AFTERLIFE.
IN BULGARIA, IVO MAEV THINKS THAT THIS IDEA
OF THE RESTLESS SOUL
EXPLAINS SOME OF THE
VAMPIRE BURIALS AT PERPERIKON.
AFTER DEATH, THE BODY
SEPARATES FROM THE SOUL,
AND THE SOUL IS FREE TO
GO TO THE AFTERLIFE WORLD.
THE BODY STAYS HERE.
Narrator: SOME PEOPLE BURIED
THEIR DEAD RELATIVES WITH COINS.
THEY BELIEVE THAT A SOUL NEEDED TO PAY
FOR A PASSAGE TO THE AFTERLIFE.
THIS COIN WAS FOUND IN A
GRAVE IN THE LAST 10 DAYS.
THEY HOLD THESE COINS IN THE MOUTH
BECAUSE THE MOUTH IS WHERE
THE SOUL CAN LEAVE THE BODY.
Narrator: BUT AS IN ENGLAND,
PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT A TROUBLED SOUL
COULD SOMETIMES RETURN TO A
CORPSE AND ATTACK THE LIVING.
Maev: IF THE SOUL CONTINUED
TO LIVE IN A DEAD BODY,
IT COULD PROVOKE FIRES
AND NATURAL DISASTERS
OR UNKNOWN SICKNESSES.
Narrator: SOME PEOPLE TURNED
THEIR HOMES INTO FORTRESSES
AGAINST THE UNDEAD.
WHEN THEIR LOVED ONES DIED,
THEY REMOVED THEIR
CORPSES THROUGH THE WINDOW
AND THEN BOARDED IT UP.
SHOULD THAT PERSON TURN INTO A VAMPIRE,
THEY'D BE UNABLE TO GET BACK IN.
TO PROTECT THE MAIN
ENTRANCE, PEOPLE PUT SHARP,
THORNY BRANCHES ON THE DOORSTEP
AND HUNG PUNGENT GARLIC
WREATHS OVER THE FRONT DOOR.
TO DISTRACT VAMPIRES WHO
BROKE THROUGH THE DEFENSES,
PEOPLE SCATTERED SEEDS AROUND THE HOUSE
BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE VAMPIRES
WERE COMPELLED TO COUNT THEM.
IF RESTLESS SOULS MADE CORPSES RISE,
WHY WERE THE UNDEAD HUNGRY FOR HUMAN BLOOD?
COULD THE ANSWER LIE IN A DISTURBING
AND GRUESOME PRACTICE?
♪♪
Narrator: EXPERTS ARE UNCOVERING
THE GRUESOME ORIGINS OF THE VAMPIRE MYTH.
NOW THEY INVESTIGATE WHY THESE CREATURES
COULD ONLY BE SATED BY HUMAN BLOOD.
AT THE CORE OF EVERY
VAMPIRE STORY IS THIS BELIEF
THAT VAMPIRES CAN SURVIVE
ON HUMAN BLOOD ALONE.
THE MORE BLOOD THEY DRINK,
THE MORE POWERFUL THEY BECOME.
Narrator: WHERE DID THE IDEA OF A BEAST
THAT LIVES SOLELY OFF BLOOD COME FROM?
COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST DR. JOY REIDENBERG
SEARCHES FOR EVIDENCE
IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
SHE KNOWS OF ONLY ONE
CREATURE THAT FITS THE BILL.
Reidenberg: THERE ARE LOTS
OF ANIMALS THAT DRINK BLOOD...
MOSQUITOS, LEECHES, TICKS...
BUT THERE'S ONLY ONE MAMMAL
THAT DOES SO EXCLUSIVELY,
AND THAT IS THE VAMPIRE BAT.
Narrator: HOW DOES THIS
CREATURE ATTACK ITS VICTIMS?
Reidenberg: THEY HAVE EXQUISITE
SENSORS ON THE FRONT OF THEIR FACE.
THESE SENSORS CAN DETECT
CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE.
IF YOU HAVE BLOOD VESSELS
THAT ARE REALLY CLOSE TO THE SKIN,
THEY RADIATE HEAT.
THEY SENSE IT, AND THEY HONE
IN TO THOSE BLOOD VESSELS,
THOSE VEINS THAT ARE
RIGHT NEAR THE SURFACE.
Narrator: THEN, JUST LIKE A VAMPIRE,
IT UNLEASHES ITS MOST TERRIFYING WEAPON.
Reidenberg: IF YOU LOOK VERY
CAREFULLY AT THIS SKULL,
YOU'LL SEE IT HAS SOME VERY BIG TEETH.
THEY'RE RAZOR-SHARP.
VERY, VERY SHARP TEETH.
THEY MAKE A CUT, BLOOD COMES OUT,
AND THEY LICK THAT UP WITH THEIR TONGUE.
THE VAMPIRE BAT ACTUALLY HAS SOME SALIVA
WITH AN ANTICOAGULANT...
IN OTHER WORDS, A CHEMICAL THAT
KEEPS THE BLOOD FROM CLOTTING.
AND GUESS WHAT. IT'S CALLED DRACULIN.
Narrator: WHY CAN THIS CREATURE
SURVIVE ON BLOOD ALONE
WHEN OTHERS CAN'T?
Reidenberg: VAMPIRE BATS CAN
EXIST JUST BY DRINKING THIS BLOOD
BECAUSE THEY HAVE A
SPECIAL DIGESTIVE TRACT.
IT HAS ENZYMES THAT CAN BREAK
DOWN ALL THAT EXTRA PROTEIN,
AND THEY CAN HANDLE THE EXTRA IRON LOAD
THAT COMES WITH ALL THAT BLOOD.
Narrator: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF
HUMANS HAD A BLOOD-ONLY DIET
LIKE VAMPIRES?
IF WE DRINK BLOOD, WE GET NAUSEOUS,
AND WE MAY THROW UP.
ALL OF THAT EXTRA IRON CAN
BE POISONOUS AT HIGH LEVELS.
HUMANS CAN'T HANDLE A DIET OF BLOOD.
Narrator: EUROPEANS FIRST ENCOUNTERED
THE VAMPIRE BAT IN THE 16th CENTURY
AND NAMED IT AFTER THE VEIN-BITING MONSTER
THEY FEARED SO MUCH.
BUT WHERE DID THIS FIXATION
WITH DRINKING BLOOD COME FROM?
HISTORIAN STEPHEN CURTIS THINKS THAT A CLUE
LIES BACK IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
Curtis: UNLIKE TODAY, WHERE WE VERY RARELY
SEE BLOOD OR CORPSES, IF
YOU ENTER THE BUTCHER'S,
YOU WOULD SEE ANIMALS BEING SLAUGHTERED.
YOU WOULD SEE THE BLOOD
RUNNING THROUGH THE STREETS.
IT MADE IT LESS OF A SHOCK TO SEE IT.
Narrator: MEDIEVAL PEOPLE
BELIEVED THAT BLOOD
PHYSICALLY CONTAINED A PERSON'S LIFE FORCE,
THE VERY ENERGY THAT KEPT THEM ALIVE.
Curtis: WE CAN SEE TRACES OF VAMPIRISM
IN BELIEFS AROUND DRINKING
BLOOD IN THE PERIOD.
IN DRINKING IT, THEY WOULD GET
THAT HIT OF REVITALIZING ENERGY.
Narrator: THE POWER OF
THE LIFE FORCE IN BLOOD
WAS THOUGHT TO BE SO STRONG
THAT SOME PEOPLE BELIEVED
YOU COULD GET ITS
BENEFITS JUST BY TOUCHING IT.
STEPHEN INVESTIGATES HOW ORDINARY PEOPLE
WENT TO PUBLIC EXECUTIONS
TO GET THEIR HANDS ON SOME.
Curtis: THIS WHOLE AREA WOULD'VE
BEEN FULL OF CROWDS OF PEOPLE
WHO WOULD'VE COME TO SEE
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT
MOMENT OF BLOODSHED
IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
IN THE 17th CENTURY, AN
ENGLISH KING CALLED CHARLES I
WAS BEHEADED IN LONDON.
PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT THE BLOOD OF A KING
WAS AMONG THE MOST POTENT OF ALL.
Curtis: HIS HEAD BEING HELD
UP TO THE CROWDS TO SEE,
BLOOD SPEWING FORTH FROM HIS NECK,
PEOPLE WOULD BE TRYING
TO GET THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS
STAINED IN THAT BLOOD.
Narrator: YOUNG BLOOD
WAS SUPPOSED TO CONTAIN
THE GREATEST CONCENTRATIONS OF LIFE FORCE.
Curtis: PEOPLE BELIEVED IN LIFE FORCE,
HAVING YOUR BODY USED UP SLOWLY AS YOU AGE.
THE BLOOD OF A YOUNG
PERSON EXECUTED WOULD HAVE
A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF LIFE
FORCE AND VITALITY WITHIN IT.
YOU CAN SEE THE VAMPIRIC
LINKS QUITE EASILY THERE.
Narrator: THE REVITALIZING
FORCE OF YOUNG BLOOD
IS AT THE HEART OF A
GRUESOME 17th CENTURY TALE.
ELIZABETH BáTHORY WAS A
COUNTESS LIVING IN HUNGARY.
MYTH HAS IT THAT ONE DAY
A MAID TUGGED HER HAIR
AND THE COUNTESS SLAPPED HER.
HER NAILS DUG INTO THE GIRL'S SKIN,
SPATTERING BLOOD ONTO BáTHORY'S FACE.
A DAY LATER, SHE NOTICED
THAT HER SKIN LOOKED YOUNGER
WHERE THE BLOOD HAD TOUCHED IT.
THE COUNTESS STARTED LURING
YOUNG GIRLS TO HER CASTLE
AND KILLED OVER 600 OF THEM,
ALLEGEDLY SO SHE COULD BATHE IN THEIR BLOOD
AND REMAIN FOREVER YOUNG,
EARNING THE REPUTATION
OF A REAL-LIFE VAMPIRE.
CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT
WAS THAT THE BODY, THE SOUL,
AND THE SPIRIT WERE
LINKED, AND THAT THE BLOOD
WAS THE LIQUID THAT
FLOWED BETWEEN ALL THREE.
BLOOD WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO VAMPIRES
BECAUSE BY DRINKING SOMEONE'S BLOOD,
YOU WERE TAKING AWAY THEIR SOUL.
Regal: THEY WEREN'T JUST KILLING YOU.
THEY WERE STEALING YOUR ESSENCE.
Narrator: BUT ASTONISHINGLY,
IN MEDIEVAL TIMES,
THE LUST FOR DRINKING BLOOD
WAS NOT CONFINED TO VAMPIRES.
BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST SHEELAGH HEUGH
IS AN EXPERT ON HUMAN BLOOD.
SHE INVESTIGATES HOW SOME ALCHEMISTS TRIED
TO DISTILL YOUNG BLOOD
TO MAKE IT EASIER TO DRINK
ITS SUPPOSED LIFE FORCE.
IN THE 14th CENTURY, A FRENCH
ALCHEMIST CALLED RUPACISA
CLAIMED TO HAVE CAPTURED
A PURE VERSION OF IT.
