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Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Vampire Terms:
Haematodipsia- A sexual thirst for blood.
Hedonism- Excessive devotion to pleasure.
Hemat(o)- [Greek] Prefix meaning blood; see also words beginning with hem, hemo, or haemat(o).
Hematemesis- The vomiting of blood.
Hematidrosis- Excretion of bloody sweat. (I have seen this happen to a vampire in at least one novel.)
Hematophageous- Subsisting on blood.
Hematoporphyria- (see porphyria).
Hematospermia- Blood in the semen; hemospermia. (Again, I have seen this as a vampire characteristic in a novel.)
Hemeralopia- Day blindness; defective vision in a bright light.
Hemogeneic- Pertaining to production of blood.
Hemotherapy- The use of blood in treating disease.
Lust murder- The sexual act after the murder.1
Necro- [Greek] Prefix meaning death.
Necrocytosis- Death and decay of cells. (I.e. the medical term for "rotting.")
Necrogenous- Originating or arising from dead matter.
Necrolysis- Separation or exfoliation of necrotic tissue. (This has more application in the accounts of bodies dug up in the middle ages-- and later-- where witnesses testify to ruddy or "new" skin on the supposed vampiric corpse, which later medical persons denote as being skin slippage, or necrolysis-- a normal occurrence in a decomposing body. Find out more about this in Step 5.)
Necromania- (see necrophilia).
Necrophagous- Feeding on dead flesh.
Necrophagy- Parts of a mutilated corpse are eaten.1
Necrophilia- 1.) Sexual attraction to corpses.1 2.) Sexual intercourse with a dead body.
Necrophobia- Morbid dread of death or dead bodies.
Necropsy- Examination of a body after death; autopsy.
Necrostuprum- Body-stealing.1
Porphyria- A genetic disorder characterized by a disturbance in porphyrin metabolism with resultant increase in the formation and excretion of porphyrins or their precursors. (Step 5 has a layman's explanation of this disease.)
Blood Fetish- The need or want to drink, taste, or "bathe" in blood. Usually conducted in a sexual situation. People who drink blood may or may not call themselves "vampires."
Blood Lust- The overwhelming desire to feed. A vampire in blood lust knows no bounds. The vampire will act as if possessed and cannot restrain him or herself until their appetite is sated, even if it means killing where they would not normally. Blood lust is often characterized by a reddening or glowing of the eyes, possible showing or elongation of fangs, drooling, growling, or any other animal-like behavior. Also simply called "the lust."
Child(e)- The offspring of a vampire. Pl., Childer.
Embrace- To make one a vampire; siring.(The specifics of this will be covered in a later page.)
Embracee- One who is being made into, or who has become embraced; childe.
Folkloric/ Historical Vampire- Specifically an animated corpse that has risen from its grave to drain the blood from animals or humans.
Fictional/ Literary Vampire- This vampire, unlike the folkloric vampire, has less limitations on it. Again, it may be an animated corpse feeding on blood, but "vampire" in literature is also used to refer to other creatures of the dark who are predators, such as ghouls or incubi, and it often does not feed solely on blood. Fictional vampires may act as psychic vampires, feeding on energy or emotional states, or may feed on other things, such as sex or flesh.
Ghoul- An animated corpse that sustains its own life by eating, most usually, the flesh of other corpses, but which can also eat humans.
Incubus/Succubus- This creature is something akin to a spirit or demonic entity, and sexually predates on men and women while they are asleep in their bed. Though it is not clear if the incubus prolongs its life by feeding from these sexual energies-- making it a type of vampire-- the victim does die from the incubus's attentions. It is linked to vampires, often confused as one, but because it is not an animated corpse, it is not wholly a vampire, at least historically. Pl., Incubi, Succubi.
Kindred- Vampires.
Living Vampires- This term refers to those people who are very much alive, but who practice vampiric acts, such as blood drinking, to satisfy an emotional need. Some claim, however, they do need to drink blood to sustain their health. People who choose a vampiric lifestlye often also opt to dress in black clothing or formal attire, sleep in coffins, and advoid the sunlight. "Living vampire" is usually applied only to those who wish to call themselves such- people who have only a blood fetish may take offense at being labeled a vampire. Being a living vampire may be labeled as a "club or weekend hobby," a "lifestyle," "occultism," or a "religion."
Psychic Vampire- Specifically a living being that sustains its life, way of life, or own emotional state by draining or feeding from the energy, emotions or life of another being, almost always a human.
Sire- The vampire who embraces another person; the maker of another vampire; parent vampire. (Female vampires can also be called "sires.")
Siring- The act of turning one into a vampire; embracing.
Vampire- 1. An animated corpse that drinks blood to sustain itself indefinitely. 2. A human, creature, spirit or other entity that drains any manner of thing-- blood, energy, etc.-- from humans or animals to sustain its way of life; psychic vampire.
Vampire Demi-god- I use this term to refer to entities who are neither a demon nor a spirit. Demi-gods, or lesser gods, are often god hybrids or low ranking gods. Unlike demons and spirits, they traditionally do not interact with the mortal population, unless it is in legend. (Hercules and the Titans are commonly known demi-gods.) A vampire demi-god is a figure in religion/ mythology that acts in a manner consistent with folkloric vampires. These lesser gods are, I believe, the beginnings of the figure of the vampire, who eventually de-evolved from a god-- splitting then, perhaps, into the other related forms of spirits and demons-- to a very tangible, and formally mortal, corpse.
Vampiress- A female vampire. (Though a "vampire" may refer to either sex.)
Witch/Warlock/Wizard- Accroding to popular belief during the middle ages, witches are the human servants of the Devil. They are either under his direct control, with no will power of their own, or they have entered into a pact with the Devil to do his bidding in return for personal favors. Unlike popular notions of witches (such as at Halloween), witches were not necessarily believed to be ugly or otherwise obvious. The most obvious sign of a witch nearby was a continual string of bad luck in a village, or to a particular family, disease-- especially among livestock-- and unusal events or certain individuals acting strangely. Originally "witch" could refer to either males or females, although most who were burned at the stake were women. Later, it became more common to refer to male witches as warlocks or wizards. (Note, this is a medieval definition of a witch. This is in no way related to the modern definition of a witch as a practitioner of pagan or earth-related rituals, like the Wiccans.)
Zombie- Like a ghoul, this being is an animated corpse, but unlike a ghoul, it is controlled by a witch or witch doctor. It is used as a slave or made to suffer out of revenge by the person controlling it. Traditionally, a zombie does not attack others-- unless ordered to-- and it does not drink blood or eat flesh. It, especially in horror movies, is often confused with a ghoul. The ghoul, zombie and vampire are closely linked, and are often interchanged with each other in folklore.
Vampire Characteristics:
1. How a person becomes a vampire
1. vampire from birth
2. vampire from evil deeds
3. vampire at/with death
2. Physical appearance
1. while animate
2. while inanimate
3. Removing/ Preventing the vampire
1. chuch methods
2. preventive measures (non-violent to the corpse)
3. final methods (corpse mutilation)
4. Saving/ preventing a victim
1. church methods
2. "old religion methods"
Where do vampires come from?
* Dead wizards
* Heretics
* Outcasts
* Illegitimate offspring of illegitimate children
* Anyone killed by a vampire
* Suicides
* Unavenged deaths
* Untimely/ unhappy deaths
* Witches
* Murderers
* Robbers/ villains
* Accursed
* An unburied body which has had sun or moonlight fall upon it
* An unburied body that has been leapt over by a cat
* Still born children and unbaptised children (Rise as vampires 7 years after their death)
* Any animal (including cat) that has passed over an unburied body
* Perjurers, liars
* 7th sons
* A shadow of a living man falling upon an unburied body.
* A nun stepping over an unburied body.
