Before Nosferatu

Long before vampires entered literature and film, they were not creatures of fiction, but a serious problem.

In the towns and villages of early modern Central Europe, the dead did not always remain at rest. Graves were opened. Bodies were found unnaturally preserved, their mouths and noses stained with blood, their limbs still flexible. Villagers reported illness, suffocation, and nocturnal visitations. In response, theologians, physicians, and magistrates were called upon to investig…