HE SUGGESTS RETAINING THE BLOOD
FROM BABIES AND FROM YOUNG MEN.
Narrator: SHEELAGH IS GOING TO
TRY TO REPLICATE WHAT HE DID.
SHE FOLLOWS THE ALCHEMIST'S ACCOUNT
AND STARTS BY HEATING UP THE BLOOD SAMPLE
UNTIL IT BOILS TO SEPARATE ITS COMPONENTS.
Heugh: BLOOD CONTAINS RED
CELLS, WHITE BLOOD CELLS,
PLATELETS, AND PLASMA.
THE PLASMA IS THE SECTION
THAT WILL START TO
VAPORIZE AND DISTILL ACROSS.
Narrator: ONCE IT REACHES
160 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT,
THE BLOOD STARTS TO BREAK DOWN,
AND THE PLASMA FLOWS ACROSS.
THERE'S THE FIRST DROPS
COMING THROUGH THE TUBE
AND INTO THE COLLECTING VESSEL.
Narrator: IT PRODUCES A GOLDEN LIQUID.
TODAY WE KNOW THIS YELLOWISH
SUBSTANCE AS PURE BLOOD PLASMA.
BUT IN THE EYES OF A MEDIEVAL PERSON,
THIS GOLDEN ELIXIR WAS
CONCENTRATED LIFE FORCE.
THE MEDIEVAL PEOPLE WOULD
HAVE BEEN HAPPY TO PAY
LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY
IN THE BELIEF THAT THIS PRODUCT
WAS GOING TO EXTEND THEIR LIFE.
THEY BELIEVED THAT THE
COLOR GOLD WAS RELATED
TO THE COLOR OF THE SPIRITS.
THEY BELIEVED THAT THEY
WERE ACTUALLY TRANSMITTING
WITH SPIRITS BY FEEDING
THIS ELIXIR TO A PATIENT.
Narrator: THIS MEDIEVAL ALCHEMY
SEEMED TO REINFORCE THE BELIEF
IN BLOOD'S REJUVENATING POWERS.
EVEN KINGS AND ACADEMICS
FERVENTLY BELIEVED IT.
BUT COULD THERE BE ANYTHING
MORE THAN SUPERSTITION
BEHIND VAMPIRES FINDING
YOUNG BLOOD MORE POTENT?
SHEELAGH BELIEVES THAT AN EXPERIMENT
COULD REVEAL THE ANSWER.
ELECTROPHORESIS IS A METHOD THAT WE USE
TO SORT PRODUCTS SUCH
AS PROTEINS BY THEIR SIZE.
Narrator: SAMPLES OF YOUNG BLOOD
AND OLD BLOOD ARE DYED BLUE.
BY RUNNING AN ELECTRIC
CHARGE THROUGH THE SAMPLES,
SHEELAGH CAN SEPARATE THE PROTEINS.
THE MORE BLUE THERE IS,
THE MORE PROTEIN IS IN THE BLOOD.
Heugh: IN THE OLD BLOOD,
WE HAVE SOME PROTEINS,
AND IF WE MOVE ACROSS
FURTHER INTO THE YOUNG BLOOD,
IT'S MUCH DARKER-STAINED,
WHICH INDICATES THERE
IS A LOT MORE PROTEIN.
Narrator: COULD THESE
EXTRA PROTEINS HOLD THE KEY
TO THE CENTURIES-OLD QUEST
FOR EVERLASTING YOUTH?
YOUNG BLOOD HAS BEEN SHOWN TO
IMPROVE THE MEMORY OF OLDER MICE
AND REVERSE SYMPTOMS OF AGING.
Heugh: THESE PROTEINS IN YOUNG BLOOD
COULD BE THE PROTEINS
ALCHEMISTS WERE LOOKING FOR
WITH LIFE-ENHANCING PROPERTIES.
Narrator: PEOPLE WERE CONVINCED THAT BLOOD
HAD THE POWER TO SUSTAIN A VAMPIRE FOREVER.
BUT WHAT WERE THEY FINDING
IN COFFINS TO CONVINCE THEM
THESE DEAD BODIES HAD BEEN GETTING OUT
OF THEIR GRAVES TO DRINK IT?
[ GROWLING ]
AND WHY DID OUR ANCESTORS
FEAR THAT VAMPIRES
WERE TRYING TO BUILD A
WHOLE ARMY OF THE UNDEAD?
♪♪
[ THUNDER RUMBLING ]
Narrator: EXPERTS ARE UNCOVERING
THE HORRIFYING REALITY
BEHIND THE VAMPIRE.
AT THE HEART OF THE LEGEND
IS THE BELIEF THAT IT WOULD NOT DIE.
BUT WHAT WERE OUR ANCESTORS
DISCOVERING IN COFFINS
TO CONVINCE THEM CORPSES
COULD RISE FROM THEIR GRAVES?
A CLUE LIES IN AN 18th
CENTURY SERBIAN TALE.
ONE NIGHT, A PEASANT NOTICES
A STRANGE SMOKE WAFTING IN.
IT TRANSFORMS INTO HIS
FATHER, PETAR BLAGOJEVICH,
WHO DIED THREE DAYS
EARLIER AND IS NOW A VAMPIRE.
HE DEMANDS FOOD, WHICH HIS SON DENIES HIM.
THE NEXT DAY, HIS SON IS DEAD.
THE MONSTER DOESN'T STOP THERE.
HE ATTACKS PEOPLE IN THEIR
SLEEP, BITES THEIR NECKS,
AND DRINKS THEIR BLOOD.
VILLAGERS EXHUME BLAGOJEVICH'S BODY.
THEY DISCOVER THAT HE
HAS NEW SKIN AND NAILS,
HIS HAIR HAS GROWN, AND
BLOOD IS OOZING FROM HIS MOUTH.
WHAT WERE PEOPLE UNCOVERING IN GRAVES HERE
THAT FUELED THE BELIEF
IN THE VAMPIRE LEGEND?
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST
DR. ANNA WILLIAMS BELIEVES
THE ANSWER LIES WITH HOW BODIES DECAY.
SHE THINKS OUR ANCESTORS
MISINTERPRETED WHAT THEY SAW.
IT MAY LOOK LIKE AN ORDINARY FIELD,
BUT I USE IT AS AN EXPERIMENTAL OUTDOOR LAB
FOR LOOKING AT HOW DECOMPOSITION HAPPENS
IN A VARIETY OF CONDITIONS.
Narrator: TODAY, ANNA HOPES
THAT THE CARCASS OF A PIGLET
THAT DIED 14 DAYS AGO COULD SHED NEW LIGHT
ON HOW MEDIEVAL PEOPLE
VIEWED DEATH AND DECOMPOSITION.
Williams: THIS PIGLET
DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES.
IT WAS BURIED AS SOON
AS POSSIBLE AFTER DEATH.
WE'RE EXPECTING TO SEE A
MORE ADVANCED DECOMPOSITION.
Narrator: THE PIGLET HAS BEEN
BURIED TWO FEET BELOW THE SURFACE.
Williams: YOU CAN HEAR MY TROWEL
SCRAPING ACROSS ITS TAUT BELLY.
YEP, YOU CAN SMELL IT.
Narrator: HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS DESCRIBE
HOW SUSPECTED VAMPIRES LOOK WELL-FED.
ANNA IMMEDIATELY NOTICES
A DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN THIS.
Williams: THIS ONE LOOKS QUITE
BLOATED IN ITS ABDOMINAL AREA.
GAS BUILDS UP INSIDE THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY,
AND THAT CAUSES THE
BODY TO SWELL AND TO BLOAT.
MIGHT MAKE IT LOOK LIKE
IT HAD A RECENT MEAL.
Narrator: COULD A BUILDUP
OF GAS ALSO EXPLAIN
WHY SOME CORPSES WERE
SAID TO GROAN WHEN IMPALED?
Williams: THE BACTERIA THAT
ARE IN THE PIG'S INTESTINE,
THEY CONTINUE WORKING AFTER DEATH.
INSTEAD OF DIGESTING THE
FOOD THAT'S BEEN SENT DOWN,
THEY START DIGESTING THE BODY AROUND IT.
THAT CAN CREATE NOISES,
AND THAT CAN BE MISCONSTRUED
AS THE BODY STILL BEING ALIVE.
Narrator: THESE STRANGE EFFECTS OF DECAY
SEEM TO SUGGEST A LIVING CORPSE.
THEY WOULD'VE TERRIFIED
AN 18th CENTURY OBSERVER.
Williams: THINGS THAT MEDIEVAL
VILLAGERS MIGHT HAVE SEEN
WHEN THEY'VE BEEN DIGGING UP BODIES...
FROTHING AT THE MOUTH,
DESICCATION OF THE LIPS
THAT CAUSES EXPOSURE OF THE TEETH,
THINGS MEDIEVAL VILLAGERS
MIGHT HAVE MISINTERPRETED
AS SIGNS OF VAMPIRISM.
Narrator: MANY VAMPIRE
DESCRIPTIONS ALSO TALK
OF THE FINGERNAILS ON
DEAD BODIES STILL GROWING.
Williams: THE SKIN IS
DRYING AND DESICCATING
AND RECEDING AWAY FROM THE NAIL BED.
THAT GIVES THE IMPRESSION
THAT THE NAILS WERE GROWING.
Narrator: WHAT REALLY
HAPPENS TO A BODY AFTER DEATH
TO CAUSE THESE VAMPIRE-LIKE SYMPTOMS?
♪♪
DECAYING CORPSES UNDERGO A NATURAL
BUT GRUESOME TRANSFORMATION.
AS THE SKIN DRIES AND TIGHTENS,
IT PUSHES BEARD STUBBLE FURTHER OUT.
SKIN SHRINKS BACK ON THE HANDS,
MAKING FINGERNAILS SEEM LONGER,
AS IF A CORPSE IS GROWING CLAWS.
AS THE BODY'S TISSUES BREAK DOWN,
IT BECOMES INFESTED WITH
GAS-PRODUCING BACTERIA.
PRESSURE BUILDS INSIDE THE BLOATED CORPSE,
FORCING BODILY FLUIDS
FROM THE NOSE AND MOUTH,
MAKING THE CORPSE LOOK LIKE A VAMPIRE
WHO'S JUST FEASTED ON BLOOD.
ANNA'S EXPERIMENT REVEALS HOW
THE UNEXPECTED WAY A CORPSE
DECAYS MIGHT HAVE BEEN
SEEN AS PROOF OF VAMPIRES.
MEDIEVAL PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T
UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS
OF DECOMPOSITION COULD THINK
THAT THE BODY WAS STILL ALIVE.
Narrator: EVIDENCE LIKE
THIS CONVINCED PEOPLE
THAT VAMPIRES REALLY
WERE RISING FROM THE GRAVE
TO BLEED THE LIVING DRY.
BUT WHY DID THEY BELIEVE THESE MONSTERS
COULD ALSO TAKE ON THE FORM OF ANIMALS?
[ GROWLING ]
COULD ANOTHER SHAPE-SHIFTING MYTHICAL BEAST
REVEAL THE TRUTH BEHIND THE VAMPIRE'S
MOST EXTRAORDINARY POWER?