These are a few of the signs of vampirism in a dead body:
* Holes in the ground above the grave (Guess even vampires like a little fresh air)
* Corpse with one or more of the following:
1. Wide open eyes
2. Ruddy complexion
3. No decomposition
* Nails and hair grown out
* Bite marks apparent on the neck
* Shroud (burial cloth) partially or entirely devoured
* Blood in the veins
* Coffin containing blood
* Apparently well fed body
* Flexible limbs
* In China, vampires can be identified by the greenish-white hair covering their bodies.
* Chinese vampires also may fly, have claws, and glaring/ glowing eyes.
Unknown graves of Vampires? Then do:
1. Have a virgin boy ride naked and bareback on a virgin stallion through the graveyard until the horse steps on a grave and goes no further. That marks a vampire's grave. Or...
2. Lead a white stallion through a graveyard and the grave he will not step on is the grave of a vampire.
What to do now?
* Unknown murder victims (strangers) and persons who committed suicide were often buried out away from the town or village, along roadsides or near road intersections. This was thought to be far enough away from town to keep them-- as possible vampires-- from coming back around, or to confuse them as to which direction is which so they will become lost and not come into town.
* As a precaution, some bodies thought to have a very high chance of becoming vampires were staked or pinned into the grave.
* The head might be severed from the body and placed between the legs or under an arm. (Wonder where the Legend of Sleepy Hollow came from??)
* The feet and legs might be bound to prevent the body from escaping the grave.
* The corpse may be dismembered and the pieces buried separately from each other.
* To get rid of a known vampiric corpse, you could burn the corpse to ashes.
* Tear out the heart.
* Throw boiling water or oil onto the grave.
* It was local customs that dictated the proper stake for spearing your nearest dead kin. Some included: aspen, maple, blackthorn, or hawthorn.
* Vampiric witch doctors and/ or sorcerers had to be burnt on a moonless night or nailed to the ground.
* As an extra preventive measure, bodies could be protected from vampiricy by burying them with a cross made of willow under each armpit, chin and chest.
* The body could be buried face downward and deep to prevent it from knowing right side-up in the grave and escaping.
* Drive a stake through the heart or navel. (Some say it must be done with only one blow.)
* Put small stones or grains of incense in all the extremities so that the vampire will have something to eat when it awakens.
* Place garlic in the mouth.
* Millet (grains of wheat) could be scattered over the body and throughout the coffin so that the vampire, upon awakening, has to count or eat every piece in there.
* Wild thorny roses should be strung around the outside of the coffin to make it more difficult for the vampire to escape.
* Lay out a body several days to make sure it doesn't start acting like a vampire. (Germany)
* Bury food with the body in hopes that will keep it satisfied.
* Break the corpse's neck as another preventive measure.
* Place money in the vampire's mouth (I think this was probably derived from the old Greek custom of giving a body money so the soul passing into Hades would be able to pay the ferryman at the River Styx to cross into the proper afterlife) and cut the name from it's shirt. (Germany)
If you should happen to get bitten...
There are a few things you can do if you suspect you are under attack or have been attacked by a vampire:
Drink the ashes of a burnt vampire to cure vampire-caused illnesses and to prevent further attacks.
Remedy for attacks against children (Italy):
1. Gospel read over the child's head while his head rests on a priest's robe.
2. Cross of wax, blessed on Ascension Day (40th day after Easter), hung over the doorway of the house.
3. A linen bag containing a pinch of salt hung around the child's neck.
4. Child's hair is cut and a lock is thrown into the fire.
5. Hinges in the house are sprinkled with holy water.
6. Credo recited aloud 3 times.
7. Husband/ father watches for 7 nights for the witch/ vampire.
Or if you fear getting bitten...
* Mix flour with the blood of a "slain" vampire and make it into a bread and eat it to prevent against vampire attacks.
* Lay a dead cat or dog at the house's threshold-- the witch or vampire will have to stop and count every hair on the animal, but will have to flee before dawn, or get caught by the sun and die.
* In Russia, masks were worn by mourners in funeral processions, devious routes were taken on the way back home, and the mourners did not look back as they traveled away from the grave, all in an effort to keep any body that might turn vampire from coming back to town and finding people it recognized.
The "Dracula Disease"
This rare disease known as the "vampire" or "Dracula" disease, or by it's proper medical name, porphyria (pronounced por-fer-e-ah, or por-fi-re-ah) is thought to be one of, or the reason for the vampire scares throughout time, in cultures around the world. It is very hard to describe it out of a nurse's dictionary-- it's a lot on the technical side-- but I'm going to try my best to put it in layman's terms.
First of all, porphyria is a genetic disease. Because it is hereditary, it can't be caught by blood or other fluid exchange. There shoots down all those old legends of vampires biting someone and they become a vampire themselves. If having porphyria makes you a vampire, then you cannot give it to others. You cannot make other vampires. You cannot "embrace" anyone. I'm not sure to what percent it is that it gets passed from parent to child, i.e. I'm not sure if 100% of children of a porphyritic (making up a word here) parent gets it or if 50% of them do, or if it passes more readily into one sex or another or if grandchildren are more likely to get it than children (as is sometimes the case with hereditary diabetes). The only sure thing is you can't get it through blood or bodily fluid transfer. Sorry if that ruins your evening plans of a little... necking.
Porphyrins (hence the lack of them gives you the name of the disease), combined with iron form hemes in the blood. Heme is what makes blood red. If you don't have the right porphyrin content, you don't have the right heme contents, and then things start to go bad. Prophyria imbalance can cause the following:
* gastrological problems (stomach cramping, nausea)
* neurological and psychological disorders (you get crazy)
* photosensitivity (intolerance to sun or bright lights)
* pigmentation of the face (skin changes color, usually getting lighter, losing color)
* anemia (blood deficiency) with enlargement of the spleen (an organ acting as a reservoir for blood)
* and excessive amounts of porphyrins are excreted in the stool and urine, giving it a dark red, bloodish color.
If you look at all the symptoms of porphyria, you can begin to see how it could start looking like what we know as a vampire. Mentally unstable people, perhaps snarling, flashing their teeth. Perhaps biting others. Some people report that porphyria is helped by giving blood, IV. Back before such things, you might find people suffering of the disease drinking blood to help them feel better. They are photosensitive, their skin, in extreme cases, prone to blistering and burning in the sunlight, so they would have a preference to avoid it. Discoloration of the skin or loss of pigmentation, coupled with a low amount of blood, would give suffers a very pale appearance indeed. But before you say "Aha!" and pronounce this as the truth behind the vampire scares, be advised, this is a very rare disease. There are several classifications of it as well, not all of them having all of the symptoms. Those symptoms closest to being "vampire related" appear only in a handful of cases. As of 1991, there were only 60 reported cases of the form of porphyria, CEP, that has symptoms most commonly linked with vampirism.1
Catalepsy
This is "a condition of diminished responsiveness usually characterized by a trance-like state and constantly maintained immobility. The patient with catalepsy may remain in one position for minutes, days and even longer."
Back before there were laws governing certificates of death and coroners who made sure you were dead, the science of declaring someone dead was not very precise, to say the least. It's not that catalepsy was so common as comas and near death phases were. After a traumatic accident, one may be breathing shallowly and the heart slowed. The person could go into a catatonic state, but not be dead. With monitors and such now, that's just part of being in critical condition; we know the person is alive. but in rural areas, miles and miles from medical help, often the person diagnosing death was a family member, friend, stranger, but too often not a doctor. Sometimes people knew how to check a pulse, which is your heart was still beating pretty well and they could take a good pulse, you were okay. But sometimes people couldn't take a pulse at all. The best you got was an ear pressed to the chest or close to the nose for sounds of a beating heart or breathing. Either of those too shallow for detection and you were pronounced dead. While wakes gave you roughly 24 hours to improve or die, you usually didn't have longer. Sometimes less, seeing how people did not have embalming and/or funeral homes with an air conditioner cold enough to frost the windows back in those days, funerals held in the heat of summer were often very, very quick. they wouldn't leave a body out long enough to see if it started to smell and was truly dead. Needless to say, many comatose people were buried alive in this fashion.
