Fact Or Fiction? Modern Vampire Lore May Be A Planned Misinformation Campaign

The myth of vampires first emerged in the Middle Ages, but the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula on May 29, 1897, launched vampire legend into the mainstream consciousness. In the classic novel, Count Dracula travels from Transylvania (present-day Romania) to England after a visitor to his castle realizes the count survives by drinking human blood. (Some people believe Stoker based his novel on Vlad the Impaler, a ruthless ruler with an affinity for impaling his enemies on stakes, but historians disagree.)

As Stoker’s novel grew in popularity, so did the myths about the terrifying creatures. Beyond the tell-tale fangs, vampire legends teach that they are evil, nocturnal entities that feed exclusively on the blood of humans, have no reflection, and can only be killed by driving a stake through their hearts. They’re the topic of romance novels, Halloween stories, and even kids’ cartoons, but two vampire hunters say that modern vampire lore is just an elaborate ruse to throw people off the trail of a very real, very dangerous being.

Eric Streit, one of the vampire hunters, first encountered one of the cryptids while on a trip to Scotland in 1988. The well-dressed creature was mesmerizing and drew the man in, but then the creature bared its fangs.

In 2001, Streit teamed up with Marcel Van Tingen, a vampire hunter who says he comes from 25 generations of vampire hunters. The pair says they have seen evidence of vampires in all 50 states.

Reality and Legend

According to Streit and Van Tingen, vampires are actually a prehistoric creature dating back to 68,000 BC. They are hominids like humans, neanderthals, or apes, but they are a different species that survives solely on blood.

Vampires migrated into Europe and have a home base in Romania, but vampire hunters caused the creatures to flee to other parts of the world. Vampires first slipped into America during the chaos of the Civil War. Streit and Van Tingen believe there are about 20,000 vampires in the US today, and they’re hiding in plain sight.

Everything we believe we know about vampires was written by the vampires themselves to help them hide from humans, the hunters say. Streit and Van Tingen say that even Dracula was dictated to Stoker by a vampire to help throw humans off their trail.

According to the hunters, vampires look like us, talk like us, and sometimes work normal jobs like us. They are doctors, priests, neighbors, and coworkers. The vampires are masquerading as humans, according to Streit, but they are “the perfect psychopath.” They have no feelings and no capacity to love. Ruthless vampires hunt at night, targeting vulnerable populations for their blood.

A rash of mysterious deaths and missing persons cases in the American Southwest recently drew Streit and Van Tingen to Arizona to investigate whether or not the strange activity could be attributed to vampires. Learn more about their shocking discoveries on Vampires in America, available now on discovery+.