[ SNARLING ]
♪♪
[ THUNDER RUMBLING ]
[ SNARLS ]
Narrator: OUR CLASSIC IDEA OF THE VAMPIRE
COMES FROM HORROR FILMS.
THE ABILITY TO CHANGE
FROM HUMAN FORM TO THE BAT
AND BACK AGAIN
IS ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING CHARACTERISTICS
OF COUNT DRACULA.
THESE EVIL CREATURES WERE CHANGING FORM
AND COULD MORPH INTO SOMETHING ELSE.
Narrator: VAMPIRES WERE
THOUGHT TO TRANSFORM
INTO ALL KINDS OF THINGS,
NOT JUST BATS, BUT WOLVES AND EVEN MIST.
Nubia: THERE'S THIS IDEA OF SHAPESHIFTERS,
HUMAN BEINGS THAT HAVE THE CAPACITY
TO TURN INTO SOMETHING ELSE.
THEY COULD TAKE THE
FORM AND SHAPE OF ANIMALS.
Narrator: BUT WHY DID PEOPLE BELIEVE
THEY COULD CHANGE FORM LIKE THIS?
THE ANSWER MAY LIE IN THE MYTH
OF ANOTHER TERRIFYING CREATURE
WITH HIDDEN CONNECTIONS TO THE VAMPIRE.
THE TALE OF PETER STUMPP TELLS
OF A WEALTHY GERMAN FARMER
WHO DID A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL.
HE RECEIVED A MAGICAL BELT
THAT ALLOWED HIM TO TURN INTO A WEREWOLF.
[ HOWLING ]
NOW, STUMPP COULD LIVE OUT HIS BLOODLUST,
KILLING ANIMALS AND PEOPLE FOR FUN.
HE EVEN SLAUGHTERED HIS
OWN CHILD AND ATE HIS BRAINS.
THE WOLF WAS THE PERFECT DISGUISE.
WHENEVER STUMPP WAS IN
DANGER OF GETTING CAUGHT,
ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS TAKE OFF HIS BELT,
ALLOWING HIM TO KILL
UNDETECTED FOR OVER 20 YEARS.
THE WEREWOLF AND THE VAMPIRE
WERE SOMETIMES INTERCHANGEABLE.
IN THE ORIGINAL SERBIAN FOLKLORE,
THE SAME WORD WAS USED FOR BOTH.
THEY WERE EACH NOCTURNAL
KILLERS AND A DANGER TO LIVESTOCK.
WHEN THEY DIED,
IT WAS THOUGHT THAT
WEREWOLVES TURNED INTO VAMPIRES.
BELIEF IN THE ABILITY TO
CHANGE SHAPE WAS SO STRONG
THAT POTIONS WERE DEVELOPED
THAT CLAIMED TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN SOMEBODY USED ONE?
BOTANIST STEPHEN HARRIS INVESTIGATES.
HE'S UNCOVERED A RECIPE
FOR A WEREWOLF POTION
PUBLISHED IN A 19th CENTURY MANUSCRIPT.
STEPHEN ANALYZES THE INGREDIENTS.
Harris: WOLFSBANE...
IT MEANS "WOLF KILLER."
TRADITIONALLY, THE ROOTS
OF THIS PLANT WERE MASHED UP
AND USED IN ORDER TO CONTROL WOLVES.
IT AFFECTS YOUR BREATHING,
CIRCULATORY SYSTEM,
AND NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Narrator: BECAUSE WOLFSBANE IS SO TOXIC,
STEPHEN MUST HANDLE A DRIED SPECIMEN.
Harris: THE LONGER IT'S DRIED, THE
LOWER THE POTENCY IS GOING TO BE.
BUT THEY REMAIN POISONOUS
FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
Narrator: NEXT, HE FINDS SOME
POPPY SEEDS, POPLAR BUDS,
AND DEADLY NIGHTSHADE.
Harris: ATROPA BELLADONNA...
IT'S A VERY POISONOUS PLANT,
BUT IF YOU APPLY TO A
SOLUTION TO SOMEBODY'S EYES,
THEN THEIR PUPILS WILL DILATE VERY QUICKLY.
Narrator: WHEN MIXED TOGETHER,
THIS OINTMENT WOULD BE HIGHLY DANGEROUS.
THIS OINTMENT HAS SOME VERY
DRAMATIC HALLUCINOGENIC EFFECTS.
PEOPLE ARE GOING TO START
TO HAVE ALTERED MIND STATES.
Narrator: THE IDEA OF VAMPIRE
AND WEREWOLF TRANSFORMATION
FASCINATED OUR ANCESTORS.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BODY
WHEN A SUPPOSED SHAPE-SHIFTING
POTION WAS ACTUALLY USED?
WEREWOLF OINTMENT CONTAINS POWERFUL DRUGS
THAT MIMIC CHEMICAL
MESSENGERS INSIDE THE BODY.
THEY PENETRATE THE SKIN, THEN
LATCH ONTO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM,
WHERE THEY WREAK HAVOC
WITH BODILY FUNCTIONS.
PUPILS DILATE, CAUSING
EXTREME SENSITIVITY TO DAYLIGHT.
BODY TEMPERATURE SKYROCKETS,
AND THIRST BECOMES ALMOST UNQUENCHABLE.
FINALLY, POWERFUL HALLUCINATIONS
COULD TRIGGER VISIONS
OF TURNING INTO A BLOOD-CRAZED WEREWOLF.
JOY REIDENBERG INVESTIGATES
HOW A PERSON COULD BE CONVINCED
THAT THEY HAD CHANGED INTO A MYTHICAL BEAST
BY USING ONE OF THESE POTIONS.
Reidenberg: THIS IS A PLANT CALLED DOGBANE.
THE SAP IS THE KIND OF TOXIC SERUM
THAT PEOPLE WERE PUTTING INTO POTIONS.
Narrator: HOW COULD THIS
POISON HAVE CONVINCED SOMEONE
THAT THEY WERE MORPHING INTO A
DIFFERENT CREATURE ALTOGETHER?
THESE ARE SCANS OF BRAINS,
AND THESE LITTLE SLICES HERE
SHOW YOU WHERE THESE CROSS-SECTIONS
ARE COMING FROM IN THE BRAIN.
THIS IS A NORMAL BRAIN OF SOMEBODY
WHO'S LOOKING AT AN IMAGE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S LIGHTING
UP IN THIS ORANGE COLOR
TO INDICATE THERE'S SOME ACTIVITY HERE.
THIS BRAIN OVER HERE IS FROM
SOMEONE WHO'S TAKEN LSD.
IT'S ALL LIT UP.
LSD HAS SOME OF THE SAME PROPERTIES
THAT YOU WOULD SEE IN THE POTION.
THIS IS SENSORY AND MOTOR OVERLOAD.
THIS IS PROBABLY WHAT WAS
GOING ON WITH THE PEOPLE
WHO TOOK THE POTION.
THEY WERE IMAGINING ALL
KINDS OF HALLUCINOGENIC THINGS.
THIS PERSON IS NOT ONLY SEEING THAT IMAGE,
THEY WERE SENSING IT,
HEARING IT, SMELLING IT.
Narrator: BUT YOU DIDN'T NEED
A HALLUCINOGEN TO BELIEVE
IN SHAPE-SHIFTING MONSTERS.
WEREWOLVES AND VAMPIRES
WERE SEEN AS A VERY REAL THREAT.
THERE WERE TRIALS, EXECUTIONS,
AND EVEN SUPPOSED VAMPIRE EPIDEMICS.
THIS HAPPENED SCORES
OF TIMES IN NEW ENGLAND
THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
Narrator: WHERE DID THE BELIEF IN
VAMPIRE OUTBREAKS COME FROM?
AND WHAT DID PEOPLE THINK HAPPENED TO THEM
WHEN THESE CREATURES TOOK A BITE?
♪♪
[ THUNDER RUMBLING ]
Narrator: THE VAMPIRE...
A MONSTER WITH A TERRIFYING ABILITY
TO RISE FROM THE DEAD
AND FEED OFF THE LIVING.
BUT WHY DID PEOPLE BELIEVE
THAT A SINGLE DREADED BITE
WOULD SEAL YOUR FATE,
A PLACE IN A GROWING VAMPIRE ARMY?
ACCORDING TO A FRENCH
MONK, AUGUSTIN CALMET,
VAMPIRES WERE OUT TO RECRUIT
AS MANY PEOPLE TO THEIR
DEADLY CLAN AS POSSIBLE.
FIVE YEARS AFTER THE CASE OF ARNOLD PAOLE,
MORE PEOPLE FROM THE SAME VILLAGE
STARTED DYING WITHIN WEEKS OF EACH OTHER.
THEIR MYSTERIOUS DEATHS
CAUSED PANIC AMONG THE LOCALS.
TERRIFIED OF ANOTHER VAMPIRE ON THE LOOSE,
THE AUTHORITIES DUG UP 17 BODIES
AND BURNED THEM TO MAKE SURE NONE OF THEM
COULD EVER RETURN TO INFECT THE LIVING.
AT PERPERIKON IN BULGARIA,
IVO MAEV THINKS THAT
AS MANY AS 1 IN 10 GRAVES
COULD BELONG TO A SUSPECTED VAMPIRE.
Maev: THE MAJORITY OF ANTI-VAMPIRE GRAVES
HAVE BEEN MADE IN
SOUTHERN PART OF BULGARIA.
HERE, WE HAVE MORE THAN OFFICIALLY 20,
BUT IF WE ARE COUNTING ALL DEVIANT BURIALS,
WE CAN TALK ABOUT HUNDREDS.
WE CAN CATEGORICALLY SAY
THAT BULGARIA IS THE PLACE
WITH THE HIGHEST
CONCENTRATION OF VAMPIRE GRAVES
AROUND THE WORLD.
Narrator: IN THE MIDDLE AGES,
BULGARIA WAS A HOT SPOT FOR VAMPIRISM.
BUT IT DIDN'T STOP AT THE BORDER.
IN THE 18th CENTURY, VAMPIRE EPIDEMICS
STARTED TO OCCUR THROUGHOUT EASTERN EUROPE
IN ALARMING NUMBERS,
STOKING FEAR OF A VAMPIRE ARMY.
TERROR OF THE UNDEAD SOON
SPREAD TO THE NEW WORLD.
IN RHODE ISLAND, FOLKLORE
RESEARCHER MICHAEL BELL
INVESTIGATES A STORY THAT AFFECTED PEOPLE
ACROSS THREE STATES.
LOCALS WERE DYING OF
SOMETHING INEXPLICABLE,
AND THEY BELIEVED A WAVE OF
VAMPIRE ATTACKS WAS TO BLAME.
MICHAEL VISITS A GRAVEYARD
IN JEWETT CITY, CONNECTICUT,
WHERE MANY VICTIMS WERE LAID TO REST.
SOMETHING INCREDIBLY STRANGE HAPPENED HERE
MORE THAN A CENTURY AND A HALF AGO.
PEOPLE WERE DYING ONE AFTER ANOTHER.
THIS IS THE GRAVESTONE OF ELISHA RAY.
HIS FATHER, HENRY B. RAY, HAD PASSED AWAY.