When you have people buried alive, you can easily see where vampire myths came from. "Partially eaten shroud" was often a sign of vampires. More often than not, it probably came, if not from bugs or natural deterioration, from people buried alive and hungry. Muffled sounds from graves and scratching in coffins on dark nights could have been those people wanting out, audible in the quietness of evening. Fresh bodies and blood and even screams as the heart of an unearthed vampire were staked can all be explained as comatose victims still alive in the grave, not undead. Because the fear of being buried alive was so great, some people went to great lengths to avoid it, stipulating in their wills to be laid out for three days to make sure they were really dead, not be buried until pronounced dead by a certified physician, to be exhumed three days after burial to make sure the body was dead, or some even had elaborate bell systems devised to ring on the surface if they moved their hand below.2
So Many Veins, Where To Begin?
Starting with the head down, I'll cover all the best places to "get a bite."
* The external carotid artery-- This is the most common place of all to have a vampire bite. This is the artery in the side of your neck where you take your pulse, closest to the surface between the jaw, slightly under the earlobe and forward, and the collarbone.
* The jugular vein-- This vein is a big no-no to bite. Extending on either side of the trachea (the throat), following down the neck from the chin to the collarbone, this vein is very dangerous to pierce. The jugular leads directly down into the heart and carries all the blood from the brain. The jugular vein is much larger than the carotid artery, and so carries much more blood. Very few people in the world have survived a severed jugular vein (we're talking single digits). So, unless your vampire has... um... fangs of steel and a very still victim, a jugular bite could be potentially deadly. The obverse side to that is it is very easy and quick to kill someone that way. Ripping out the throat, by either severing the jugular vein, puncturing the trachea (the windpipe), or both, causes a very quick death.
* The median cubital vein-- This vein is the one in the elbow where, if you've ever had blood drawn, that is where they stick you. Hey, if a hospital can use it, so can a vampire.
* The ulner artery-- This is the artery in the wrist. After the neck it seems to be the second favorite place for vampires to bite. Remember this though, the vein lies under some tendons (unlike the medial cubital which is right under the skin in the elbow), so that could pose a problem with biting.
* The greater saphenous vein-- This vein runs along the inside of either thigh. The vein is large and deep; it would take a big bite to get down into it, but its location makes it a nice... foreplay move, if you have such an amorous vampire.
* The femoral vein-- This vein is the one at the back of the knee. Like the median cubital in the elbow, this vein lies close to the skin and is an easy bite if you have a victim face down and willing to not kick or unable to kick.
Vampire Names:
Africa
Asasabonsam- Humanoid monster that lived in the forest and was rarely seen. It had iron teeth, and captured unwary passers-by by letting its hook-shaped feet dangle down from the treetops where it sat. (Ashanti tribe, Ghana)*
Asiman- See Obayifo. (From Dahomeans)*
Obayifo- Identified more as a witch than a vampire, this magic-made (not hereditary) being left its body at night, in the form of a glowing ball, and attacked people, especially children, and sucked them of their blood. Might also suck the juice from fruits and vegetables. (Ashanti tribe)*
Asia, India, Pacific Islands and Australia
Aswang- A witch-woman who appeared as a beautiful maiden when she rubbed herself with a certain ointment. She would fly, at night, to the roof of a house and send down her long tongue to prick the throat of her sleeping victim, then she would drink the blood. When fully fed she appeared as a pregnant woman. (Philippines)*
Bhuta- A person who died in an untimely fashion, and arose to wander the land at night. This demi-vampire, in its wanderings, would reanimate dead bodies of others, who then in turn attacked the locals, eating them as ghouls did. (Western India)*
Brahmaparusha- A vampire-like mythical creature that drank blood from an upturned skull. (Northern India)*
Chedipe- (Literarlly "prostitute") This vampiric woman was depicted riding a tiger naked, and at night she would entrance a household into a deep sleep, enter, then suck the blood from the man through his big toe. (India)*
Chiang-shih (kiang shi)- A rather vicious vampire that was made when the inferior soul stayed to inhabit the body after death, due to improper burial rites or a bad death. It could pass for a human, but sometimes took on other forms, such as that of a wolf, or it may have appeared to glow a phosphorescent green, or have serrated teeth, talons or shaggy white hair. (China)
Churel- A woman who died an unnatural death, she would come back to seek revenge on any family members who treated her badly by drying up the blood of male family members. She might also tempt young men in the village with food, and if they ate it, she would keep them until dawn, where they returned to their village old men. A churel was marked by the fact that her feet were turned backwards. (India)*
Kali- This goddess, also known as the "Mad Mother" stretches the definition of what is vampiric. She has fangs (or sharp teeth), is dressed in human heads and arms, carries a sickle sword that she uses to kill demons, and is worshiped by sacrificing animals to her at her temple, where she may drink the blood. She-- along with other Hindu gods and goddesses-- often devours the demons that she kills. Though we can't label this revered and popular goddess a vampire, we can begin to see where the gods of the ancient peoples slowly worked their way into the everyday culture, and then, later, as Christianity took over as the main religion, superstition. (India)
Kappa- A vampire that dwelt in water (usually ponds), it attacked livestock, such as cows and horses, and drug them into the water and devoured them. (Japan)*
Maneden- A creature that dwelt in a wild pandanus plant. If a human attacked the plant, the creature would retaliate by attaching itself to a man's elbow (or a woman's nipple) where it sucked his blood until he gave something in substitution, such as a nut. (Malaysia)*
Penanggalan- Gruesomely depicted vampire (Malaysia)*
Pisachas- Demi-god ghouls; literally "eaters of raw flesh." Also known as Yatu-dhana/ Hatu-dhana. (India)*
Polong- A creature, like a witch's familiar, that would do the bidding of the witch in exchange for small amounts of blood daily, taken from a cut in the finger. (Malasyia)*
Pontianak- Yet another female vampire who attacks infants and drinks their blood. Pontianaks also seduce young men, in the form of a maiden. (Java) Also known as a Langsuyar in Malaysia.*
Rakshasas- (Rakshasas, m. Rakshasis, f.) These are demi-gods in that they don't appear to interact directly with the populace, but their exploits, instead, are given in legends. Like vampires, though, they wandered at night, had fangs, drank blood and preferred to attack infants and pregnant women. (India)*
Yara-ma-yha-who- More beast than man, this vampire dwelt in fig trees and would jump down on people who passed by or slept under the tree. The creature would drain the blood from the person, though not usually enough to kill. Sometimes it ate the person whole, then regurgitated them out later. The more often a person was attacked, the more like the creature they became, until eventually they were made fully into a yara-ma-yha-who. (Aboriginies, Australia)*
Central and South America, Caribbean
Asema- An vampiric old man or woman who took the form of a ball of light and traveled at night to drink the blood of people asleep in their houses. (South America)*
Camazotz- A full-fledged god, this deity was central in agriculture, but was feared for his blood-drinking tendencies, fearsome appearance (which included large teeth and claws), and his tendency to dwell in caves where he would-- I presume-- attack people for their blood. (Mayan, Mexico)*
Cihuateteo- A demi-god, this vampiric woman, like so many in other parts of the world, was depicted killing and drinking the blood of infants. Interestingly enough, like many of the vampires in the West, they are said to meet at crossroads and only wander at night, as sunlight will kill them. (Aztecs, Mexico)*
Civateto- Vampire witch (Mexico)
Jaracaca- Vampire that feeds from breast milk (Brazil)
Lobishomen- Vampire that attacks women and turns them into nymphomaniacs. (Brazil) Also known as werewolves. (Portugal)*
Loogaroo- This word comes from the corrupted French word "loup-garou," which was originally reserved for werewolves (much as "lobishomen" has changed from representing werewolves to being associated with vampires).* Vampiric elderly ladies (Grenada, Haiti)
Sukuyan- Vampiric witch, akin to the Loogaroo and Asema (Trinidad)*
Tlahuelpuchi- Blood-sucking witch (Mexico)*
Europe and the United Kingdom
Bruja- Usually seen as a woman, this living person transformed into various animals and attacked infants. (Spain)* See also Bruxa.
