VAMPIRES: CREATURES FROM THE DARK

Introduction:

A. The Real Prince Dracula: His Life and Death

B. The Reign of Vlad the Impaler: His atrocities

I. Neo – Vampire Gods, Demons, and Faeries

A. Vampiric demi-gods and demons of Ancient Mesopotamia

B. Vampiric demigoddesses of Ancient Greece

C. Vampiric demons and spirits in India

D. Celtic Fairy Vamps

E. Mermaid Vamps

F. The Mare, Incubus, Succubus and their kin

II. Vampire witches and sorcerers

III. Vampiric beasts

IV. The Undead in Europe and Asia

A. The Undead in Eastern Europe

B. The Undead in Central Europe

C. The Undead in Western Europe

D. The Undead in Asia

V. Determining a vampire and Other strange beliefs

VI. Possible ways of killing a vampire

VII. The truth of Vampirism: Are you a skeptic or a believer?

VIII. Greek Accounts of the Vrykolakas

IX. Bioarcheological and Bicultural Evidence for the New England Vampire folk belief

X. Conclusion: Vampires: Are they simply a myth or did they really exist?
Introduction:

A. The Real Prince Dracula: His Life and Death

He was Prince Vlad III Dracula1, also known as Vlad Tepes, meaning "Vlad the Impaler." The Turks

called him Kaziglu Bey, or "the Impaler Prince." He was the prince of Walachia, but, as legend

suggests, he was born in Transylvania, which at that time was ruled by Hungary. Dracula was born in

1431 in the Transylvanian city of Sighisoara. .His given name was Vlad. He had an older brother,

Mircea, and a younger brother, Radu the Handsome. Their mother may have been a Moldavian

princess or a Transylvanian noble. It is said that she educated Dracula in his early years. Later he was

trained for knighthood by an old boyar who had fought the Turks.

Dracula's father was not content to remain a mere governor forever. During his years in Transyvlania,

he gathered supporters for his plan to seize Walachia's throne from its current occupant, a Danesti

prince named Alexandru I. In late 1436 or early 1437 Vlad Dracul killed Alexandru and became Prince

Vlad II. Vlad was a vassal of Hungary and also had to pay tribute to Hungary's enemy, Turkey. In 1442

Turkey invaded Transylvania. Vlad tried to stay neutral, but Hungary's rulers blamed him and drove

him and his family out of Walachia. A Hungarian general, Janos Hunyadi (who may have been the

illegitimate son of Emperor Sigismund) made a Danesti named Basarab II the prince of Walachia. The

following year Vlad regained the throne with the help of the sultan of Turkey. In 1444 he sent his two

younger sons to Turkey to prove his loyalty. Dracula was about 13. He spent the next four years in

Adrianople, Turkey as a hostage. In 1444 Hungary went to war with Turkey and demanded that Vlad

join the crusade. As a member of the Order of the Dragon, Vlad was sworn to obey this summons. But

he didn't want to anger the Turks, so he sent his eldest son, Mircea, in his place. The Christian army

was demolished at the Battle of Varna, and Vlad and Mircea blamed Janos Hunyadi.

1
Drac in Romanian means devil and "ul" is the definitive article. Therefore, "Dracul" literally means "the
devil." The "ulea" ending in Romanian indicates "the son of." Under this interpretation Dracula becomes
Vlad III, son of the devil. The experts who support this interpretation usually claim that Vlad II earned his
devlish nickname by his clever and wily political maneuvering.
In 1447 Vlad and Mircea were murdered. Since Vlad and Mircea were dead, and Dracula and Radu were

still in Turkey, Hunyadi was able to put a member of the Danesti clan, Vladislav II, on Wallachian throne.

The Turks didn't like having a Hungarian puppet in charge of Walachia, so in 1448 they freed Dracula and

gave him an army. He was seventeen years old. With the help of his Turkish army, Dracula seized the

Walachian throne. However, he only ruled for two months before Hunyadi forced him into exile in

Moldavia. Again Vladislav II became Walachia's prince.

Three years later Prince Bogdan of Moldavia was assassinated and Dracula fled the country. By now

Vladislav II had become a supporter of Turkey, and Hunyadi was sorry he had put him on the throne.

Everyone switched sides - Dracula became Hunyadi's vassal, and Hunyadi now supported Dracula's attempt

to regain his throne. In 1456 Hunyadi invaded Turkish Serbia while Dracula invaded Walachia. Hunyadi

was killed, but Dracula killed Vladislav II and took back his throne. Dracula began his reign of terror

almost as soon as he came to power. His first significant act of cruelty may have been motivated by a desire

of revenge as well as a need to solidify his power.

Despite all this, Dracula's subjects respected him for fighting the Turks and being a strong ruler. He's

remembered today as a patriotic hero who stood up to Turkey and Hungary. He was the last Walachian

prince to remain independent from the Ottoman Empire. He was so scornful of other nations that when two

foreign ambassadors refused to doff their hats to him, he had the hats nailed to their heads. He was opposed

to the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches because he thought foreigners, operating through the

churches, had too much power in Walachia. He tried to prevent foreign merchants from taking business

away from his citizens.

He was then overthrown yet he remained the same. According to some accounts, Dracula's brother Radu

died in 1474. The sultan put one of the Danesti clan, Basarab the Old, on the Walachian throne. In 1476

Dracula invaded Walachia with the help of Moldavia and Transylvania. They drove Basarab out of the

country, and Dracula again became Walachia's prince. Most of Dracula's army then went home to

Transylvania.
The Turks attacked a few months later. Dracula was killed while fighting near Bucharest. Some say he was

assassinated on the battlefield by his own boyars, or was accidentally killed by one of his men. The sultan

displayed Dracula's head on a pike in Constantinople to prove that he was dead. His body was buried at the

island monastery of Snagov, which he had patronized. But excavations in 1931 failed to turn up any sign of

his coffin!

B. The Reign of Vlad the Impaler: His Atrocities

More than anything else the historical Dracula is known for his inhuman cruelty. Impalement was Dracula's

preferred method of torture and execution. Impalement2 was and is one of the most gruesome ways of

dying imaginable. Dracula usually had a horse attached to each of the victim's legs and a sharpened stake

was gradually forced into the body. The end of the stake was usually oiled and care was taken that the stake

not be too sharp; else the victim might die too rapidly from shock. Normally the stake was inserted into the

body through the buttocks and was often forced through the body until it emerged from the mouth.

