GLOBAL VAMPIRES OF LEGEND & MYTH

Member Articles

artemka

Author: artemka
VR Publish Date: Oct 22 2006

When countries and cultures made contact with each other, they all found that they
shared legends and myths about creatures that stalked and preyed on human beings.
The fact that people, who had no earlier contact with each other and were often
separated by oceans, could have a common myth made folk believe more strongly that
there was fact behind their own long held beliefs

It was true that science can help to explain some of the vampire �symptoms� � but
science tends to select the symptoms that it can explain and ignore the others.
Some of these medical conditions would have killed the sufferer in childhood, long
before a myth of adult vampires could have started

In this article I am going to try and compare the different vampire myths across
countries and continents. The spelling was different depending on the era when it
was written; often the spelling changes when it was translated into a different
language and then back again

Where countries no longer exist but can still be identified inside modern land
boundaries, the ancient country name is used

Some of the myths on here may not conform to your definition of a vampire � I have
used the definition from several sources to make sure that I have not missed out a
myth that may conform to someone else�s definition of a vampire

It is not a complete list �

AFRICA

Unnamed - Asasabonsam

Africa, with its spirit-based religions, has legends of vampire-like beings. One
tribe, the Caffre, believed that the dead could return and survive on the blood of
the living. The name of these undead cannot be found in modern references

The people of the Ashanti tribe of Western Africa believed in the Asasabonsam.
They were human in appearance, but had iron teeth. They lived in the forest,
sitting in the trees and using its hook-shaped feet to catch passers-by. They also
bit their victims on the thumb

ALBANIA

Liugat - Sampiro - Shtriga

Albanians of Turkish descent were supposed to turn into a vampire called Liugat or
Sampiro when they died. They felt they should go out at night in a shroud and high
heel shoes (really) to spread death and destruction

Albanians also believed in the Shtriga, an elderly woman who fed on infants by
drinking their blood. She also caused adults to wither and die. She could also
change into a moth, fly, or bee at night

ARMENIA

Dakhanavar

The Dakhanavar was an indescribable creature that protected a valley near Mount
Ararat by sucking blood from the feet of travellers. Legend had it that it ran off
when two travellers slept with their feet under each other�s head, the Dakhanavar
thought that a two headed creature that it could not attack had been sent to
destroy it

AUSTRIA

Vampire

Reports from Austrian-controlled Serbia prepared by Austrian officials between

1725 and 1732 introduced the word vampire into routine European use. In 1755 the
town of Olmutz in Austria was itself the scene of several vampire reports

AUSTRALIA

Yara-ma-yha-who

Local Koori legend tells of the Yara-ma-yha-who, a 4ft high creature with a huge
head and mouth but no teeth, whose feet and hands had suckers like an octopus. It
dropped on people from its fig tree and drained them of blood through their
fingers and toes. The victim would then be helpless. The Yara-ma-yha-who would
then return to swallow them whole and regurgitate them. The whole process was
somehow non-fatal but the victim would eventually turn into a furry bush creature

BABYLONIA

Ekimmu - Lilith

The Babylonian Ekimmu, was supposed to be the ghost of an unburied person and in
some cases a spirit who did not receive enough offerings. It was supposed to live
underground and emerge at night to feed off the living

The Hebrew Bible (Book of Isaiah) described Lilith but her roots are more likely
in Babylonian demon studies. Lilith was a monster who roamed at night taking on
the appearance of an owl. She would hunt, seeking to kill newborn children and
pregnant women. Lilith was the wife of Adam before Adam and Eve, according to
tradition; but she was demonised because she refused to obey Adam. She was
considered evil for such "radical" desires and became a vampire who eventually
attacked the children of Adam and Eve (humans)

BELARUS

Mjertovjec

The Mjertovjec was a werewolf or witch who had given up all their beliefs and had
then died. This vampire was supposed to follow poppy seeds from its home back to
its tomb

BENIN
Asiman - Obayifo

Witches that travelled at night as a glowing ball and sucked blood from children,
were called Asiman or Obayifo

