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next to no knowledge about how bodies decomposed once buried. The only knowledge they had was from corpses found or kept above ground. When a body is sealed in a coffin and buried decomposition is substantially slowed. In the span of a month very little changes would have occurred in the body. Experts in the 1700's would have not known this, and expecting to find a rotted corpse they instead found a well preserved body, which at the time led them to believe no other conclusion than vampires.

Another shred that vampire enthusiasts hang onto is that the Catholic Church officially acknowledged the existence of vampires in the year 1215, and has never bothered to repeal it. The acknowledgment obviously came out of a much more superstitious and uncivilized time, and as the age of reason came to light it's quite possible that the church assumed that reasonable people could figure out the truth about vampires on their own.

This explanation may not be satisfactory to some. They will still argue the cases of Poale, Bathory, and Tepes as well as the similarity between legends in different cultures as proof that vampires exist. Will there ever be any solid proof of the existence of vampires? Not likely.

The only thing for certain is that as long as the legends persist they will capture our imaginations and attentions, inspiring countless Hollywood films, as well as the wild and imaginary fantasy lives of a small number of fringe believers.

Learn more about this author, Mike Gagnon.
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