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NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



In light of the current popularity of the vampire-centered "Twilight" book series by American author Stephenie Meyer, and the related movie series, I felt that this article was due for an update. Originally titled "Dracula: Fighting Fear With the Word, Faith and Love" in 1997, due to its updated contents, I have decided to rename the much expanded series "Dracula, Nosferatu, Twilight: The Vampire Fad".

If you happen to be a vampire fan -- I am not -- you probably already know that Meyer's vampire-based book series consists of four novels which follow the lives of its three primary characters: Edward Cullen, who is a vampire; Isabella "Bella" Swan, who is a teenage girl who falls in love with Edward and eventually marries him; and finally, Jacob Black, who is a shape-shifting wolf. The four novels are entitled "Twilight", "New Moon", "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn". As of November of 2012, all four novels had been adapted into movies under the title "The Twilight Saga".

Let there be no doubt. These vampire novels and movies are having a very strong impact on children and young adults all around the world, just as the Harry Potter books and movies have done since 1997. The current Twilight hype is like the Harry Potter phenomenon happening all over again; and Meyer's novels, as well as "The Twilight Saga" movies, have enjoyed considerable commercial success. Stephenie Meyer's four books have won multiple awards. Most notable among them is the 2008 British Book Award for "Children's Book of the Year" for the final novel, "Breaking Dawn". The Twilight series as a whole has also won the 2009 "Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Book".

According to online sources, as of March, 2010, global sales of the Twilight book series has surpassed one hundred million copies. Furthermore, the novels have been translated into at least thirty-eight different languages around the globe. In addition to this, the four Twilight vampire novels have set records as the biggest selling novels of 2008 on the "USA Today Best-Selling Books" list. Furthermore, they have spent over two hundred and thirty-five weeks on the New York Times "Best Seller" list for "Children's Series Books".

Considering the wild success of the Twilight vampire novels, just as some Christian parents have been concerned regarding the Harry Potter books and movies, we should also be equally alarmed and concerned by the fact that young people are being so mesmerized by the Twilight vampire novels and movies. Now, on the surface, we can dismiss the Twilight novels and movies as just being obviously "innocent", fictional fun -- and very profitable fun at that -- but in my view, it is the underlying subtle message that is found in all vampire stories, whether it concerns Dracula, Nosferatu, Louis de Pointe du Lac, Lestat de Lioncourt or Edward Cullen, which should be of concern to every Christian parent; because this message contradicts the truth of the Scriptures, and is inherently evil. This message centers around blood, and the hope of achieving eternal life.

As God's Word makes very clear to us -- particularly in the Epistle to the Hebrews -- and as I also explain in a number of other articles, such as "Lies and Deceptions of the Roman Catholic Church" and "Alien Life, Extrasolar Planets and Universal Atonement", just as the Levitical priests of the Old Testament period entered into the Holy of Holies once a year, first in the Tabernacle, and then later in the Temple of Solomon once it had been built, so too, we are told that Jesus Christ shed His innocent Blood once -- and only once -- in order to make restitution for our sins, so that we may now obtain Mercy, receive Forgiveness for our sins through His Sacrifice, and obtain Eternal Life through an act of repentance and faith in His loving Atonement. Consider the following verses which verify this point:

"Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin ONCE: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."


"But this man, [Jesus] because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did ONCE, when he offered up himself."


"But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in ONCE into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."


"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now ONCE in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself . . . So Christ was ONCE offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."


"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE for all."


"For Christ also hath ONCE suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:"


The previous verses reveal -- and in fact totally expose -- the deceptive lies which are propagated by Satan in popular vampire stories regarding Count Dracula, Nosferatu, Lestat de Lioncourt and Edward Cullen, who is the main character of the Twilight book series. As I mentioned a moment ago, the Scriptures repeatedly inform us that Jesus Christ willingly shed His Blood for the remission of our sins; and that if we acknowledge our sinful condition, and accept Christ's Death as Atonement for our sins, we can inherit Everlasting Life.

On the other hand, as is his custom, Satan takes Scriptural truth, and he completely twists and distorts it, in order to conform it to his own agenda. Thus, while Jesus Christ freely shed His Blood and gave His Life for us all, in most vampire stories, vampires are depicted as evil, hideous creatures of the night who violently prey upon the living, and steal their blood from them against their will, in order to sustain their own wretched lives for centuries. In other words, while Jesus willingly gave His Life and Blood, in complete submission to the Will of His Holy Father, vampires violently take people's lives and blood; and it is usually without their consent. So it is the exact opposite. Jesus Christ's actions demonstrate unselfish love for all of humanity, while the vile actions of fiendish vampires demonstrate nothing but pure selfishness; that is, love for self, and self-preservation, at the expense of humanity.

Of course, in certain vampire stories, these blood-sucking ghouls of the night invite their victims to live forever as well; that is, if they are willing to engage in the very same violent bloodletting themselves. Furthermore, as we have now seen, while Christ's Blood was shed one time on a Roman Cross for all men, and not many times, or continually, vampires and their victims must drink blood again and again, in order to sustain their so-called "eternal life". I would consider such an existence eternal hell.