AND THEN LEMUEL RAY HAD
DIED, FOLLOWED BY ELISHA.
ANOTHER SON, HENRY
NELSON RAY, WAS VERY ILL,
AND IT LOOKED LIKE HE MIGHT DIE.
Narrator: WITH SO MANY DEATHS,
THE RAY FAMILY WANTED ANSWERS.
THEY BELIEVED THAT THEIR DEAD RELATIVES
WERE RISING FROM THE
GRAVE TO FEAST ON THEM.
TOWARD THE END OF THEIR LIVES,
THEY WOULD BE COUGHING UP BLOOD.
THERE WOULD BE BLOOD ON
THE CORNERS OF THEIR MOUTHS
AND ON THEIR BEDCLOTHES IN THE MORNING
WHEN THE FAMILY MEMBERS WENT IN,
SO IT LOOKED LIKE SOMETHING
WAS LITERALLY SUCKING THE LIFE,
SUCKING THE BLOOD RIGHT
OUT OF ALL THE FAMILY MEMBERS.
THE FAMILY RESORTED
TO THE UNDERLYING BELIEF
THAT IT MIGHT BE ONE OF
THE DEAD FAMILY MEMBERS
WHO WAS CAUSING THE DEATH.
THEY EXHUMED THE BODIES OF TWO
BROTHERS, LEMUEL AND ELISHA RAY.
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR UNNATURAL SIGNS.
ANYTHING THAT WAS LIQUEFIED,
ANY BODILY FLUID THAT WAS IN AN ORGAN,
THAT WOULD BE INTERPRETED AS FRESH BLOOD,
AND APPARENTLY THEY
FOUND THEM AT LEAST IN ELISHA.
Narrator: TO TRY AND PREVENT MORE DEATHS,
THE BODIES WERE BURNED.
BUT THIS FAMILY WAS JUST ONE OF MANY
THAT EXPERIENCED MULTIPLE
DEATHS IN A SHORT PERIOD.
Bell: THIS WAS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.
THIS HAPPENS THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
IT WAS BARBARIC BEHAVIOR TO
ACTUALLY COME OUT TO A CEMETERY
AND MUTILATE YOUR OWN FAMILY MEMBER,
SOMETIMES EVEN EAT THE ASHES
OR INHALE THE SMOKE
FROM THE BURNING CORPSES.
THIS WAS BASICALLY A FORM OF CANNIBALISM.
MICHAEL BELIEVES A KILLER
DISEASE WAS REALLY TO BLAME.
SOME MYSTERIOUS THING
WAS KILLING ONE PERSON
AFTER ANOTHER.
THE DOCTORS WOULD CALL IT CONSUMPTION.
LATER, THEY STARTED CALLING
IT PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS.
BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CURE.
EVEN THOUGH IT WAS DISCOVERED IN 1882,
IT WASN'T UNTIL THE 1940s
THAT THERE WAS AN ANTIBIOTIC
TO ACTUALLY DEAL WITH TUBERCULOSIS.
Li: IT WOULD'VE SPREAD LIFE WILDFIRE.
DISEASES LIKE THAT SPREAD QUICKLY
BETWEEN PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS.
PEOPLE PROBABLY THOUGHT THAT VAMPIRISM
WAS AT THE CAUSE OF IT.
PEOPLE NEVER BLAMED THEIR DEAD SIBLINGS.
THE PERSON'S SOUL HAD BEEN CAPTURED.
IT WAS MORE LIKE THERE WAS
AN EVIL INHABITING THAT CORPSE.
THE VAMPIRE MYTH HAS
SURVIVED INTO THE 21st CENTURY
BECAUSE HUMAN BEINGS DON'T
HAVE A NATURAL PREDATOR.
WE NEED TO BE SCARED.
Narrator: THE VAMPIRE...
THIS TERRIFYING CREATURE
ROSE FROM THE GRAVE
TO SATISFY ITS THIRST FOR FRESH BLOOD.
IT WOULD ENTER A DWELLING
TO FEED ON THE LIVING,
DRINK THEIR BLOOD,
AND ADD TO THEIR GROWING
ARMY OF THE UNDEAD.
AS EXPERTS OPEN MORE AND MORE GRAVES,
THE SHOCKING EXTENT OF OUR
ANCESTORS' FEAR OF VAMPIRES
IS FINALLY REVEALED.
THE TRUE STORY OF THE
VAMPIRE ISN'T DRACULA.
IT'S CORPSES THAT REFUSE TO DIE
AND WILL STOP AT NOTHING
TO MAKE YOU ONE OF THEM.
[ SNARLS ]
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
NIGHTMARISH, MYTHICAL MONSTERS
THAT RETURN FROM THE DEAD
TO FEAST ON HUMAN BLOOD.
THE MEDIEVAL VAMPIRE WAS QUITE DIFFERENT
FROM THIS "TWILIGHT" IMAGE
THAT WE HAVE OF VAMPIRES.
THEY WOULD KILL YOUR CHILDREN.
THEY WOULD EAT YOUR COW.
THEY WERE PRETTY DISGUSTING, REALLY.
Narrator: VAMPIRES SUCK THE
LIFE FORCE FROM THEIR VICTIMS
WHO ALSO BECOME ONE OF THE UNDEAD.
BY DRINKING YOUR BLOOD,
VAMPIRES WERE TAKING YOUR SOUL.
Narrator: WHAT REALLY
INSPIRED THE IDEA OF VAMPIRES,
AND WHY WERE OUR ANCESTORS
SO CONVINCED THEY WERE REAL,
THEY MUTILATED CORPSES
TO KEEP THEMSELVES SAFE?
THE STAKE DOESN'T
ACTUALLY KILL THE VAMPIRE.
THE STAKE KEEPS THE VAMPIRE
CONFINED TO ITS COFFIN.
Narrator: NOW, EXPERTS GO
BEYOND VAMPIRE TALES AND MOVIES.
THEY USE NEW SCIENCE AND ARCHAEOLOGY
TO FINALLY REVEAL THE TRUTH
BEHIND THIS TERRIFYING MYTH.
Bell: SOMETHING INCREDIBLY
STRANGE HAPPENED HERE.
PEOPLE WERE DYING ONE AFTER ANOTHER.
Narrator: THEIR MISSION...
TO UNCOVER THE REASONS
WHY THE VAMPIRE LEGEND BEGAN.
♪♪
BULGARIA, EASTERN EUROPE...
A LAND OF MOUNTAINS, FORESTS,
AND TERRIFYING SUPERSTITIONS.
HERE, JUST OUTSIDE THE
ANCIENT CITY OF PERPERIKON,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DIG AN EXTRAORDINARY SITE,
A GRAVEYARD SAID TO CONTAIN
ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS MONSTERS
OF ALL TIME... THE VAMPIRE.
Maev: WE ARE OPENING AT
THE MOMENT 130 GRAVES.
BODIES WERE BURIED IN UNUSUAL WAY.
PEOPLE BELIEVE THEY COULD BE VAMPIRES.
Narrator: EVEN TODAY, THE
IDEA OF VAMPIRES IS TERRIFYING.
AROUND THE WORLD, EVEN AS LATE AS 2010,
PEOPLE WERE BEING MURDERED ON THE STREETS
BECAUSE THEIR NEIGHBORS
THOUGHT THEY WERE VAMPIRES.
Narrator: BUT WHERE DID
OUR MODERN UNDERSTANDING
OF THE VAMPIRE COME FROM,
THIS BLOOD-SUCKING BEAST
THAT COULD EVEN CHANGE SHAPE AT WILL?
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT
VAMPIRES, THE FIRST IDEA
THAT COMES TO MIND, OF COURSE, IS DRACULA.
BUT DRACULA IS MORE OF A RECENT CHARACTER.
Narrator: A CLUE TO THE ORIGINS OF THE MYTH
LIES WITH ONE OF THE EARLIEST
ACCOUNTS OF AN ATTACK.
♪♪
IN 1728, THE DEATH OF A SERBIAN MAN
CALLED ARNOLD PAOLE TRIGGERS
A SERIES OF STRANGE EVENTS.
PEOPLE START SEEING PAOLE
ROAMING THE VILLAGE AT NIGHT.
THEY CLAIM HE VISITS
PEOPLE IN THEIR BEDROOMS.
FOUR END UP DEAD.
THE VILLAGERS FEAR PAOLE
HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE.
THEY DIG UP HIS COFFIN
AND FIND PAOLE LOOKING
AS FRESH AS THE DAY HE DIED.
AS THEY DRIVE A STAKE THROUGH HIS HEART,
HE LETS OUT A TERRIBLE MOAN.
Paole: UGH!
STORIES LIKE THIS REVEAL
THAT OUR ANCESTORS BELIEVE
THAT VAMPIRES WERE SIMPLY
CORPSES THAT REFUSE TO DIE...
FAR REMOVED FROM THE BAT-LIKE
CREATURES OF DRACULA FILMS.
Li: PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT
VAMPIRES WERE ALREADY DEAD,
SO IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL THEM.
WHAT YOU HAD TO DO WAS
INCAPACITATE THEM SOMEHOW.
Regal: THE STAKE DOESN'T KILL THE VAMPIRE.
THE STAKE KEEPS THE VAMPIRE IN THE COFFIN.
Narrator: WHAT INSPIRED
THIS BELIEF IN THE UNDEAD?
MODERN-DAY VAMPIRE HUNTER
IVO MAEV SEARCHES FOR EVIDENCE
THAT SO-CALLED VAMPIRE
STAKINGS REALLY DID TAKE PLACE.
WE EXPECT TO FIND SOME SKELETONS HERE
JUST BECAUSE THIS AREA
LOOKS LIKE A GRAVEYARD.
THE RITUAL FOR ANTI-VAMPIRES
ARE POPULAR AMONG THESE PEOPLE HERE.
IVO AND THE TEAM INVESTIGATE
THE REMAINS AT A SITE
OCCUPIED IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
MEDIEVAL BURIALS FROM THIS REGION
CONTAIN STRANGE MUTILATED CORPSES.
EXCAVATION LEADER PROFESSOR
NIKOLAY OVCHAROV EXAMINES
ONE SKELETON BURIED 800 YEARS AGO.
[ SPEAKING IN BULGARIAN ]
NIKOLAY UNCOVERS EVIDENCE
OF JUST HOW DESPERATE PEOPLE
WERE TO PIN DOWN THIS CORPSE.
HE PULLS OUT A SHOCKING
OBJECT, AN IRON STAKE.
[ SPEAKING IN BULGARIAN ]
PEOPLE HERE WERE TERRIFIED THAT THIS PERSON
COULD BECOME A REAL-LIFE VAMPIRE.
BUT STAKING CORPSES WAS
JUST ONE WAY THAT THEY HOPED
TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.
THE BODY IN THIS GRAVE WAS
SETTLED IN THAT DIRECTION.
FEET WERE HERE, HEAD WERE HERE.
Narrator: IVO THINKS THIS WALL WAS BUILT
AS AN ADDED INSURANCE AGAINST VAMPIRES.
IF THIS BODY IS SETTLED IN THAT DIRECTION,
OBVIOUSLY THE WALL WAS
BUILT OVER... OVER THE BODY.
