All language subtitles for The UnXplained S01E15 Vampires and Werewolves 1080p AMZN WEB-DL DDP2 0 H 264-NTb_track4_[eng]

WILLIAM SHATNER:
Creatures of the night.

They hide in the shadows.

Ready to drink the blood

and tear at the flesh

- [wolf howling]
- of their human prey.

[screaming]

For centuries, mankind
has told frightening tales

of bloodthirsty vampires
and moon-crazed werewolves.

But what is it about these two
very different monsters

that have made them such
a large part of our nightmares?

Is it because they're also...

...part human?

Could it be that the same
gruesome urges

they have reported to have
also lurk deep inside ourselves?

Well, that is what we will try
and find out.

♪

SHATNER:
Vlad the Impaler.

Lycaon of Arcadia.

Nosferatu.

The Beast of Gévaudan.

These are the names of grotesque
and terrifying monsters.

Unearthly creatures that,
according to legend,

thrived on human blood
and feasted on human flesh.

[snarling]

But could they actually be real?

[crickets chirping]

SHATNER: Police arrive upon
a gruesome scene.

A local prostitute lies bloody
and battered on the street.

Her leg is shattered
in three places.

Based on eyewitness accounts,
it's believed

she intentionally leapt
from a balcony 20 feet above.

JONATHAN WEISS:
She'd been with a wealthy man.

He'd been friendly, generous,
funny, kind.

He'd made no advances,
though he'd paid for her time.

But then he attacked her.

He moved upon her
with unnatural swiftness

and wrapped his arms around her,
pulled her head to the side

and began to, quote,
"rip at her flesh."

SHATNER:
Her attacker was a man

by the name
of Jacques St. Germain,

an affluent, well-known fixture
in the New Orleans upper class

who claimed to be
a direct descendant

of French nobility.

Historical accounts
described him

as a charming ladies' man,

celebrated throughout
the French Quarter

for his tales of adventure
and elaborately catered parties.

But curiously, his guests
never see him partake

of so much as a morsel
of the food he serves.

Instead, he reportedly
got all of his sustenance

from bottles that were thought
to be filled with red wine.

But when police went to question
Jacques St. Germain

about the murder
of the prostitute,

they found that
his preferred wine

was of a very unusual vintage.

JOSEPH LAYCOCK: When they went
to the house in the morning,

it was entirely empty--
no furniture,

everything was gone.

Jacques had
completely disappeared.

However, on the second floor,
according to the story,

they found bottles of wine
mixed with human blood.

SHATNER:
Bottles of wine

mixed with human blood?

Was Jacques St. Germain
merely a demented killer

who preyed upon
a vulnerable woman?

Or could his taste for blood

have had a more disturbing
explanation?

KEN GERHARD:
Jacques St. Germain resided
in New Orleans

in the early part
of the 20th century.

And one must look back
in history

at an eerily similar-looking
figure named Count St. Germain,

who lived in Paris, France
over a century earlier.

The similarities
between the two gentlemen

are pretty striking.

LAYCOCK:
Count St. Germain was known
to the French court

in the 1700s.

He was a mysterious figure.

He was rumored to be
an alchemist,

and he let the rumor slip
that he had found the secret

to eternal life
through his alchemy.

MARITA WOYWOD CRANDLE:
He would speak as if

he had lived in the 1500s,

and he never looked
a day over 40 years old.

LAYCOCK:
We have portraits of
the original Count St. Germain

when he's 40 years old.

Jacques St. Germain
was also 40 years old

when he disappeared,
and some people commented

that he looked like
the man in the portrait.

WEISS:
Early 40s,

maybe five foot,
six inches tall,

140 pounds,

pale skin and high cheekbones,
thin lips, hawk nose,

long, curling dark hair,
large blue-gray eyes.

He's elegant, he's charming,
he's French.

He spends money like it's water.

Many people say
that Jacques St. Germain

and the Count St. Germain
are the same person.

SHATNER:
Jacques St. Germain
and the Count de St. Germain:

one in the same?

If so, that would have made him
almost 170 years old

at the time of his disappearance
from New Orleans in 1903.

That is, if he ever
really disappeared.

CRANDLE:
Even down to modern times,

there have been sightings
of St. Germain

wandering our streets
late at night.

People will say that they have
encountered him,

- and now and then,
one of them disappears.
- [scream]

This is actually an account from
some people I know fairly well.

