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There are many different vampire myths around the world, from the traditional 'Dracula' style vampire to some
more unusual folklore/tribal myths. I have attempted to compile a page on these here, categorised alphabetically by country.
Go To: Africa: Armenia: Albania: Australia: Babylon: Bulgaria: China: France: Germany: Greece: Haiti: Hungary: India: Ireland: Italy: Israel: Japan: Java: Madagascar: Malaysia: Mexico: Moldavia: Phillipines: Poland: Portugal: Romania: Rome: Russia: Saudi Arabia: Scandinavia: Scotland: Slovakia: Slovenia: South America: South Pacific: Thailand: Tibet Adze : Sorcerers amongst the 'Ewe' tribe in southeastern Ghana and southern Togo in Africa were often thought by the tribesfolk to be possessed by a vampire spirit known as an 'Adze'. This vampire has the appearance of a firefly and flies around preying on young children, drinking their blood but also drinks coconut water and palm oil. If caught it will revert to human form. Asasabonsam : This vampire originates from the Ashanti people of Southern Ghana and is also found in Togo and the Ivory Coast. These vampire creatures hide in trees in dense forests and attacks and kills anyone who walks underneath. The 'Asasabonsam' is of human form except for its iron teeth and hooklike legs which it uses to trap its victims. Impundulu : Witches in the eastern Cape region keep these vampire creatures as servants which they use to attack their enemies. The 'Impundulu' is passed down from mother to daughter in the Witch's family and, rather like the 'Incubus', is able to transform into handsome male and seduce its witch mistress. This vampire is thought to possess an insatiatable appetite for blood and will drain its victim to the point of death if allowed to do so. Obayifo : This vampire originates amongst the Ashanti tribes living on the Gold Coast although it does reappear under different names amongst neighbouring tribes. For example, In Dahomean folklore it is called the 'Asiman'. The 'Obayifo' is another example of witchraft as this 'living vampire' is the spirit of a male or female witch that is able to leave its body and flies around at night feeding on young children. This vampire, which has the appearance of a glowing ball of light, is also said to cause blight in crops: as well as drinking blood, the 'Obayifo' is partial to the juice of some fruit and vegetables and will destroy whole fields if it drinks too much of this.
Dakhanavar : (also called 'Dashnavar') This mountain spirit attacks travellers in the night, sucking blood from the soles of their feet as they sleep. Legend tells that it was outwitted by two men who slept with their feet under each others head. The vampire was then confused and ran away never to be seen again.
Lugat : The 'Lugat' does not kill its victims, it will only feed briefly on them and, as such, is relatively harmless.
Yara-Ma-Yha-Who : This vampirelike creature is found in aboriginal culture. The 'Yara-Ma-Yha-Who' has the appearance of a four foot tall red man with an exceptionally large head and mouth. Having no teeth, this creature swallows its food whole and uses suckers on the ends of its toes and fingers to drain its victim of blood. This vampire, like the 'Asasabonsam' of Africa, hides in fig trees and attacks people as they walk underneath. According to Legend if you were unlucky enough to be attacked more than once by this creature you might gradually become shorter and eventually become a 'Yara-Ma-Yha-Who' yourself.
Ekimmu : People who suffered a premature or violent death, were unfulfilled in love or simply had an improper burial were destined to become one of the most feared vampires in Assyria and Babylon. This ancient spirit was the result of the soul of the recently deceased being trapped in limbo unable to find peace. It would therefore wander the earth and attack those unfortunate enough to cross its path. Lilitu : (also called 'Lilith') This vampire, found in Jewish/Babylonian myth, drank the blood of babies and young children. Utukku : This vampire spirit is another instance of a 'trapped soul', in that the 'Utukku' was thought to be the spirit of someone who had recently died but had returned from the grave unable to find rest. There are, however, some instances in which this 'vampire' is described as a demon so I unfortunately I cannot be more precise on this one.
Ubour : This vampire is created if the spirit refuses to leave the body after a violent death. After forty days of burial the corpse will dig itself out of its grave and begin to cause poltergeist-like trouble, creating sparks as it moves about, for its mourning family and relations. This vampire is unusual in that it eats normal food and will not attack humans to drink their blood until any other source of nourishment is gone. Ustrel : This vampire was believed to be the spirit of a child born on a Saturday that had died without being baptised. On the 9th day after burial it would come out of its grave and attack livestock to drink their blood. If more than five cattle or sheep were attacked in any one night the owner of the herd would be forced to hire a 'Vampirdzhija' (vampire hunter) to destroy it.