THIS IS ONE MORE GUARANTEE
THAT THE BODY CANNOT RISE.
Narrator: EASTERN EUROPEANS
WERE TAKING NO CHANCES
WHEN IT CAME TO VAMPIRES.
THEY HAD A HUGE TOOL KIT
TO LOCK THEM IN THEIR GRAVES.
TO STOP VAMPIRES FROM WALKING,
THEY TIED THE CORPSE'S LEGS TOGETHER,
OR SIMPLY CUT THEM OFF.
TO PIN THE CORPSE TO THE GROUND,
THEY PLACED A HEAVY STONE ON THE CHEST
OR HAMMERED IN A STAKE.
AND A SICKLE ACROSS THE NECK
WOULD DECAPITATE THE
VAMPIRE IF IT REARED ITS HEAD.
PEOPLE HOPED THAT WITH ALL THESE MEASURES,
THE DEAD WOULD DEFINITELY STAY DEAD.
PREVENTING A SUSPECTED
VAMPIRE FROM RISING FROM ITS GRAVE
WAS NOT A JOB FOR THE SQUEAMISH.
♪♪
BUT JUST HOW DIFFICULT
WAS IT TO IMPALE A CORPSE?
PROFESSOR SARAH HAINSWORTH,
ONE OF THE WORLD'S LEADING EXPERTS
IN FORENSIC ENGINEERING, INVESTIGATES.
MY RESEARCH IS ON THE
FORCES REQUIRED FOR STABBING
WITH VARIOUS IMPLEMENTS THAT
YOU FIND IN STABBING EVENTS.
WHAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN IS
HOW MUCH FORCE WAS REQUIRED
TO STAKE A HUMAN BODY.
Narrator: SARAH WILL USE A
DROP TOWER TO PLUNGE A STAKE
INTO A SET OF PORK RIBS.
IT WILL ANALYZE THE AVERAGE FORCE
NEEDED TO PENETRATE A CORPSE,
LIKE THE ONE FROM BULGARIA.
USING THE PORK RIBS GIVES US A FEEL
FOR WHAT IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
LIKE TO STAKE A HUMAN BODY.
Narrator: SARAH PREPARES THE MECHANISM.
WILL THE WOODEN STAKE
PENETRATE THE RIBCAGE?
♪♪
IT'S ACTUALLY HIT BETWEEN TWO RIBS,
AND IT'S PUSHED THE
RIBS, SEPARATED THE RIBS,
SO WE HAVEN'T ACTUALLY
PENETRATED INTO THE CARTILAGE.
Narrator: THE WOODEN STAKE FAILS TO TRAVEL
ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE RIBS.
SARAH'S EXPERIMENT SHOWS
THAT SEVERAL VERY STRONG BLOWS
WOULD'VE BEEN NEEDED.
THIS WAS NO EASY JOB.
TO DO IT, PEOPLE MUST'VE
BEEN TERRIFIED AND DETERMINED.
BUT WHY WERE PEOPLE SO CONVINCED
THAT THE DEAD REALLY
WERE RISING FROM THE GRAVE?
♪♪
[ THUNDER RUMBLING ]
Narrator: INVESTIGATORS
ARE HUNTING FOR THE TRUTH
BEHIND VAMPIRE MYTHS.
WHY WERE PEOPLE CONVINCED
THAT THE DEAD WERE RISING
TO ATTACK THE LIVING?
HISTORIAN STEPHEN CURTIS
THINKS A CLUE MAY LIE HERE,
IN LONDON, DEEP INSIDE
THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
HE DISCOVERS OFFICIAL RECORDS THAT SUGGEST
THESE FEARS HAD TRAVELED TO ENGLAND.
A CASE HERE TALKS ABOUT
A MAN CALLED PRICE IN 1786.
HE WAS PUT IN THE FIELDS AND A
STAKE DRIVEN THROUGH HIS BODY.
MARY TERRELL, BURIED IN THE HIGH ROAD,
WITH A STAKE DRIVEN THROUGH HER BODY
IN THE PRESENCE OF A
VAST CONCOURSE OF PEOPLE.
Narrator: THE RECORDS SUGGEST
THAT FEAR OF WANDERING CORPSES
HAD BECOME A WIDESPREAD PHENOMENON.
PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT VAMPIRISM AND VAMPIRES
WERE VERY MUCH A KIND OF EASTERN EUROPEAN,
MEDIEVAL NOTION,
AND A LOT OF THE SUPERSTITIONS AROUND IT
CAN ONLY BE REALLY SEEN IN
THE KIND OF SMALL VILLAGES
YOU GET IN VAMPIRE FILMS AND LITERATURE.
BUT ACTUALLY SOME OF THE
PROCESSES WERE TAKING PLACE
IN ENGLAND INTO THE 19th CENTURY.
Narrator: SO WHY WAS THERE
SUCH FEAR OF THE UNDEAD HERE?
STEPHEN FINDS A COMMON
LINK BETWEEN ALL OF THE CASES.
IN EACH ONE, THE DEAD
PERSON HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE.
1785, THE MAN WAS
FOUND HANGING IN HIS CELL.
THE CORONER'S INQUEST BROUGHT
IN THEIR VERDICT... SELF-MURDER.
AND HE WAS BURIED AND A
STAKE DRIVEN THROUGH HIS BODY.
Narrator: SUICIDE WAS BELIEVED TO BE A SIN.
THOSE WHO KILLED THEMSELVES WERE BURIED
ON THE FRINGES OF SOCIETY,
THEIR SOULS DOOMED TO WANDER FOR ETERNITY.
Curtis: MOST PEOPLE WOULD
GET BURIED IN A CHURCH YARD,
BUT BECAUSE THE ACT OF
SUICIDE WAS AN ACT AGAINST GOD,
YOU HAD TO BE BURIED SOMEWHERE ELSE.
CROSSROADS WERE THE SAFEST
PLACE BECAUSE ANY RETURNING GHOST
COULD NO LONGER FIND THEIR
WAY BACK HOME LIKE THAT.
Narrator: STEPHEN BELIEVES
THAT THIS IDEA OF A LOST SOUL
IS KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE VAMPIRE MYTH.
THIS KIND OF TREATMENT
TO THE BODY OF SUICIDE
WASN'T JUST CONDONED
BY THE JUDICIAL PROCESS
BUT WAS DEMANDED AND EXPECTED.
RITUAL TREATMENT OF SUICIDE
CONNECTS THINGS SO CLOSELY
TO THE WIDER VAMPIRE MYTH.
Narrator: SUICIDE WAS JUST ONE
OF THE WAYS OF BECOMING LOST
ON THE WAY TO THE AFTERLIFE.
IN BULGARIA, IVO MAEV THINKS THAT THIS IDEA
OF THE RESTLESS SOUL
EXPLAINS SOME OF THE
VAMPIRE BURIALS AT PERPERIKON.
AFTER DEATH, THE BODY
SEPARATES FROM THE SOUL,
AND THE SOUL IS FREE TO
GO TO THE AFTERLIFE WORLD.
THE BODY STAYS HERE.
Narrator: SOME PEOPLE BURIED
THEIR DEAD RELATIVES WITH COINS.
THEY BELIEVE THAT A SOUL NEEDED TO PAY
FOR A PASSAGE TO THE AFTERLIFE.
THIS COIN WAS FOUND IN A
GRAVE IN THE LAST 10 DAYS.
THEY HOLD THESE COINS IN THE MOUTH
BECAUSE THE MOUTH IS WHERE
THE SOUL CAN LEAVE THE BODY.
Narrator: BUT AS IN ENGLAND,
PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT A TROUBLED SOUL
COULD SOMETIMES RETURN TO A
CORPSE AND ATTACK THE LIVING.
Maev: IF THE SOUL CONTINUED
TO LIVE IN A DEAD BODY,
IT COULD PROVOKE FIRES
AND NATURAL DISASTERS
OR UNKNOWN SICKNESSES.
Narrator: SOME PEOPLE TURNED
THEIR HOMES INTO FORTRESSES
AGAINST THE UNDEAD.
WHEN THEIR LOVED ONES DIED,
THEY REMOVED THEIR
CORPSES THROUGH THE WINDOW
AND THEN BOARDED IT UP.
SHOULD THAT PERSON TURN INTO A VAMPIRE,
THEY'D BE UNABLE TO GET BACK IN.
TO PROTECT THE MAIN
ENTRANCE, PEOPLE PUT SHARP,
THORNY BRANCHES ON THE DOORSTEP
AND HUNG PUNGENT GARLIC
WREATHS OVER THE FRONT DOOR.
TO DISTRACT VAMPIRES WHO
BROKE THROUGH THE DEFENSES,
PEOPLE SCATTERED SEEDS AROUND THE HOUSE
BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE VAMPIRES
WERE COMPELLED TO COUNT THEM.
IF RESTLESS SOULS MADE CORPSES RISE,
WHY WERE THE UNDEAD HUNGRY FOR HUMAN BLOOD?
COULD THE ANSWER LIE IN A DISTURBING
AND GRUESOME PRACTICE?
♪♪
Narrator: EXPERTS ARE UNCOVERING
THE GRUESOME ORIGINS OF THE VAMPIRE MYTH.
NOW THEY INVESTIGATE WHY THESE CREATURES
COULD ONLY BE SATED BY HUMAN BLOOD.
AT THE CORE OF EVERY
VAMPIRE STORY IS THIS BELIEF
THAT VAMPIRES CAN SURVIVE
ON HUMAN BLOOD ALONE.
THE MORE BLOOD THEY DRINK,
THE MORE POWERFUL THEY BECOME.
Narrator: WHERE DID THE IDEA OF A BEAST
THAT LIVES SOLELY OFF BLOOD COME FROM?
COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST DR. JOY REIDENBERG
SEARCHES FOR EVIDENCE
IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
SHE KNOWS OF ONLY ONE
CREATURE THAT FITS THE BILL.
Reidenberg: THERE ARE LOTS
OF ANIMALS THAT DRINK BLOOD...
MOSQUITOS, LEECHES, TICKS...
BUT THERE'S ONLY ONE MAMMAL
THAT DOES SO EXCLUSIVELY,
AND THAT IS THE VAMPIRE BAT.
Narrator: HOW DOES THIS
CREATURE ATTACK ITS VICTIMS?
Reidenberg: THEY HAVE EXQUISITE
SENSORS ON THE FRONT OF THEIR FACE.
THESE SENSORS CAN DETECT
CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE.
IF YOU HAVE BLOOD VESSELS
THAT ARE REALLY CLOSE TO THE SKIN,
THEY RADIATE HEAT.
THEY SENSE IT, AND THEY HONE
IN TO THOSE BLOOD VESSELS,
THOSE VEINS THAT ARE
RIGHT NEAR THE SURFACE.
Narrator: THEN, JUST LIKE A VAMPIRE,
IT UNLEASHES ITS MOST TERRIFYING WEAPON.
Reidenberg: IF YOU LOOK VERY
CAREFULLY AT THIS SKULL,
YOU'LL SEE IT HAS SOME VERY BIG TEETH.
THEY'RE RAZOR-SHARP.
VERY, VERY SHARP TEETH.
