Vampires

William of Newburgh was born in 1136 in the Yorkshire town of Bridlington but as a youth moved to the Augustinian Priory at Newburgh where he lived for the rest of his life.  From an early age, his superiors in the priory realized he had great scholarly talents and urged him to make use of them.  His life’s work was …

Vampires are cryptids steeped in legend and mystery which, really, is what Monstrum Athenaeum is all about. Dating back thousands of years, vampires have both terrified us and captured our imaginations. Vampire lore has been cobbled together from the fragments of whispers and dark tales. Hard to verify but equally hard to dismiss, their lore is based on those written or spoken accounts of events handed …

Of the millions of conspiracy probabilities floating around throughout history, combined with unsolved crimes and suspicious happenings, none could be more fascinating than that of Jack the Ripper. London, England in the year 1888, Jack the Ripper stalked the east end streets during the late summer and into the early autumn; claiming five victims and then disappearing into the mists …

Vampires come in all shapes and sizes, colors and creeds. That being said, what makes mortals think the only places they can be found is sleeping in coffins? Although they sometimes do sleep in coffins, this isn’t their whole day… er… I mean night. They can be found in a vast number of places and anywhere people normally congregate. Below …

The world is full of horror movies that get the old’ brain thinking, “Could this really happen?” Well, chances are if you think it could be based on reality then it probably holds some water. From Bram Stoker’s Dracula, to the Werewolf of London, to Zombieland, these ideas were based on older legends, but with a modern twist. Well, modern …

Lately, I’ve received quite a few requests from readers wanting to know if I knew how they could become a vampire. Unfortunately, I’m not the best person to ask since I’ve never actively attempted to become one of these creatures and I tend to discourage cryptanthropy as a casual endeavor. However, in my studies at Miskatonic University I became friends …

While there are many strange and mysterious creatures in the darkest corners of the world, there are also humans with a whole range of psychological problems and some of these can manifest to appear like creatures such as vampires. The key to understanding vampires in history is identifying the real deal from these impostors and a good place to start is …

New England was a hot bed for vampire activity in the 1800’s causing a ‘panic’ which overtook the whole area from Rhode Island to Connecticut. While the passage of time has blurred which vampire reports were real and which were hysterical reactions to the grief and fear caused by consumption [tuberculosis] the stories and events clearly reflect the people weren’t leaving anything to chance. One …

What part of our mortal soul longs for life after death or perhaps better asked; life after undeath? Could it be a brutal finality to life echoed in the works of Hesse and Kafka? What compels some to embrace the horrors of our worst imaginations with the longing for what could be release, salvation, purpose, or something entirely different – our rebirths? Do …