Chiang-shih : (also called 'Kiang-shi') This terrifying vampire creature is said to be caused by either the demonic posession of a recently deceased corpse or by suicide or some other violent death. It has been documented in two forms: In one form it is a tall and murderous, walking corpse with green or white hair all over its body. This vampire has long, sharp claws, serrated teeth, glowering red eyes and foul breath which will knock you dead at twenty paces. In this form it will leap out of graves to attack people travelling at night and can also learn to fly if it survives long enough to mature properly. In its more usual form it can appear human and will not be recognised as a vampire until it does something that will give it away. For example, like the slavic vampire, it is unable to cross running water, has the ability to transform into a wolf and is allergic to garlic.
Incubus : This vampire demon is the male incarnation of the well documented 'Succubus'. The 'Incubus' appears to be a form of 'energy vampire' and regularly preys on women at night until they are drained of all physical and sexual energies. This can occur through intensive love-making and by tormenting the victim's dreams with terrifying nightmares. The 'Incubus' is similar in concept to the Scandinavian 'Mara' and, like Slavic and Gypsy vampire folklore, it has the ability to father children. Succubus : The female counterpart to the 'Incubus', this creature attacks men during their sleep using the same methods as above.
Alp : This creature is similar in behaviour to the 'Incubus' as its victims are generally women which it attacks at night, drinking milk from their nipples and causing them to have horrible nightmares, athough it will also drink blood from the nipples of men and young children. The 'Alp' is generally believed to be a demon, although there are accounts in which they occur as spirits of recently deceased relations. There are also instances which state that children may become an 'Alp' if the mother suffers a long and painful childbirth and is forced to use a horse collar to ease the pain. It can also appear in animal form, linking it with some werewolf myths, can fly like a bird and, like the 'Mara', will ride a horse to exhaustion. Somewhat comically, the 'Alp' is said to wear a hat in almost all of its manifestations. Doppelsauger : This is another 'breast-obsessed' vampire (of which there are many in Europe) and is documented in northern regions of Germany. The 'Doppelsauger' will leech the life from its living relatives by attacking them and eating their breasts. It was believed that these vampires were caused by a mother allowing her child to again drink milk from her breast even though it had been weaned onto solid food: this child would then become a 'Doppelsauger' after its eventual death. Nachtzehrer : (also called 'neuntoter' or 'nachttoter') This revenant creature was believed to cause the death of its victims through its own psychic abilities. Whilst still in the grave it would devour its own burial shroud and flesh causing its family and relations to slowly waste away. The 'Nachtzehrer' is traditionally found in times of plague epidemics and is believe to carry the pestilence about its person as it is covered in sores and stinks of decay. It also keeps its left eye open at all times and grunts like a pig. It was thought that if you were buried with your name still attached to your burial clothing you might become a vampire such as this. Get your mum to remove those school nametags NOW!!
Callicantzaros : Children born between Christmas day and the New Year would become one of these. The 'Callicantzaros' exhibited manic behaviour and had talonlike fingernails with which it would tear is victims into shreds yet this vampirelike creature was only active during these days of the year: the remainder of the which it would be trapped, travelling the Netherworld. Empusas : (also called 'Mormolykiai') The 'Empusas' were vampire-demon attendants of Hecate, a Goddess from Greek mythology. These demons would often manifest themselves in human form, most commonly as Phoenician woman, and go about attacking people at night. Lamiai : This vampire originates from Greek myth in which the first 'Lamiai' was a Queen of Libya who went insane following the murder of her children by Hera. In revenge she began to travel the earth drinking blood and feeding on the flesh of infants and, like the 'Succubus' and other such 'sexual' demons, would appear as a beautiful woman to seduce men into lovemaking then devour them in a gruesome fashion. After feeding, the 'Lamiai' would take out its eyes in order to rest and it was only then that she could be destroyed. Vrykolakas : Tales of this vampire are documented in both Greece and Macedonia. People were generally believed to become one of these if they had commited suicide or had suffered a violent death. Those who led an immoral life were also thought to become a 'Vrykolaka'. Like many other common myths it was necessary for the vampire to request entry and be admitted into the household in order to be fully able to attack. The 'Vrykolaka' would, therefore, call the name of its intended victim at the door of that person's home and then, once inside, would sit on the individual's chest until they suffocated to death. In reality, the reason for the 'victim's' death was more likely a heart-attack as the feeling of a constricted chest (and indeed of being sat upon) is a usual symptom.
Loogaroo : This West Indian vampire is said to go to a 'Devil Tree' each night and remove its skin. It then flies off in search of its victims, in the form of a sulfurous ball.