THEY MAKE A CUT, BLOOD COMES OUT,
AND THEY LICK THAT UP WITH THEIR TONGUE.
THE VAMPIRE BAT ACTUALLY HAS SOME SALIVA
WITH AN ANTICOAGULANT...
IN OTHER WORDS, A CHEMICAL THAT
KEEPS THE BLOOD FROM CLOTTING.
AND GUESS WHAT. IT'S CALLED DRACULIN.
Narrator: WHY CAN THIS CREATURE
SURVIVE ON BLOOD ALONE
WHEN OTHERS CAN'T?
Reidenberg: VAMPIRE BATS CAN
EXIST JUST BY DRINKING THIS BLOOD
BECAUSE THEY HAVE A
SPECIAL DIGESTIVE TRACT.
IT HAS ENZYMES THAT CAN BREAK
DOWN ALL THAT EXTRA PROTEIN,
AND THEY CAN HANDLE THE EXTRA IRON LOAD
THAT COMES WITH ALL THAT BLOOD.
Narrator: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF
HUMANS HAD A BLOOD-ONLY DIET
LIKE VAMPIRES?
IF WE DRINK BLOOD, WE GET NAUSEOUS,
AND WE MAY THROW UP.
ALL OF THAT EXTRA IRON CAN
BE POISONOUS AT HIGH LEVELS.
HUMANS CAN'T HANDLE A DIET OF BLOOD.
Narrator: EUROPEANS FIRST ENCOUNTERED
THE VAMPIRE BAT IN THE 16th CENTURY
AND NAMED IT AFTER THE VEIN-BITING MONSTER
THEY FEARED SO MUCH.
BUT WHERE DID THIS FIXATION
WITH DRINKING BLOOD COME FROM?
HISTORIAN STEPHEN CURTIS THINKS THAT A CLUE
LIES BACK IN THE MIDDLE AGES.
Curtis: UNLIKE TODAY, WHERE WE VERY RARELY
SEE BLOOD OR CORPSES, IF
YOU ENTER THE BUTCHER'S,
YOU WOULD SEE ANIMALS BEING SLAUGHTERED.
YOU WOULD SEE THE BLOOD
RUNNING THROUGH THE STREETS.
IT MADE IT LESS OF A SHOCK TO SEE IT.
Narrator: MEDIEVAL PEOPLE
BELIEVED THAT BLOOD
PHYSICALLY CONTAINED A PERSON'S LIFE FORCE,
THE VERY ENERGY THAT KEPT THEM ALIVE.
Curtis: WE CAN SEE TRACES OF VAMPIRISM
IN BELIEFS AROUND DRINKING
BLOOD IN THE PERIOD.
IN DRINKING IT, THEY WOULD GET
THAT HIT OF REVITALIZING ENERGY.
Narrator: THE POWER OF
THE LIFE FORCE IN BLOOD
WAS THOUGHT TO BE SO STRONG
THAT SOME PEOPLE BELIEVED
YOU COULD GET ITS
BENEFITS JUST BY TOUCHING IT.
STEPHEN INVESTIGATES HOW ORDINARY PEOPLE
WENT TO PUBLIC EXECUTIONS
TO GET THEIR HANDS ON SOME.
Curtis: THIS WHOLE AREA WOULD'VE
BEEN FULL OF CROWDS OF PEOPLE
WHO WOULD'VE COME TO SEE
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT
MOMENT OF BLOODSHED
IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND.
IN THE 17th CENTURY, AN
ENGLISH KING CALLED CHARLES I
WAS BEHEADED IN LONDON.
PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT THE BLOOD OF A KING
WAS AMONG THE MOST POTENT OF ALL.
Curtis: HIS HEAD BEING HELD
UP TO THE CROWDS TO SEE,
BLOOD SPEWING FORTH FROM HIS NECK,
PEOPLE WOULD BE TRYING
TO GET THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS
STAINED IN THAT BLOOD.
Narrator: YOUNG BLOOD
WAS SUPPOSED TO CONTAIN
THE GREATEST CONCENTRATIONS OF LIFE FORCE.
Curtis: PEOPLE BELIEVED IN LIFE FORCE,
HAVING YOUR BODY USED UP SLOWLY AS YOU AGE.
THE BLOOD OF A YOUNG
PERSON EXECUTED WOULD HAVE
A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF LIFE
FORCE AND VITALITY WITHIN IT.
YOU CAN SEE THE VAMPIRIC
LINKS QUITE EASILY THERE.
Narrator: THE REVITALIZING
FORCE OF YOUNG BLOOD
IS AT THE HEART OF A
GRUESOME 17th CENTURY TALE.
ELIZABETH BáTHORY WAS A
COUNTESS LIVING IN HUNGARY.
MYTH HAS IT THAT ONE DAY
A MAID TUGGED HER HAIR
AND THE COUNTESS SLAPPED HER.
HER NAILS DUG INTO THE GIRL'S SKIN,
SPATTERING BLOOD ONTO BáTHORY'S FACE.
A DAY LATER, SHE NOTICED
THAT HER SKIN LOOKED YOUNGER
WHERE THE BLOOD HAD TOUCHED IT.
THE COUNTESS STARTED LURING
YOUNG GIRLS TO HER CASTLE
AND KILLED OVER 600 OF THEM,
ALLEGEDLY SO SHE COULD BATHE IN THEIR BLOOD
AND REMAIN FOREVER YOUNG,
EARNING THE REPUTATION
OF A REAL-LIFE VAMPIRE.
CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT
WAS THAT THE BODY, THE SOUL,
AND THE SPIRIT WERE
LINKED, AND THAT THE BLOOD
WAS THE LIQUID THAT
FLOWED BETWEEN ALL THREE.
BLOOD WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO VAMPIRES
BECAUSE BY DRINKING SOMEONE'S BLOOD,
YOU WERE TAKING AWAY THEIR SOUL.
Regal: THEY WEREN'T JUST KILLING YOU.
THEY WERE STEALING YOUR ESSENCE.
Narrator: BUT ASTONISHINGLY,
IN MEDIEVAL TIMES,
THE LUST FOR DRINKING BLOOD
WAS NOT CONFINED TO VAMPIRES.
BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST SHEELAGH HEUGH
IS AN EXPERT ON HUMAN BLOOD.
SHE INVESTIGATES HOW SOME ALCHEMISTS TRIED
TO DISTILL YOUNG BLOOD
TO MAKE IT EASIER TO DRINK
ITS SUPPOSED LIFE FORCE.
IN THE 14th CENTURY, A FRENCH
ALCHEMIST CALLED RUPACISA
CLAIMED TO HAVE CAPTURED
A PURE VERSION OF IT.
HE SUGGESTS RETAINING THE BLOOD
FROM BABIES AND FROM YOUNG MEN.
Narrator: SHEELAGH IS GOING TO
TRY TO REPLICATE WHAT HE DID.
SHE FOLLOWS THE ALCHEMIST'S ACCOUNT
AND STARTS BY HEATING UP THE BLOOD SAMPLE
UNTIL IT BOILS TO SEPARATE ITS COMPONENTS.
Heugh: BLOOD CONTAINS RED
CELLS, WHITE BLOOD CELLS,
PLATELETS, AND PLASMA.
THE PLASMA IS THE SECTION
THAT WILL START TO
VAPORIZE AND DISTILL ACROSS.
Narrator: ONCE IT REACHES
160 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT,
THE BLOOD STARTS TO BREAK DOWN,
AND THE PLASMA FLOWS ACROSS.
THERE'S THE FIRST DROPS
COMING THROUGH THE TUBE
AND INTO THE COLLECTING VESSEL.
Narrator: IT PRODUCES A GOLDEN LIQUID.
TODAY WE KNOW THIS YELLOWISH
SUBSTANCE AS PURE BLOOD PLASMA.
BUT IN THE EYES OF A MEDIEVAL PERSON,
THIS GOLDEN ELIXIR WAS
CONCENTRATED LIFE FORCE.
THE MEDIEVAL PEOPLE WOULD
HAVE BEEN HAPPY TO PAY
LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY
IN THE BELIEF THAT THIS PRODUCT
WAS GOING TO EXTEND THEIR LIFE.
THEY BELIEVED THAT THE
COLOR GOLD WAS RELATED
TO THE COLOR OF THE SPIRITS.
THEY BELIEVED THAT THEY
WERE ACTUALLY TRANSMITTING
WITH SPIRITS BY FEEDING
THIS ELIXIR TO A PATIENT.
Narrator: THIS MEDIEVAL ALCHEMY
SEEMED TO REINFORCE THE BELIEF
IN BLOOD'S REJUVENATING POWERS.
EVEN KINGS AND ACADEMICS
FERVENTLY BELIEVED IT.
BUT COULD THERE BE ANYTHING
MORE THAN SUPERSTITION
BEHIND VAMPIRES FINDING
YOUNG BLOOD MORE POTENT?
SHEELAGH BELIEVES THAT AN EXPERIMENT
COULD REVEAL THE ANSWER.
ELECTROPHORESIS IS A METHOD THAT WE USE
TO SORT PRODUCTS SUCH
AS PROTEINS BY THEIR SIZE.
Narrator: SAMPLES OF YOUNG BLOOD
AND OLD BLOOD ARE DYED BLUE.
BY RUNNING AN ELECTRIC
CHARGE THROUGH THE SAMPLES,
SHEELAGH CAN SEPARATE THE PROTEINS.
THE MORE BLUE THERE IS,
THE MORE PROTEIN IS IN THE BLOOD.
Heugh: IN THE OLD BLOOD,
WE HAVE SOME PROTEINS,
AND IF WE MOVE ACROSS
FURTHER INTO THE YOUNG BLOOD,
IT'S MUCH DARKER-STAINED,
WHICH INDICATES THERE
IS A LOT MORE PROTEIN.
Narrator: COULD THESE
EXTRA PROTEINS HOLD THE KEY
TO THE CENTURIES-OLD QUEST
FOR EVERLASTING YOUTH?
YOUNG BLOOD HAS BEEN SHOWN TO
IMPROVE THE MEMORY OF OLDER MICE
AND REVERSE SYMPTOMS OF AGING.
Heugh: THESE PROTEINS IN YOUNG BLOOD
COULD BE THE PROTEINS
ALCHEMISTS WERE LOOKING FOR
WITH LIFE-ENHANCING PROPERTIES.
Narrator: PEOPLE WERE CONVINCED THAT BLOOD
HAD THE POWER TO SUSTAIN A VAMPIRE FOREVER.
BUT WHAT WERE THEY FINDING
IN COFFINS TO CONVINCE THEM
THESE DEAD BODIES HAD BEEN GETTING OUT
OF THEIR GRAVES TO DRINK IT?
[ GROWLING ]
AND WHY DID OUR ANCESTORS
FEAR THAT VAMPIRES
WERE TRYING TO BUILD A
WHOLE ARMY OF THE UNDEAD?
♪♪
[ THUNDER RUMBLING ]
Narrator: EXPERTS ARE UNCOVERING
THE HORRIFYING REALITY
BEHIND THE VAMPIRE.
AT THE HEART OF THE LEGEND
IS THE BELIEF THAT IT WOULD NOT DIE.