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Blautsauger

The Blautsauger was a hairy vampire with no skeleton. It could turn into a rat or
a wolf. The Blautsauger tried to get people to eat dirt from its tomb so they
would become vampires too. Scattering hawthorn flowers along the road from its
home to the tomb was supposed to slow it down

BRAZIL

Lobishomen - Lobishoen

The Lobishomen or Lobishoen was a small, stumpy hunchback, with bloodless lips,
yellow skin, black teeth, bushy beard and it looked like a monkey, the bite of
this vampire turned its female victims into nymphomaniacs. To kill a Lobishoen,
you had to get it drunk on blood and crucify it to a tree while stabbing it

BULGARIA

Krvopijac � Obur - Ustrel

Drinking alcohol or smoking during Lent would turn a person into Krvopijac.
Villagers would get a nude teenage virgin on a black foal to ride through the
local graveyard every full moon. Where the horse wouldn't go was where the
Krvopijac was. Only a monk called a Djadadjii could kill the Krvopijac. The monk
would order the Krvopijac�s soul into a bottle of blood, which was then burnt

Some people believe that the Krvopijac were also called the Obur, but the Obur
couldn�t be traced by the full moon horse exercise. The Obur was recorded as being
a gluttonous blood drinker but also ate rich food or excrement. The Obur was also
very loud, capable of creating noises not unlike that of a firecracker, and had
the ability to move objects like a poltergeist

A child that had been born on a Saturday, and who had died before baptism was
believed to return as an Ustrel on the ninth day of its burial. The Ustrel was
believed to rise from its grave, and attack local sheep and cattle, draining their
blood. If an Ustrel was attacking a community's livestock, they hired a
vampirdzhija, or vampire hunter. This person had an ability to see the Ustrels,
and could detect whether or not there was an Ustrel in the community

BURMA

Thaye - Tasei

Disembodied evil spirits were called Thaye or Tasei. They could appear as tall
dark people with huge ears, long tongues and tusk-like teeth. They entered town at
noon or by dark and usually cause minor illness

CHINA

Ch'ing Shih - Chiang Shih - Kiang Shi

In China a vampire had red staring eyes, long curved nails, long hair, was a
green-white colour and could fly. It was called a Ch'ing Shih, Chiang Shih or
Kiang Shi. They were created when a cat jumped over a corpse. They took their
power from the moon. They had poisonous breath but mostly killed by completely
draining a victim�s blood. If a Chiang Shih encountered a pile of rice, it had to
count the grains before it could pass on. It could be held in place by a circle of
rice around it. Its immaterial form was a sphere of light. The Ch'ing Shih often
lived underground. It was first recorded first journalised by J de Groot in �The
Religious System of China� in 1892

CRETE

Kathakano

The Cretian vampire Kathakano was much like your Hollywood vampire, but could only
be killed by chopping of the head and boiling it in vinegar

CROATIA

Kuzlak - Pijawika

Croatia was the site of one of the first vampire epidemics of the modern age. In
1672 Giure Grando, late of Khring on the Istrian peninsula, Croatia, returned from
the grave and caused many deaths. He was not so much a breed but more of a one-off
vampire

When an infant was not breast-fed enough and died, it was supposed to turn into a
Kuzlak. It would return from the dead and attack its mother

An older child killed my its mother�s neglect would turn into a Pijawika, which
could only be killed by cutting off its head and sticking it between its legs

THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Ogoljen - unnamed

The Ogoljen wandered about with soil from its tomb in its navel. To kill it you
had to bury at a crossroads it

There was also an unnamed Moravian vampire who droppeds its death shroud and
wandered about naked. That one can be destroyed by stealing its shroud

DENMARK

Mara

In Denmark the Mara looked like a human during the day and destroyed those who
fall in love with her

DALMATIA

Kosak � Pricosak � Tenjac - Vukodlak

In well-documented testimony from a trial that began in October 1737 and ended in
1738 in the (then) independent city-state of Dubrovnik, not far north from
Montenegro, the names given for "vampire" included Kosak, Pricosak, Tenjac, and
Vukodlak. Strangely this was the only surviving detail of the trial
EUROPE