A few years ago, at Halloween,

they were in the middle
of the crowd on Bourbon Street,

when the crowd
just parted itself,

almost of its own accord...

...and there was a man
standing by himself

in the middle of the crowd.

Maybe five-foot-six,
somewhat slight of build,

with a long, dark coat
and sunglasses on at night.

He raised his head up
like he's sniffing the air.

The crowd kept parting
around him.

And then they said that
he just vanished.

They swear that
actually happened,

and in New Orleans,
how can I not believe it?

LAYCOCK:
What do we make of people

still seeing someone
of this description

in the French Quarter
in New Orleans today?

That's hard to say.

These stories speak to, uh,
the idea that many people hold

that, walking among us,
our neighbors even,

could actually be
super creatures who never die.

In the French Quarter
in New Orleans at night,

those stories
don't seem as silly

as they might otherwise.

SHATNER:
Whether he's called
the Count or Jacques,

there are many who believe
that the vampire

who haunted the streets of
New Orleans for over a century

still walks the streets
at night.

If true, could it mean
that other

seemingly absurd tales
of undead creatures

- living among us are also true?
- [eerie shriek]

DAVID SKAL:
Vampires are just part
of the human imagination,

going back to time immemorial.

In folklore, there are
so many different ways

to become a vampire
or to destroy a vampire

or to avoid a vampire.

The idea of the wooden stake,

the recoiling from the crucifix,

the destruction by sunlight.

Vampires like the night,
because they could skulk around

and cover their terrible deeds
in the shadows.

In Eastern Europe, we think that
vampire legends are very old.

In the Middle Ages
and the early modern period,

vampires were seen
as satanic figures

and enemies of the church.

We continually find graves

where people have put stakes
through the corpses

and things like this,
to make sure

that the dead stay dead.

But our idea of the vampire
really comes from a moment

in the 1700s;
and this was a time

when you had vampire panics
going on in Eastern Europe,

where you would have
entire towns

digging up their cemeteries
hunting for vampires.

GERHARD:
Even in China,

we have vampire-like legends.

Creatures known as
the jiangshi,

or hopping vampires,

said to be very stiff-bodied
with outstretched arms.

SKAL: These stories come from
the margins of the known,

and the lore tells us
that the boundary

between the known
and the unknown,

life and death itself,
might be traversed.

Perhaps at great cost,

or perhaps there is a way
to live forever.

HARVEY ROSENSTOCK: In Romanian,
the word for a vampire

includes the word "vârcolac,"

which, uh, really means,
uh, "werewolf."

So you have werewolf,
vârcolac, uh, vampyr,

uh, vampire; so, sometimes,
I can see how people

can coalesce and come out
with something that's a mixture.

LAYCOCK:
Every culture on Earth

has stories of humans
who can change into animals

and about the idea
of supernatural beings

living among us.

And so, instead of seeing
an enemy or a nemesis,

we see something of ourselves.

The werewolf and the vampire
merge and morph

and inform each other.

When Bram Stoker
wrote his novel,

Dracula had the power
to become a wolf.

He was a werewolf.

He was a bloodsucking vampire
as well.

And, uh, it was the kind of
arbitrary grab bag

of characteristics
that he chose

that we are still
mostly playing with today.

SHATNER:
But are vampires merely
the figments of myth

and imagination?

Perhaps the answer
to that question can be found

by investigating
not those vampires

who hide in the shadows

but those who thrive by daylight

and who dwell right next door.

SHATNER:
After a difficult
and dysfunctional childhood,

15-year-old Rod Ferrell
finds solace in death,

the occult
and blood-drenched horror films.

At his local high school,

Rod discovers a group
of kindred spirits,

among some outcasts
who also enjoy

his favorite vampire
role-playing games.

SKAL:
In the '90s, people stopped
being afraid of vampires.

They started identifying with
them, sometimes very intensely.

And I think it was the beginning
of a world in which

the boundaries between
imagination and reality

were going to become
increasingly blurred.

And, uh, that can be
a dangerous place to be.

Anne Rice resurrected
what had become kind of a stale

popular culture cliché.

She brought back
the romanticism,

the idea of the vampire
as an antihero.

LAYCOCK:
I think modern people,
when they think of vampires,

think of Anne Rice's vampires.

They think of sexy, dark, aristocratic,

tragic characters
who live forever

and have supernatural powers.

CRANDLE:
Vampires have become protectors

rather than just predators
in fiction.