Bruxa- (Bruxa, f. Bruxo, m.) Vampire/ witches, they assumed animal forms such as a duck, rat, goose, dove or ant and attacked, most usually, infants. Adhering to witch practices, they were found out between midnight and 2:00 a.m. (also known as the "witching hours"), on Tuesdays and Fridays, meeting at crossroads. Associated with lobishomen (werewolves) and also known as bruja. (Portugal)*
Callicantzaros- A specific type of vampire, coming from people who were born on religious holidays, especially between Christmas and Epiphany (New Years). This vampire, with long talons, would attack people and tear them up on the holy days between Christmas and Epiphany. (Greece)*
Drakul- A body moving with the help of a demon. (See page on Vlad Tepes for additional meanings on this word.) (Slavonic country?)
Dhampir- Vampire's son. Sometimes thought to be the only person who could see a vampire and kill it. Up until the 17th and 18th centuries, people would hire themselves out as vampire killers under the guise of being a Dhampir. (Serbia) Also known as a vampirdzhija (Bulgaria)*
Djadadjii- This was a specific kind of vampire hunter, who "bottled" vampires. The hunter would first bait a bottle with a favorite food of the rascally vampire. He would then use a picture of a saint, or Christ or Mary as an icon, and would drive the vampire from his hiding place, and straight into the bottle. The hunter then corked the bottle and disposed of the vampire by throwing it, bottle and all, into a fire. (Bulgaria)*
Incubus (Incubus, m. Succubus, f. Incubi/Succubi, pl.)- Like a ghoul, this creature is closely linked to a vampire, but unlike both of them, it is a spirit, and not an animated corpse. This creature does not drain its victims of blood nor energy, but will exhaust them to death by coming in every night to have sex with the victim. The victims, worn out and helpless, often die of asphyxiation as the incubus/ succubus is characterized by a heavy, weighty feeling on the victim's chest. (Eastern European)*
Lamia/ lamiai- A vampiric woman, she is half woman, half serpent, and lives in caves, where she drinks the blood of children. She sometimes transforms into a beautiful maiden to seduce young men and also drink their blood. (Greece)*
Lidérc- More incubus than vampire, this creature had many different shapes as a man, woman, animal or light, and it drained the energy out of its victim sexually. (Hungary)*
Nachzehrer- A vampire (when found in the grave) that has these specific traits: holds the thumb of one hand with the other, its left eye is open and it emits a grunting sound as it chews on its shroud in the tomb. (Germany)
Neuntöter- Vampire that spreads plague. (Germany)
Nora- A bald man, running on all fours, he would suck the breasts of women- presumably draining them as an incubus might do. (Hungary)*
Obur- A particularly gluttonous blood drinker, the local people had to offer great amounts of food to get rid of it. It was characterized by loud noises and the ability to move things without being seen (like a poltergeist). (Gagauz people, Bulgaria)*
Redcap- This spirit haunted abandoned sites, especially if they had been the scene of violence. Their only link to vampirism was that they carried a cap that had been dyed red in human blood, and they took every opportunity to re-dye it with more blood. (Scotland)*
Strigoiu- Vampire that lives in abandoned houses. (Slavonic country?)
Upír- This vampire was born of the thought-- much like the chiang-shih in China-- that a person had two souls, and a vampire was a corpse animated by one of the souls-- the lesser soul-- that remained in the body after death. This vampire had two hearts, and was known in the grave to have its eyes open, two curls in its hair and various other usual vampiric signs. Also known as nelapsi (Czech)*
Ustrel- A child born on a Saturday, but not baptized usually turned into this specific type of vampire. After the 9th day of burial, it would rise again and attack livestock during the night, then return to the grave during the day. If enough blood was consumed, it would grow strong enough stay out during the daytime, hiding amongst the herds and picking off the animals one at a time. (Bulgaria)*
Middle East
Dakhanavar- A vampire that lived in the wild and attacked travelers at night by sucking blood from their feet. Two men outwitted it by sleeping so that their heads rested on the other's feet. The vampire was frustrated by the thing with two heads and no feet, and ran away and was never seen again. (Armenia)*
Ghoul- (Ghul, m. Ghulah, f.) Closely associated with the vampire, a ghoul was a reanimated body, but which fed on other corpses and not on blood. Sometimes, though, they are known to eat flesh of the living as well. They are also linked to zombies, but unlike those creatures, ghouls are not controlled by a witch. Looking at things in terms of evolution of the deceased, zombies are lowest on the order, followed by ghouls, and then topped by vampires, who are much more refined in their tastes, and stronger in their supernatural abilities. (Arabic/ Arabia)*
Lilith- A complex figure, Lilith was born in the Jewish tradition from a Sumerian vampire-demon figure, also known as Lillu, Ardat Lili, and Irdu Lili. Lilith was known as the first wife of Adam, who left him to go dwell in the desert. She became a demoness and the mother of all demons (who were called, in the plural, "Lilith" as well), and attacked infants, sucking their blood and strangling them. Eventually she and her demons lost this vampiric quality and were merely associated with the untimely death of any young child or baby. It can be hypothesized that this Lilith legend, making it's way into Europe after the Jewish Diaspora of 70 A.D., is the basis for the other female, vampire-like demonesses who attacked children, such as the Bruja of Spain, or the Lamia of Greece. (Hebrew)*
A Vampire by any other name...
Albanian- Kukuthi, lugat*
Bosnian- Lampir, tenatz*
Bulgarian- Opyri/ opiri, vipir, vepir, vapir*
Croatian- Vukodlak, kosac, prikosac, tenjac*
Filipino- Danag, Mandurugo*
Gaelic/ Celtic- Craitnag folley (perhaps "blood bat"), sooder folley (literally "blood sucker")+ German- Bluatsauger (Literally "bloodsucker"), Nachttoter (Literally "night killer"), Neuntoter (Literally "killer of nine")*
Greek- Vrykolakas, empusai, nosophoros (Literally "plague-carrier")*
Gypsy- Mulo/ Mullo (pl. mulé) (Literally "one who is dead")*
Hebrew- Aluka (Literally a leech, it seems to be synonymous with vampirism or vampire)*
Hungarian- Pamgri
Indian (Sanskrit, I believe)- Asra-pa/ Asrk-pa (Literally "drinkers of blood"), vetalas, betails*
Irish- Dearg-due (Literally "red-blood sucker")
Japanese- Kyuketsuki*
Latin/ Roman- Strix*
Magyar- Vampir
Polish- Upiór, upier, m./ upierzyca, f., opji or wupji, vjesci or vjeszczi, njetop*
Romanian- Strigoi, m./ strigoaica, f.; Moroi, m./ Moroaica, f.*
Russian- Upir, Vieszcy, Uppyr*, or Upierczi
Serbian- Vampyres
Serbo-Croatian- Upirina*
Slavonic- Oupire (Literally "blood sucker"), Nosufur-atu*
Ukrainian- Upyr, Upiribi, Upior, m./ upiorzyca, f.*
Yittish- Dybbuk (Literally something like "drinker of blood." A friend told me this one.)
Incubus, witch, close enough...
Witches
Albanian- Shtriga*
Montenegro- Vjeshtitza*
Slovenian- Strigon*
Romanian- Striga*
Incubi/Succubi
French- Follets*
German- Alpes*
Italian- Folletti*
Old Teutonic- Mare*
Scandinavian- Mara*
Slavic- Mora*
Spanish- Duendes*
How A Vampire Dies:
They are immortal, living for centuries, but they can die with a fatal blow to the heart or decapitation and dismemberment. They have preternatural strength and a highly developed sense of smell.
Haematodipsia- A sexual thirst for blood.
