# When did the vampire myth become common "knowledge"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 17, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-vampire-myth-become-common-knowledge/396343 "2007-03-17T16:19:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-vampire-myth-become-common-knowledge/396343/21 "2007-03-19T12:34:56Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] You forgot to put a nuttiness warning on that link. The word “vampire” isn’t used, but “Christabel” by Samuel Coleridge, is definitely vampire-themed. It came out in 1798 and was very popular. [/QUOTE] That’s why I didn’t use a link with a different text label. I made sure the true url name showed. I posted it so the ambitious could use the books referenced in it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-vampire-myth-become-common-knowledge/396343/22 "2007-03-19T15:39:27Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] The word “vampire” appeared in the Oxford English dictionary in 1734. [/QUOTE] 😕 I recently read Winchester’s _Professor and the Madman._ In that book, the history of the OED includes dates of 1858 for the official beginning of the dictionary project, 1884 for the publication of the OED’s first volume, and 1927 for the completion of the last. Did you mean a different dictionary, or did you mean, vampire appears in the OED with an “earliest printed citation date” of 1734? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-vampire-myth-become-common-knowledge/396343/23 "2007-03-19T15:46:47Z")
I meant that the earliest citation in the OED was for 1734. Sorry about the phrasing, but I would’ve thought the meaning clear from context. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-vampire-myth-become-common-knowledge/396343/24 "2007-03-19T17:19:50Z")
**Priceguy** , I think the situation says more about _Cassidy_ than it does about the general public knowledge of vampire lore. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-vampire-myth-become-common-knowledge/396343/25 "2007-03-19T21:38:08Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] **Priceguy** , I think the situation says more about _Cassidy_ than it does about the general public knowledge of vampire lore. [/QUOTE] I’ll try to avoid spoilers here. But, I quite agree. Cassidy is an idiotic drunk. It’s not clear when exactly he learned to read, or became interested in reading for pleasure. Re Vampire Bats They exist only in Central America. The bat, being associated with night and darkness, was viewed as evil throughout Europe. But people had no reason to assume it drank blood. Indeed, certain folklore held that bats were fond of bacon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-vampire-myth-become-common-knowledge/396343.md?page=1)