However, there were many instances where victims were impaled through other bodily orifices or through

the abdomen or chest. Infants were sometimes impaled on the stake forced through their mother's chests.

The records indicate that victims were sometimes impaled so that they hung upside down on the stake.

Death by impalement was slow and painful. Victims sometimes endured for hours or days. Dracula often

had the stakes arranged in various geometric patterns. The most common pattern was a ring of concentric

circles in the outskirts of a city that was his target. The height of the spear indicated the rank of the victim.

The decaying corpses were often left up for months.

Impalement was Dracula's favorite but by no means his only method of torture. The list of tortures

employed by this cruel prince reads like an inventory of Hell's tools: nails in heads, cutting off of limbs,

blinding, strangulation, burning, cutting off of noses and ears, mutilation of sexual organs (especially in the

case of women), scalping, skinning, exposure to the elements or to wild animals and boiling alive.

2
Impalement is a form of torture wherein the victim is being pierced through any part of his or her body
and then supported by a sharpened stake or pole.
No one was immune to Dracula's attentions. His victims included women and children, peasants and great

lords, ambassadors from foreign powers and merchants. However, the vast majority of his victims came

from the merchants and boyars of Transylvania and his own Wallachia. Many have attempted to justify

Dracula's actions on the basis of political necessity. Many of Dracula's acts of cruelty can be interpreted as

efforts to strengthen and modernize the central government at the expense of the feudal powers of nobility

and great towns.

Dracula's atrocities against the people of Wallachia were usually attempts to enforce his own moral code

upon his county. He appears to have been particularly concerned with female chastity. Maidens who lost

their virginity, adulterous wives and unchaste widows were all targets of Dracula's cruelty. Such women

often had their sexual organs cut out or their breasts cut off. They were also often impaled through the

vagina on red-hot stakes that were forced through the body until they emerged from the mouth. One report

tells of the execution of an unfaithful wife. Dracula had the woman's breasts cut off, then she was skinned

and impaled in a square in Tirgoviste with her skin lying on a nearby table. Dracula also insisted that his

people be honest and hard working. Merchants who cheated their customers were likely to find themselves

mounted on a stake beside common thieves.

I. Neo – Vampire Gods, Demons and Faeries

A. Vampiric Demi-gods and Demons of Ancient Mesopotamia

In ancient Babylonian and Assyrian mythology, the male lilu and the female lilitu are demons

who haunt deserts and are especially a threat to infants and pregnant women. The ardat-lili is a

demonic female who causes men to be impotent and women to be sterile.

1. Lamatsu – A Babylonian demi-goddess. She is lion-headed and holds a snake in

each hand. A piglet sucks upon her left breast while a whelp or puppy sucks on the

right breast. In the space between her legs and the neck of the donkey is a

scorpion. The bow of the boat ends in a snake's head.

 She preys upon infants and women in labor. Slithering quietly like as snake into a

home, she could snatch a baby out of the womb or out of its cradle. She also could also

inflict disease upon both men and women. Her father is the primordial sky-god Anu,

the prime-mover at the beginning of creation, who took over Heaven and separated it

from Earth.

2. Pazuzu is the king of the wind-demons. Although his own reputation is rather dark,
he was invoked on amulets to protect against Lamatsu. Pregnant women

sometimes wore a bronze head of Pazuzu on a necklace for this purpose.

3. In Jewish lore, Lilith is a female spirit of the night who, like a succubus seduces
men while they are sleeping, causing them to emit semen which she takes to breed

children of her own; she also strangles human infants during or after their birth.

Her female offspring are called Lilim. In the Talmud3, Lilith is only described as

being a threat to "men who sleep alone", and it is said that after Adam left Eve for

one hundred thirty years and from the semen he emitted accidentally there was

begot "ghosts and male demons and female night demons, or Lilim."

In The Alpha Bet of Ben Sirah written at some time between 600 CE and 1100 CE,

Lilith is said to be the first wife of Adam, made from dust like him. When she

demanded equality with Adam and he refused, she retired to a cave where she

consorted with demons and gave birth to demonic children. Adam complained to God

about Lilith's departure. God then sent three angels named Senoy, Sansenoy, and

Semangolef. to bring her back. These angels found her in her cave and threatened that,

unless she went back to Adam, she would lose a hundred of her demonic children daily

by death. But Lilith preferred this punishment. She takes her revenge by injuring or

killing human infants and young children. The three angels only stopped harassing her

3
Talmud is a compilation of Hebrew laws and writings.
 when she swore that, whenever she saw the names and images of these angels in an

amulet worn by or near to a child, she would not harm the child.

A. Vampiric Demi-goddesses of Ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks believed in three types of vampiric demi-goddesses:

1. The lamia

2. the mormo

3. the empusa

Both the lamia and the mormo originally specialized in preying upon infants by strangling them or drinking

their blood. The lamia also attacks pregnant women. The empusa sexually seduces young men before

consuming them and drinking their blood and devouring their internal organs.

One Greek myth tells of a mortal queen named Lamia who had an affair with the god Zeus. The goddess

Hera, jealous wife of Zeus, caused all of the children Lamia had by Zeus to die. In one version of the myth,

Hera causes Lamia to go insane and devour her children. There is also a version where a daughter survives

but becomes the water monster Scylla. In all versions, out of her grief and rage over the death of her

children, Lamia became an immortal spirit half-human and half-monster. She strangles and drinks the blood

of mortal children out of envy of their mothers. Lamia is sometimes depicted as having the upper body of a

woman and the lower body of a serpent.

There is another myth about a mortal woman named Mormo who ruled over the cannibalistic

Lystregonians. She became a monstrous spirit like Lamia after she too lost he children. But there were

believed to be many lamiai and mormoi and so perhaps these legends are a cover for an even older folk

belief.

The empusai were believed to be daughters of the witch-goddess Hecate. They came out of the Underworld

at night. they were shape-shifters whose basic form was sometimes said to have one leg of a mule and one

leg that was bronze. They took the form of beautiful women to seduce the men they preyed upon.
Shepherds in their fields at night and men traveling on the roads at night were especially at risk. Hecate

herself left the Underworld at night and haunted the cross-roads. Statues of her were set-up at cross-roads

and offerings were made to appease her.

B. Vampiric Demons and Spirits of India

The Pacu Pati, whose name literally means “master of the herd”, is the lord

of all vampiric spirits, witches, and ghosts. He was once regarded by some

Hindu traditions as being the God of Death (a title more frequently

attributed to the god Yama in classic Hindu literature. He is seen at night

with a retinue of his vassals in charnel and execution grounds.