Hedonism- Excessive devotion to pleasure.
Hemat(o)- [Greek] Prefix meaning blood; see also words beginning with hem, hemo, or haemat(o).
Hematemesis- The vomiting of blood.
Hematidrosis- Excretion of bloody sweat. (I have seen this happen to a vampire in at least one novel.)
Hematophageous- Subsisting on blood.
Hematoporphyria- (see porphyria).
Hematospermia- Blood in the semen; hemospermia. (Again, I have seen this as a vampire characteristic in a novel.)
Hemeralopia- Day blindness; defective vision in a bright light.
Hemogeneic- Pertaining to production of blood.
Hemotherapy- The use of blood in treating disease.
Lust murder- The sexual act after the murder.1
Necro- [Greek] Prefix meaning death.
Necrocytosis- Death and decay of cells. (I.e. the medical term for "rotting.")
Necrogenous- Originating or arising from dead matter.
Necrolysis- Separation or exfoliation of necrotic tissue. (This has more application in the accounts of bodies dug up in the middle ages-- and later-- where witnesses testify to ruddy or "new" skin on the supposed vampiric corpse, which later medical persons denote as being skin slippage, or necrolysis-- a normal occurrence in a decomposing body. Find out more about this in Step 5.)
Necromania- (see necrophilia).
Necrophagous- Feeding on dead flesh.
Necrophagy- Parts of a mutilated corpse are eaten.1
Necrophilia- 1.) Sexual attraction to corpses.1 2.) Sexual intercourse with a dead body.
Necrophobia- Morbid dread of death or dead bodies.
Necropsy- Examination of a body after death; autopsy.
Necrostuprum- Body-stealing.1
Porphyria- A genetic disorder characterized by a disturbance in porphyrin metabolism with resultant increase in the formation and excretion of porphyrins or their precursors. (Step 5 has a layman's explanation of this disease.)
Blood Fetish- The need or want to drink, taste, or "bathe" in blood. Usually conducted in a sexual situation. People who drink blood may or may not call themselves "vampires."
Blood Lust- The overwhelming desire to feed. A vampire in blood lust knows no bounds. The vampire will act as if possessed and cannot restrain him or herself until their appetite is sated, even if it means killing where they would not normally. Blood lust is often characterized by a reddening or glowing of the eyes, possible showing or elongation of fangs, drooling, growling, or any other animal-like behavior. Also simply called "the lust."
Child(e)- The offspring of a vampire. Pl., Childer.
Embrace- To make one a vampire; siring.(The specifics of this will be covered in a later page.)
Embracee- One who is being made into, or who has become embraced; childe.
Folkloric/ Historical Vampire- Specifically an animated corpse that has risen from its grave to drain the blood from animals or humans.
Fictional/ Literary Vampire- This vampire, unlike the folkloric vampire, has less limitations on it. Again, it may be an animated corpse feeding on blood, but "vampire" in literature is also used to refer to other creatures of the dark who are predators, such as ghouls or incubi, and it often does not feed solely on blood. Fictional vampires may act as psychic vampires, feeding on energy or emotional states, or may feed on other things, such as sex or flesh.
Ghoul- An animated corpse that sustains its own life by eating, most usually, the flesh of other corpses, but which can also eat humans.
Incubus/Succubus- This creature is something akin to a spirit or demonic entity, and sexually predates on men and women while they are asleep in their bed. Though it is not clear if the incubus prolongs its life by feeding from these sexual energies-- making it a type of vampire-- the victim does die from the incubus's attentions. It is linked to vampires, often confused as one, but because it is not an animated corpse, it is not wholly a vampire, at least historically. Pl., Incubi, Succubi.
Kindred- Vampires.
Living Vampires- This term refers to those people who are very much alive, but who practice vampiric acts, such as blood drinking, to satisfy an emotional need. Some claim, however, they do need to drink blood to sustain their health. People who choose a vampiric lifestlye often also opt to dress in black clothing or formal attire, sleep in coffins, and advoid the sunlight. "Living vampire" is usually applied only to those who wish to call themselves such- people who have only a blood fetish may take offense at being labeled a vampire. Being a living vampire may be labeled as a "club or weekend hobby," a "lifestyle," "occultism," or a "religion."
Psychic Vampire- Specifically a living being that sustains its life, way of life, or own emotional state by draining or feeding from the energy, emotions or life of another being, almost always a human.
Sire- The vampire who embraces another person; the maker of another vampire; parent vampire. (Female vampires can also be called "sires.")
Siring- The act of turning one into a vampire; embracing.
Vampire- 1. An animated corpse that drinks blood to sustain itself indefinitely. 2. A human, creature, spirit or other entity that drains any manner of thing-- blood, energy, etc.-- from humans or animals to sustain its way of life; psychic vampire.
Vampire Demi-god- I use this term to refer to entities who are neither a demon nor a spirit. Demi-gods, or lesser gods, are often god hybrids or low ranking gods. Unlike demons and spirits, they traditionally do not interact with the mortal population, unless it is in legend. (Hercules and the Titans are commonly known demi-gods.) A vampire demi-god is a figure in religion/ mythology that acts in a manner consistent with folkloric vampires. These lesser gods are, I believe, the beginnings of the figure of the vampire, who eventually de-evolved from a god-- splitting then, perhaps, into the other related forms of spirits and demons-- to a very tangible, and formally mortal, corpse.
Vampiress- A female vampire. (Though a "vampire" may refer to either sex.)
Witch/Warlock/Wizard- Accroding to popular belief during the middle ages, witches are the human servants of the Devil. They are either under his direct control, with no will power of their own, or they have entered into a pact with the Devil to do his bidding in return for personal favors. Unlike popular notions of witches (such as at Halloween), witches were not necessarily believed to be ugly or otherwise obvious. The most obvious sign of a witch nearby was a continual string of bad luck in a village, or to a particular family, disease-- especially among livestock-- and unusal events or certain individuals acting strangely. Originally "witch" could refer to either males or females, although most who were burned at the stake were women. Later, it became more common to refer to male witches as warlocks or wizards. (Note, this is a medieval definition of a witch. This is in no way related to the modern definition of a witch as a practitioner of pagan or earth-related rituals, like the Wiccans.)
Zombie- Like a ghoul, this being is an animated corpse, but unlike a ghoul, it is controlled by a witch or witch doctor. It is used as a slave or made to suffer out of revenge by the person controlling it. Traditionally, a zombie does not attack others-- unless ordered to-- and it does not drink blood or eat flesh. It, especially in horror movies, is often confused with a ghoul. The ghoul, zombie and vampire are closely linked, and are often interchanged with each other in folklore.
Vampire Characteristics:
1. How a person becomes a vampire
1. vampire from birth
2. vampire from evil deeds
3. vampire at/with death
2. Physical appearance
1. while animate
2. while inanimate
3. Removing/ Preventing the vampire
1. chuch methods
2. preventive measures (non-violent to the corpse)
3. final methods (corpse mutilation)
4. Saving/ preventing a victim
1. church methods
2. "old religion methods"
Where do vampires come from?
* Dead wizards
* Heretics
* Outcasts
* Illegitimate offspring of illegitimate children
* Anyone killed by a vampire
* Suicides
* Unavenged deaths
* Untimely/ unhappy deaths
* Witches
* Murderers
* Robbers/ villains
* Accursed
* An unburied body which has had sun or moonlight fall upon it
* An unburied body that has been leapt over by a cat
* Still born children and unbaptised children (Rise as vampires 7 years after their death)
* Any animal (including cat) that has passed over an unburied body
* Perjurers, liars
* 7th sons
* A shadow of a living man falling upon an unburied body.
* A nun stepping over an unburied body.
