When we think of creatures of the night, we think of these two monsters. Evil in very different ways, one usually hates what he becomes as the moon is full and bright while the other is a corpse who rises from the grave to take nourishment from the living. In a way, they should be pity, even if they need to be destroyed. Lets get to it.
Werewolves:
As long as there have been people to tell each other yarns for amusement or education, they're have always been tales about human beings changing into these blood-thirsty beasts. We have a word for this so called disease or curse: lycanthropy.
In modern psychology, lycanthropy is word not often thrown around, mostly because very few people suffer from the ailment. But yes, there are people in the world who believe themselves to be animals of some kind even though they look like you or me. Okay, maybe not like me, I'm pretty hairy. But normal.
During the times when human psychology was still very young and underdeveloped, when people were murdered in ways quite foul, we'd often blame the violent deaths on beasts like Vampires and Werewolves. Most likely, these kinds of murders were committed by serial killers but back then we didn't know or chose not to understand humans had it in them to be a real monster, so the idea of a supernatural beast doing the killings made them feel a little better.
“Ahh, I didn't do it,” said the murdering psychopath, “It was the werewolf. Yeah. He stole my wallet too, I had two credit cards, a bunch of receipts and a girl's number I was going to call but got too scared and hung up....the bastard!” (Eyes rolling).
In nearly every culture society of mankind's past the idea of a person turning into a wolf is documented however leaving out a few details as to how this was done. Let's face it, if we knew how, grown men would use this method of growing hair instead of those morons at Bosely, we'd be the ultimate Chiai Pet. The same is true for vampires as well, meaning the monsters of classic cinema and horror literature is just as old as mankind itself.
In Native American culture people who can transform themselves into animals were called Skin-Walkers and, as in the case of the Algonquian, they have a version of the skin-walkers called Wendigo. In Louisiana a creature known as Rougarou takes on a wolf appearance. Also, it does not have to be a wolf these people turn into, more so it can be a panther, a deer or some other beast. In South America, dolphin-men have been known about for quite a long time. In Greece, there is a man-bear. Why mankind chooses to focus on the wolf, I consider a great mystery about human beings and wolves in general.
There are many ways written about as to how to become a werewolf. One widely known in the past is a person who has studied magic well enough so they can change their form at will (The Willing), or people who's had magic thrust upon them (The Unwilling). These are complex ways to change into a beast but there are other, more simplistic methods as well. Another way is to drink water from an animal footprint. Yet another is when we use to patch a hole on our clothing with that of a wolf, a small hole, one not big enough to use the whole animal, hence you are being wasteful and as punishments you are turned into a wolf. In popular culture, a man can turn into a wolf by being bitten by a werewolf then living through the experience however in records of past societies this is usually not the case.
Dealing with a werewolf, stopping a such a creature from committing murderous acts is known in modern culture by killing them with something silver, an axe or bullet made from the metal. This notion was created by fiction writers in the mid-1930’s however this was just a simple way in which to handle the beast and get it out of your hair. More then likely, the beast had loved ones and instead of wanting them dead they try to cure them, with the likes of exorcism, wolfsbane and physical stress.
Werewolves have been with us for many thousands of years. With the current cultural fascination by the myths of these creatures, they will continue on for another thousand, especially if Kate Beckinsale is in a movie with werewolves and she's wearing skin-tight leather.
That's just good filmmaking people.
Vampires:
Like the werewolf, vampires have been around for generations. Commonly, they are known to partake of the blood of an innocent, to spread their sickness and death by biting a living person. However, for a long time, this was not how a person became a vampire.
One of the cardinal ways in which a dead person could change into a bloodsucker and kill their neighbors was for the disrespect the living showed towards the dead. If a person was not buried in the proper way - having been buried upside down or if the living placed farm tools near the dead's resting spot - it was often assumed, be it to the gullible, the dead would arise from their grave and attack the living. Another way, this from Greek Myths, to make a vampire would be if the living didn't place two coins on the eyes of a recently deceased person so they couldn't pay the fairy man to cross the River Styx. Some communities were so scare that Aunt Paula would come back to life, in some cases they would slice the ankles of the dead so they couldn't walk, hence can't attack.
Vampire legends have been different for each culture but all will say the creatures do feed upon the living. Popular culture, to some extent, got the myth right when they said things like crosses and holy water warded off the undead. The extermination of the creature, however is a little more complex then most Hollywood writers have showed in the past.
Stakes through the heart are just one way in which to kill a vampire. The stakes though do not have to be wood but metal in conjunction with beheadings and the removing of the heart so it can be burned. In some cultures however, vampires can also be killed by drowning (hence they can't cross running water) and bullets.
One of the best way I've always thought a vampire should be taken care of, if you can, is by doing their funeral a second time and getting it right. Forbid yourself from doing anything terrible, a second time, to you're honored dead so they do not come knocking at you're door.
Remember kiddies the dead won't eat you if you treat them right, also it doesn't hurt if you stink like foul, moldy garlic.
Pizza anyone?
Well….Good Night!