Liderc : This vampire-like being was similar in behaviour to the Incubus or Succubus in that it could kill victims by 'loving them to death' ie. exhaustion through sexual activity. Nora : This unusual creature was an 'invisible' : a sprite or imp. The 'Nora' was humanoid in appearance, but was also very small, bald and ran on all fours. This vampire-creature attacked the breasts of women who were irreverent or known to be immoral and would make them swell painfully. The remedy for this ailment was to cover the affected breasts in Garlic and thus prevent the 'Nora' from 'attacking' again. The result of this creature's attack is more likely an explanation for a sexually transmitted disease or other illnesses caught through prostitution at the time.
Bhuta : It was believed that those who were physically disabled, insane or suicidal were destined to become a 'Bhuta' following their death. These vampires inhabited wastelands and graveyards in the form of 'willo-the-wisp' type lights or shadowy, ghostly apparitions. The 'Bhuta' were said to cause severe illness in those it attacked as these vampires mostly fed on the intestines and excrement of the recently buried. They were also believed to be able to possess individuals in order to attack newly-fed babies in an attempt to digest the milk that had drunk from their mothers. Brahmaparush : This bloodthirsty monster took ghoulish delight in completely consuming the people it attacked. Its method of devouring its victims was highly ritualised: the 'Brahmaparush' would begin by drinking the blood through a hole in the skull, following that the brain would also be consumed. This feeding ritual would not be complete until the vampire performed a macabre dance whilst deliberately entangled in the intestines of the corpse it had destroyed. Churel : These vampires were believed to have once been pregnant women who died during the festival of Divali. The 'Churel' were extremely ugly vampires with sagging breasts, black tongues, thick, rough lips, wild hair and back-to-front feet. They were thought to be bitter and angry due to their untimely death and as a result attacked their families and attractive, young men. Gayal : The 'Gayal' was a male spirit which had returned from the grave unable to rest as the burial rites had not been correctly carried out on the deceased. This angry spirit would attack members of his family in revenge for thier religious malpractice. Kali : This vampiric Goddess possessed a terrifying countenance and was said to appear on battlefields during long and bloody wars. Her skin was charred black in tone, her eyes and eyebrows were blood red and she had an extremely long tongue with which she became drunk on the blood of her victims. Masani : The 'Masani' attacks travellers at night as they pass by the burial grounds in which this female vampire hides, sleeping by day in a funeral pyre. The ash from this pyre is what gives this vampire her black-skinned appearance. Pisacha : The 'Pisacha' (trans. FleshEater) was, in religious teachings, a personification of Brahma's anger at the immorality and vices that had developed in humanity. This grotesque deity took pleasure in the consumption of whole corpses but also had the ability to cure diseases if approached in a respectful manner. Rakshasa : These beautiful female vampires would appear to men and lure them to their death but would also attack babies and pregnant women to drink their blood. There were many legends associated with the 'Rakshasa' (trans. 'Injurer'): some believed that if a child were forced to eat human brains then it would become one, others believed that these vampires caused stomach sicknesses in people who had tresspassed into their territory and that these fanged creatures dwelt in trees from which they could spy on those travelling underneath.
Dearg-dul : under construction
Stregoni benefici : under construction
Estrie : under construction
Kappa : under construction Kasha : under construction
Pontianak : under construction
Ramanga : under construction
Bajang : under construction Langsuir /lansuyar: under construction Pelesit : under construction Penanggalan : under construction Polong : under construction
Cihuateteo : under construction Tlahuelpuchi : under construction
Zmeu : under construction
Aswang : under construction Bebarlangs : under construction Danag : under construction
Vjeski : under construction Upier : under construction
Bruxsa : under construction
Moroii : (also called Muroni) under construction Nosferatu : under construction Strigoii vii : under construction Strigoii mort : under construction Varacolaci : under construction
Striges : under construction
Eretica : under construction Upyr: under construction Vourdalak : under construction vieszcy : under construction
Algul : under construction
Mara : under construction
Baobhan-sith : under construction
Nelapsi : under construction
Pijavica : under construction Volkodlak : under construction
Asema : An old man or woman who lived in the community and took off their skin and became a vampire at night, flying through the air as a ball of blue light and drinking peoples blood, sometimes till they died. Jaracacas : under construction Lobishomen : under construction
Talamaur : under construction
Phi Song Nang : Similar to the pontianak of Java, this vampire would appear as a beautiful woman and thus attack young men. They were caused by a person being killed by an animal.
The Wrathful Deities : These 58 blood-drinking deities originate from Tibetan Buddhist myth and have the heads of various animals. They do not attack individuals, but they represent the vampiric actions committed by the recently deceased, appearing on the eighth day (also a song by 'The Damned') after the death of the person. Go to Top |