These are a few of the signs of vampirism in a dead body:
* Holes in the ground above the grave (Guess even vampires like a little fresh air)
* Corpse with one or more of the following:
1. Wide open eyes
2. Ruddy complexion
3. No decomposition
* Nails and hair grown out
* Bite marks apparent on the neck
* Shroud (burial cloth) partially or entirely devoured
* Blood in the veins
* Coffin containing blood
* Apparently well fed body
* Flexible limbs
* In China, vampires can be identified by the greenish-white hair covering their bodies.
* Chinese vampires also may fly, have claws, and glaring/ glowing eyes.
Unknown graves of Vampires? Then do:
1. Have a virgin boy ride naked and bareback on a virgin stallion through the graveyard until the horse steps on a grave and goes no further. That marks a vampire's grave. Or...
2. Lead a white stallion through a graveyard and the grave he will not step on is the grave of a vampire.
What to do now?
* Unknown murder victims (strangers) and persons who committed suicide were often buried out away from the town or village, along roadsides or near road intersections. This was thought to be far enough away from town to keep them-- as possible vampires-- from coming back around, or to confuse them as to which direction is which so they will become lost and not come into town.
* As a precaution, some bodies thought to have a very high chance of becoming vampires were staked or pinned into the grave.
* The head might be severed from the body and placed between the legs or under an arm. (Wonder where the Legend of Sleepy Hollow came from??)
* The feet and legs might be bound to prevent the body from escaping the grave.
* The corpse may be dismembered and the pieces buried separately from each other.
* To get rid of a known vampiric corpse, you could burn the corpse to ashes.
* Tear out the heart.
* Throw boiling water or oil onto the grave.
* It was local customs that dictated the proper stake for spearing your nearest dead kin. Some included: aspen, maple, blackthorn, or hawthorn.
* Vampiric witch doctors and/ or sorcerers had to be burnt on a moonless night or nailed to the ground.
* As an extra preventive measure, bodies could be protected from vampiricy by burying them with a cross made of willow under each armpit, chin and chest.
* The body could be buried face downward and deep to prevent it from knowing right side-up in the grave and escaping.
* Drive a stake through the heart or navel. (Some say it must be done with only one blow.)
* Put small stones or grains of incense in all the extremities so that the vampire will have something to eat when it awakens.
* Place garlic in the mouth.
* Millet (grains of wheat) could be scattered over the body and throughout the coffin so that the vampire, upon awakening, has to count or eat every piece in there.
* Wild thorny roses should be strung around the outside of the coffin to make it more difficult for the vampire to escape.
* Lay out a body several days to make sure it doesn't start acting like a vampire. (Germany)
* Bury food with the body in hopes that will keep it satisfied.
* Break the corpse's neck as another preventive measure.
* Place money in the vampire's mouth (I think this was probably derived from the old Greek custom of giving a body money so the soul passing into Hades would be able to pay the ferryman at the River Styx to cross into the proper afterlife) and cut the name from it's shirt. (Germany)
If you should happen to get bitten...
There are a few things you can do if you suspect you are under attack or have been attacked by a vampire:
Drink the ashes of a burnt vampire to cure vampire-caused illnesses and to prevent further attacks.
Remedy for attacks against children (Italy):
1. Gospel read over the child's head while his head rests on a priest's robe.
2. Cross of wax, blessed on Ascension Day (40th day after Easter), hung over the doorway of the house.
3. A linen bag containing a pinch of salt hung around the child's neck.
4. Child's hair is cut and a lock is thrown into the fire.
5. Hinges in the house are sprinkled with holy water.
6. Credo recited aloud 3 times.
7. Husband/ father watches for 7 nights for the witch/ vampire.
Or if you fear getting bitten...
* Mix flour with the blood of a "slain" vampire and make it into a bread and eat it to prevent against vampire attacks.
* Lay a dead cat or dog at the house's threshold-- the witch or vampire will have to stop and count every hair on the animal, but will have to flee before dawn, or get caught by the sun and die.
* In Russia, masks were worn by mourners in funeral processions, devious routes were taken on the way back home, and the mourners did not look back as they traveled away from the grave, all in an effort to keep any body that might turn vampire from coming back to town and finding people it recognized.
The "Dracula Disease"
This rare disease known as the "vampire" or "Dracula" disease, or by it's proper medical name, porphyria (pronounced por-fer-e-ah, or por-fi-re-ah) is thought to be one of, or the reason for the vampire scares throughout time, in cultures around the world. It is very hard to describe it out of a nurse's dictionary-- it's a lot on the technical side-- but I'm going to try my best to put it in layman's terms.
First of all, porphyria is a genetic disease. Because it is hereditary, it can't be caught by blood or other fluid exchange. There shoots down all those old legends of vampires biting someone and they become a vampire themselves. If having porphyria makes you a vampire, then you cannot give it to others. You cannot make other vampires. You cannot "embrace" anyone. I'm not sure to what percent it is that it gets passed from parent to child, i.e. I'm not sure if 100% of children of a porphyritic (making up a word here) parent gets it or if 50% of them do, or if it passes more readily into one sex or another or if grandchildren are more likely to get it than children (as is sometimes the case with hereditary diabetes). The only sure thing is you can't get it through blood or bodily fluid transfer. Sorry if that ruins your evening plans of a little... necking.
Porphyrins (hence the lack of them gives you the name of the disease), combined with iron form hemes in the blood. Heme is what makes blood red. If you don't have the right porphyrin content, you don't have the right heme contents, and then things start to go bad. Prophyria imbalance can cause the following:
* gastrological problems (stomach cramping, nausea)
* neurological and psychological disorders (you get crazy)
* photosensitivity (intolerance to sun or bright lights)
* pigmentation of the face (skin changes color, usually getting lighter, losing color)
* anemia (blood deficiency) with enlargement of the spleen (an organ acting as a reservoir for blood)
* and excessive amounts of porphyrins are excreted in the stool and urine, giving it a dark red, bloodish color.
If you look at all the symptoms of porphyria, you can begin to see how it could start looking like what we know as a vampire. Mentally unstable people, perhaps snarling, flashing their teeth. Perhaps biting others. Some people report that porphyria is helped by giving blood, IV. Back before such things, you might find people suffering of the disease drinking blood to help them feel better. They are photosensitive, their skin, in extreme cases, prone to blistering and burning in the sunlight, so they would have a preference to avoid it. Discoloration of the skin or loss of pigmentation, coupled with a low amount of blood, would give suffers a very pale appearance indeed. But before you say "Aha!" and pronounce this as the truth behind the vampire scares, be advised, this is a very rare disease. There are several classifications of it as well, not all of them having all of the symptoms. Those symptoms closest to being "vampire related" appear only in a handful of cases. As of 1991, there were only 60 reported cases of the form of porphyria, CEP, that has symptoms most commonly linked with vampirism.1
Catalepsy
This is "a condition of diminished responsiveness usually characterized by a trance-like state and constantly maintained immobility. The patient with catalepsy may remain in one position for minutes, days and even longer."
Back before there were laws governing certificates of death and coroners who made sure you were dead, the science of declaring someone dead was not very precise, to say the least. It's not that catalepsy was so common as comas and near death phases were. After a traumatic accident, one may be breathing shallowly and the heart slowed. The person could go into a catatonic state, but not be dead. With monitors and such now, that's just part of being in critical condition; we know the person is alive. but in rural areas, miles and miles from medical help, often the person diagnosing death was a family member, friend, stranger, but too often not a doctor. Sometimes people knew how to check a pulse, which is your heart was still beating pretty well and they could take a good pulse, you were okay. But sometimes people couldn't take a pulse at all. The best you got was an ear pressed to the chest or close to the nose for sounds of a beating heart or breathing. Either of those too shallow for detection and you were pronounced dead. While wakes gave you roughly 24 hours to improve or die, you usually didn't have longer. Sometimes less, seeing how people did not have embalming and/or funeral homes with an air conditioner cold enough to frost the windows back in those days, funerals held in the heat of summer were often very, very quick. they wouldn't leave a body out long enough to see if it started to smell and was truly dead. Needless to say, many comatose people were buried alive in this fashion.
