Summary: Vampire legends have their origin in the fear of death and of people’s misunderstandings of the natural process of decomposition.The fear of death and what those who have fallen into her clutches can bring forth upon the living, is a fear which has driven and dictated funerary customs throughout the centuries. Underneath the spectacle of ornate showings of last respects and tokens of remembrance, are ancient precautions, means of ensuring that the dead remain as such, and that their spirits are kept at bay. It ensures that the body, now defiled by death, is safely disposed of, unable to spread more of its morbid affliction to the living by means of its uncleanliness.