A vetala, also known in some regions as the baital or baitala , is a powerful

demon who haunts charnel grounds and can take demonic possession of a

corpse which he then animates as if it were his own body. We might then

consider a dead person possessed by a vetala to be an “undead vampire.”

A rakshasa (fem: rakshasi) is a ghoul or demon who in old tales haunts

charnel grounds (cemetery and cremation grounds) but, in modern Indian

folklore, dwells in trees. A rakshasa can appear in many forms. A rakshasi

can appear as a beautiful woman who seduces her victims before she takes

their life and blood tough this is usually not the case. More often a rakshasa

appears as an animal such as an owl, a bat, a vulture, a monkey, or a dog.

The rakshasas can also take many forms that are half-human and half-

animal. Some of these forms bear a resemblance to the winged gargoyles

that adorn the exterior of western European Gothic cathedrals. In their

essential form, they have fangs and unkempt hair, and are covered with

blood. The rakshasas’ favorite preys are infants and young children.
 A pisacha is a vampiric spirit often associated with the vetala and the.

rakshasa but with a lower order than both of these. They are said to be

hideous in appearance and blood thirsty. They haunt charnel grounds and

cross-roads. They are blamed as the cause of many illnesses.

But, if offered rice at a cross-road by one of his victims in a ceremony that

is repeated for days, he might restore his health. The name pisacha is

occasionally used in a way that includes all or nearly all the vampiric

demons and spirits of India.

C. Celtic Fairy Vamps

The Celtic lore of the British islands includes a number of vampiric spirit-

women.

The baobhan sith4 of the Scottish highlands seduces men at night and drinks

their blood. Like the empusai of the ancient Greeks, there are many such

spirits and their prey was most often men on the road or camped in fields at

night. She is also a shape-shifter and sometimes appears as a hooded crow.

Even when appearing as a beautiful woman, she has deer hooves for feet

which she keeps hidden under her green dress. Often several baobhan siths

will appear together as a group. The baobhan sith is described in some

books as belong to the broader class of Scottish spirit-women called the

green glastigs though these are usually solitary spirits and generally do not

drink blood.

Another Celtic female vampiric spirit occurs in lore from the Isle of Man,

which lies between Scotland and Ireland. Her name is Liahennen-Shee5. She

haunts wells and springs until she attached herself to a man. She appears to
4
The baobhan sith (pronounced as "baavan shee" and meaning "spirit-woman")
5
Liahennen-Shee pronounced "launen-shee", and meaning "female spirit-lover"
 the man as an extremely beautiful woman while remaining invisible to

everyone else. If her victim gives in to the seduction of her charm and

beauty, she becomes his lover but gradually drains him of his vitality until

he is eventually ruined body and soul.

In Irish lore there is the Leanan Sidhe6. She is virtually identical to the

Many Liahennen-Shee except that she inspires her lovers to become poets at

the same that she gradually drains them of their life. Sometimes it is said

that she collects the blood of her lovers into a cauldron which is both the

source of her long life, her beauty, and of the poetic inspiration she gives to

her lovers in return.

D. Mermaid Vamps

In many Scottish tales, mermaids were gentle creatures. But this is not

always the case. There are also tales in which mermaids caused shipwreck

by luring sailors into dangerous waters with their charm and beauty and

devoured them as they drowned. Good examples of this are among the folk

tales of the Channel Islands in the English Channel, near the coasts of

Normandy and Brittany. Here the mermaids play the role of sirens - they

sing from rocks and their enchanting song lure sailors to come dangerously

close to these rocks. Then suddenly a terrible storm arises and forces the

ships to crash into the rocks. The mermaids then carry the sailors down into

the depths of the sea and devour them. The Channel Islanders call these

mermaids 'seirenes'. But at least according to the testimony of one islander,

a school teacher who saw six of them on a beach, they had the upper body

of a woman and the lower body of a fish. In tales told on the west coast of

6
the Leanan Sidhe (pronounced "lianen-shee"). Her name has the same meaning as Liahennen-Shee
France, some originating in the Middle Ages or possibly even before that

time, the mermaids also play the roles of such sirens.

E. The Mare, Incubus, Succubus and their kin

Many people have had the experience, after falling to sleep, of seeming to

wake up but unable to move a muscle. For most people (again including

myself), this in accompanied by the illusion of being violently attacked by

some sort of being. Sometimes this is accompanied by such sensations as

feeling the weight of the being on one's own chest. More rarely, the person

undergoing such phenomena has the experience of being sexually aroused

by the being in a rather gentle manner.

The modern English word nightmare originates from the old Anglo-Saxon

mare, originally a demonic female spirit who attacked people in their sleep.

A popular image associated with the mare is the creature sitting upon her

victim's chest. In England she evolved into The Old Hag, a witch whose

soul left her body at night. People wasting away from "consumption", a

disease now known as tuberculosis, were thought to be victims of the mare.

In Scandinavian lore, such a night visitor is known as the mara . She is

sometimes described as an ugly troll-like spirit. But there are also tales

where she appears as a beautiful woman and becomes her victim's lover.

In Slavic lore, there is the mora who is always a terrifying night spirit. The

mora also appears in Greek folk lore, but is sometimes called the
 ephilaties7. The pagan Romans also had beliefs about such a night spirit. It

was a male, and they called it the Inuus8.

The incubus and the succubus are the inventions of early Christian

theologians based on older lore. The incubus is a male demon who appears

to women at night and sexually seduces them. The succubus is a female

demon who appears to men at night and sexually seduces them. There was

some debate during the late middle Ages about whether or not an incubus

could impregnate a woman. Some theologians argued that a demon could

not procreate. A widely accepted resolution of the problem was that the

demon first seduced a man as a succubus; after collecting the man's semen,

the demon appeared to a woman as an incubus and deposited the semen into

her womb.

The same semi-dream phenomena that gave rise to belief in night attacking

spirits also can account for some details in European lore concerning the

undead vampires who return from their graves to prey upon their mortal

wives, relatives, and neighbors.

II. Vampire Witches and Sorcerers

A. The Stryx of the Ancient Romans

What we know today about ancient Roman belief about the stryx

(plural: striges) is from what Ovid wrote in his book Fasti.