When you have people buried alive, you can easily see where vampire myths came from. "Partially eaten shroud" was often a sign of vampires. More often than not, it probably came, if not from bugs or natural deterioration, from people buried alive and hungry. Muffled sounds from graves and scratching in coffins on dark nights could have been those people wanting out, audible in the quietness of evening. Fresh bodies and blood and even screams as the heart of an unearthed vampire were staked can all be explained as comatose victims still alive in the grave, not undead. Because the fear of being buried alive was so great, some people went to great lengths to avoid it, stipulating in their wills to be laid out for three days to make sure they were really dead, not be buried until pronounced dead by a certified physician, to be exhumed three days after burial to make sure the body was dead, or some even had elaborate bell systems devised to ring on the surface if they moved their hand below.2
So Many Veins, Where To Begin?
Starting with the head down, I'll cover all the best places to "get a bite."
* The external carotid artery-- This is the most common place of all to have a vampire bite. This is the artery in the side of your neck where you take your pulse, closest to the surface between the jaw, slightly under the earlobe and forward, and the collarbone.
* The jugular vein-- This vein is a big no-no to bite. Extending on either side of the trachea (the throat), following down the neck from the chin to the collarbone, this vein is very dangerous to pierce. The jugular leads directly down into the heart and carries all the blood from the brain. The jugular vein is much larger than the carotid artery, and so carries much more blood. Very few people in the world have survived a severed jugular vein (we're talking single digits). So, unless your vampire has... um... fangs of steel and a very still victim, a jugular bite could be potentially deadly. The obverse side to that is it is very easy and quick to kill someone that way. Ripping out the throat, by either severing the jugular vein, puncturing the trachea (the windpipe), or both, causes a very quick death.
* The median cubital vein-- This vein is the one in the elbow where, if you've ever had blood drawn, that is where they stick you. Hey, if a hospital can use it, so can a vampire.
* The ulner artery-- This is the artery in the wrist. After the neck it seems to be the second favorite place for vampires to bite. Remember this though, the vein lies under some tendons (unlike the medial cubital which is right under the skin in the elbow), so that could pose a problem with biting.
* The greater saphenous vein-- This vein runs along the inside of either thigh. The vein is large and deep; it would take a big bite to get down into it, but its location makes it a nice... foreplay move, if you have such an amorous vampire.
* The femoral vein-- This vein is the one at the back of the knee. Like the median cubital in the elbow, this vein lies close to the skin and is an easy bite if you have a victim face down and willing to not kick or unable to kick.
Vampire Names:
Africa
Asasabonsam- Humanoid monster that lived in the forest and was rarely seen. It had iron teeth, and captured unwary passers-by by letting its hook-shaped feet dangle down from the treetops where it sat. (Ashanti tribe, Ghana)*
Asiman- See Obayifo. (From Dahomeans)*
Obayifo- Identified more as a witch than a vampire, this magic-made (not hereditary) being left its body at night, in the form of a glowing ball, and attacked people, especially children, and sucked them of their blood. Might also suck the juice from fruits and vegetables. (Ashanti tribe)*
Asia, India, Pacific Islands and Australia
Aswang- A witch-woman who appeared as a beautiful maiden when she rubbed herself with a certain ointment. She would fly, at night, to the roof of a house and send down her long tongue to prick the throat of her sleeping victim, then she would drink the blood. When fully fed she appeared as a pregnant woman. (Philippines)*
Bhuta- A person who died in an untimely fashion, and arose to wander the land at night. This demi-vampire, in its wanderings, would reanimate dead bodies of others, who then in turn attacked the locals, eating them as ghouls did. (Western India)*
Brahmaparusha- A vampire-like mythical creature that drank blood from an upturned skull. (Northern India)*
Chedipe- (Literarlly "prostitute") This vampiric woman was depicted riding a tiger naked, and at night she would entrance a household into a deep sleep, enter, then suck the blood from the man through his big toe. (India)*
Chiang-shih (kiang shi)- A rather vicious vampire that was made when the inferior soul stayed to inhabit the body after death, due to improper burial rites or a bad death. It could pass for a human, but sometimes took on other forms, such as that of a wolf, or it may have appeared to glow a phosphorescent green, or have serrated teeth, talons or shaggy white hair. (China)
Churel- A woman who died an unnatural death, she would come back to seek revenge on any family members who treated her badly by drying up the blood of male family members. She might also tempt young men in the village with food, and if they ate it, she would keep them until dawn, where they returned to their village old men. A churel was marked by the fact that her feet were turned backwards. (India)*
Kali- This goddess, also known as the "Mad Mother" stretches the definition of what is vampiric. She has fangs (or sharp teeth), is dressed in human heads and arms, carries a sickle sword that she uses to kill demons, and is worshiped by sacrificing animals to her at her temple, where she may drink the blood. She-- along with other Hindu gods and goddesses-- often devours the demons that she kills. Though we can't label this revered and popular goddess a vampire, we can begin to see where the gods of the ancient peoples slowly worked their way into the everyday culture, and then, later, as Christianity took over as the main religion, superstition. (India)
Kappa- A vampire that dwelt in water (usually ponds), it attacked livestock, such as cows and horses, and drug them into the water and devoured them. (Japan)*
Maneden- A creature that dwelt in a wild pandanus plant. If a human attacked the plant, the creature would retaliate by attaching itself to a man's elbow (or a woman's nipple) where it sucked his blood until he gave something in substitution, such as a nut. (Malaysia)*
Penanggalan- Gruesomely depicted vampire (Malaysia)*
Pisachas- Demi-god ghouls; literally "eaters of raw flesh." Also known as Yatu-dhana/ Hatu-dhana. (India)*
Polong- A creature, like a witch's familiar, that would do the bidding of the witch in exchange for small amounts of blood daily, taken from a cut in the finger. (Malasyia)*
Pontianak- Yet another female vampire who attacks infants and drinks their blood. Pontianaks also seduce young men, in the form of a maiden. (Java) Also known as a Langsuyar in Malaysia.*
Rakshasas- (Rakshasas, m. Rakshasis, f.) These are demi-gods in that they don't appear to interact directly with the populace, but their exploits, instead, are given in legends. Like vampires, though, they wandered at night, had fangs, drank blood and preferred to attack infants and pregnant women. (India)*
Yara-ma-yha-who- More beast than man, this vampire dwelt in fig trees and would jump down on people who passed by or slept under the tree. The creature would drain the blood from the person, though not usually enough to kill. Sometimes it ate the person whole, then regurgitated them out later. The more often a person was attacked, the more like the creature they became, until eventually they were made fully into a yara-ma-yha-who. (Aboriginies, Australia)*
Central and South America, Caribbean
Asema- An vampiric old man or woman who took the form of a ball of light and traveled at night to drink the blood of people asleep in their houses. (South America)*
Camazotz- A full-fledged god, this deity was central in agriculture, but was feared for his blood-drinking tendencies, fearsome appearance (which included large teeth and claws), and his tendency to dwell in caves where he would-- I presume-- attack people for their blood. (Mayan, Mexico)*
Cihuateteo- A demi-god, this vampiric woman, like so many in other parts of the world, was depicted killing and drinking the blood of infants. Interestingly enough, like many of the vampires in the West, they are said to meet at crossroads and only wander at night, as sunlight will kill them. (Aztecs, Mexico)*
Civateto- Vampire witch (Mexico)
Jaracaca- Vampire that feeds from breast milk (Brazil)
Lobishomen- Vampire that attacks women and turns them into nymphomaniacs. (Brazil) Also known as werewolves. (Portugal)*
Loogaroo- This word comes from the corrupted French word "loup-garou," which was originally reserved for werewolves (much as "lobishomen" has changed from representing werewolves to being associated with vampires).* Vampiric elderly ladies (Grenada, Haiti)
Sukuyan- Vampiric witch, akin to the Loogaroo and Asema (Trinidad)*
Tlahuelpuchi- Blood-sucking witch (Mexico)*
Europe and the United Kingdom
Bruja- Usually seen as a woman, this living person transformed into various animals and attacked infants. (Spain)* See also Bruxa.