You have this
very powerful creature

that desires you so much.

And they don't want you to die,

but they're willing to kill
for you.

LAYCOCK:
Rod Ferrell did not grow up
with his father around much.

He has alleged that his
grandfather sexually abused him.

Add to that that he was
experimenting with LSD

and other kinds
of psychedelic drugs,

and this is a recipe
for extreme behavior.

BROWNING:
He was part of this
vampire coven,

over which he was sort of
the elder, or master.

He knew about vampire lore
through the game

Vampire: The Masquerade.

And he began to believe he was
some sort of, uh, embodiment

of some vampire god.

LAYCOCK:
Rod often told them that he was

a 400-year-old vampire
named Vesago.

That he could help them
cross over,

which means to become a vampire
through rituals

that sometimes involved
cutting each other

and drinking each other's blood.

SHATNER:
Despite the red flags
in her son's behavior,

Rod's mother, Sondra,
appeared supportive

of his new group of friends.

Some even claim that
she expressed a desire

to be initiated
into her son's coven.

LAYCOCK:
His mother was fascinated

by this vampire role
that he had assumed

for himself and for,
uh, his friends.

She wanted to play, too.

And in this case,
instead of guiding her son,

there was this kind of game
going on between them,

which ultimately became toxic.

SHATNER:
In order to protect each other
from a world

that didn't understand
their obsessions,

Rod and his coven
formed a sacred pact,

and then sealed it in blood.

ROSENSTOCK: To belong
to a gang, there has to be

some kind of ritual
that distinguishes you

from everybody else.

You're taking a vow

that from this point,
forever, irreversible,

I'm a member of this gang.

And when we get to
the vampire-type thinking,

there always has to be
blood involved.

We're gonna cut my wrist.

The other member's gonna
suck the blood

so that each one is consuming
the blood of the other person,

so that now we're all
one blooded family.

SHATNER:
Over the course
of the next year,

Rod would move with his mother
to Eustis, Florida.

After forming a close friendship

with one of his new classmates,
a girl named Heather Wendorf,

the pair spent their weekends
at the local graveyard,

engaging in
bloodletting rituals.

There are some people
who adhere to a delusion.

A delusion is a belief,
in psychiatry,

that you accept something in
spite of facts to the contrary.

And therefore,
they start to really believe

that they have these
extraordinary powers.

Many people, for example,
can easily,

in a form of
autohypnotic suggestion,

transform themselves
into an imaginary person,

animal, creature
that accomplishes

what they cannot do
in real life.

And they go with it.

SHATNER: During a series
of tearful phone calls,

Rod listens as Heather describes
a miserable home life,

culminating in alleged abuse
at the hands of her father.

Enraged that his close friend
has been mistreated,

Rod and three members
of his clan rush to her aid.

When the group arrived
at the home of Heather Wendorf

in Eustis, Florida,

Rod and one of his companions
went inside.

They came in through the garage,
where Rod found a crowbar,

which he took with him.

When he went inside,
he found Heather's father

asleep on the couch.

And he beat him to death
with the crowbar.

He also encountered
Heather's mother,

who splashed, uh, coffee on him
in self-defense,

and he beat her to death
as well.

SHATNER:
In the aftermath
of the horrific killings,

Rod was convicted
of first-degree murder.

LAYCOCK:
Sociologists who study
adolescent crime

have framed this as a kind of
game that gets out of hand.

I think that Rod Ferrell and
his friends had a kind of game

where they played
the role of vampires

until they reached
irrevocable consequences

when Rod Ferrell sort of got
caught up in his role

and murdered the Wendorfs.

This is a little bit like
putting on a Halloween mask

and then discovering
that you can never take it off.

If you still don't believe
that vampires really do exist,

then what would you say to
someone who drinks human blood?

Not only because he has
a strange desire to do so

but also because
he claims he needs it

to stay alive.

[indistinct chatter]

ASHANTISON:
My name is Belfazaar Ashantison.

Most of my friends call me Zaar.

WOMAN:
Hi, Zaar. Whoo!

Hi, guys.

54 years old.

I've been drinking blood
since I was 11.

And a sanguine vampire.

How you doing, brother?

- I'm good. How are you?
- Good, good, good.

At 11 years old,
things started changing for me.

I was short, round
and always sickly.

And one of my uncles
that was big and tall and strong

was picking on us--
me and my sister.

And something snapped,
and I went charging.