7
ephilaties, a name derived from a Greek word that means "to leap upon."
8
Inuus, a name derived from a Latin word which means "to sit upon."
 According to Ovid, the striges attacked children at night in a

form resembling that of a screech owl. In a tale about the striges

that Ovid gives, the striges create wounds upon on an infant's

chest with their beaks and talons and then drink the blood from

theses wounds. The striges returned night after night to prey

upon 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. This is rather

interesting because white thorn is a species of hawthorn and in later

European lore it was believed that hawthorn could provide a barrier

against both witches and undead vampires. Ovid wrote that he was

not sure whether the striges were born in owl-like form or whether

they were women who supernaturally transformed into such form.

But the latter notion seems to be the case. In Italian language, strega

literally means "witch" and in Italy during the Middle ages it was

believed that the strega transformed into a bird at night to prey upon

infants by drinking their blood.

B. The Shtriga of Albania

The shtriga is a female witch whose special prey are infants. At

least as late as the early twentieth century, the shtriga was

blamed for otherwise unexplained infant deaths-what we in

America today call “crib death” or “sudden infant death

syndrome” (“SIDS”). But the shtriga was also sometimes

blamed for diseases that occurred among adults. At night, she

 often sought her prey in the form of an insect such as a moth, a

fly, or a bee. One way to create a charm to protect against the

shtriga is to follow a shtriga in her natural human form at night.

Eventually she will vomit some of the blood.she had drank from

her victims. According to the belief, if you scrape up some of

this vomit onto a silver coin, wrap the coin in cloth, and wear it

always, no shtriga can harm you.

The shtriga usually lives incognito in a community. She even

goes to church for the regular services. She could be detected

during such a service by passing out bread spiced with garlic. A

shtriga will always refuse to eat anything containing garlic. The

second way is to place a cross of pig bone on the doors of the

church after everyone in the community has gathered inside.

Everyone but a shtriga will be able to leave the church through

these doors.

C. The Vjestitiza of Montenegro and Serbia

The vjestitza (plural: vjeshtitze; pronounced as "vyeshtitza" and

sometimes spelled as vestizsa ) is another female witch of the

Balkan countries whose main prey was infants but were also

sometimes blamed for adult illnesses. The vjestititza is typically

an old woman whose soul leaves her body at night when she

goes to sleep. Her soul then takes the body of a hen, a black

moth, or a fly. In this form, she enters houses and feeds upon the

blood in the heart of her victims. On certain nights, the vjeshtitze

in such forms meet together in the branches of trees to hold

coven meetings. An old woman may join such a coven if she

 agrees to follow the rules prescribed by the veteran members.

The vjeshtitza were most powerful during the first week of

March. A protective ritual during this time was to stir the ashes

in the hearth of the house with two horns which were then stuck

into the pile of ashes. Like the witches of Western Europe, it was

believed that a vjeshtiza could not drown.

So, when a woman was accused of being such, she was sometimes

bound and cast into water. If she floated, she was guilty. If she

drowned, she was innocent.

D. The Striga of Romania

In an old text written in Latin, Descriptio Antiqui et Hodierni

Statue Moldavie translated into Romanian and published in

Bucharest in 1973, it is said that people in the Romanian regions

of Moldavia and Transylvania believed in the strige (plural:

strigele), a witch who killed infants in their cradles. Like the

witches of Western Europe and the vjestitza, a woman suspected

of being such a witch was often subjected to a trial where she

was bound and tossed into deep water.

In the article The Vampire in Romania by Agnes Murgopci, published in the December 1926 issue of Folk-

Lore, it is said that the strigele are either the spirits of living witches or of dead witches who appear as little

points of light in the air. They sometimes come together in groups of seven or nine and dance together."

After they break off their dance, they do mischief to human beings.

It seems obvious that the Romanian name strigoi, which can mean either a "living vampire" (strigoi viu) or

a "dead vampire" (strigoi mort) is derived from this.

 E. The "Living Vampires" of Romania

In Romainia, the name strigoi (fem: strigoaica is the most

common one applied in general to people who died and returned

from their graves as vampires who prey upon the living. But this

is same name can apply to anyone living who becomes destined

to become a vampire after death and has certain supernatural

powers already before death.

To distinguish between the two, there are the Romanian terms strigoi mort [fem: strigoaica morta, masc.

plural: strigoi morti, fem. plural: strigoaice morte] and strigoi viu [fem: strigoaica via, masc. plural: strigoi

vii, fem. plural: strigoaice vie]. If we translate strigoi from Romanian into English as "vampire", then

strigoi mort) means "dead vampire" and strigoi viu means "live vampire" or "living vampire."

With the exception of the striga which might be regarded as a special kind of strigoaica via , the Romanian

living vampires rarely drink blood, but they can rob people, animals, and crops of their vitality to enhance

their own. They can also leave their own physical bodies at night to travel in animal form such as that of a

wolf, a dog, a cat, a hen, or a raven, or as a small glowing ball or spark of light. People who are born with a

caul9, with a little tail, or some other such peculiarity were believed to be such living vampires. And the

living vampires become undead vampires after they die unless their corpses are treated at burial by such

means as used to destroy the undead vampire, i.e., a stake driven into the heart, decapitation, cremation, etc.

According to some Romanian lore, the living vampires join together in covens which socialize with the

undead vampires on certain nights. In some accounts of this, the undead vampires teach the living vampires

teach the living vampires on the art of black magic.

F. The Kudlak of Istria

In Croatian and Slovenian lore on the peninsula of Istria, a

9
caul- fetal membrane still attached to the head
 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 or a kresnik. A person so destined to become a

kudlak would begin 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.

G. The Obur of Turkey

In the lore ot the Karachay people in Turkey, obur is a blood

sucking witch or sorcerer who can transform into animal form

such as that of a cat, a dog, or a wolf. The obers are usually

elderly people. After a person becomes an obur, he or she can

then recognize others of his kind.

When at home at night, an obur will take off all clothes, smear an

ointment over all of his or her body, and wallow in the ashes in the

hearth. Then the obour mounts a broom, picks up a whip, and runs in

circles around the room until he flies up through the chimney in the

form of a cat. The obur then enters the home of a family through the

chimney to drink blood from the sleeping children. A black bruise is

left on each victim in the place where the obur drank.

When an obur hunts outside his village at night, he joins with one or

two of kind and they transform into wolves. In this environment and

form, they usually prey on cattle or sheep by drinking their blood.

H. The Old Hag

The Old Hag occurs in the lore of England and Scotland. She is

also found in both Canadian and American folklore as an import.

She evidently derives from the original Anglo-Saxon mare

described above in under The Mare, the Incubus, the Succubus,

and their Kin. According to at least some of the original lore

about her, she is a witch whose soul leaves her body at night and

then victimizes a normal person asleep.