Seccubus - Incubus

In Europe the Seccubus (female) and Incubus (male) were sometimes considered to be
a vampire breed. The general way they fed was by having sex with the victim,
exhausting them and, then feeding on the energy released during sex. They entered
homes uninvited and took on the appearance of other persons. They often visited
the same victim more than once. The victim of a Succubus experienced the visits as
dreams. The male version of a Succubus was an Incubus

FRANCE

Moribondo

In France a Moribondo attacked cattle, drinking their blood. Villagers protected

their herds with a circle of fire

GERMANY

Nachzehrer � Neunt�ter - Mul�

A child born with an amniotic membrane over their head (caul), or anyone who died
by drowning, became a Nachzehrer. It lay in its tomb with its left eye open and
gnawed on its shroud or itself. It caused plagues (and also ties cows tails
together). It was killed by shoving something in its mouth or chopping its head
off with an executioner's axe. Garlic would keep the Nachzehrer at bay. Minister
Georg R�hrer reported these creatures in detail to none other than Martin Luther

The Neunt�ter from Pomerania was almost identical to the Nachzehrer, but could
only be killed by being decapitated between 11pm and midnight

Gypsies believe in the Mul�. Mul� literally means, "one who was dead." A Mul� was
any individual, especially a person who died an untimely death (suicide, accident)
that might become a vampire and search out the people who caused their death. Mul�
looked normal, except for a possible missing finger or animal-like limb. The
Slavic and German Gypsies often believed that vampires had no bones, and thus, the
Mul� supposedly were boneless

GREECE

Catacano � Bruculaco � Callicantzaros - Lamia - Strigoe - Lamiai

Catacano were the happy vampires. They grinned constantly. They spat blood on
people who then became its victim - it burns. To kill one, it was isolated behind
salt water or you could have boiled its head in vinegar

The Bruculaco had swollen, hard skin and sounded like a drum when hit and it also
spread the plague. It could scream once per night, if you answered the call you
died. Cutting of its head and either burning or boiling it killed it for good

A child born between Christmas and the Twelfth Night (5 January) became a
Callicantzaros after death � it appeared between Christmas and Twelfth Night each
year to tear people to pieces with its long fingernails. The rest of the year it
existed in some nether world

The Lamia or Strigoe had the upper body of a woman and usually the lower body of a
winged serpent, but sometimes a snake. They ate children and drank their blood.
Lamia, as the mythology goes, was the lover of Zeus. Zeus' wife, Hera, fought her.
Lamia was driven insane, and killed her own children. At night, it was said, she
hunted other human children to kill as well. Lamias could be attacked and killed
with normal weapons

Lamiai may also be another name for Lamias but the Lamiai not only attacked
children, they were also supposed to have the extra power to shape change into
beautiful young maidens, to attract and seduce young men in that form

Although not a Greek vampire - the Greek word Vrykolakas was pretty much
interchangeable with Lampir (Bosnian), Vurvulak(Albanian), Upirina(Serbo-
Croatian), and Vukodlak(Croatian). It was basically just an evil being amongst the
Southern Slavs that attacked people at night, and it was said that there was one
for every Slavic clan

HUNGARY

Lid�rc - Nora

A Lid�rc was a Hungarian Succubus-like creature, that could appear as a person,

animal, or shining light. They did not have the ability to change shape, but
existed in all shapes at once, choosing which form an observer might see it in

A Nora was a small bald humanoid, that would move around on all fours, and was
claimed to be invisible. He would attack by jumping on his victim and sucking on
their breasts

INDIA

Churel � Jakhin - Mukai � Nagulai � Punyaiama � Bhuta � Brahmaparusha � Rakshasas

- Yatu-Dhana � Chedipe � Pisachas � Vetala - Betail

A woman who had died unnaturally or in childbirth could return with her feet on
back to front as a Churel (also known as Jakhin, Mukai or Nagulai). She would try
to remove the water from the blood of the men of the family while it was still in
their veins

