Vampire Hysteria

In the year 1725-1732, Austria seems to have a firm belief on the vampire culture.  The graveyards have been constantly frequented by those people who are having thoughts that an undead is desecrating their quiet life.  Experts believe that it was during the time that there is a little understanding about tuberculosis and other epidemia that causes random deaths among the families.  But the fear of the people about the blood sucking creature did not descend as more and more corpses have been exhumed and burned to ashes. 

This practice continued to 1755 when another mass hysteria happened. People from the town of Olmutz flock to the cemetery and dug up the corpse of those suspected vampires.  1790, In German where an equivalent of a vampire was called an “alp” (a huge dog with red eyes), a panic happened on the town of Colone upon someone claimed on seeing an alp.  Others came forward and claimed that they also saw an alp roaming around the village.  The town was so terrified on the news that they went to the graveyard and exhumed a suspected vampire.  They burned his body at the municipal graveyard.  The alp was never seen again after that day.

In 1800, news about Alps surfaced the Brocken area of Germany.  It is said that an alp would drink blood on the nipple of sleeping men and drain them.  They believe that the alp is under the control of a certain witch.  The witch ordered this alp to unleash terror on the men and their cattle.  There were accounts of sheep and other farm animal that was attacked by a suspected alp.

But compared to the other incident, no documented exhumation of the corpse was recorded.  Some people believed that the alp was a real human and was given some type of punishment or other traditional practices.