4 Shocking Real Life Vampire Stories

True Crime Lists T

For many people, the concept of a vampire is very much a fictional monster, brought to life by fantastical authors and historical inaccuracies. For others, vampires are as real as the person sitting next to you on the bus – at night.

Some killers who have been attributed the title of vampire were known to have sipped the blood of their victims or eaten part of their remains. The line between vampirism and cannibalism is drawn at consumption of the flesh, where flesh is eaten only to consume the blood.

The Atlas Vampire

During annual carnival celebrations, a call-girl was murdered in her apartment and the blood drained from her body, leading to the case being cited as proof of vampires.

On 30th April 1932, the residents of Stockholm were celebrating Walpurgis Night, which is a traditional holiday celebrated annually in Northern Europe and Scandinavia. But wandering among them was a vampiric murderer who has never been caught.

32-year-old sex worker Lilly Lindeström paid her rent to her landlord then went back to her apartment to meet a client. It was four days later on 4th May when Lilly’s friend decided to call the police after becoming concerned she hadn’t heard from her.

The Atlas Vampire

Upon entering the apartment they were met with a horrific sight. Lilly had been dead for three days and was found nude lying face down on an ottoman. A bloodstained soup ladle in the sink suggested the killer had drunk some of the blood at the scene.

An autopsy confirmed that almost all of Lilly’s blood had been drained.This combined with traces of saliva on Lilly’s neck and body led to the conclusion that someone had consumed her blood. When the media got hold of the story, the Atlas Vampire was born.

Due to the lack of evidence, the case went cold quickly and it became a footnote in the history of 1930s Sweden. Yet, as the decades went by, the case was cited as one of the most infamous cases of real-life vampire attacks in history.

Countess Dracula

Queen of the Vampires, castles, baths of blood, hundreds of victims, brutal slayings, legend, myth, and the worst female murderer in human history, welcome to the world of Elizabeth Bathory.

The name of Bathory invokes images of a woman bathing in the blood of virgins, which would be horrific enough even in the realm of horror movies, where the legend has perpetuated. Unsettling then that the truth is even worse than the mind can endure.

Witness accounts of the time suggested the Blood Countess may have killed up to 650 people, with the very lowest figure given as 80, of which she was charged.

After her husband died in 1604, Bathory was left to run vast estates that gave her control over 17 villages and countless people. Unknown to her husband before his death, Bathory had already been killing, but it wasn’t until his death that the murders and stories of torture escalated rapidly.

Countess Dracula

By 1602, whispers around the villages were already being spread of something untoward happening at the Castle of Csejte. Servants were going missing, and Bathory was hiring new servants on a regular basis with no details of what had happened to the previous ones.

It was suggested by some locals that Bathory believed drinking the blood of young girls would preserve her youthfulness and looks. Some witnesses accused her of cannibalism and blood drinking and others claimed they had seen her have sex with the devil himself.

She was accused of Satanism, witchcraft, and practising black magic. Ultimately, she was accused of bathing in the blood of her victims. After her arrest, she was ordered to remain in her castle, alone, until her death.

It is still said the blood of her victims is ingrained into the walls of the Castle of Csejte itself, which can be visited today. Elizabeth was buried at the Bathory family crypt. When the crypt was opened in 1995 – Elizabeth’s body was nowhere to be seen.

The Vampire of Sacramento

Richard Trenton Chase was the poster boy for bizarre serial killers whose tale included Nazi UFOs, necrophilia, cannibalism, drinking blood, and the belief he was turning to powder!

He killed six people over a one-month period from 29th December 1977 to 27th January 1978. He became known as the Vampire of Sacramento because he drank the blood of his victims, engaged in necrophilia, and ate some of their remains.

The Vampire of Sacramento

Chase was under the delusion his heart was shrinking. He believed that the consumption of raw flesh and the drinking of animal blood could stop his heart disappearing from his body altogether.

He believed this to such an extent that he once injected rabbit blood directly into his veins – which didn’t go to well, and he was rushed to hospital, where he got the nickname of Dracula.

One day, nurses found him with blood around his mouth, they discovered two dead and mutilated birds outside his window that he had lured for capture. Shortly after his release from hospital, he went on to kill six people.

He was caught easily as he made no effort to hide his crimes. In 1979, Chase was sentenced to death but took his own life on Boxing Day 1980.

The Vampire Clan

A group of teens obsessed with vampirism formed a cult called the Vampire Clan. Led by a disturbed man believing himself to be a 500-year-old vampire, they ended up committing cold-blooded murder.

Reading about vampire cults and murders involving people claiming to be real vampires is like something out of a horror novel. Except, in 1996, in Florida, a cult called the Vampire Clan took part in the double slaying of an innocent couple.

The ring-leader was 16-year-old Rod Ferrell who had become obsessed with a role-playing game called Vampire: The Masquerade. He began to believe in his character and assumed the identity of a 500-year-old vampire named Vesago.

Ferrell and three of his friends, Howard Scott Anderson, Charity Keesee, and Dana Cooper, created the cult, each having their own vampiric beliefs.

Together they practiced bloodletting, drinking each other’s blood, and rituals considered to be vampiric in nature, based on some elements of the game. Ferrell began to believe he really was some form of reincarnated demon and became the de-facto leader of the cult.

The Vampire Clan

On 25th November 1996, the self-named Vampire Clan, under the leadership of Ferrell invaded the home of 54-year-old Naomi Ruth Queen and 49-year-old Richard Wendorf and brutally murdered them, in an act so horrific, it brought back memories of the Manson Family Murders.

Ferrell returned to Richard’s body later the same evening and burned the letter ‘V’ into his upper chest, later confirming it to be the symbol for the Vampire Clan, and his calling card.

For the next four days, police tracked the Vampire Clan across four different states until they were finally arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In February 1998, Ferrell pleaded guilty to the murders of Richard and Naomi and was sentenced to death. Howard was sentenced to life. Charity and Dana were sentenced to 10 and 17 years respectively.

Whether you believe in the mythological vampire as having a basis in reality or not, there are those as proven in this story who practice vampirism in the belief they are real-life creatures of the night.

What could be more worrying, that these creatures truly exist, or that a group of teenagers fell under the spell of vampirism and killed to fit their unusual lifestyle?

Help share the article

Leave a comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. There's a lot more the Italian authorities are not releasing over this case. Makes you wonder the extent of the…