The Punyaiama looked like an old woman. It passed a magic thread down a chimney
and sucked the blood from the sleeping or mad/drunk women. It was also a cannibal

Appearing at night as shadows, flickering lights or mists, the Bhuta were souls of
those who died untimely. They lived in cemeteries. They ate filthy food and were
always thirsty. They had the ability to possess people. They were mostly harmless,
although they would attack babies who have just fed, as they love milk. They could
transmogrify into owls or bats

In North India, the Brahmaparusha were identical to the Bhuta except they were
always pictured with their head encircled with intestines, and a skull filled with
blood from which it drank. The Nepalese "Lord of Death" was depicted in ancient
wall paintings holding a blood-filled goblet in the form of a human skull while
standing in a pool of blood. Some of these wall paintings are as old as 3000 B.C

Rakshasas were ogres or demons, they lived in cemeteries and had a human, humanoid
or half-animal shape. They are described in the ancient Indian holy writings
called the Vedas (about 1500 B.C.) They liked disrupting rituals and burials. They
had fangs and attacked infants and pregnant women. They were first described in
the Atharva Veda. Anything that they left behind would be devoured by a separate
breed, the Yatu-Dhana who were considered either vampires or evil sorcerers
The Chedipe (means prostitute) entered a house at night sending everyone into a
trance and sucked blood from the toe of the male of the house

The Pisachas were creatures that were hideous in appearance, bloodthirsty, and
repellant. They were supposed to be products of the anger of the deity Brahma. The
word Pisachas means literally, "eaters of raw flesh"

This Indian vampire spirit, the Vetala was also known as the Betail. It was said
that they inhabited and animated the bodies of the dead. Vetalas are the subject
for many Indian stories and legends, including preying on humans and stealing
their blood. It hanged from a tree upside-down, not unlike a bat, and had no blood
of its own

INDONESIA

Pontianak - Buo

A Pontianak was a woman who died either a virgin or in childbirth. Out of jealousy
it would attack infants or emasculate the men it seduced. They flew at night as
birds but, in human form, the hole in their backs was a dead give-away. To escape
one, you had to pluck a strand of their long black hair

Warriors of Borneo slain in battle could become Buo, who returned from the dead to
get revenge

IRELAND

Dearg-Dul - Dearg-Due

There was supposed to be an Irish vampire called Dearg-Dul or Dearg-Due but I

can�t find out much about it but there are lots of references about how to kill
it. According to Montague Summers, this Irish vampire could be held at bay by
piling large amount of stones on its grave

ISTRIA

Strigon - Vedavec

The people of the Istrian countryside were firmly convinced that sorcerers sucked
the blood of children. This sucker of blood they called Strigon or Vedavec. They
believed that after his death a Strigon wandered about the village around
midnight, knocking at, or striking, doors and that someone would die within days
in the house whose doors he had struck

ITALY

Strix � Stegra � Benandanti � Chialchuit � Cialcuit - Vencul � Mora - Matrizza -

Monacella

The Strix was a night demon from ancient Rome that attacked infants. Ovid
described them in Fasti. This Strix developed into the Stegra - a woman who flies
about in bird form and attacks infants. These were also recorded in the Saxon
capitulary of Charlemagne in 781

During the 16th century (and most probably before), in the northern Italian region
of Friuli, there were the Benandanti. These were all men who were born with a caul
(amniotic membrane still attached to the top of the infant's head and forming a
veil). Such a person was usually brought into the league of benandanti when he was
in his late teens. They left their bodies at night to fight against witches who
threatened their community. This was spookily similar to the Slovene Kresnik

What we know about the Benandanti was from records of trials in which they were
also accused of practicing witchcraft. The same trials mentioned Chialchuit,
Cialcuit, Vencul, Mora [Friuli] and Matrizza [Trieste]

An incubus that was called Monacella in Northern Italy was called Vedomec, Ve�ca
and Mora by the Slovenes

