Religion plays a large part in the human society not only as a source of hope and belief, but as an explanation of events that happen and for what purposes they happen. During the reign of pagan beliefs many areas of the world formed their own superstitions and beliefs in the supernatural. As the people were conquered by other lands or moved, many beliefs became intertwined and developed into most of the superstitions that we know today.

In Ancient Greece, tragic stories are full of the most horrifying blood-letting,

With the advent of Christianity the superstitions of local villages soon spread even further. Pagan taboos were not only perpetuated but new ones were created as well. For instance, two of the main candidates for vampirism were the suicide and the excommunicant -- both of whom were outlawed by the Church. The infamous Malleus Maleficarum also did much to help spread the belief in vampires.

1) With one blow a wooden stake (made out of hawthorn, blackthorn ,aspen ,or maple) is to be driven through the heart or navel.

4) Whoever appears black has been excommunicated by a Bishop."

5) The corpse must be buried face down.

4) The sacrament must be fervently worshipped.

3) Have the nails grown as in life?

As his first official act when in power he assembled 400 new aristocrats including five Bishops and an Archbishop. After a lavish feast, Dracula ordered all of his guests, their spouses, and their attendants impaled. Dracula ruled his country with a fist of fear and his methods worked very well. Other stories of Dracula's actions traveled the world and in German pamphlets were written about the deeds he did. With the invention of the printing press large quantities of material could be made with ease. Some of the stories would even shock those of today's world of crime and murder. One of them is that Dracula noticed that one of his subjects was wearing a shirt that was too short for him. Dracula asked the man's wife why she had not altered the shirt and she replied that she was too busy cooking and cleaning. Dracula had the wife impaled and gave the man a new wife who was also threatened with being impaled if she did not fix his shirt. Another story is that a group of ambassadors was sent to visit Dracula by Sultan Muhhamed II. They wore fezzes and when entering the castle Dracula noticed that they had not been removed. He asked the why they still covered their heads and they said it was custom to always were their fezzes. Dracula replied that he would help them to strengthen their customs and promptly had the fezzes nailed to their heads. A story that shows just how much fear Dracula instill in his subject is just as harsh as those written above. Dracula had a golden cup that was placed on a fountain in the city of Targoviste. It was there for everyone to use and it was never stolen; anyone daring to steal the cup would have been impaled. Another story is that a merchant was traveling through town and some of his golden ducats were stolen. The merchant reported that 60 of the ducats were missing. Dracula warned the village that if the ducats did not reappear by the next morning the village would be burned down. The ducats were returned with a single extra ducat added to the stack. The merchant, fortunately, reported the extra ducat to Dracula and Dracula told him that if he failed the test he would have been impaled. (Leatherdale, Origins of Dracula)

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Approximate Word count = 4782
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page double spaced)