1047 - The word upir (vampire in Russian) first appears in written form, referring to a Russian prince.

 

1428(29?) - Vlad Dracul's son, Vlad Dracula, or Vlad the Impaler, is born.

 

1477 - Vlad the Impaler is assasinated.

 

1484(?) - The Malleus Maleficarium, known as the witch hunter's bible, is authored by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. How to hunt and kill a vampire is discussed in the work.

 

1560 - Elizabeth Bathory is born.

 

1600-1800 - Europe and Russia are plagued with superstition about the vampire.

 

1610 - Elizabeth Bathory is tried and sentenced to life imprisonment for her vampiric crimes.

 

1727-1732 - Arnod Paole wreaks his vampiric havoc on the small town of Meduegna.

 

1748 - The first modern vampire poem, "Der Vampir", is published.

 

1813 - A vampire appears in Lord Byron's The Giaour.

 

1819 - The first vampire story in English, The Vampyre by John Polidori, is published.

 

1847 - Varney the Vampyre begins its serialization as a penny dreadful.

 

1872 - Carmilla, by J. Sheridan LeFanu, is published.

 

1897 - Bram Stoker publishes Dracula.

 

1819 - Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker is published.

 

1928 - England sees the first printing of The Vampire: His Kith and Kin by Montague Summers.

 

1931 - Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, is released.

 

1958 - Hammer Films revolutionizes the vampire film with The Horror of Dracula, starring Christopher Lee.

 

1964 - The Munsters & Addams Family (both feature vampire characters) debut on TV.

 

1967 - Vampire Barnabas Collins makes his debut on Dark Shadows.

 

1970 - The Vampire Research Society is founded by Sean Manchester.

 

1972 - Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu release In Search of Dracula, linking Vlad the Impaler as the inspiration for Stoker's Dracula.

 

1976 - First book of Anne Rice's vampire series, Interview With A Vampire, is published.

 

1977 - Dracula hits Broadway, starring Frank Langella.

 

1979 - Frank Langella reprises his role in Universal's remake of Dracula.

 

1991 - Vampire: The Masquerade is released by White Wolf.

 

1992 - Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is released.

 

1994 - Interview With a Vampire comes to the big screen.