However, there are some who take the legend more seriously, to the extent of pursuing a vampiric lifestyle. This may simply involve looking the part, that is, wearing black clothes and ghoulish make-up, and identifying with what has become known as the ‘goth’ subculture. In some cases the fascination may be deeper, indicating serious psychological disturbance, and involving gruesome rituals such as the drinking of blood, or even necrophilia. In this chapter we look at real-life vampires, beginning with an in-depth account of those infamous, bloodthirsty characters from history on whom the vampire myth is based: Vlad the Impaler, Elizabeth Bàthory, and Gilles de Rais. We then move on to discuss some of the early serial killers who were dubbed vampires in their time: in particular, Fritz Haarman and Peter Kürten, who were at large in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. During this period, the term ‘serial killer’ was not in common use; thus, the senseless, repeated murders perpetrated by these bloodthirsty individuals were attributed to vampirism, showing how even in the twentieth century, superstition and pagan belief were still rife.
