Vampire question

[Lord Seth]

It seems a lot of people think that being killed by the sunlight is intrinsic to a vampire, but from what I can tell that's a relatively recent phenomenon, started by the 1920's film Nosferatu. I'm just wondering, can anyone think of any previous vampire (fictional or folkloric) that was killed by sunlight before Nosferatu? Note that it has to kill them, just being weakened does not count!

Though when the whole "weakened by sunlight" started up would be interesting to know as well, did it exist before Dracula? I know vampires were nocturnal, but don't know if they were actually weakened by the sunlight before then.

[McStabbington]

IIRC, Bram Stoker's Dracula (the book, not the movie) had Dracula out in sunlight but relatively powerless at that time. In fact a large part of the final act involved a chase to get to his coffin before sundown when he was strengthened.

I think part of the problem is twofold. First, vampires as we know them are a very recent phenomenon, because the modern vampire draws heavily from Eastern European mythology as incorporated into Victorian Gothic Horror. That is, as a matter of literature and myth, a very recent development. Second, if you look at those myths, the dhlampyrs (sp?) were always nocturnal, and the people were finding them in their corpse state during the daytime. And in the daytime, they were usually just a dead body to be decapitated, staked and/or burned. So sunlight was really kind of secondary to their considerations; it was just an indicator that now you could go dig up a vampire safely.

[Tanuki Tales]

Death by Sunlight, like Silver being Anathema to Werewolves, is pretty much an invention of Hollywood.

[Lord Seth]

IIRC, Bram Stoker's Dracula (the book, not the movie) had Dracula out in sunlight but relatively powerless at that time. In fact a large part of the final act involved a chase to get to his coffin before sundown when he was strengthened.Oh, I know that, that's why I mentioned it as an example of vampires being weakened by sunlight, though I suppose that I did word it a big ambiguously. My secondary question is whether vampires being weakened (not killed) by sunlight started with Dracula or if it predated the book. My primary question was, of course, the very first vampire, folkloric or fictional, to be actively killed by sunlight.


Second, if you look at those myths, the dhlampyrs (sp?) were always nocturnal, and the people were finding them in their corpse state during the daytime.Well, I can't really look at those myths if you're not even sure how they're spelled. The closest thing to "dhlampyrs" is "dhampyres" (usually called "dhampires" now), which is the term for a half-vampire, and from what I can read about them seem fairly irrelevant to the discussion.


And in the daytime, they were usually just a dead body to be decapitated, staked and/or burned. So sunlight was really kind of secondary to their considerations; it was just an indicator that now you could go dig up a vampire safely.Interesting. Do you have any good resources on this kind of thing in terms of time? I'm trying to figure it out in terms of a timeline.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Most eastern European vampire myths come from a misunderstanding of the decomposition process. As a corpse rots, seemingly fresh blood can seep out through the gums for months after death. The skin around the hair and fingernails also shrinks, creating the illusion of new growth and decomposition released gasses build up in the stomach creating a bloated look. When a corpse is staked, these gasses can escape creating a noise that sounds like the body moaning in pain.

Vampires sleep in coffins during the day because that's what people saw when they dug up dead bodies.

Most vampires were more kind of dream creatures that visited their sleeping relatives. Sometimes living people missing body parts would be accused of being vampires, due to a belief that some grave robber or corrupt undertaker had chopped a bit off them to steal their jewlery while they were dead. This is because people only believed in vampires because they had seen evidence for them and these are things that are easy to see and misinterpret.

[Dr.Epic]

It seems a lot of people think that being killed by the sunlight is intrinsic to a vampire, but from what I can tell that's a relatively recent phenomenon, started by the 1920's film Nosferatu. I'm just wondering, can anyone think of any previous vampire (fictional or folkloric) that was killed by sunlight before Nosferatu? Note that it has to kill them, just being weakened does not count!

Though when the whole "weakened by sunlight" started up would be interesting to know as well, did it exist before Dracula? I know vampires were nocturnal, but don't know if they were actually weakened by the sunlight before then.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but you made a pun there (COUNT Dracula :smallwink:).

[McStabbington]

Well, I can't really look at those myths if you're not even sure how they're spelled. The closest thing to "dhlampyrs" is "dhampyres" (usually called "dhampires" now), which is the term for a half-vampire, and from what I can read about them seem fairly irrelevant to the discussion.

Interesting. Do you have any good resources on this kind of thing in terms of time? I'm trying to figure it out in terms of a timeline.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_folklore_by_region

That site seems to be a good place to start.

You have to give me a little bit of slack on this one; I don't even know how some of those Cyrillic words are pronounced, much less how to type it out. It turns out that the dhampires, even in Eastern European folklore, are half-vampires just as you noted. My bad.

[Ricky S]

It seems a lot of people think that being killed by the sunlight is intrinsic to a vampire, but from what I can tell that's a relatively recent phenomenon, started by the 1920's film Nosferatu. I'm just wondering, can anyone think of any previous vampire (fictional or folkloric) that was killed by sunlight before Nosferatu? Note that it has to kill them, just being weakened does not count!

Though when the whole "weakened by sunlight" started up would be interesting to know as well, did it exist before Dracula? I know vampires were nocturnal, but don't know if they were actually weakened by the sunlight before then.

I think that because vampires are supposed to be nocturnal that lead to the belief that that they were weakened by sunlight and hence avoided it. Then this was taken further as the genre advanced and it is now that they avoid sunlight because it can kill them. I just did a google search and the general consensus is that the earliest incarnations of vampires being affected (is it effected or affected? I have just confused myself) by sunlight was around late 19th century. The traditional legends of vampires had absolutely no detrimental effects because of sunlight

[Jeivar]

Though when the whole "weakened by sunlight" started up would be interesting to know as well, did it exist before Dracula? I know vampires were nocturnal, but don't know if they were actually weakened by the sunlight before then.

Carmilla came out in 1872, 25 years before Dracula did. She was weak and lethargic in sunlight, but wasn't harmed by it.

I recommend giving it a read. It's a classic, short, was an obvious influence on Dracula and is in the public domain.