BUT WHAT WERE OUR ANCESTORS
DISCOVERING IN COFFINS
TO CONVINCE THEM CORPSES
COULD RISE FROM THEIR GRAVES?
A CLUE LIES IN AN 18th
CENTURY SERBIAN TALE.
ONE NIGHT, A PEASANT NOTICES
A STRANGE SMOKE WAFTING IN.
IT TRANSFORMS INTO HIS
FATHER, PETAR BLAGOJEVICH,
WHO DIED THREE DAYS
EARLIER AND IS NOW A VAMPIRE.
HE DEMANDS FOOD, WHICH HIS SON DENIES HIM.
THE NEXT DAY, HIS SON IS DEAD.
THE MONSTER DOESN'T STOP THERE.
HE ATTACKS PEOPLE IN THEIR
SLEEP, BITES THEIR NECKS,
AND DRINKS THEIR BLOOD.
VILLAGERS EXHUME BLAGOJEVICH'S BODY.
THEY DISCOVER THAT HE
HAS NEW SKIN AND NAILS,
HIS HAIR HAS GROWN, AND
BLOOD IS OOZING FROM HIS MOUTH.
WHAT WERE PEOPLE UNCOVERING IN GRAVES HERE
THAT FUELED THE BELIEF
IN THE VAMPIRE LEGEND?
FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST
DR. ANNA WILLIAMS BELIEVES
THE ANSWER LIES WITH HOW BODIES DECAY.
SHE THINKS OUR ANCESTORS
MISINTERPRETED WHAT THEY SAW.
IT MAY LOOK LIKE AN ORDINARY FIELD,
BUT I USE IT AS AN EXPERIMENTAL OUTDOOR LAB
FOR LOOKING AT HOW DECOMPOSITION HAPPENS
IN A VARIETY OF CONDITIONS.
Narrator: TODAY, ANNA HOPES
THAT THE CARCASS OF A PIGLET
THAT DIED 14 DAYS AGO COULD SHED NEW LIGHT
ON HOW MEDIEVAL PEOPLE
VIEWED DEATH AND DECOMPOSITION.
Williams: THIS PIGLET
DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES.
IT WAS BURIED AS SOON
AS POSSIBLE AFTER DEATH.
WE'RE EXPECTING TO SEE A
MORE ADVANCED DECOMPOSITION.
Narrator: THE PIGLET HAS BEEN
BURIED TWO FEET BELOW THE SURFACE.
Williams: YOU CAN HEAR MY TROWEL
SCRAPING ACROSS ITS TAUT BELLY.
YEP, YOU CAN SMELL IT.
Narrator: HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS DESCRIBE
HOW SUSPECTED VAMPIRES LOOK WELL-FED.
ANNA IMMEDIATELY NOTICES
A DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN THIS.
Williams: THIS ONE LOOKS QUITE
BLOATED IN ITS ABDOMINAL AREA.
GAS BUILDS UP INSIDE THE ABDOMINAL CAVITY,
AND THAT CAUSES THE
BODY TO SWELL AND TO BLOAT.
MIGHT MAKE IT LOOK LIKE
IT HAD A RECENT MEAL.
Narrator: COULD A BUILDUP
OF GAS ALSO EXPLAIN
WHY SOME CORPSES WERE
SAID TO GROAN WHEN IMPALED?
Williams: THE BACTERIA THAT
ARE IN THE PIG'S INTESTINE,
THEY CONTINUE WORKING AFTER DEATH.
INSTEAD OF DIGESTING THE
FOOD THAT'S BEEN SENT DOWN,
THEY START DIGESTING THE BODY AROUND IT.
THAT CAN CREATE NOISES,
AND THAT CAN BE MISCONSTRUED
AS THE BODY STILL BEING ALIVE.
Narrator: THESE STRANGE EFFECTS OF DECAY
SEEM TO SUGGEST A LIVING CORPSE.
THEY WOULD'VE TERRIFIED
AN 18th CENTURY OBSERVER.
Williams: THINGS THAT MEDIEVAL
VILLAGERS MIGHT HAVE SEEN
WHEN THEY'VE BEEN DIGGING UP BODIES...
FROTHING AT THE MOUTH,
DESICCATION OF THE LIPS
THAT CAUSES EXPOSURE OF THE TEETH,
THINGS MEDIEVAL VILLAGERS
MIGHT HAVE MISINTERPRETED
AS SIGNS OF VAMPIRISM.
Narrator: MANY VAMPIRE
DESCRIPTIONS ALSO TALK
OF THE FINGERNAILS ON
DEAD BODIES STILL GROWING.
Williams: THE SKIN IS
DRYING AND DESICCATING
AND RECEDING AWAY FROM THE NAIL BED.
THAT GIVES THE IMPRESSION
THAT THE NAILS WERE GROWING.
Narrator: WHAT REALLY
HAPPENS TO A BODY AFTER DEATH
TO CAUSE THESE VAMPIRE-LIKE SYMPTOMS?
♪♪
DECAYING CORPSES UNDERGO A NATURAL
BUT GRUESOME TRANSFORMATION.
AS THE SKIN DRIES AND TIGHTENS,
IT PUSHES BEARD STUBBLE FURTHER OUT.
SKIN SHRINKS BACK ON THE HANDS,
MAKING FINGERNAILS SEEM LONGER,
AS IF A CORPSE IS GROWING CLAWS.
AS THE BODY'S TISSUES BREAK DOWN,
IT BECOMES INFESTED WITH
GAS-PRODUCING BACTERIA.
PRESSURE BUILDS INSIDE THE BLOATED CORPSE,
FORCING BODILY FLUIDS
FROM THE NOSE AND MOUTH,
MAKING THE CORPSE LOOK LIKE A VAMPIRE
WHO'S JUST FEASTED ON BLOOD.
ANNA'S EXPERIMENT REVEALS HOW
THE UNEXPECTED WAY A CORPSE
DECAYS MIGHT HAVE BEEN
SEEN AS PROOF OF VAMPIRES.
MEDIEVAL PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T
UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS
OF DECOMPOSITION COULD THINK
THAT THE BODY WAS STILL ALIVE.
Narrator: EVIDENCE LIKE
THIS CONVINCED PEOPLE
THAT VAMPIRES REALLY
WERE RISING FROM THE GRAVE
TO BLEED THE LIVING DRY.
BUT WHY DID THEY BELIEVE THESE MONSTERS
COULD ALSO TAKE ON THE FORM OF ANIMALS?
[ GROWLING ]
COULD ANOTHER SHAPE-SHIFTING MYTHICAL BEAST
REVEAL THE TRUTH BEHIND THE VAMPIRE'S
MOST EXTRAORDINARY POWER?
[ SNARLING ]
♪♪
[ THUNDER RUMBLING ]
[ SNARLS ]
Narrator: OUR CLASSIC IDEA OF THE VAMPIRE
COMES FROM HORROR FILMS.
THE ABILITY TO CHANGE
FROM HUMAN FORM TO THE BAT
AND BACK AGAIN
IS ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING CHARACTERISTICS
OF COUNT DRACULA.
THESE EVIL CREATURES WERE CHANGING FORM
AND COULD MORPH INTO SOMETHING ELSE.
Narrator: VAMPIRES WERE
THOUGHT TO TRANSFORM
INTO ALL KINDS OF THINGS,
NOT JUST BATS, BUT WOLVES AND EVEN MIST.
Nubia: THERE'S THIS IDEA OF SHAPESHIFTERS,
HUMAN BEINGS THAT HAVE THE CAPACITY
TO TURN INTO SOMETHING ELSE.
THEY COULD TAKE THE
FORM AND SHAPE OF ANIMALS.
Narrator: BUT WHY DID PEOPLE BELIEVE
THEY COULD CHANGE FORM LIKE THIS?
THE ANSWER MAY LIE IN THE MYTH
OF ANOTHER TERRIFYING CREATURE
WITH HIDDEN CONNECTIONS TO THE VAMPIRE.
THE TALE OF PETER STUMPP TELLS
OF A WEALTHY GERMAN FARMER
WHO DID A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL.
HE RECEIVED A MAGICAL BELT
THAT ALLOWED HIM TO TURN INTO A WEREWOLF.
[ HOWLING ]
NOW, STUMPP COULD LIVE OUT HIS BLOODLUST,
KILLING ANIMALS AND PEOPLE FOR FUN.
HE EVEN SLAUGHTERED HIS
OWN CHILD AND ATE HIS BRAINS.
THE WOLF WAS THE PERFECT DISGUISE.
WHENEVER STUMPP WAS IN
DANGER OF GETTING CAUGHT,
ALL HE HAD TO DO WAS TAKE OFF HIS BELT,
ALLOWING HIM TO KILL
UNDETECTED FOR OVER 20 YEARS.
THE WEREWOLF AND THE VAMPIRE
WERE SOMETIMES INTERCHANGEABLE.
IN THE ORIGINAL SERBIAN FOLKLORE,
THE SAME WORD WAS USED FOR BOTH.
THEY WERE EACH NOCTURNAL
KILLERS AND A DANGER TO LIVESTOCK.
WHEN THEY DIED,
IT WAS THOUGHT THAT
WEREWOLVES TURNED INTO VAMPIRES.
BELIEF IN THE ABILITY TO
CHANGE SHAPE WAS SO STRONG
THAT POTIONS WERE DEVELOPED
THAT CLAIMED TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED WHEN SOMEBODY USED ONE?
BOTANIST STEPHEN HARRIS INVESTIGATES.
HE'S UNCOVERED A RECIPE
FOR A WEREWOLF POTION
PUBLISHED IN A 19th CENTURY MANUSCRIPT.
STEPHEN ANALYZES THE INGREDIENTS.
Harris: WOLFSBANE...
IT MEANS "WOLF KILLER."
TRADITIONALLY, THE ROOTS
OF THIS PLANT WERE MASHED UP
AND USED IN ORDER TO CONTROL WOLVES.
IT AFFECTS YOUR BREATHING,
CIRCULATORY SYSTEM,
AND NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Narrator: BECAUSE WOLFSBANE IS SO TOXIC,
STEPHEN MUST HANDLE A DRIED SPECIMEN.
Harris: THE LONGER IT'S DRIED, THE
LOWER THE POTENCY IS GOING TO BE.
BUT THEY REMAIN POISONOUS
FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
Narrator: NEXT, HE FINDS SOME
POPPY SEEDS, POPLAR BUDS,
AND DEADLY NIGHTSHADE.
Harris: ATROPA BELLADONNA...
IT'S A VERY POISONOUS PLANT,
BUT IF YOU APPLY TO A
SOLUTION TO SOMEBODY'S EYES,
THEN THEIR PUPILS WILL DILATE VERY QUICKLY.
Narrator: WHEN MIXED TOGETHER,
THIS OINTMENT WOULD BE HIGHLY DANGEROUS.
THIS OINTMENT HAS SOME VERY
DRAMATIC HALLUCINOGENIC EFFECTS.
PEOPLE ARE GOING TO START
TO HAVE ALTERED MIND STATES.
Narrator: THE IDEA OF VAMPIRE
AND WEREWOLF TRANSFORMATION
FASCINATED OUR ANCESTORS.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BODY
WHEN A SUPPOSED SHAPE-SHIFTING
POTION WAS ACTUALLY USED?