Now, some misguided vampire fans might retort that not all vampires are necessarily evil, and not all vampires drink human blood. Such was the case with Edward Cullen in the Twilight novels and movies, who drank the blood of animals instead. However, regardless of whether blood is obtained from humans or animals, the drinking of any kind of blood is strictly prohibited in the Scriptures, as we see by the following verses:

"But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man."


"And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off."


"Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times."


"Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh."


"And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood. Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the LORD, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day."


"Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood . . . For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well."


"As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication."


While legends of vampires had long been a part of European lore, it wasn't until Irish novelist Abraham "Bram" Stoker penned "Dracula" -- originally titled "The Un-Dead" -- in 1897, that the vampire mythology was introduced to a wider audience. It wasn't until twenty-five years later -- and ten years after Bram Stoker's death -- that Count Dracula made his first cinematographic debut in 1922's "Nosferatu", which starred actor Max Schreck. However, in that release, he was not known as Dracula, but rather as Count Orlock. Problems followed soon after the release of "Nosferatu"; the reason being that Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau -- who was the German director of that silent film -- had not been authorized by Florence Stoker -- Bram Stoker's widow -- to make the movie. Furthermore, Ms. Stoker did not receive any royalties from it. After three years of litigation, Florence Stoker won the case; and while she wanted the negative and all prints of the film destroyed, this did not happen. As a result, "Nosferatu" has survived to this current day.

As many of you will know, the first official cinematographic adaption of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" occurred in 1931, when Universal Studios released director Tod Browning's "Dracula", with Bela Lugosi in the leading role. Since that time, there have been a number of prequels, sequels and remakes, with a variety of noted actors in the leading role, including, but not limited to, John Carradine, Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman, Frank Langella, Jack Palance, Klaus Kinski, Gerard Butler and Rutger Hauer; but Bela Lugosi is still viewed my many people as playing the definitive Dracula, even though Lugosi only played in the role two times during his entire lifetime.

Personally, I suspect that there may possibly be an element of truth in certain old vampire legends and myths. However, as occurred with other legends -- such as those concerning the Olympian gods -- the truth became distorted, exaggerated and embellished over time. Please understand that I am not suggesting that a blood-sucking vampire named Count Dracula actually existed; and I most certainly do not believe that a person can actually turn into a bat, any more than a man can turn into a real werewolf. However, is it possible that the vampire legends which have survived over the centuries, were inspired by an actual event in the dark past, which may have involved some kind of demonic manifestation; and if not that, then at least a real person? Please consider the following information.

Prior to actually writing "Dracula", Bram Stoker spent a few years conducting research for his pending novel. He delved into folklore and myths concerning vampires, which had been popularized throughout Europe, having first originated in the East European nations of Hungary and Romania. One view holds that the story of Count Dracula may have been based on the life of an actual person who lived in medieval Europe; and who truly did have a demonic perversion for drinking human blood. Other sources suggest a more plausible explanation. That is that Bram Stoker more than likely borrowed the name for his evil blood-sucking vampire from Vladislaus Dragulia. Dragulia -- who was born in Sighisoara, Transylvania and was of Russian descent -- was also known as Vlad III Dracula. He was named after his father, Vlad II Dracul.

Online sources state that the name "Dracula" actually means "son of the dragon"; which makes perfect sense, because his father's name -- Dracul -- does in fact mean "dragon". Vlad II acquired this name as a result of being a member of a secret fraternal order of knights known as the Order of the Dragon. This order was founded by Sigismund of Luxembourg, who was a Holy Roman Emperor for a period of four years, as well as the king of Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Lombardy and Germany during different periods of his life. The purpose of the order was supposedly to uphold the Christian faith, and to defend the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. As a result of his bravery in fighting against the Turks, Vlad II was admitted to the order around 1431. It was at that time that he was given the name "Dracul", or "dragon".

As I mention in a few other articles, I view the very nature, stated goals and violent methods of the so-called "Christian Crusades" to be contrary to the peaceful teachings of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, both Jesus and the Apostles in fact teach us to strive to live peaceably with all men. This same message is found in the Old Testament as well, despite the many violent wars which were fought by the Israelites. It is made evident by verses such as the following:

"But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."


"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."


"And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."


"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth . . . Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God . . . But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."


"And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus [meaning the Apostle Peter] stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?"


"Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?"


"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."


Furthermore, I find it very odd, and in fact contrary to the Scriptures, that any such alleged Christian order would call itself the "Order of the Dragon". After all, in the Bible, we are clearly informed that the dragon is another symbol that is used to signify Satan, as we see by the following verses that are found in the Book of Revelation:

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him . . . And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,"


If earthly violence and wars are inspired by anyone, I would dare say that it is Satan -- who is the adversary of God -- and most certainly not God Himself. This point alone reveals a lot about the "Christian Crusades" which, as you may know, were primarily waged by military forces which were loyal to the Roman Catholic Church. You will find many other articles on the Bill's Bible Basics website which deal with the sins and errors of the Roman Catholic Church, so I will not delve further into the matter in this current series. I will list some of these articles for you at the end of this series.

