Remains of medieval vampire found?

This is interesting! Do read the whole story.

LiveScience: Medieval 'Vampire' Skull Found---

The remains of a medieval "vampire" have been discovered among the corpses of 16th century plague victims in Venice, according to an Italian archaeologist who led the dig.

The body of the woman was found in a mass grave on the Venetian island of Lazzaretto Nuovo. Suspecting that she might be a vampire, a common folk belief at the time, gravediggers shoved a rock into her skull to prevent her from chewing through her shroud and infecting others with the plague, said anthropologist Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence.

In the absence of medical science, vampires were just one of many possible contemporary explanations for the spread of the Venetian plague in 1576, which ran rampant through the city and ultimately killed up to 50,000 people, some officials estimate.

Italy's famous canal city wasn't really overrun with medieval Draculas, however.

Right. As we Twilight fans know, the city really overrun with Vampires is Volterra (go read New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) if you don't understand.).

And the gross probable explanation:

A phenomenon that occurs early on in the process of decomposition - abdominal bloating - is what likely concerned the Venetian gravediggers, Borrini said. When humans die, the body releases a myriad of bacterial gases that cause a corpse to bloat with fluid, usually just a few days after death in the absence of any kind of preservation or protection from coffins.

"During this phase, the decay of the gastrointestinal tract contents and lining create a dark fluid called 'purge fluid'; it can flow freely from the nose and mouth...and it could easily be confused with the blood sucked by the vampire," said Borrini.

If the "vampire" woman was emitting blood from her mouth, the fluid likely moistened her burial shroud causing it to sink into her jaw cavity and be dissolved by the fluids, Borrini said, making it appear as though she was trying to bite through her shroud. When discovered in that state, a stone was jammed into her mouth as a kind of exorcism to prevent her from potentially spreading the disease further, the researchers think.

Medieval skeletons have been found in a similar state in other parts of Europe, Borrini said.

It is quite an fascinating article!

Twilight

Last night, about 3am, I finished Stephenie Meyer's novel Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1). It was fantastic. I'm quite obsessed now and I must get my hands on the 2 other books in the series that have been published, New Moon and Eclipse (Breaking Dawn comes out 2 August 2008).

I had heard about the books from students, but hadn't paid much attention until the past week or so. Then, I bought a copy of Twilight and managed to save it until Saturday night. I had a headache all Saturday, which should have sent me to bed early. I couldn't resist beginning the book, though, and ended up reading until 3am (it was quite that good).

It was very hard not to give in and just read the novel in one night. I managed to make myself only read it in bed, before I went to sleep (I did sneak in 3 chapters yesterday afternoon), and stayed up until 3am 3 nights in a row finishing it, listening to DeBussy's "Clair de Lune." I must, must, must go get the other 2 books ASAP!

Twilight is set in tiny Forks, Washington, which is located near Port Angeles. It is about Bella Swan, who moves back to Forks to live with her father. She's used to the hot sun of Phoenix and cannot like the constant clouds and rain. Her first week at school she sees a very interesting group of fellow students, all beautiful beyond belief, sitting at a lunch table with trays of food but not eating anything. One boy in particular, the one with bronze hair, strikes her fancy, and, though he stares at her, seems to dislike her.

Bella finds out these are the Cullens, a group of foster children who live with Dr. Carlisle and Esme Cullen. The one with bronze hair is named Edward Cullen and he ends up saving Bella's life in a way that seems impossible. Bella and Edward strike up a sort of friendship/romance and Bella eventually realizes that Edward and the Cullens are vampires. Edward ends up telling her about the family and how they do not drink human blood, only animal. The difficulty is that Bella's scent is the most beautiful Edward has ever smelled. He adores and loves her and cannot bear to hurt her.

Bella and Edward's romance is one fraught with peril. She is the most tempting thing in the world for Edward but cannot resist being with her. He is the most beautiful and wonderful man in the world but could harm her without meaning to or else break her heart by staying away. Yet, he cannot stay away.

I absolutely loved this novel. There are only a few "vampire" novels that I like and they are usually the ones that are more romance/story than sci-fi. Twilight is one of those, very well-written, funny, heart-wrenching, interesting, and moving. The author, Stephenie Meyers, is a fan of Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, and Charlotte Bronte, to name a few, all favorites of mine. I read that she named Edward "Edward" because it was an old-fashioned, romantic name and for Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre and Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility.


Twilight, the movie, will be in theaters 12 December 2008, starring Robert Pattinson, who played Cedric Diggory in HP and the Goblet of Fire, as Edward Cullen. The official movie site is here.

Stephenie Meyer's site with lots of great items is here.

Go read Twilight!