And he was bigger and stronger,

and he pinned my arms
down to my side.

And then I just kind of reared
my head back and bit him.

He was wearing a coat.

I bit through the coat,
through his shirt,

and into his flesh enough that
I could actually taste blood.

Like, lots of blood.

Once that blood hit my tongue,
it was like

I suddenly came alive.

I really need the blood.

I do.

And I've gone without

for lengths of time
just to see what would happen.

I'm the kind of person
that it physically shows on.

WOMAN:
Hi!

ASHANTISON:
My skin will get ashy.

My eyes will be dull and glazed.

It literally physically
shows on me.

[man shouts indistinctly]

So, what are some of
the common misconceptions?

How about:
Holy water gets me wet.

Garlic tastes good on pizza.

Stick a stake through
anything's heart,

and it will die.

I do not sleep in a coffin.

I have a king-size bed,
thank you very much.

SHATNER:
Unlike mythical vampires,

who can turn themselves
into bats,

modern-day vampires admit
to having to obey physical laws.

Because he can't exactly fly in

through someone's bedroom window
for a quick bite,

Belfazaar has devised
sanitary methods

to suck blood from his victims.

He finds victims...
who are willing to feed him.

- Well, hello.
- I'm here.

I like to think I have
a pretty good grasp

on human vampirism after now
ten years of doing field work.

But I realized very quickly
that the only thing

that real vampires are more
secretive about than themselves

are their donors.

They have to hide in the shadows

because almost no one
ever believes them

when they say that
they feel the need

to consume human blood.

I began to realize that
if I want to get

some of my research done,
it might just be

easier for me
to sort of volunteer myself.

ASHANTISON:
I'm gonna go grab
my doctor's bag.

I'll be right back.

I use a clean technique.

I'll clean the area
on the donor.

Honestly, alcohol swabs
always leave

a funny taste afterwards.

I make sure that
the blade is new every time.

- Ready?
- Ready.

More often than not, I'll use
the back side of the shoulders.

I poke a series of holes,
and those holes actually

provide me enough.

There we go.

- You ready?
- Yeah.

The lore tells us that
vampires live forever.

At least, as long as
they have a victim.

That, of course,
is a great human desire.

So part of the power
and fascination of the story is:

How do I live forever?

Is there some secret here?

Well, yes.

Drink the blood of others.

Steal the life force
from others.

That's not bad.

Sweeter taste-- you've been
getting fatty acids again.

Oh, that's good.

ASHANTISON:
I can tell when people

are a little bit low

on their magnesium
and potassium.

I can tell when they're not
getting enough fatty acids.

And, because of the flow,

I can also tell if they're
not drinking enough.

YOUNG:
As a psychologist,
I think we're talking

about people caught up
in a story,

caught up in a kind of
melodramatic ritual.

People will go into cosplay

and other, uh, dramas,
because it's creative

and it makes them feel special
and it is very imaginative.

So, the rewards are great,

even though the activity may be
in a way meaningless,

that it-it isn't an actual
transfer of energy

from one body to another,
as in the old vampire stories.

LAYCOCK:
In the Bible,
in the book of Leviticus,

God tells the Israelites,
"You may not drink blood,

because blood is the life."

And the assumption in
the ancient Israelite religion

was probably that when things
run out of blood, they're dead.

And so, there must be
something important

and supernatural, uh,
about blood.

It's a mysterious substance,
and this is why

it would've been offered
to the gods in animal sacrifices

in ancient cultures.

And, presumably,
this is also why vampires

and similar creatures
would want it,

because it has that power.

At any given time,
I can drink from...

an ounce to six ounces, depending.

The whole process,
start to finish,

usually takes...

maybe 20, 25 minutes,

depending on how much
I need to feed.

- You good?
- Yeah.

BROWNING:
When Zaar was feeding
on blood from me--

it couldn't have been more than
a couple of teaspoons--

I suddenly felt incredibly weak.

Like I had gone from someone
with stamina and energy

to someone who just had
the life drained out of me.

ASHANTISON:
All right.

I only usually feed

two to three times a week,
and I have

four different donors,
so I alternate.

I don't want to take too much
from any one person.

- Thank you, thank you.
- All right.

SHATNER:
Belfazaar claims
that drinking blood

helps him feel
energized and alive.

Without regular feeding,
he believes that he,

and those like him,
would not be able to survive.

But is Belfazaar simply

the delusional product of
some kind of Dracula fixation?