Bruxa- (Bruxa, f. Bruxo, m.) Vampire/ witches, they assumed animal forms such as a duck, rat, goose, dove or ant and attacked, most usually, infants. Adhering to witch practices, they were found out between midnight and 2:00 a.m. (also known as the "witching hours"), on Tuesdays and Fridays, meeting at crossroads. Associated with lobishomen (werewolves) and also known as bruja. (Portugal)*
Callicantzaros- A specific type of vampire, coming from people who were born on religious holidays, especially between Christmas and Epiphany (New Years). This vampire, with long talons, would attack people and tear them up on the holy days between Christmas and Epiphany. (Greece)*
Drakul- A body moving with the help of a demon. (See page on Vlad Tepes for additional meanings on this word.) (Slavonic country?)
Dhampir- Vampire's son. Sometimes thought to be the only person who could see a vampire and kill it. Up until the 17th and 18th centuries, people would hire themselves out as vampire killers under the guise of being a Dhampir. (Serbia) Also known as a vampirdzhija (Bulgaria)*
Djadadjii- This was a specific kind of vampire hunter, who "bottled" vampires. The hunter would first bait a bottle with a favorite food of the rascally vampire. He would then use a picture of a saint, or Christ or Mary as an icon, and would drive the vampire from his hiding place, and straight into the bottle. The hunter then corked the bottle and disposed of the vampire by throwing it, bottle and all, into a fire. (Bulgaria)*
Incubus (Incubus, m. Succubus, f. Incubi/Succubi, pl.)- Like a ghoul, this creature is closely linked to a vampire, but unlike both of them, it is a spirit, and not an animated corpse. This creature does not drain its victims of blood nor energy, but will exhaust them to death by coming in every night to have sex with the victim. The victims, worn out and helpless, often die of asphyxiation as the incubus/ succubus is characterized by a heavy, weighty feeling on the victim's chest. (Eastern European)*
Lamia/ lamiai- A vampiric woman, she is half woman, half serpent, and lives in caves, where she drinks the blood of children. She sometimes transforms into a beautiful maiden to seduce young men and also drink their blood. (Greece)*
Lidérc- More incubus than vampire, this creature had many different shapes as a man, woman, animal or light, and it drained the energy out of its victim sexually. (Hungary)*
Nachzehrer- A vampire (when found in the grave) that has these specific traits: holds the thumb of one hand with the other, its left eye is open and it emits a grunting sound as it chews on its shroud in the tomb. (Germany)
Neuntöter- Vampire that spreads plague. (Germany)
Nora- A bald man, running on all fours, he would suck the breasts of women- presumably draining them as an incubus might do. (Hungary)*
Obur- A particularly gluttonous blood drinker, the local people had to offer great amounts of food to get rid of it. It was characterized by loud noises and the ability to move things without being seen (like a poltergeist). (Gagauz people, Bulgaria)*
Redcap- This spirit haunted abandoned sites, especially if they had been the scene of violence. Their only link to vampirism was that they carried a cap that had been dyed red in human blood, and they took every opportunity to re-dye it with more blood. (Scotland)*
Strigoiu- Vampire that lives in abandoned houses. (Slavonic country?)
Upír- This vampire was born of the thought-- much like the chiang-shih in China-- that a person had two souls, and a vampire was a corpse animated by one of the souls-- the lesser soul-- that remained in the body after death. This vampire had two hearts, and was known in the grave to have its eyes open, two curls in its hair and various other usual vampiric signs. Also known as nelapsi (Czech)*
Ustrel- A child born on a Saturday, but not baptized usually turned into this specific type of vampire. After the 9th day of burial, it would rise again and attack livestock during the night, then return to the grave during the day. If enough blood was consumed, it would grow strong enough stay out during the daytime, hiding amongst the herds and picking off the animals one at a time. (Bulgaria)*
Middle East
Dakhanavar- A vampire that lived in the wild and attacked travelers at night by sucking blood from their feet. Two men outwitted it by sleeping so that their heads rested on the other's feet. The vampire was frustrated by the thing with two heads and no feet, and ran away and was never seen again. (Armenia)*
Ghoul- (Ghul, m. Ghulah, f.) Closely associated with the vampire, a ghoul was a reanimated body, but which fed on other corpses and not on blood. Sometimes, though, they are known to eat flesh of the living as well. They are also linked to zombies, but unlike those creatures, ghouls are not controlled by a witch. Looking at things in terms of evolution of the deceased, zombies are lowest on the order, followed by ghouls, and then topped by vampires, who are much more refined in their tastes, and stronger in their supernatural abilities. (Arabic/ Arabia)*
Lilith- A complex figure, Lilith was born in the Jewish tradition from a Sumerian vampire-demon figure, also known as Lillu, Ardat Lili, and Irdu Lili. Lilith was known as the first wife of Adam, who left him to go dwell in the desert. She became a demoness and the mother of all demons (who were called, in the plural, "Lilith" as well), and attacked infants, sucking their blood and strangling them. Eventually she and her demons lost this vampiric quality and were merely associated with the untimely death of any young child or baby. It can be hypothesized that this Lilith legend, making it's way into Europe after the Jewish Diaspora of 70 A.D., is the basis for the other female, vampire-like demonesses who attacked children, such as the Bruja of Spain, or the Lamia of Greece. (Hebrew)*
A Vampire by any other name...
Albanian- Kukuthi, lugat*
Bosnian- Lampir, tenatz*
Bulgarian- Opyri/ opiri, vipir, vepir, vapir*
Croatian- Vukodlak, kosac, prikosac, tenjac*
Filipino- Danag, Mandurugo*
Gaelic/ Celtic- Craitnag folley (perhaps "blood bat"), sooder folley (literally "blood sucker")+ German- Bluatsauger (Literally "bloodsucker"), Nachttoter (Literally "night killer"), Neuntoter (Literally "killer of nine")*
Greek- Vrykolakas, empusai, nosophoros (Literally "plague-carrier")*
Gypsy- Mulo/ Mullo (pl. mulé) (Literally "one who is dead")*
Hebrew- Aluka (Literally a leech, it seems to be synonymous with vampirism or vampire)*
Hungarian- Pamgri
Indian (Sanskrit, I believe)- Asra-pa/ Asrk-pa (Literally "drinkers of blood"), vetalas, betails*
Irish- Dearg-due (Literally "red-blood sucker")
Japanese- Kyuketsuki*
Latin/ Roman- Strix*
Magyar- Vampir
Polish- Upiór, upier, m./ upierzyca, f., opji or wupji, vjesci or vjeszczi, njetop*
Romanian- Strigoi, m./ strigoaica, f.; Moroi, m./ Moroaica, f.*
Russian- Upir, Vieszcy, Uppyr*, or Upierczi
Serbian- Vampyres
Serbo-Croatian- Upirina*
Slavonic- Oupire (Literally "blood sucker"), Nosufur-atu*
Ukrainian- Upyr, Upiribi, Upior, m./ upiorzyca, f.*
Yittish- Dybbuk (Literally something like "drinker of blood." A friend told me this one.)
Incubus, witch, close enough...
Witches
Albanian- Shtriga*
Montenegro- Vjeshtitza*
Slovenian- Strigon*
Romanian- Striga*
Incubi/Succubi
French- Follets*
German- Alpes*
Italian- Folletti*
Old Teutonic- Mare*
Scandinavian- Mara*
Slavic- Mora*
Spanish- Duendes*
How A Vampire Dies:
They are immortal, living for centuries, but they can die with a fatal blow to the heart or decapitation and dismemberment. They have preternatural strength and a highly developed sense of smell.
It's just some information I've collected on Vampires.
© 2009 - 2024 moukaryuu
Comments6
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Very nice detail *thumbs up*