The remains of two men with metal stakes through their chests have been found in Bulgaria. So does this mean that Bram Stoker, Stephanie Meyer and the rest of the vampire fiction novelists were right? Do vampires really exist? Fortunately, no, but people in medieval Bulgaria certainly thought so.
When someone who was considered evil died, it was common practice to stake them in the heart with a metal rod and place a rock in their mouth to prevent them from rising from the grave as vampires and sucking the blood of their enemies. It was thought that the metal rod would pin the body in the grave and that the stone would prevent them from opening their mouths to suck blood.
Roughly 100 “vampire” skeletons have been found in Bulgaria. The majority of them have been clergymen or aristocrats and have all been males.
While there’s nothing supernatural about these skeletons, it’s super interesting to discover where vampire myths come from. This sure does explain why many vampire myths revolve around stakes!