JAPAN

Kappa � Vampire Cat � Vampire Fox

The Kappa were ugly, green child-like creatures with webbed fingers and toes. They
looked like a monkey. Sometimes they were said to have tortoise like shells and
smelled of fish. They also had concave heads that held water (if the water spilled
out, the Kappa lost its strength). The Kappa dragged horses and cows into their
watery homes where they sucked the blood from their anuses. They would leave the
water to steal fruit, rape women and steal people's livers but could enter into
binding agreements promising not to attack people

Another Japanese vampire legend involves an unnamed vampire cat (although

sometimes a fox) that took the form of a prince's concubine after killing her

MACEDONIA

Vryolakas

The Vryolakas was a messy wine drinker in life, when undead it can be killed by a
nail through the navel or pouring oil over the body. It can be deterred by
scattering bird seed on the tomb (it would stop and count the seeds, one per
century)

MESOPOTAMIA

Ekiminu

Folklore evidence of the vampire tale can be found with the ancient Chaldeans in
Mesopotamia, near the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, and with Assyrian writings
on clay or stone tablets

Assyrian folklore believed that an Ekiminu was created by improper burials. They
became malignant spirits, half ghost - half vampire. They were naturally invisible
and were capable of possessing humans. They were destroyed by using wooden weapons
or by exorcism

MALAYSIA

Langsuyar � Langsuir � Penanggalan � Bas � Pelesit - Polong

Much like the Indonesian Pontianak, the Langsuyar or Langsuir was recognised by
her long fingernails, green robe, ankle length black hair that covered a hole in
her neck. She was created by dying during childbirth (or gaving birth to a
stillborn child called a Pontianak). The hole was where she fed on infants' blood.
She fooled men into marrying her as a human but at the first big dance she got
over excited and flew off into the trees. Sir Wouldiam Maxwell in the Journal of
the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society circa 1885 recorded the Langsuyar

Like the Phii Krasue of Thailand, the Penanggalan of Malaysia consisted of a head
and some entrails. The Penanggalan actually separated from its whole, female form
into a motionless, headless, gutless body and a flying head. It seeked out the
blood of children, mothers or the blood from childbirth

The Bas was a spirit believed in by the Chewong people of Malaysia. The food of
the Bas was Ruwai, which was loosely translated as soul, vitality, or life. The
Bas most often hunted pigs, but were said to occasionally attack humans, if
hunger-driven enough, or by accident. The most common way to keep the Bas away was
to build a fire, which it saw as a sign of civilization or humanity, and it would
stay away

A Malaysian vampiric being that took on the form of a house cricket was called a
Pelesit. If someone was being attacked by a Polong, the Pelesit generally was with
it. The Pelesit would arrive before the Polong, enter the victim�s body, and
prepare the way for the Polong

The Polong was a one inch tall Malaysian female, which was believed to be a
witch�s familiar. In return for daily blood from the witch, the Polong would do
many tasks, including attacking the witch's enemies

MEXICO

Cihuateteo - Camazotz � Tlahuelpuchi � Camazotz � Tlahuelpuchi - Algul

Cihuateteo, Camazotz or Tlahuelpuchi was either a stillborn baby or a mother who

had died in childbirth, which attacked and paralysed babies. It flew and was
chalked white on its hands, arms and face. If you offered it bread to fill them up
they didn't go attacking humans. If you didn't have any bread, meteorites would
also do it. They would die if they were caught in sunlight � this was one of the
few vampire legends to actually mention sunlight

Described as a 'man-bat' with a sharp nose, large teeth and claws, the Camazotz
was a part of Mayan agricultural myth. The descent of the Camazotz into the earth
was linked to the planting of maize

The Tlahuelpuchi could transform itself into several different animal types
(usually leaving its legs behind) and attacked infants, and occasionally adults or
children. It was always female

It was also said that the vampire may have lived in Mexico prior to the arrival of
Spanish Conquistadors, according to the vampire author Montague Summers whose 1928
book The Vampire - His Kith and Kin was a classic. He also wrote that Arabia knew
of the vampire as well. Vampire-like beings appeared in the "Tales of the Arabian
Nights" called Algul; this was a ghoul which consumed human flesh

