Halloween’s Favorite Monsters: Vampire “Count” Down

Over the course of history, humans have had a fascination and some even an obsession with the supernatural and all the things that go bump in the night. Over the decades and the centuries, numerous pieces of lore, literature, movies and television have been written, created and released to the public to further fuel our collective curiosity with the things that make up our greatest fears.

Currently we are in the Halloween season, the time of the year where that collective curiosity reaches its peak, so for today I figured why not get in on the fun and take a look at one histories favorite monsters: the Vampire.

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The creature we know as the Vampire may just be the most famous monster humans have ever created. Around the world, people know the legend of the vampire as a beast that is immune to the effects of time, is both alive and dead and survives by drinking the blood of its victims.

The following is a list of some of the greatest and most notorious vampires ever....

Number 5: Selene

Selene is the main character of the famous Underworld franchise played by the incomparable Kate Beckinsale . Underworld introduced fans worldwide to a world where supernatural titans have been at war for centuries, a war between the Vampires and the Lycans better known as Werewolves.

Selene as a character throughout the numerous entries in the Underworld franchise finds herself fighting with and against both the vampires and the lycans. She makes for an interesting and conflicted heroin who in the beginning must choose between her family or the one she loves but throughout the course of the movies finds her own path.

Number 4: Blade

It would be impossible to talk about famous vampires and not include one of the most badass characters ever. That character would be Marvel's Blade. Blade was originally introduced as comic character in Marvel's "The Tomb of Dracula #10" in 1973.

Roughly two and a half decades later, Blade would gain immense popularity when Wesley Snipes took the character and portrayed it on the silver screen. Snipes would play the role of Blade in three films, the first, also titled "Blade" debuting in 1998 with the final film "Blade: Trinity" debuting in 2004. Blade currently is also set to have a resurgence in the works, as a new movie is expected in 2025, with Mahershala Ali poised to become take on the central role.

Number 3: Nosferatu

Number three on this list is Nosferatu. Nosferatu is credited with being the first movie that made its way to the silver screen as a silent film back in 1922. While the central character Count Orlok may not meet today's standards for fear, every vampire character since then can trace their metaphorical family tree back to him.

Number 2: Dracula

What can you say about Count Dracula? He is for all intensive purposes, the father of and inspiration for all vampire characters that have ever existed. Over the years he has also had a number of different individuals bring the character to life...or back to life that is.

Simply put, Dracula is the bar, the gold standard, the icon. When you hear the word "vampire", Dracula whether it be the character, the myth or the legend, is just about always the first thing that comes to mind.

To this point every character that has been on this list has been a creation from someone's imagination that someone else or numerous other people brought to life. But every character has its inspiration and our final entrant on this list is the only one who was actually a real person. Our final entrant on today...

Number 1: Vlaad The Impaler

Vlaad, The Impaler, also known as Vlad Tepes (in Romanian) or Vlad III is credited as being the inspiration for the character Dracula, created by Bram Stoker in 1897. Vlaad ruled over what today is known as Romania between 1448 and 1476.

Vlaad was born in Transylvania in the year 1431 and during his reign was known for being a notoriously bloodthirsty ruler. According to National Geographic, Vlaad is credited with having killed "...more than 80,000 people in his lifetime". If you couldn't guess by the nickname, impaling his victims was a particular favorite.

Vlaad would have his victims impaled upon long pikes and then have them made to stand. Gravity eventually pulling the victims down the entire length of the pike. For his enemies, Vlaad's trademark tactics created a truly horrific and intimidating "forest of death".

There are plenty of other notoriously famous "vampires" that have existed throughout history. The vast majority of them have entertained and entranced us for years and as characters of our imagination, existing in a different world than our own. However, it can not be denied that when it comes to monsters, the most terrifying ones are not works of fiction.