| Prehistory Vampire beliefs and myths in all cultures of the world. | |
| 1047 | First appearance of the word upir, the root of vampire, in a written document referring to a Russian prince as Upir Lichy or "wicked vampire". |
| 1190 | Walter Map’s De Nagis Curialium includes accounts of vampire like beings in England. |
| 1196 | William of Newburgh’s Chronicles records several stories of vampiric revenants in England. |
| 1428(29?) | Vlad Tepes, Son of Vlad Dracul, is born. |
| 1436 | Vlad Tepes becomes Prince of Wallachia and moves to Tirgoviste. |
| 1442 | Vlad Tepes is imprisoned with Dracul by the Turks. |
| 1443 | Vlad Tepes becomes a hostage of the Turks. |
| 1447 | Vlad Dracul is beheaded. |
| 1448 | Vlad Tepes briefly gains the Wallachian throne. Dethroned, he goes to Moldavia and befriends Prince Stefan. |
| 1451 | Vlad and Stefan flee to Transylvania. |
| 1455 | Constantinople falls. |
| 1456 | John Hunyadi assists Vlad Tepes to attain the Wallachian throne. Vladislav Dan is executed. |
| 1458 | Matthias Corvinus succeeds John Hunyadi as King of Hungary |
| 1459 | Easter massacre of boyers(boyars?) and rebuilding of Castle Dracula. Bucharest is established as second governmental center. |
| 1460 | Attack upon Brasov, Romania. |
| 1461 | Successful campaign against Turkish settlements along the Danube. Summer retreat to Tirgoviste. |
| 1462 | Following the battle of Dracula’s castle, Vlad flees to Transylvania and begins thirteen years of imprisonment |
| 1475 | Summer wars against the Turks in Serbia. In November, Vlad resumes the throne of Wallachia. |
| 1476/77 | Vlad Tepes is assassinated. |
| 1560 | Elizabeth Bathory is born. |
| 1610 | Elizabeth Bathory arrested and tried for the killing of several hundred people, estimates stand at 650 based upon evidence given at her trial. She is known to have bathed in their blood. She is sentenced to life imprisonment within her castle. |
| 1614 | Elizabeth Bathory dies imprisoned in her castle. |
| 1645 | First modern treatment of vampires; Leo Allatius’ "De Graecorum hodie quirundam opinationabus". |
| 1657 | Fr. Francoise Richard produces "Relation de ce qui s’est passe a Sant-Erini Isle de l’Archipel", linking witchcraft and vampirism. |
| 1672 | Wave of vampire hysteria in Istra. |
| 1679 | "De Masticatione Mortuotum", a German vampire text, is produced by Philip Rohr. |
| 1710 | Wave of vampire hysteria in East Prussia. |
| 1725 | Wave of vampire hysteria in East Prussia, the sequel. |
| 1725-30 | Wave of vampire hysteria in Hungary. |
| 1725-32 | Wave of vampire hysteria in Austrian Serbia produces the cases of Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole(Paul). |
| 1734 | The word "vampyre" enters the English language in translations of accounts of vampire hysteria in Germany. |
| 1744 | Cardinal Giuseppe Davanzati publishes "Dissertazione sopre I Vampiri". |
| 1746 | Dom Augustin Calmet publishes "Dissertations sur les Apparitions des Anges des Demons et des Espits, et sur les revenants, et Vampires de Hundrie, de Boheme, de Moravie, et de Silesie. |
| 1748 | "Der Vampir", by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, the first modern vampire poem is published. |
| 1750 | Yet another wave of vampire hysteria in East Prussia. |
| 1756 | Peak of vampire hysteria in Wallachia. |
| 1772 | Wave of vampire hysteria in Russia. |
| 1789 | French Revolution |
| 1797 | Goethe’s "Bride of Corinth" is published. |
| 1798-1800 | Coleridge writes "Christabel", the first vampire poem in English. |
| 1800 | "I Vampiri", an opera by Silvestro de Palma opens in Milan. |
| 1801 | "Thalaba the Destroyer" by Robert Southey is the first poem to use the word ‘vampire’. |
| 1810 | Reports of vampiric sheep mutilations sweep through Northern England. |
| 1810 | "The Vampyre" by John Stagg is published. |
| 1813 | "The Giaour" by Lord Byron is published. |
| 1819 | John Polidori’s "The Vampire", the first English vampire story is published in New Monthly Magazine. John Keats composes "The Lamia", a vampire poem built on Greek mythology. |
| 1820 | Lord Ruthven ou Les Vampires, written by Cyprien Bernard, is published anonymously in Paris. June 13, "The Vampire", a play by Charles Nodier, opens in Paris. August, an english translation of Nodier’s play begins in London. It is called "The Vampire" or "The Bride of the Isles". |
| 1829 | "Der Vampyr", an opera based on Nodier’s play, opens in Liepzig. |
| 1841 | Tolstoy publishes "The Upyr", the first vampire story produced by a Russian. |
| 1847 | "Varney the Vampyre" by James Malcolm Rymer begins a
long serialization(109 installments); in the end it is collected into an 800+ page novel. Bram Stoker is born. |
| 1851 | Alexandre Dumas’ last dramatic work, "Le Vampire", opens in Paris. |
| 1854 | First widely published account of vampirism in America; Ray family of Jewett, Connecticut. |
| 1872 | Carmilla is written by Sheridan le Fanu. Vincenzo Verzeni is arrested and convicted in Italy of killing two people and drinking their blood. |
| 1874 | Irish reports of vampiric sheep mutilations. |
| 1888 | The Land Beyond the Forest, by Emily Gerard is published. It is Stoker’s major source of information concerning Transylvania. |
| 1894 | H.G. Wells publishes "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid", a precursor to the science-fiction vampire story. |
| 1897 | Dracula by Bram Stoker is published. "The Vampire" by Rudyard Kipling creates the archetypal vampire. |
| 1912 | The Secret of House No.5 is produced in Russia; first vampire movie. |