NAMIBIA

Otgiruru

The Herero people believed that a vampire called an Otgiruru, which looked like a
dog, killed those who answer its call

PERU

Pishtaco - Canchus
The Pishtaco was a vampire that fed off human fat first, then drank the blood

In very ancient Peru there were also vampire legends; the Canchus were believed to
be devil worshipers who sucked the blood of the young

PHILIPPINES

Aswang

The Aswang was a beautiful maiden who flew through the night as a large bird,
landed on the roof of the victim and fed through a long pointed tubular tongue
which reached from the roof to the bed below and pierces the neck of the sleeping
victim. The Aswang then flew home before dawn (looking pregnant from the blood)
and breast-fed her children. They were supposed to get their supernatural powers
from an ointment

POLAND

Upierczi - Viesczy

The Upierczi vampires have origins in both Poland and Russia, and are also called
Viesczy. They had a sting under the tongue instead of the fangs. They were active
from noon to midnight and could only be destroyed by burning. When burned, the
body would burst, giving rise to hundreds of small, disgusting animals (maggots,
rats, etc.). If any of these creatures escaped then the Upierczi's spirit would
escape too, and would return to seek revenge

Both Polish and Russian vampires emerged from their coffins only between midday
and midnight; in addition, their coffins were filled with blood, and they had such
enormous hunger that they usually ate their winding sheets inside their coffins

POLYNESIA

Talamaur

The Talamaur sucked the life from the dying and sometimes devoured the heart of
healthy men while they were asleep

PORTUGAL

Bruxsa

The Bruxsa was a woman during the day and a bird by night: it seduced travellers
and sucked the blood of children. It was a popular excuse to murder women during
the Inquisition. It was very similar to the Philippine Aswang

PRUSSIA

Gierach � Viesczy - Stryz

Gierach, Viesczy or Stryz were Prussian vampires. Sprinkling poppy seeds in the
grave of this vampire would send it to sleep or keep it busy (a stocking or
fishing net to unravel would do just as well). East Prussia (now North Poland)
reported vampire epidemics in 1710, 1721 and 1750

ROMANIA
Vircolac � Murohy � Nosferatu - Strigoi � Stryx � Stringes - Strigoi Vii -
Strigoiu mort � Pricolic - Moroi

All Romanian vampires are said to be particularly active on the British St

George's Day (23 April) and Scottish St Andrew's Day (30 November). They could
take on the shape of dogs, cats, frogs and insects. A Vircolac (or Murohy) drained
the energy from people. To kill it, people had to cut out its heart and split it,
then bang a nail in the forehead (or in eyes and heart if female), then dump the
body in the mountains, shove garlic in the mouth, or smear it with pig fat on St
Ignatius Day

Nosferatu was old Slavonic for plague carrier, it does not mean undead. A lot of
causes are quoted, it could be the illegitimate son of two illegitimate parents,
the seventh son of a seventh son, a bastard, born with a caul, if the mother had
not eaten salt while pregnant or had been looked at by a vampire while pregnant.
The Nosferatu fed on its family and makes husbands impotent

The Strigoi (Stryx/Stringes) was supposed to be created by an unusual occurrence

either at birth or death. A living Strigoi was a person who was born with either a
caul or a little tail. They were often like owls

There's also the Strigoi Vii, who were witches destined to become vampires after
death

A Strigoiu mort was a dead red-headed women made to live again by the accidental
return of its soul (usually because they died prematurely), who squatted in
deserted houses at night. To kill it you had to bang a nail through it the chest
or blow up its coffin

In Romanian lore, the names for an undead vampire include: Pricolic, Moroi

What we know today about ancient Roman belief about the Stryx was from what Ovid
wrote in his book Fasti. According to Ovid, the Striges atttacked children at
night in a form resembling that of a screech owl