Or is there an actual
physiological benefit

to his consumption
of human blood?

BROWNING:
There have been some

medical conditions
that people have thought

or theorized maybe this is where
we get human vampirism from.

Like people who have porphyria--
they are anemic,

or they need blood to sustain
themselves, but they also have

this skin condition where
they can't be out in the sun.

And that will cause
some major defects.

ROSENSTOCK:
In some of the studies

about why someone
would seek blood,

the closest
that we can see medically

is they have
iron-deficiency anemia,

and so, theoretically,

if I could get some source
of iron heme,

that I would feel stronger

instead of feeling
without any energy.

That makes some kind of sense
at some level.

The hunger never
fully goes away.

The thirst, whatever
you want to call it...

that hunger is always there.

[indistinct chatter]

SHATNER:
Is it possible that
folklore about vampires

originated because of misunderstood

or undiagnosed
medical conditions?

Or is a vampire's
insatiable appetite for blood

due to a supernatural hunger?

Perhaps the answer can be found
not by examining vampires

but a different, and related,

type of human monster.

[growls, howling]

Werewolves.

SHATNER:
Here, on 512 acres
of rugged land,

lies a remote cattle ranch.

But according to local legend,

this desert landscape
is also home

to a creature
of unspeakable evil.

A creature known as...

the skinwalker.

[man chanting]

GERHARD: There are whisperings
by the local Ute tribe

that the region
is essentially been cursed

by the Navajo people.

And that it is home
to several skinwalkers,

the yee naaldlooshii.

They're typically witches
or shaman

that use black magic
and evil arts

in order to transform into
the forms of various animals.

[howling]

The Utes to this day
are very respectful.

They're very mindful.

Matter of fact,
they stand at an arm's length

from this ranch.

They firmly believe
that this ground is cursed

and that this concentration
of this phenomenon,

this host,
is on the Skinwalker Ranch.

SKINNER:
A skinwalker is a shape-shifter.

It can become many things--
a fox, a coyote, a wolf.

[snarling]

There are these recorded stories

of bipedal creatures
that are walking around

with wolflike heads.

The locals on the reservation,
they won't talk about it

because even mentioning
the name of the skinwalker

invites these things in.

[growling]

SHATNER:
Skinwalkers.

Shape-shifting werewolves
who dwell

not in remote forests
of Eastern Europe

but in the remote desert regions
of North America.

Experienced ranch hands
Terry and Gwen Sherman

purchase the ranch
and the surrounding area.

Almost immediately, they find
themselves face-to-face

with something
they would later describe

as pure evil.

SKINNER:
One day, Terry had gone up

to check on his cattle and
noticed this extremely large

what appeared to be a wolf
walking around his property.

It grabbed one of the calves
by the snout

and began to tear at it.

So he pulls out his .357 Magnum

and shoots point-blank,

and the wolf doesn't react.

It doesn't appear fazed at all.

So he grabs
his deer hunting rifle

and shoots the wolf
to knock it down.

[gunshot]

A piece of fur and flesh
flies off of the wolf.

And again, completely unfazed,

and at this point the wolf
is kind of trotting off

into the distance, casually.

SHATNER:
Leveling his rifle,

Terry cautiously followed
the wolf's trail,

only to discover
it had disappeared.

In the days and weeks
that followed,

the Shermans began to wonder

if what they encountered
was a normal wolf

or something more.

[distant howling]

SKINNER:
In the case of the bulletproof
wolf, what's interesting

is that wolves are not native
to the state of Utah

for, I think, the past
hundred years or so.

[growling]

GERHARD:
The werewolf of legend

is described
as looking very much

like a regular wolf,
except much larger.

And, oftentimes,
it is said to be

sort of bloodthirsty
and cunning.

We have lots of interesting
legends around the world.

For example, in Russia,

they're known as the vârcolac
or the bodark.

In France, you have
the loup-garou;

in Scotland, the wolver;

and in South America,
the lobizon.

And even in countries where you
don't traditionally have wolves,

you have similar legends.

For example, in India,
there are weretigers.

And in Africa,
wereleopards and werehyenas.

And even in Mexico, werejaguars.

We have to acknowledge
that the notion

of a shape-shifter,
like a werewolf,

something that combines
the elements of human

and animal together
into one single body,

from a scientific perspective,
is quite troubling.

[growling, roars]

But the fact that these legends
are so widespread

is quite intriguing.

