Vampire Princess

Vampire Princess

Dracula is a grim tale thought based on Romanian legend and the morbid imaginings of a Victorian novelist. But vampire hysteria was quite real in the 1700s and archaeologists, historians and forensic scientist have evidence that the legendary vampire was not modeled on a medieval count from Transylvania, but on the fate of a real-life, 18th century bohemian princess.

Unearthed in the Czech Republic, a graveyard reveals a trove of baroque secrets: Skeletons hundreds of years old, three buried "Magia Pasthuma," a ritual to prevent the undead from rising. One's head rests between his legs, stones weighting limbs, a rosary binding his hands and a wooden stake protruding from his chest.

But who is the Vampire Princess who set off this wave of terror? Princess Eleonore von Krumlov Castle, had a penchant for the occult. When she died in 1741, and pale from a mysterious illness, she was thought to suffer "vampire illness." Superstition, panic and dreadful rituals pervaded the countryside.

Now archaeologists have located the unholy grave of the princess, examining it for the first time and documenting her bizarre lifestyle through the castle's vast archives. Is this the origin of our vampire myths and the most famous horror story of all time.