According to some of this lore, she would ride upon her victim into

the sky. People suffering from repeated attacks, lacking as much rest

and energy in the morning as they did when they first fell asleep,

were said to be "hag-ridden." People suffering deliberating diseases

such as tuberculosis were also sometimes thought to be hag-ridden.

I. The Tlahuelpuchi of Mexico

Beliief in the tlahuelpuchi (plural: tlahuelpocmimi is prominent

in at least the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. Most typically, the

tlahuelpuchi is a woman born with a curse. When she enters

 puberty and has her first menstruation, she craves blood. At

night she transforms into an animal such as a cat, a dog, a turkey,

a vulture, or a flea.

In some versions of the belief, she leaves her legs behind in the form

of a cross before she goes out in animal to seek her victims. Her

favorite victims are infants but she also attacks adults and cattle.

Most typically, a tlahuelpuchi only requires blood once a month. But

according to some versions of the belief, she thirsts for blood four

times each month.

The tlahuelpocmimi join together in societies and make a pact to not

infringe upon each other's territories while seeking for prey. A

tlahuelpuchi will also not prey upon her family or neighbors in order

to remain incognito. It is difficult to detect a tlahuelpuchi. But one

test is to offer an enchilada containing garlic to a woman suspected

of being a tlahuelpuchi.

J. The Obayifu and the Asiman of West Africa

According to Ashanti lore in Ghana, the obayifu is a witch who

leaves her body at night in the form of a small ball of light which

flies through the air and sucks the blood of sleeping people,

especially infants and children. The Dahomeans have essentially

the same belief, but they call this type of witch the asiman.

K. Some Vampire Witches of the Carribean and South America

The asema is a vampiric witch or sorcerer found in the lore of the South American country of Surinam,

once a colony called Dutch Guiana. The asema was usually an old man or woman who lived undetected in

a community. At night the asema takes off his or her skin and flies through the air as a ball of light, entered

houses, and sucks the blood of sleeping people. One way to personally protect oneself against the asema is
to consume garlic or certain other herbs which make one's blood taste unpleasant to the asema. A way to

prevent an asema from entering a home is to place a sesame seeds or rice grains mixed with the nails of a

ground owl before the entrances. The asema is compelled to count the seeds or grains but each time it

inadvertently picks up an owl's nail it lets go off all the seeds or grains it had counted and is forced to start

over again. If the dawn comes while the asema is so occupied, the sunlight kills him or her. The ultimate

way to kill an asema is to pore salt or pepper on the skin that he or she leaves behind at night. This shrinks

the skin, and, when the asema returns to it near dawn, he or she can no longer fit into it.

Belief in the asema is an import from slaves brought to Surinam from West Africa. It seems likely that the

name asema is derived from the Dahomean name asiman. But the compulsion of the asema to count seeds

or grains might be due to European influence. The undead vampires in European lore often have such an

obsession. But then such an obsession can be found to attribute to vampires in Asian lore as well.

In the lore of Caribbean islands there is the loogaroo and the soukoyan. Both have close similarities to the

asemaIn the lore of Caribbean islands there is the loogaroo and the soukoyan. Both have close similarities

to the asema.

The name loogaroo10 occurs in islands or, in the case of Haiti, part of an island that was colonized by the

French who imported African slaves to do the hard labor on their plantations. According to the Voodoo lore

of Haiti, the loogaroo is most often a woman. At night she frees herself of her skin by rubbing a magical

concoction made of herbs on her body. She then hides her skin in a cool place where it will not shrink. She

then makes certain movements which cause turkey wings to sprout on her back. Flames shoot out from her

armpits and anus. She then flies through the thatch of her hut. Flying though the sky, she leaves a luminous

trail behind her. She sucks the blood of her victims, most often infants and children, and causes them to

10
The name loogaroo is obviously derived from loups garou, a French name for the werewolf which
literally means "wolf-man" and was originally applied in France to werewolves. But the loogaroo exists
primarily in Afro-Carribean lore and no doubt is more closely a derivative of West African vampiric
witches such as the obayifu and the asiman.
have illnesses which are sometimes fatal. To enter a dwelling where her little victim lies, the Haitian

loogaroo takes the form of a cockroach or some other insect. She may also insert a long straw through the

thatch composing the walls of a dwelling until it rests against her victim's cheek. She then sucks the blood

through the straw. Her nocturnal flights for prey occur on the 7'th, 13'th, and 17'th of each month.

On the island of Granada, the loogaroo is also most often a woman. She flies each night. In her natural

human form, she goes to a silk-cotton-tree. Botanists call this tree by the Latin name bombax ceiba . But in

Granada it is known as the Devil's tree or the Jumbie tree. There the woman gets out of her skin which she

then carefully folds and hides. Then the loogaroo transforms into a ball of light and flies through the air.

The loogaroo in Granada often drinks the blood of adults, causing them to wake up tired and languid.

This witch or sorcerer can pass through any tiny crack to get into dwelling. But if enough grains of rice or

sand are scattered around the outside of the dwelling, he or she is compelled to count them until dawn.

The soukoyan is part of the lore of the islands of Dominica and Trinidad. According to one account from

Trinidad, the soukoyan is much like the loogaroo of Granada. The soukoyan leaves his or her skin at night

in a cool place and flies off at night in the form of a ball of light to drink the blood of humans. In one

account there is added the detail that she can be destroyed if salt is poured on her skin to shrink it. In an

account from Dominica that I've read, the loogaroo is most often a man.

L. The Loups Garou in Louisiana

In the Cajun folklore of Louisiana, the loups garou is definitely a

werewolf, but it is also vampiric sorcerer or witch at the same

time. According to this lore, a man or woman who is a loups

garou changes into a wolf by rubbing an ointment all over their

body. They have at their command giant bats that can carry them

wherever they want them to go. To get into a sleeping person's

 home at night at night, they have the bats drop them down the

chimney. Then they bite the person and suck his blood. The

victim becomes a loups garous too. The loup garou can be

stopped from entering a house by first placing a sifter outside.

The loups garou is compelled to count the holes. If a person

sprinkles salt on a loup garou while he is so occupied, his skin

will catch on fire. The loup garou will then step out of his skin

and run away. But if you shoot one with a gun the bullet goes

right through it. If one attacks you, you can drive it away by

throwing a frog at it. They are scared of frogs. The loups garous

in Louisiana also socialize with other at balls on the Bayou

Goula. And they have the power to change into mules to work

their own farm land.