SHATNER:
An enormous,

bloodthirsty, cunning wolf

that also happens
to be bulletproof.

Is it possible
that the Shermans encountered

one of the werewolves
that may have been

haunting Skinwalker Ranch
for centuries?

And if so,
what physical evidence is there

to support
such a fantastic notion?

SKINNER:
There has been numerous reports
of cattle mutilations

that occur not only
on Skinwalker Ranch

but the entire Uinta Basin.

GERHARD:
Many of the accounts

of animal mutilations
from Skinwalker Ranch

describe animal carcasses
that have

almost been
surgically dissected.

Certain large cats can make
very clean, precise wounds.

Things like mountain lions.

But it is notable
that you have so many accounts

of weird livestock mutilations
from Skinwalker Ranch.

It's very hard to explain
in terms of the natural world.

SHATNER:
With so many accounts
of cattle mutilations

and sightings of unusually large
and ferocious wolves,

it is difficult to escape the
notion that something strange

is prowling the grounds
of Skinwalker Ranch.

But, according
to some scientists,

that doesn't necessarily mean

that people are seeing
a werewolf.

One of the really
fascinating theories

that relates to these monstrous
wolves from Skinwalker Ranch

is that these could, in fact,
be surviving representatives

of a species known
as dire wolves, Canis dirus.

These were very robust wolves
that lived

during the Pleistocene epoch
up until about 11,500 years ago,

and they were very prevalent
in North America.

They were certainly much larger
and stockier than modern wolves.

So it's not beyond
the realm of possibility

that a species
from 11,000 years ago

may have survived
in small pockets

in certain remote areas
of North America.

Perhaps the most powerful story

I have personally experienced
at the ranch:

I came out
with another researcher.

We had gone out there
for almost two weeks straight.

We found nothing each night.

And then we peeked
over the ridgeline.

It's called Skinwalker Ridge.

There was these balls of light
in the field.

They were glowing
and shrinking down.

And suddenly
a ball of light exploded.

And from the light, a very,
very large wolf came towards us.

This thing is literally
right in front of us.

It seemed very comfortable,
almost as if it was studying us.

And then it casually
turned around

and walked around this boulder
and vanished.

It was gone.

This is an actual creature
that haunts the property

and the surrounding area.

It's out there.

[wolf growls]

If the skinwalker does exist,

could it be just some kind
of rare breed of canine

that simply hasn't been
identified yet

by mainstream science?

Or could it be exactly

what those who've
encountered one insist it is,

a shape-shifting werewolf?

Perhaps the answer can be found
by examining a group of people

who are afflicted by a rare

and mysterious condition
known as "werewolf syndrome."

SHATNER:
After giving birth
to five daughters,

Parvatibai Patidor

and her husband
are overjoyed to find out

that she is once again pregnant,

this time with a boy.

But when their son, Lalit,
is finally born,

the joy turns to shock

because Lalit is very different

from the couple's
other children,

and it's not because he's
the couple's first male child.

Lalit was born with
a rare congenital condition

known as hypertrichosis,

a genetic mutation
which causes excess hair growth

all over the body.

People have often referred to
hypertrichosis by another name:

"werewolf syndrome."

ROSENSTOCK:
In the case of hypertrichosis,

you can have a tremendous amount
of hair either on your face

or on your arm
or another part of the body

that almost looks like fur.

That is just
a rare kind of mutation,

and people would right away
jump to a conclusion,

this is a wolf.

SHATNER:
Could the age-old tales
about werewolves

simply be due
to ancient ignorance

about genetic mutations?

GERHARD:
Centuries ago, there were
all types of monsters.

These were generally
people that were born

with different
genetic deformities

or congenital defects.

You have things
such as atavisms.

An atavism is an ancient trait
that surfaces randomly.

For example, there are humans
that are born with tails.

It's very rare,
but it does happen.

SHATNER:
Some believe the reason
we're so intensely fascinated

by such physical deformities
is that they give a face

to our innermost fear.

I think it's human nature
for people to fear

what they don't understand.

So, in that respect,
when someone encounters

an individual
with hypertrichosis,

it's very easy to sort of build
that person into a monster.

SKAL: In the 19th century,
the sideshow, the freak show,

was a very big part of, uh,
American popular culture.

GERHARD:
P.T. Barnum exploited
many of these people

that were born with
different congenital defects.

SKAL:
When the first cases
of werewolf syndrome showed up,

these people were immediately
put on, um, display.

