| Sanguinariuns: Blood Drinkers |
| Sanguinariuns are those persons who for one reason or another drink blood. Many people who drink blood today do it to imitate favourite fictional characters. Along with this they want to be "cool" and it is a trend of sorts. However, there are indivicuals who do this for other reasons. One possiblity is they were born with a psychological need to drink blood. Another reason for these individucals could be a genuine supernatural reason for them to drink blood. Renfield's Syndrome is a disorder that can cause a psychological need for blood. Many times this disorder is discovered when a child is found drinking blood from an injury of their own or that of a playmate. If the disorder progresses, it could become so sever by adulthood that the suffer may take such measures as breaking into blood banks to get blood. These people are not those who want to pretend to be vampires. Suffers of Renfields' Syn. do not always claim to like darkness or the night, nor do they usually have any reason to fear the sun. Also, their vampiric tendencies usually surface in early childhood. In fact, the only traditionally vampiric symptom of Renfield's Syndrome is a growingly intense need for blood. These indiviuduals could also possibly be caused by something supernatural. Some of these individuals believe that they desperately need blood (and to drink blood) to survive. Usually these people will drink blood. Throughout history there have been mortal vampires. One such person was Vlad Dracula. Another reputed vampire was Elizabeth Bathory. (However, keep in mind she is not most well known for actually drinking blood; she was reputed to have literally bathed in blood.) Another historical figure with a vampiric history is Gilles de Rais. Gilles was a great soilder in the French army. He was also a wealthy, uppper class Frenchmen with the reputation of a "bloodthirsty killer." He was arrested and brought to trial in the 15th century for being responisble for a rising number of missing boys. It is said he admited to practicing magic and alchemy (not an uncommon pastime for the wealthy of the time peroid). In hopes of gaining his confession Gilles was tortured. During his toruture he confessed to torturing and drinking the blood of the young boys then murdering them. However, because of the nature of the confession it is possible this never happened and he simply said what he thought would get him out of the situation he was in. In 1440 Gde Rais was found guilty and executed. The remains of Gilles de Rais were not give a burial but were burned. Fritz Haarman was a German vampire. Born in 1879 as the sixth child in an impoverished family, he appeared to have hated his father. He has been described as a "disturbed" child and this condition worsened durning his teens. He was arrested for child molestation and institutionalised at the age of seventeen. Haarman escaped from the mental hospital and went home where he became engaged to a young woman pregnante with his child. The child was stillborn and so Haarman called off the wedding and joined the army where he did very well. However, in 1903 he was disagnosed with neurasthenia and discharged from the military. After his work in the military he became a criminal and spent a lot of time in prison. Around 1917 or 1918 he met his partner, a male prostitute Hans Grans. With the help of Hans he brought young men to their home, fed them, and got them drunk. When the victim became tired Haarman weould seize him, bite into his neck, and suck on his blood until the victim eventually died. He is said to have killed twenty-seven young men in this manner, but it has been estimated that the actual number of victims is probably somewhere around fifty. It's believe that he would dispose of the bodies by chopping them up and selling them on the streets as beef during the time between 1918 and 1924. The bones and organs were disposed of in a canal. In 1924 the bones began to float to the surface. The police were already keeping a close watch on Fritz and found enough evidence to connect them. Fritz because the "Vampire of Hanover" and sentenced to death (he was eventually publically decapitated) in December of 1924. Another famous historical vampire was John Haigh. He was born into a very religious puritain family in Yorkshire, England. As a child he was devoutly religious and well liked. However, after moving out of his parents home he began to commit petty crimes. He spent a lot of time in jail for theft and after getting out of jail began doing more sinister things. He was released from pirison for the last time in 1943. During this time he murdered a young man. After murdering him he then drank his blood, took some of his things, and dissolved the body in sulfuric acid. This is the pattern that Haigh followed in his murders for the next five years when he comitted three other murders. Once he was caught he confessed his crimes in full. Haigh was hung in 1949 for his crimes. |