M. The Penanggalan of Malaysia

The penanggalan is a woman whose head, esophagus, stomach,

and intestines separate as a whole from the rest of her body at

night to fly off and seek human prey whose blood she drinks.

Her favorite victims are children and women in labor. One way

to protect a home against her is to place thorny branches on the

roof. Her dangling intestines tend to get caught in the thorns.

The intestines of a penanggalan are so bloated with blood when

she returns to her own home before dawn that they can't cannot

fit back into the part of her body that she left behind. She needs

to shrink them by soaking them in a jar of vinegar. One way to

destroy a penanggalan is to make a hole in the jar so that the

vinegar will all have leaked out by the time she needs it.

N. The Aswang of the Philippines

In the Philippine Islands today, the term aswang, in its broadest meaning, applies to all the vampiric witches and

sorcerers of the Philippine lore.

One type of aswang is a woman who changes into the form of a large bird at night. In this form, she has a very long,

Hollow tongue with a sharp point at the end. She lands on the thatched roof of her victims. The tongue reaches down

Through a crack in the roof. The tip of this tongue inserts into the neck of a sleeping person and draws up the blood.

The favorite victims are young children and pregnant women.

When this type of aswang returns to her own home before dawn, she changes back into human form.

But her breasts and belly are swollen with blood. She then breast feeds the blood to her own children.

Sometimes this type of aswang is called the tik-tik or wak-wak. But in some Phillipine lore the name tik-tik

Is given to a small owl-like bird which accompanies this type of aswang at night. The smaller bird makes the

Sound "tik-tik" which forewarns the potential victims of the nearby presence of the aswang. This type of aswang

is described in The Vampire Book by J. Gordon Melton (1994, 1999) and in The Vampire Encyclopedia by

Matthew Bunson (1983. According to one of my informants, a woman who grew up on the Philippine island

Of Mindanao, this type of aswang was called the tyanak . Her American husband mentioned that the correspondence

between different names for different types of Philippine vampires tended to be switched around as you go from

One region to another.

But the name tiyanak often applies to an infant who becomes a vampire as the result of having died without being

Baptized.

Another type of aswang is a man or woman who separates at the waist at night. The top half then grows wings

And flies off to seek victims. This type of aswang is also sometimes said to have a long tongue. It has a reputation

For snatching unborn babies from the wombs of pregnant women. He or she can be destroyed by casting salt

Onto the lower part of his body after he becomes detached. The upper half can then no longer re-connect with

the lower half. This type of aswang is mentioned in the article "Philippine (Visayan) Superstitions " by

Fletcher Gardner published in The Journal of American Folk-Lore, 19 (1906).

You can find the relevant excerpt from this article in the book Supernatural Tales from Around the World edited by

Terri Hardin (Barnes & Noble, 1995.) According to one of my informants, the woman from Mindanao,

this vampire is called the aswang. But, according to two of my Philippine informants, the specific name for this type

of aswang is manananggal11.

You might recognize a resemblance here with the Malaysian penanggalan as described under

The Penanggalan of Malaysia here above in Gallery 2 The similarity in names might simply be due

To the fact that Malaysian and Philippine languages share common roots. But then it is also possible

That Malaysian and Philippine beliefs in the supernatural have the common roots.

A third type of aswang is a man or women who can change into all sorts of animal forms, including that of a bird,

a dog, or a pig. Again, it is frequently said that the favorite victims are young children and pregnant women.

This type seems to correspond the more specific meaning of the name aswang.

A fourth type of aswang, the mandurugo, occurs in a Tagalog folk tale summarized by J. Gordon Melton

in The Vampire Book. According to this tale, at one time a certain girl was the most beautiful woman

on her island. She was also a mandurugo . When she was 16 years old, she married a husky young man.

He withered away and died within a year after the marriage. She next married another man soon after, and

he suffered the same fate as the first husband. The same sequence was repeated with her third husband.

She then married a fourth husband. But he was warned in time. He went to bed one night, with a knife

under his pillow, and feigned sleep. When he felt something over him pricking his neck, he struck with

his knife and stabbed the creature on top of him. It was too dark to see the creature, but he heard a screech

and the sound of flapping wings. In the following morning, his wife was found dead at some distance from

11
This name derives from the Philippine word tanggal which means "to separate."
his cottage with a knife wound in her chest.

III. Vampiric Beasts

A. The were-foxes of the Orient

In beliefs, myths, legends. and folk tales from the Far East, there

Can be found a number of were-animals who can change into human form.

These include dragons, tigers, wolves, foxes, badgers, and more.

The Oriental were-fox is often vampiric. In Japan, the name of the

Were-fox is kitsune. In China, the name is huli ching.

According to Japanese belief, the kitsune is basically a fox who has

the magical power to transform into human form to trick people into

Accepting him as a real person, often with vampiric intentions.

According to one version of Japanese folk belief, a fox achieves

Supernatural powers if and when he or she is fifty years old.

But, according to at least some Chinese lore, the huli ching

is the shen (spirit) of a dead person which has taken the form

Of a fox and can then take the form of a human being. It's intentions

And practices are like the Japanese kitsune.

In Chinese and Japanese tales, the fox can sometimes

Be beneficial to humans, usually in reward for being treated well.

But the fox was most often regarded by Chinese and Japanese

As being capable of vampiric, demonic possession. In Japan, the

Name of the word for fox-possession is kitsune-tsuki. The spirit

of the fox subtly enters the victim's body and slowly consumes the vitality,

The life-force, of its host. At the same time, the fox can live a separate life
Of its own. By taking the spiritual life-force from its human victim,

The fox extends its own life span.

According to the belief, some foxes lived for many centuries at the expense

Of a succession of human victims. The older the fox becomes, the more adept

It becomes in the arts of magic and deceit. A thousand year old fox

is said to be splendid when it appears in its fundamental fox form - being

Gold or white in color and having nine tails.

Even today, there are special Japanese temples to which people, believing

Themselves afflicted with fox-possession go to for healing.

While debilitating physical diseases are often attributed to

fox-possession, the person allegedly possessed might have such symptoms

As speaking to a voice not his own.

Each year, on January 14, in Totomi province there is a festival

Called kitsune-okuri (fox-expelling). A mountain priest leads a

procession of villagers carrying straw foxes and dolls to the local

Mountain where the villagers bury these straw foxes.

It is believed that this ceremony protects the villagers from

fox possession and fox trickery during the year before the next

Fox-expelling festival.