GERHARD:
One of the most popular was
named "JoJo the Dog-Faced Boy."

Certainly easy to understand

how people visiting
these freak shows

may have been inspired
to believe

that things like werewolves
could exist.

We like things to be orderly,

and people that have
unfortunate appearances...

Well, is that man,
or is it a woman?

Is that a human,
or is it a wolf?

That is a very distressing thing
for many people,

and one of the things
that comes out are stories.

Folklore comes out
of this kind of thing

where we have a person
that could shift back and forth

between being a wolf and being
an ordinary shop clerk.

GERHARD:
In terms of werewolf hysteria,

one truly has to wonder
if some of these

could be monsters of the mind.

For example, you have something
called "clinical lycanthropy,"

a very rare psychosis

whereby an individual feels like

they are actually transforming
into an animal.

ROSENSTOCK:
You're operating as if
you're an animal.

Sexual instincts,
sexual behaviors,

and so on, attacking.

It's a way of cooling down

the engine of aggression,

and it can be
physical aggression,

it can be sexual aggression,

and it gets into contact with
early, early primitive things

that maybe we are
carrying with us

over many generations.

SHATNER:
If it's true that monsters,
like vampires and werewolves,

really are just
projections of the mind,

what exactly is it
about ourselves

that we're so afraid of?

Every human being
has a primitive side.

There is a beast,
there is a wolf,

there is a monster somewhere
in all of our unconscious minds.

YOUNG:
We think of ourselves
as distant from the beasts,

but we're more beast
than intelligence.

We are creatures,
we are animals, we are beasts,

and the beast will come out.

We have to be in touch
with the inner werewolf.

SHATNER: Is it possible
that our morbid fascination

with vampires and werewolves

actually arises out of a fear
that there's a monster

lurking inside each of us,

just waiting to break free
at any moment?

Perhaps, but there are many
who claim that our attraction

to these creatures
isn't about fear at all

but about desire.

SHATNER:
Bram Stoker's
literary masterpiece Dracula

is published
to critical acclaim.

It will go on to sell tens
of millions of copies worldwide

and redefine both vampire
and werewolf legends

for generations to come.

According to some scholars,

the reason it became
so influential and successful

wasn't because it was
just selling horror

but because it was selling...

...sex.

SKAL:
Human beings have always needed

fantasy constructs
that can act out impulses

that we would like to do ourselves

but would rather
just imagine ourselves doing.

And that fantasy
of being released

from all constraints
and strictures

is something vampires get to do,
and we are envious.

CRANDLE:
I think there are many reasons

people want to identify
as vampires.

Definitely the sexual aspect,
the eternal life.

I mean, who wouldn't want that?

And also the power
that comes with it.

It's a dangerous creature
that's beautiful.

LAYCOCK:
Originally, you became a vampire

if you did something like commit
incest or witchcraft or suicide.

Vampires were horrible,
evil outsiders.

But today, things have changed.

We all feel misunderstood.

We all feel like outsiders,
just as the vampire is.

So instead of becoming
a-a demonic figure,

it's become a tragic one

and, in some cases,
even a glamorous figure.

We have a need, a desire,

for these sort of creatures
of the night.

Blood drinking is viewed
as kind of a bonding experience,

a way for people
to interconnect.

There is a degree
of intimacy there,

a sexuality in sharing one's
vital life force, one's blood.

There's a particular bond
that can be forged there

that is really beyond explanation.

YOUNG:
The fantasy that a human

turns into a wolf
and back again,

well, it illustrates
one key mythological truth:

we are animals, we are beasts,
and we're humans.

We're both at the same time,
and we live in that tension.

SKAL:
People are always asking me,

"Why don't vampires
reflect in mirrors?"

And there's a very good
and direct answer to that.

If they did,
we would see our own faces.

GERHARD:
It shows that,

even if they are
completely disproven,

I think vampires and werewolves
will always be with us

because they're a part
of who we are.

SHATNER:
For hundreds of years,

they have been portrayed
in literature and on film

as fiercely intelligent,
sexually powerful

and immortal creatures.

They have prayed
on our innermost fears

and haunted our darkest desires.

Vampires promise us a future
of never-aging immortality.

That is, if we don't mind the
taste of a little human blood.

Werewolves represent
our collective desire

to break free
of society's restrictions.

And together, they remind us
of the aspects of our own nature

that we try to keep hidden
and safely unexplained.