WEREWOLF OINTMENT CONTAINS POWERFUL DRUGS
THAT MIMIC CHEMICAL
MESSENGERS INSIDE THE BODY.
THEY PENETRATE THE SKIN, THEN
LATCH ONTO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM,
WHERE THEY WREAK HAVOC
WITH BODILY FUNCTIONS.
PUPILS DILATE, CAUSING
EXTREME SENSITIVITY TO DAYLIGHT.
BODY TEMPERATURE SKYROCKETS,
AND THIRST BECOMES ALMOST UNQUENCHABLE.
FINALLY, POWERFUL HALLUCINATIONS
COULD TRIGGER VISIONS
OF TURNING INTO A BLOOD-CRAZED WEREWOLF.
JOY REIDENBERG INVESTIGATES
HOW A PERSON COULD BE CONVINCED
THAT THEY HAD CHANGED INTO A MYTHICAL BEAST
BY USING ONE OF THESE POTIONS.
Reidenberg: THIS IS A PLANT CALLED DOGBANE.
THE SAP IS THE KIND OF TOXIC SERUM
THAT PEOPLE WERE PUTTING INTO POTIONS.
Narrator: HOW COULD THIS
POISON HAVE CONVINCED SOMEONE
THAT THEY WERE MORPHING INTO A
DIFFERENT CREATURE ALTOGETHER?
THESE ARE SCANS OF BRAINS,
AND THESE LITTLE SLICES HERE
SHOW YOU WHERE THESE CROSS-SECTIONS
ARE COMING FROM IN THE BRAIN.
THIS IS A NORMAL BRAIN OF SOMEBODY
WHO'S LOOKING AT AN IMAGE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S LIGHTING
UP IN THIS ORANGE COLOR
TO INDICATE THERE'S SOME ACTIVITY HERE.
THIS BRAIN OVER HERE IS FROM
SOMEONE WHO'S TAKEN LSD.
IT'S ALL LIT UP.
LSD HAS SOME OF THE SAME PROPERTIES
THAT YOU WOULD SEE IN THE POTION.
THIS IS SENSORY AND MOTOR OVERLOAD.
THIS IS PROBABLY WHAT WAS
GOING ON WITH THE PEOPLE
WHO TOOK THE POTION.
THEY WERE IMAGINING ALL
KINDS OF HALLUCINOGENIC THINGS.
THIS PERSON IS NOT ONLY SEEING THAT IMAGE,
THEY WERE SENSING IT,
HEARING IT, SMELLING IT.
Narrator: BUT YOU DIDN'T NEED
A HALLUCINOGEN TO BELIEVE
IN SHAPE-SHIFTING MONSTERS.
WEREWOLVES AND VAMPIRES
WERE SEEN AS A VERY REAL THREAT.
THERE WERE TRIALS, EXECUTIONS,
AND EVEN SUPPOSED VAMPIRE EPIDEMICS.
THIS HAPPENED SCORES
OF TIMES IN NEW ENGLAND
THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
Narrator: WHERE DID THE BELIEF IN
VAMPIRE OUTBREAKS COME FROM?
AND WHAT DID PEOPLE THINK HAPPENED TO THEM
WHEN THESE CREATURES TOOK A BITE?
♪♪
[ THUNDER RUMBLING ]
Narrator: THE VAMPIRE...
A MONSTER WITH A TERRIFYING ABILITY
TO RISE FROM THE DEAD
AND FEED OFF THE LIVING.
BUT WHY DID PEOPLE BELIEVE
THAT A SINGLE DREADED BITE
WOULD SEAL YOUR FATE,
A PLACE IN A GROWING VAMPIRE ARMY?
ACCORDING TO A FRENCH
MONK, AUGUSTIN CALMET,
VAMPIRES WERE OUT TO RECRUIT
AS MANY PEOPLE TO THEIR
DEADLY CLAN AS POSSIBLE.
FIVE YEARS AFTER THE CASE OF ARNOLD PAOLE,
MORE PEOPLE FROM THE SAME VILLAGE
STARTED DYING WITHIN WEEKS OF EACH OTHER.
THEIR MYSTERIOUS DEATHS
CAUSED PANIC AMONG THE LOCALS.
TERRIFIED OF ANOTHER VAMPIRE ON THE LOOSE,
THE AUTHORITIES DUG UP 17 BODIES
AND BURNED THEM TO MAKE SURE NONE OF THEM
COULD EVER RETURN TO INFECT THE LIVING.
AT PERPERIKON IN BULGARIA,
IVO MAEV THINKS THAT
AS MANY AS 1 IN 10 GRAVES
COULD BELONG TO A SUSPECTED VAMPIRE.
Maev: THE MAJORITY OF ANTI-VAMPIRE GRAVES
HAVE BEEN MADE IN
SOUTHERN PART OF BULGARIA.
HERE, WE HAVE MORE THAN OFFICIALLY 20,
BUT IF WE ARE COUNTING ALL DEVIANT BURIALS,
WE CAN TALK ABOUT HUNDREDS.
WE CAN CATEGORICALLY SAY
THAT BULGARIA IS THE PLACE
WITH THE HIGHEST
CONCENTRATION OF VAMPIRE GRAVES
AROUND THE WORLD.
Narrator: IN THE MIDDLE AGES,
BULGARIA WAS A HOT SPOT FOR VAMPIRISM.
BUT IT DIDN'T STOP AT THE BORDER.
IN THE 18th CENTURY, VAMPIRE EPIDEMICS
STARTED TO OCCUR THROUGHOUT EASTERN EUROPE
IN ALARMING NUMBERS,
STOKING FEAR OF A VAMPIRE ARMY.
TERROR OF THE UNDEAD SOON
SPREAD TO THE NEW WORLD.
IN RHODE ISLAND, FOLKLORE
RESEARCHER MICHAEL BELL
INVESTIGATES A STORY THAT AFFECTED PEOPLE
ACROSS THREE STATES.
LOCALS WERE DYING OF
SOMETHING INEXPLICABLE,
AND THEY BELIEVED A WAVE OF
VAMPIRE ATTACKS WAS TO BLAME.
MICHAEL VISITS A GRAVEYARD
IN JEWETT CITY, CONNECTICUT,
WHERE MANY VICTIMS WERE LAID TO REST.
SOMETHING INCREDIBLY STRANGE HAPPENED HERE
MORE THAN A CENTURY AND A HALF AGO.
PEOPLE WERE DYING ONE AFTER ANOTHER.
THIS IS THE GRAVESTONE OF ELISHA RAY.
HIS FATHER, HENRY B. RAY, HAD PASSED AWAY.
AND THEN LEMUEL RAY HAD
DIED, FOLLOWED BY ELISHA.
ANOTHER SON, HENRY
NELSON RAY, WAS VERY ILL,
AND IT LOOKED LIKE HE MIGHT DIE.
Narrator: WITH SO MANY DEATHS,
THE RAY FAMILY WANTED ANSWERS.
THEY BELIEVED THAT THEIR DEAD RELATIVES
WERE RISING FROM THE
GRAVE TO FEAST ON THEM.
TOWARD THE END OF THEIR LIVES,
THEY WOULD BE COUGHING UP BLOOD.
THERE WOULD BE BLOOD ON
THE CORNERS OF THEIR MOUTHS
AND ON THEIR BEDCLOTHES IN THE MORNING
WHEN THE FAMILY MEMBERS WENT IN,
SO IT LOOKED LIKE SOMETHING
WAS LITERALLY SUCKING THE LIFE,
SUCKING THE BLOOD RIGHT
OUT OF ALL THE FAMILY MEMBERS.
THE FAMILY RESORTED
TO THE UNDERLYING BELIEF
THAT IT MIGHT BE ONE OF
THE DEAD FAMILY MEMBERS
WHO WAS CAUSING THE DEATH.
THEY EXHUMED THE BODIES OF TWO
BROTHERS, LEMUEL AND ELISHA RAY.
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR UNNATURAL SIGNS.
ANYTHING THAT WAS LIQUEFIED,
ANY BODILY FLUID THAT WAS IN AN ORGAN,
THAT WOULD BE INTERPRETED AS FRESH BLOOD,
AND APPARENTLY THEY
FOUND THEM AT LEAST IN ELISHA.
Narrator: TO TRY AND PREVENT MORE DEATHS,
THE BODIES WERE BURNED.
BUT THIS FAMILY WAS JUST ONE OF MANY
THAT EXPERIENCED MULTIPLE
DEATHS IN A SHORT PERIOD.
Bell: THIS WAS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.
THIS HAPPENS THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
IT WAS BARBARIC BEHAVIOR TO
ACTUALLY COME OUT TO A CEMETERY
AND MUTILATE YOUR OWN FAMILY MEMBER,
SOMETIMES EVEN EAT THE ASHES
OR INHALE THE SMOKE
FROM THE BURNING CORPSES.
THIS WAS BASICALLY A FORM OF CANNIBALISM.
MICHAEL BELIEVES A KILLER
DISEASE WAS REALLY TO BLAME.
SOME MYSTERIOUS THING
WAS KILLING ONE PERSON
AFTER ANOTHER.
THE DOCTORS WOULD CALL IT CONSUMPTION.
LATER, THEY STARTED CALLING
IT PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS.
BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CURE.
EVEN THOUGH IT WAS DISCOVERED IN 1882,
IT WASN'T UNTIL THE 1940s
THAT THERE WAS AN ANTIBIOTIC
TO ACTUALLY DEAL WITH TUBERCULOSIS.
Li: IT WOULD'VE SPREAD LIFE WILDFIRE.
DISEASES LIKE THAT SPREAD QUICKLY
BETWEEN PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS.
PEOPLE PROBABLY THOUGHT THAT VAMPIRISM
WAS AT THE CAUSE OF IT.
PEOPLE NEVER BLAMED THEIR DEAD SIBLINGS.
THE PERSON'S SOUL HAD BEEN CAPTURED.
IT WAS MORE LIKE THERE WAS
AN EVIL INHABITING THAT CORPSE.
THE VAMPIRE MYTH HAS
SURVIVED INTO THE 21st CENTURY
BECAUSE HUMAN BEINGS DON'T
HAVE A NATURAL PREDATOR.
WE NEED TO BE SCARED.
Narrator: THE VAMPIRE...
THIS TERRIFYING CREATURE
ROSE FROM THE GRAVE
TO SATISFY ITS THIRST FOR FRESH BLOOD.
IT WOULD ENTER A DWELLING
TO FEED ON THE LIVING,
DRINK THEIR BLOOD,
AND ADD TO THEIR GROWING
ARMY OF THE UNDEAD.
AS EXPERTS OPEN MORE AND MORE GRAVES,
THE SHOCKING EXTENT OF OUR
ANCESTORS' FEAR OF VAMPIRES
IS FINALLY REVEALED.
THE TRUE STORY OF THE
VAMPIRE ISN'T DRACULA.
IT'S CORPSES THAT REFUSE TO DIE
AND WILL STOP AT NOTHING
TO MAKE YOU ONE OF THEM.
[ SNARLS ]
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