On a side note, if you wish to learn more about worship of the dragon from a very different perspective, you may enjoy reading part eight of my nineteen-part series called "Nature of the Alien: ETs, Demons or a Government Plot?". There seems to be a lot more to the mystery surrounding the dragon than what at first meets the eye. Furthermore, it is possible that certain of the ancients may have been privy to such esoteric knowledge. But let us return to our discussion concerning the possible origin of the infamous Count Dracula.

Like his father before him, Vlad III Dracula was a prince and ruler of the East European region known as Wallachia during the middle of the Fifteen Century. As a point of reference, Wallachia and Moldavia united in 1859, and were followed by Transylvania during the early part of the Nineteenth Century, to form the basis for the modern nation of Romania. Due to Vlad III's extremely cruel nature -- he had a reputation for impaling his enemies upon wooden poles until they died -- he acquired the nickname of Vlad Tepes Dracula, or Vlad III the Impaler. The word "tepes" is in fact Romanian for "impaler".

The Wikipedia entry offers the following sick description of the torture techniques which were employed by Vlad III the Impaler. Please be warned that the following paragraphs are quite revolting and disgusting in nature, and may cause some degree of queasiness with some of my readers. Even I found them difficult to read:

----- Begin Quote -----

In the West, Vlad III Tepes has been characterized as a tyrant who took sadistic pleasure in torturing and killing his enemies. The number of his victims ranges from 40,000 to 100,000. According to the German stories, the number of victims he had killed was at least 80,000. In addition to the 80,000 victims mentioned, he also had whole villages and fortresses destroyed and burned to the ground. These numbers are most likely exaggerated.

The atrocities committed by Vlad in the German stories include impaling, torturing, burning, skinning, roasting, and boiling people, feeding people the flesh of their friends or relatives, cutting off limbs, and drowning. All of these punishments mainly came from things people did that displeased Vlad the most; stealing, lying, and adulterous relations. Other methods of punishment included skinning the feet of thieves, then putting salt on them and letting goats lick off the salt. This was a way that Vlad kept his people in order and taught them that stealing would not be tolerated in his lands. No exceptions were made: he punished anyone who broke his laws, whether men or women, no matter the age, religion or social class.

Impalement was Vlad's preferred method of torture and execution. His method of torture was a horse attached to each of the victim's legs as a sharpened stake was gradually forced into the body. Death by impalement was slow and agonizing. Victims sometimes endured for hours or even days. Vlad often had the stakes arranged in various geometric patterns. The most common pattern was a ring of concentric circles in the outskirts of a city that constituted his target. The height of the spear indicated the rank of the victim. The corpses were often left decaying for months.

----- End Quote -----

Similar to Vlad III the Impaler, Bram Stoker's Dracula was likewise the epitome of evil. He was a rather vile creature who preyed upon the fears of his unsuspecting victims, and of course, on their warm blood as well.

As the tale goes, there were two things which Dracula could not endure. The first was a crucifix, which symbolizes belief in the Christian God. While I am not certain why Bram Stoker specifically chose the crucifix as one means of deterring an evil vampire such as Dracula, and causing him to draw back in fear, I suspect that Stoker may possibly have been aware of the following verse that is found in the Epistle of James:

"Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."


As many of my readers will already know, the second thing which vampires greatly feared -- at least in the movies which were later made -- was natural sunlight. In fact, as most cinematographic endeavors reveal, evil Count Dracula ultimately met his doom when he was exposed to sunlight. This again may possibly be a reflection back on the Holy Scriptures, because there are verses where God the Father is symbolically represented by the Sun. Consider these two verses, for example:

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."


"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."


Furthermore, while Count Dracula and other vampires concealed their evil blood-sucking deeds under the cloak of darkness, in the Scriptures we are clearly told to flee from the works of darkness, because we are in fact the symbolic Children of Light, as we can determine by the following sample verses:

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."


"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light."


"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"


"For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light . . . And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."


"Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:"


"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."


"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"


"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:"


As you are probably already beginning to realize, everything that Satan does is in direct contradiction to the Scriptures. In fact, that is why he is called Satan; that is, because the very Hebrew word itself means "adversary". If the Word of God condemns something and says not to do it, Satan turns around and does it. If God's Word classifies something as evil, the Devil turns around and calls it good. In other words, Satan enjoys twisting and perverting everything that God says and does. It is his nature. I am reminded of the following verse:

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"


We can clearly see this in Bram Stoker's story of Dracula, and in other books and movies concerning vampires as well. In fact, this is the very danger of the "Harry Potter" and the "Twilight" book series and movies, because they present something dark and evil which is prohibited by the Lord, as something positive and desirable. As I noted earlier, these things are having a very detrimental spiritual effect on a lot of people; particularly on impressionable young children who lack Spiritual Discernment. Christian parents need to sit up and take notice, because the Devil is already working very hard to pervert your children's values, and their sense of right and wrong. He is tempting them with evil, and giving them an unhealthy appetite for those things which are clearly forbidden by the Lord.

Please go to part two for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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