hat does a vampire look like? How does one distinguish a vampire from a human? Long before Bram Stoker's Dracula, there were already myths about vampires. The vampire of folklore is very different from the vampire we all know. Knowing their anatomy is essential to understanding the vampire of folklore. As many are unfamiliar with old legends, here is an example of folklore vampirisim: the case of Peter Plogojowitz:

"After a subject by the name of Peter Plogojowitz had died, ten weeks past - he lived in the village of Kisilova, in the Rahm district - and had been buried according to the Raetzian custom, it was revealed that in this same village of Kisilova, within a week, nine people both young and old, died also, after suffering a 24-hour illness. And they said publicly, while they were yet alive, but on their deathbed, that the above-mentioned Peter Plogojowitz, who had died ten weeks earlier had come to them in their sleep, laid himself on them, and throttled them, so that they would have to give up the ghost. The other subjects were very distressed and strengthened even more in such beliefs by the fact that the dead Peter Plogojowitz's wife, after saying that her husband had come to her and demanded his opanki, or shoes, had left the village of Kisilova and gone to another.

"And since with such people (which they call vampires) various are to be seen - that is, the body decomposed, the skin, hair, beard and nails growing - the subjects resolved unanimously to open the grave of Peter Plogojowitz and to see if such above-mentioned signs were really to be found on him. To this end they came here to me and, telling me of these events, asked me and the local pope, or parish priest, to be present at the viewing. And although I at first disapproved, telling them that the praiseworthy administration should first be dutifully and humbly informed, and its exalted opinion about this should be heard, they didn't want to accomadate themselves to this at all, but rather gave this short answer: I could do what I wanted, but I didn't accord them the viewing and the legal recognition to deal with the body according to their custom, they would have to leave the house and home, because by the time a gracious resolution was received from Belgrade, perhaps the entire village - and this was already to have happened in Turkish times - could be destroyed by such an evil spirit, and they did not want to wait for this.

"Since I could not hold these people from the resolution they had made, either with good words or with threats, I went to the village of Kisilova, taking along the Gradisk pope, and viewed the body of Peter Plogojowitz, just exumed, finding, in accordance to truthfulness, that first of all, I did not the slightest ordor that is characteristic of the dead, and the body, except for the nose which has somewhat fallen away, was completely fresh. The hair and beard - even the nails, of which the old ones had fallen away - had grown on him; the old skin, which was somewhat whitish, had peeled away, and a new one had emerged from it. The face, hands and feet and the whole body were so constituted, that they could not have been more complete in his lifetime. Not without astonishment, I saw some fresh blood in his mouth, which according to the common observation, he had sucked from the people killed by him. In short, all the indications were present that such people (as remarked above) are said to have.

"After the pope and I had seen this spectacle, while people grew more outraged than distressed, all the subjects, with great speed, sharpened a stake - in order to pierce the corpse of the deceased with it - and put this at his heart, whereupon, as he was pierced, not only did much blood, completely fresh, flow also through his ears and mouth, but still other wild signs (which I pass by out of high respect) took place. Finally, according to their usual practise, they burned the above-mentioned body, in hoc casu, to ashes of which I (now) inform the most laudable Administration, and at the same time would like to request, obediently and humbly, that if a mistake was made in this matter, such is to be attributed not to me but to the rabble, who were beside themselves with fear.

-"Imperial Provisor, Gradsk District"

The incident took place in 1725. The village of Kisilova was situated in Serbia although it was being reported as part of Hungary due to the confused political situation at that time. The article is written by the official in charge of the area. The account states that the vampire of folklore is a spirit of a dead person that is unable to find peace in death. The spirit returns to reside in its corpse in the day and leaves it at night to drain the life force of the living, ultimately bringing death to the others. The corpse that is the spirit of the demonic entity continues to flourish in its grave showing little or no signs of decay. The wild signs mentioned above probably means that the corpse had an erection. This probably means that the vampire of folklore also retains its sexual appetite.

Below is list of physical attributes of the vampires of folklore:

Vampires are the restless dead who return from the dead to drain the life force of the living. When seen, the vampire will appear in spirit form similar to ghosts

Vampires' bodies are rather intact and fresh (little decay) when the bodies should have decayed long ago

The bodies continued to grow hair and nails after death

Old skin had fallen off and new skin has grown

Fresh blood found in mouth. Blood flows from eyes, nose and ears when staked

In certain cases, the vampire grow plumper than they were in life

The bodies did not smell of decay

The bodies had the color of the living

The bodies had sharp teeth and nails

In certain cases, a vampire's coffin was found filled with fresh blood

It is due to these reasons that vampires are said to be dead yet living giving them the name undead. The easiest way to spot vampires in those days were the fact that they made no secret of their existence: They preyed on a lot of people at the same time and most of the victims lived long enough to warn the others before they eventually wasted away. The victims were usually healthy before their deaths hence arousing the suspicions of the local populace.

During the Victorian period, vampires underwent a major change. The vampire of fiction have the following features. They are stronger, more powerful and infinitely more cunning. They no longer ravaged whole villages, prefering to strike silently from the shadows. People no longer believed in them, making it their biggest weapon. Instead of only moving around places of the dead (cemetaries), they blend into human's society, killing on a small scale to avoid suspicions. These newer vampires are a lot harder to distinguish from humans. Here is a list of their physical features:

• Pale faces that flush red after they feed
• Sharp canine teeth that appears when vampire is feeding or aroused
• Sharp nails that resemble claws (not always)
• Dead emotionless hypnotic eyes that glow with an eerie light when vampire is feeding or aroused. Some say the light is red, others say its green or yellow
• They cast no shadows or reflections (they cannot appear in photographs either). This is based on the belief that vampires being soulless, cannot project a shadow or image. Light may pass through its body without illuminating it
• They move in complete silence leaving no trace of their passing
• They are unable to eat or drink anything other than blood. It is said that as vampires get older, they may gain the ability to temporarily hold solid food
• They are unable to move around in the daylight. Older vampires can move about sunlight though doing so would greatly weaken them
• They have foul breath (of decay)

Above all, as hard as they try to act human, vampires have a certain unnatural presence about them that makes the living uneasy. Dogs are said to bark furiously at vampires. Humans can feel a vampire's presence if they have the sixth sense. Successfully spotting a vampire is the first step to eliminating its existence.

Modern vampires are essentially human physically. They are usually nocturnal creatures due to their biochemistry. Their body cycles such as the production of sleep hormones in the brain and temperature peaks usually occur at the opposite time of the day with regard to most humans. As such, they have trouble adapting to working in the day as their brains would be flooded with sleep hormones. Given a choice, they would prefer to work in the night. Vampires have excellent night vision, an additional reason to their preference for night life. Most vampires tend to avoid sunlight as they sunburn easily.

Modern vampires also have an appetite problem; they tend to have a constant hunger for pranic energy. As their bodies are more tuned to pranic energy for sustenence, they have difficulty drawing the energy they require from physical subtances. Their inefficient digestive systems combined with their constant hunger have caused many vampires to overeat. Vampires are also said to have tremendous sexual appetite. Physically, it is almost impossible to notice the modern vampire unless you happen to be in constant contact with him/her. Even so, it is easy to dismiss the symptoms as merely eccentric behavior.

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