In a tale about the Striges that Ovid wrote, the Striges created wounds on an
infant's chest with their beaks and talons and then drank the blood from these
wounds. The striges returned night after night to prey on the infant until the
parents appealed to the demi-goddess Crane. Crane then appeared and went through
the home performing rituals to ban the return of the Striges. Her last act was to
place a branch of white thorn in the window of the infant's room

RUSSIA

Vampirs � Uppyr � Upierczi - Ereticy - Erestuny

Heretics, witches and suicides were thought to turn into Vampirs, Uppyr or
Upierczi after death. They caused drought. If you banged a stake through them
would kill them, doing it more than once would bring them back

Ereticy or Erestuny were re-animated corpses brought back by sorcerers to begin

feeding on their relatives. They also fed on or women who'd sold their souls to
Satan. They slept on graves and made noises in the public bathrooms

SERBIA

Vorkudlak - Lampir - Vlkodlak � Mulo - Vampyre

In Serbia, the most common names for an undead vampire are Vampir and Vorkudlak.
In Bosnia, Croatia, and Montenegro, the names include not only the two just
mentioned but also Lampir

This should not be confused with the Vlkodlak who looked drunk, was over 20 years
old and could only be undead for 7 years, then had to repeat the process somewhere
else. It caused eclipses and could be killed by piercing its navel with a hawthorn
branch and setting it on fire with vigil candles

A Mulo was a dead gypsy who wore white and was active all day and night. It would
boil the women it wants and then fillet them. To kill it people would call in a
Dhampir (a vampire's degenerate son) who would defeat it in combat

In 1725, villagers of Kisilovo in the Vojvodina region of Serbia reported that

Peter Plogojowitz had returned from the grave - the Austrian government report on
this incident used the word 'vampire' for the first time

The French version of the word 'vampyre' was introduced into the language seven
years later (1732) when Arnold Paole was blamed for dozens of deaths of people and
cattle around the town of Medvegia, Serbia. He was apparently bitten by a vampire
while fighting in Kosova. The detailed description of his corpse being dug up
(with growing hair, flesh complexion and fresh blood evident) as well as his
dramatic staking became one of the best selling government reports ever

[MONTENEGRO AND] SERBIA

Vjestitza � Vestizsa � Tenatz - Vukodlak

The Vjestitza or Vestizsa was another female witch of the Balkan countries whose
main prey were infants but were also sometimes blamed for adult illnesses. The
Vjestititza was typically an old woman whose soul left her body at night when she
went to sleep. Her soul then tooks the body of a hen, a black moth, or a fly

The Tenatz came from Montenegro, these were supposed to be the bodies of deceased
people taken over by spirits. They would roam around at night and suck sleeping
people�s blood. They would change into mice to enter and exit their gravesites

The Montenegran Vukodlak could turn into a wolf but only went out in the full
moon. Crows would not go near its tomb

SCOTLAND

Baobban Sith - Redcap

The Baobban Sith were occasionally seen as crows or ravens, but usually these
vampires were young maidens or fairies in long green dresses (which hide their
cloven hooves). They are afraid or repelled by horses and cause massive wounds on
the necks and shoulders of men they dance with

The Redcap was a malignant spirit who haunted abandoned castles and other places
where violence had occurred. If someone slept in a spot haunted by the redcap, it
would attempt to dip its cap in human blood. It could easily be driven off with a
word from the Bible or a cross

SLOVENIA

Kudlak � Vorkudlak - Kresnik - Crusnik

In Croatian and Slovenian lore on the peninsula of Istria, a person born with a
caul (embryonic membrane still attached to the top of the head, forming a veil)
was destined to become either a Kudlak (abbreviation for Vorkudlak) or a Kresnik
(possibly Crusnik). It could also be a person who has certain supernatural powers
and uses them to the detriment of his community even before he dies. In other
words, a person so destined to become a Kudlak would already begin a career of
evil while still alive - his soul would leave his body at night in animal form and
fly through the air to attack people or to magically do other harm to the
community he lived in. When he died, he became an undead vampire who was then an
even greater threat to the community. But if a person born with a caul became a
Kresnik, he became a champion of the community. While he lived, his soul left his
body in animal form at night to fight against both living and undead Kudlaks.
According to one account, a person born with a red or dark caul became a Kudlak
but a person born with a white or clear caul became a Kresnik