In legends and folk tales, the Oriental were-fox often takes

The form of a beautiful woman who entices a man to become her lover.

But it may also take the form of an absent member of a family,

Often one who the fox has killed. And, in at least one old Chinese tale,

Foxes pose as physicians attempting to cure a boy from fox-possession.

In Korea, the were-fox is much like those of China and Japan, but in some

Korean tales it kills its victims outright and eats their livers or bites them

And drinks their blood while they sleep.

B. A Japanese legend about a vampire cat

This legend begins with the Prince of Hizen enjoying the evening hours

With his favorite consort, O Toyo. They do not notice that a cat has

Been following them. After O Toyo retires to her room and falls asleep,

The cat, now gigantic, attacks her and strangles her.

The cat then drags her body into the country side, buries it., and

Then takes her form. The prince of course knew nothing about

The death of O Toyo and so he loved the false O Toyo.

But then he fell ill and began to whither away.

He had nightmares while he slept. It was suspected that he was

Prey to some demonic being while he slept. His courtiers sat in

His room at night and tried to stay awake to protect him. But they

Always nodded off before morning. But then it came to pass that

a loyal subject and faithful Buddhist named Ito Soda volunteered

To take part in the vigil. After everyone else fell asleep, Ito Soda

saw what appeared to be O Toyo enter the room through a

Sliding window. This figure smilingly approached the sleeping prince.

But when the false O Toyo realized that Ito Soda was watching her,

She left the room. The same thing happened on following nights

Until the form of O Toyo failed to appear. After that, the fake

O Toyo lost interest in the prince and even neglected him while

He was awake. Next, Ito Soda entered O Toyo’s room and

Presented the evidence he’d collected to the false O Toyo.

The false O’Toyo then attacked him with a halberd (a pike with

Battle-axe in the tip). When Ito Sota fended her off, she changed

Back into cat form and escaped. This same vampire cat then began

Troubling people living in the mountains. Finally, this vampire cat was

Killed in a hunt ordered by the prince. The prince recovered

And Ito Soda received all the honors and awards he deserved.

C. Ainu Feline Possession

The Ainus are the aboriginal people of Japan. Many of them

Now live on the northern island of Hokkaido.

According to Ainu folklore, if a person kills a cat and does not take

proper precautions, the spirit of the cat will avenge itself by

Bewitching him and causing him to die. This can be prevented by

The cat's killer eating part of the same cat. If this is not done,

the spirit of the cat enters him, causing him to make gestures like

a cat as he gradually wastes away. The cat's killer, while he is still

Able to, can cure himself by killing another cat and eating part of it.

Otherwise, he finally dies a painful death while meowing like a cat.

The name of this affliction in the Ainu language is meko pagoat,

"Cat punishment." In Ainu folklore there is also "dog punishment",

"Bear punishment", and so on for every animal. These all involve

The same principles as cat punishment. But the cat is the animal

Most consistent in seeking revenge for its death.

D. Other Vampiric beasts of Japan

According to Japanese legend, a bat becomes a Nobusuma when it

Reaches the age of 1,000 years. In the Hiakku Monogatari of

Tokwa Sanjin,, one particular, "most ancient" nobusuma living

in the remote province of Oshuma is named Yama Chichi,

"Mountain father". It is described as having a hairy, lithe body

With long limbs and a pointed mouth somewhat resembling a beak.

It sucks the breath out of sleeping people while tapping on their chest.

If there is no human witness of such an event, the victim dies after

Three days. But if there is, the person attacked lives a long life instead.

In a text by Sekiyen the Nobusuma is described as resembling a sort

of flying squirrel, with brown skin and wings which are part and

Parcel of four legs ending with claws. Sekiyen gives it

The name Musasabi.

The Hiakku Monogatari of Tokwa Sanjin also describes an even older

Bat called the Nodeppo which has passed through the form Mami (??).

This creature blows out another one, bat-like in form.

This secondary creature covers its human victims with its wings

And sucks out their breath, causing them to die. The victims are

Usually travelers. But a traveler can protect himself against such

an attack by carrying, close to his skin, a few leaves of

Burr weed called nanomani.

Another legendary vampiric creature, the Tsutsuga Mushi , was

Believed to have existed in large numbers during the 7'th century A.D.

They were in the form of an animal and entered dwellings at night

To drink the blood of sleeping people. According to legend, this

Stopped during the reign of the Empress Saimei Tenno (655-661).

At her request, a sage compelled these creatures to stay within

A certain area of the wilderness. That was the end of any appearances

of the creature, but in Japan today the expression tsutsuga nashi,

which translates literally as "without tsutsuga" and implies freedom

 From illness.

E. The Chupacabras

The name chupacabras is Spanish and literally means “goat sucker.”

There seems to be no mention of belief in this creature before

The mid-1990. The first reports were from Puerto Rico in 1995.

Then, soon after, there came reports from Mexico, Central America,

And Brazil. By the end of 1996, there were alleged chupacabras

sightings in Spain, Portugal, and in the U.S.A, including

The state of Oregon.

According to The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide

by Loren Coleman and Patrick Huyghe(Avon Books, 1999), the chupacabras is about

Four feet tall, covered with short, fine gray fur with spots. It has damp, dark, protruding

Eyes that run up to the temples and spread to the sides. Its nostrils appear as two little holes.

It has a slit-like mouth. Its legs are long and skinny, and it has only three toes.

It also has long, skinny arms and hands, and three long, skinny fingers that end with claws.

A set of spikes run down the creature’s back.

J. Gordon Melton, in his revised, second edition of The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of

the Undead (Visible Ink Press, 1999) gives a somewhat different but not entirely contradictory

Description. According to this, the chupacabras has “hairy arms, glowing red eyes, and

Bright-colored spine-like appendages that run over the body from the head to the end of the back.”

Melton also indicates that, in some descriptions, the chupacabras has scales and or bat-like wings.

The chupacabras hunts at night. In the initial reports, the victims were goats. But, coming later,

There were reports where horses, dogs, and cats have been its prey. In many cases, it was claimed

That there were two little holes in the neck of the dead animal and all of the blood had been drained.
It seems that, at least so far, no human deaths have been attributed to an attack by a chupacabras .

But there are reports of individuals being threatened by one. In some of these, a crucifix was

Successfully used to hold the creature at bay.

F. The Yara-ma-yha-who of the Australian aborigines

According to the lore of the Australian Aborigines, the Yara-ma-yha-who is a man-like creature about

Four feet tall. It is covered with red hair and has a very large head for its size. The head is said to be

Larger than any other part of the body. The mouth is also very large and the creature has no teeth.

