Here's what really inspired vampire legends

Discover Magazine reported on the history of the belief in vampires and quoted Phil Stevens, who said that the word “vampyr” is Slavic for vengeful ghost. He said it was once believed that this being would fly into a sleeping victim’s room and suck out their life force, giving rise to the lore around vampires. Stevens also was quoted describing how the Dracula story was inspired by the existence of Vlad the Impaler who was said to impale his prisoners on the battlefield while they were still alive.