IS IT REAL VAMPIRES

"In this double feature, National Geographic explores centuries of vampire lore and legendunearthing new science and insights on superstition and psychology. Vampire Forensics In 1575, one of the worst plagues ever to strike mankindthe Black Deathswooped into the city of Venice. A legend grows that a vampire known as a "Shroud-eater" is the cause of the plague. The Shroud-eater feasts on corpses, then rises from the earth to infect the living. More than four hundred years later, a team uncovers a skeleton with a brick inserted between the jaws of the skull. It is believed the object was part of a macabre ritual designed to kill a vampire and the discovery launches a massive forensic investigation to find the truth. Is It Real?: Vampires For most of us, the vampire is a fictional count who became a horror movie icon. But is there more to the legend than fiction? Do the undead actually walk among us? From a self-proclaimed modern-day blood-drinking vampire, to a bishop who claims to have exorcized vampires and demons to experts in anthropology, forensics, folklore and vampirism, Is It Real?: Vampires sheds light on why this archetypal image has haunted us for so long."