SOUTH AMERICA

Cihuateteo - Tlahuelpuchi

Aztec women, who died in childbirth, as well as their babies, became Cihuateteo.
They wandered the night and attacked children, leaving them paralysed or diseased.
Described physically as having white faces, and very chalky arms and hands. They
wore the garb of Tlazolteotl, goddess of sorcery, lust, and evil

The Tlahuelpuchi was an Aztecan person, usually female, which supposedly had the
ability to shape shift into various animals and attack people, most often infants,
and suck their blood. The most common was to change into a turkey, but dogs, cats,
buzzards, were known

THAILAND

Phii - Phii Song Nang - Phii Krasue

The Phii was one of countless spirits from Thai mythology, the Phii Song Nang was
basically identical to the Pontianak of Indonesia and Malaysia - it attacked young
men mostly. A seer or 'Maw Du' was called in to make spells and incantations to
get rid of this Phii. The Phii Krasue was similar to the Pelagganan of Malaysia
and Kappa of Japan in that it consisted of a head and entrails and had a tendency
to feed from people's bottoms with its long tongue

TIBET

Bhagavan Vajra � Heruka - Vajra-Krotishaurima - Ratna-Herucka - Padma-Heruka -

Dark-Green Ghasmari - Kerimas - the Lotus Order

The Wrathful Dieties are also known as the 58 blood-drinking deities, these
vampires were figures representing the brain's reason and the deceased's vampire
activities, which appeared to the spirit of the recently dead from the eigth day
onwards whilst they wandered the karma-dominated zones of the afterlife in
Buddhist teachings. These include: Bhagavan Vajra- Heruka, Vajra-Krotishaurima,
Ratna-Herucka, Padma-Heruka, Dark-Green Ghasmari, plus eight Kerimas and the Lotus
Order

WEST INDIES

Asema � Loogaroo - Sukuyan

An elderly person by day, a skin shedding ball of flying blue light by night, the
Asema would drain a person to death if it liked the taste of their blood. Killed
by sunlight (hence a mixture of seeds and nails would keep them busy - picking,
dropping, picking... till dawn). Better yet, you can shrink the skin while they
are a ball so they can't fit back into it!

Known in Surinam as the Asema, in Haiti as the Loogaroo, and in Trinidad as the
Sukuyan. Their roots are thought to be the Aziman of the Fo peoples of Benin.
These vampires made pacts with the devil. The devil would ask for some warm blood
each night, and in return, give the Loogaroo magical powers. When hunting for
blood, they would take their skin off, and take the form of a fiery ball of light

Modern Embellishments

In 1897, the author Bram Stoker wrote Dracula to wide acclaim, even the church
declared it as one of the best ever romantic novels. Set in Transylvania, the book
introduced Count Dracula and immortaliised the vampire myth. Dracula could not be
seen in mirrors, he slept in a coffin, feared daylight, crosses and garlic, and
his mouth contained two fangs to puncture his victims' throats to suck out their
blood. He was one of the undead and once bitten the victim would also become a
vampire. This image of the cloaked vampire in a castle continued in further books
and movies, until Ann Rice began a new version with her book An Interview with a
Vampire

The book An Interview with a Vampire and subsequent film further modified and
updated the vampire story, and many of today's vampire tales mirror Ann Rice's
image of characters like Lestat - suave and sophisticated aristocrats with a
passion for blood and sexual activities. Various psychological conditions have
similar traits to this type of vampire, where the afflicted person has a desire to
drink blood during sex and in extreme cases would resort to necrophilia (sleeping
with the dead) and even murder

Sources:

www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A273566
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki
www.istrianet.org/istria/legends/

Acknowledgements:

The Religious System of China

Saxon capitulary of Charlemagne
Journal - Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
Dracula
Interview with a vampire

Thanks to:

darkangel03
MistressSiobhan
domangelus