The jaws unhinge like a snake. And, like a snake, the Yara-ma-yha-who swallows its prey whole.

At the tips of the fingers and toes, there are suckers that look like those on the tentacles of an octopus.

But these suckers are used for more than grappling onto victims or other objects. The Yara-ma-yha-who

Can also use them to suck his victim’s blood.

The creature lives mostly in thick, leafy trees, especially fig trees. It preys upon human beings.

It lurks in the branches of the trees. When a person walks under a tree in which a Yara-ma-yha-who lurks,

The creature pounces upon him. It places it hands and feet on him and sucks out most of his blood with

Its suckers. It leaves enough blood in the victim to keep him alive while it goes off walking to work

Up an appetite. Later, the creature returns to its victim. It lies down on the ground facing the victim,

Crawls to him like a lizard, and swallows him whole. The Yara-ma-yha-who then stands up on its two

Feet and does a sort of dance to jiggle all of the living body of its victim down into its stomach.

But then, after some more time, the yara-ma-yha-who vomits its victim, who is still in one piece.

The person is then usually still alive. The victim then does best for himself by pretending to be dead.

The Yara-ma-yha-who will test the victim by walking away from the body and then quickly turning

Around, by poking him with a stick, and by tickling him under the chin and arms. If the live

victim has still been successful in feigning death, the Yara-ma-yha-who may then also walk off to

Some distance where it then sits and watches its victim for signs of life. But the creature will then
Eventually need to seek a bush and fall asleep. The victim, if indeed still alive, can then make his escape.

If the Yara-ma-yha-who suddenly awakes and gives chase, the human victim has still a good chance of

Escaping. The creature has a slow, wobbling gait, like the cockatoo.

If it happens that the human victim does not escape from the Yara-ma-yha-who after being regurgitated,

He is swallowed whole a second time. Again he is vomited out afterwards, but now he is shorter than

He was before. If he is still alive but cannot escape, he is swallowed and regurgitated for a third time.

If still alive, the victim is not only even closer in height to a Yara-ma-yha-who but also now has smooth

Skin like the creature. If the process of being swallowed and vomited alive is repeated enough times,

The victim becomes a Yara-ma-yha-who himself.

G. The Yeti as a Psychic vampire

The Yeti is allegedly found in the Himalayan mountains and the high valleys between them, in Tibet,

Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim. The Yeti has also become known as The Abdominal Snow Man.

According to both legends and documented reports, the Yeti is a creature somewhat similar to the

Legendary Sasquatch or Big Foot of the North American Pacific Northwest. Its appearance is half-way

Between that of a large ape and a human being. Most accounts of the Yeti that I have read or

Heard have nothing to do with vampirism. But I have found two notable exceptions to this in the book

Folk Tales of Sherpa and Yeti edited by Shiva Dakhal (New Delhi: Nirala Publications, 1991).

The Sherpa folk tales in this book are all from the valleys of Rolwalwing and Khumbu in the vicinity

Of Gauri-Shankar Himal, in eastern Nepal. The average altitude of these valleys is 12,000 feet above

Sea level. The Sherpa people there speak a language similar to Tibetan. Their religion is the same form

of Mahayana Buddhism that is found in Tibet.

One folk tale retold in the book is titled “The Ravishing of Angnima by a Yeti.” In this tale, a Sherpa

Maiden named Angnima went out one day to herd the cattle as usual. But she fell asleep in the pasture.

A male Yeti saw her sleeping body from afar. He became lustful. He approached her, removed
Her clothes, and raped her. The pressure upon Angnima and the resulting pain caused her to wake up.

She saw the beast defiling her and then fainted back into unconsciousness. Eventually, Angnima's father

Became worried about her when she did not return to home on time. The father went out looking for her

and found her naked and unconscious After her father brought her back to their home, Angnima

Regained consciousness at times and told of what happened to her. But then she fell into a deep

Coma from which she did not recover. Finally, she died.

Some of the principles in that tale are perhaps best explained in another tale told in the same book.

This tale is titled “Sonam and Yeti in Chhringma’s Lap.” In this story, a man named Sonam Sherpa

Went out to gather juniper twigs for the name-giving ceremony of his son which was to be held the next day.

After he reached a spot on the hill where the juniper was bountiful, he saw a strange creature approaching him.

After the beast was close enough that Sonam could see that it was a Yeti, Sonam found himself unable

To move. The Yeti kept coming closer and Sonam soon became unconscious. When Sonam regained

Consciousness, he found himself back in his village surrounded by a group of his neighbors and the village lama.

The neighbors had gone out in search of Sonam, had found him unconscious, and had brought him back to

Their village. It was through the lama’s care and prayers that Sonam was brought back to his senses.

The lama explained: “Since Sonam was first to see Yeti; he was saved. He could have died otherwise.”

IV. The Undead in Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Western Europe and Asia

A. The Undead in Greece

The ancient Greeks did not believe in people returning from their graves with a need to prey upon the living.

This belief came about at some time after the Greece had become solidly Christian. The most common name

for the undead vampire in Greece seems to be vrykolakas. On some of the small islands of the Greek

Archipelago, this vampire has such names as vurvukalas and vrukolakas. On Crete, the vampire is called the

kathakanas . At least from the 17'th century to the early 20'th century, it was a common belief in Greece

that the undead vampire was essentially a corpse possessed and animated by a demon. It was sometimes

believed that the vampire only had to return to grave on Saturday and that he could go about even during

the day time, though in most tales he is most active at night. There were several ways to deal with such
a vampire. Usually the first means resorted was to exhume the corpse and have a priest exorcize the demon

from it. If this method failed, the corpse might be exhumed and reburied on a desert island - it was often

believed that the vampire could not cross sea water. The ultimate way to get rid of the vampire

was to cremate the corpse.

According to Greek beliefs, those most likely to become undead vampires include:

• Those who were stillborn or otherwise died without having received baptism.

• Those who were conceived or born on a holy day.

• Those who died excommunicated.

• Those who died while being heretics or apostates.

• Those who died after having led sinful lives

• Those who died who were practitioners of sorcery or witchcraft.

• Those whose corpse an animal had jumped over before the burial

• Those who did not receive religious burial

• Those who had eaten the flesh of an animal that had been killed a vampire.

• Those who died as victims of a vampire, especially true when vampire were

blamed for plague or epidemic disease.