| 1913 | Dracula’s Guest by Stoker is published. |
| 1920 | The first version of Dracula is produced in Russia (no surviving copies). |
| 1921 | Hungarian version of Dracula produced. |
| 1922 | Nosferatu, a german version of Dracula is produced. Character names, places, etc. were changed because permission from Stoker’s widow was not secured. |
| 1924 | A stage version of Dracula is produced by Hamilton
Deane in Derby. Sherlock Holmes meets a vampire in the short story, "The Case of the Sussex Vampire". Fritz Harmaann is convicted of killing more than 20 people in a "vampiric" crime spree. |
| 1927 | February: Dracula opens in London. October: Dracula opens in New York City, starring Bela Lugosi in the title role. Lon Chaney stars in London After Midnight, the first full-length vampire film; directed by Tod Browning. |
| 1928 | Montague Summers publishes The Vampire: His Kith and Kin. |
| 1929 | Summers publishes The Vampire in Europe. |
| 1931 | January: Spanish version of Dracula premieres. February: American version of Dracula premieres. Peter Kurten of Germany is executed for committing "vampire" murders. |
| 1932 | Vampyr, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, is released. |
| 1936 | Dracula’s Daughter is released. |
| 1939 | World War II begins. |
| 1942 | "The Asylum" by A.E. Van Vogt is released. It is the first "alien" vampire story. |
| 1943 | Son of Dracula released. |
| 1944 | Horror of Frankensteins released. |
| 1945 | World War II ends. |
| 1953 | Turkish version of Dracula is released. Eerie No.5 is the first comic adaptation of Dracula. |
| 1954 | American Comics Code banishes vampires from comic books. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is published. It introduces the idea of vampirism as a disease. |
| 1956 | First television adaptation of Dracula is produced. First Japanese vampire film, Kyuketsuki Ga, is released. |
| 1957 | First Italian vampire movie, I Vampiri. Roger Corman produces Not of this Earth, the first "science-fiction vampire" movie. El Vampiros released as the first Mexican vampire film. |
| 1958 | Hammer Films releases its first Dracula film, The Horror of
Dracula. Famous Monsters of Filmland is produced. |
| 1959 | Bela Lugosi is dead. |
| 1961 | The Bad Flower is the first Korean adaptation of Dracula. |
| 1962 | The Count Dracula Society is formed. |
| 1964 | Parque de Juelos(Park of Games) is produced as the first
vampire movie made in Spain (The spanish Dracula was made by Universal in America.)
The Munsters and The Addams Family are produced as horror comedies with vampire characters. |
| 1965 | The Count Dracula Fan Club is formed. The Munsters is the first comic book series to feature a vampire character. |
| 1966 | Dark Shadows debuts. |
| 1967 | Dark Shadows introduces Barnabas Collins, a 200 year old vampire. |
| 1969 | Vampirella, the longest running vampire comic is
produced. First British TV adaptation of Dracula is released. Does Dracula Really Suck? (or Dracula and the Boys), the first gay vampire movie, is released. |
| 1970 | El Conde Dracula produced in Spain. The Vampire Research Society is formed. |
| 1971 | American Comics Code revised to allow vampire characters. |
| 1972 | The Night Stalker becomes the most-watched televison
movie to date(it featured a vampire as its villain). Vampire Kung Fu is produced in Hong Kong and is the first vampire-martial arts film. In Search of Dracula is produced, intorducing the history of Vlad Tepes. A Dream of Dracula is produced, recounting vampiric folklore and superstition. True Vampires of History is an attempt to gather all the stories of historic vampire figures. The Vampire Research Center is founded. |
| 1973 | Dan Curtis, producer of Dark Shadows, produces Dracula
for American television. Vampires by Nancy Gardener starts a new wave of juvenile vampire literature. |
| 1975 | The Dracula Tape by Fred Saberhagen is published; it introduces the idea of Dracula as misunderstood hero. |
| 1976 | Interview
with the Vampire by Anne Rice published. Salem’s Lot by Stephen King is published and it wins the World Fantasy Award. |
| 1977 | Dracula opens on Broadway. Count Dracula premieres on the BBC. Vampire Studies Society is founded. |
| 1978 | Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is published.
Vampire Information Exchange is formed. |
| 1979 | The 1977 Broadway version of Dracula is made into a
movie. The rock band Bauhaus records "Bela Lugosi is dead", signalling the arrival of the Gothic music scene. |
| 1980 | The Bram Stoker Society is founded. Richard Chase, the vampire killer of Sacramento, commits suicide in prison. |
| 1983 | Marvel Comics’ Dr. Strange kills all vampires from their comic world; they do not reappear for six years. |
| 1985 | The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice published. |
| 1988 | The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice published |
| 1989 | The overthrow of Ceaucescu opens Romania to Dracula
enthusiasts. Sunglasses After Dark is published. |
| 1991 | Vampire: The Masquerade, a vampire role-playing game is released. |
| 1992 | Bram Stoker’s Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola is released. |
| 1994 | Interview with the Vampire, the film, is released. |
| 1995 | Memnoch the
Devil by Anne Rice published. Our Vampires, Ourselves by Nina Auerbach is published. |
| 1998 | Pandora by Anne Rice published. After ending The Vampire Chronicles in 1995, Anne revisits the history of her vampires and begins a new storyline. |