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Recaproi's Journal


Recaproi's Journal

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8 entries this month
 

the Contrast I've conducted between Clan and Coven

22:23 May 30 2009
Times Read: 18,584


Clan= A family/group of vampyres numbering up to ten members. also it may be a family or group of vampyres who stay together but r not a family through blood relation or marriage.



coven= A family of vampyres numbering over ten members. it may also be a family of vampyres who are all connected through blood relation or marriage.



However, if two members of two different covens/clans wish 2 marry, then if they cannot convince their families to join covens/clans they may choose which coven/clan tp be apart of or start their own.


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werewolfgirl
werewolfgirl
06:53 Jun 25 2009

thats nice to know





 

Strigoi animagus

14:11 May 24 2009
Times Read: 18,576


4 my book in progress I've made characters 4 some of my friends and others... they r strigoi in my book and they can turn into a variety of animals...



*barn owl

*wolf/dog/cat/pig/sheep/goat

*bat

*rodent

*reptile/amphibian

*insect/arachnid





any1 who reads this should put in their comment 2 this journal entry what type of these animals they think they would be...



remember, wolf= leader/rebel/independence and rogue, dog= follower/submissive/playful/may be dependent on some othger(s), cat= sassy/independent or dependent on affection/mischivious, pig= hog/selfish/territorial/aggressive/takes what u want when u want it, sheep= cowdarous and stupidity/gulliable, and goat= show-offish/all that/glamorous/prideful. they dont mean all of those listed after them but have those characteristics in them. color, shape and breed all depend on ur personality, hair color (natural), and preference in clothing maybe... same applies to the other animal forms 2 choose from.



for example: i would be a barn owl, wolf, vampire bat, rat, king cobra, and black scorpion.



comment back, happy hunting!


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Sources?

01:59 May 20 2009
Times Read: 18,573


If any1 has any more info that they know of 4 the vampyres i gave very little description on please notify me with it. id really appreciate it ^,..,^


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Vampyre Species-- alot!

16:20 May 17 2009
Times Read: 18,587


i promise 2 shorten this up when i get the chance... but enjoy anyways





Adlet (mythology)

In the Inuit mythology of the Labrador and Hudson Bay coasts, the Adlet are monsters that drink blood. They are the offspring a woman and a red dog. Five of the woman's ten children were dogs who crossed the seas to engender the European races. The other five children were the monstrous Adlet. The offspring of the Adlet are known as the Erqigdlit.



Adze (folklore)

The adze of African folklore is a vampiric being described in tales of the Ewe people of Ghana and Togo. It has the form of a firefly, though will transform into a human if captured, allowing it to attack its captors when it gets a chance. It hunts children, primarily, and drinks their blood, but when captured or inable to feed on blood it feeds on coconut water, palm oil.



Afrit (folklore)

In Arabian folklore, the Afrit is the vampiric spirit of a murdered man who seeks to avenge his death. The afrit rises up like smoke from the blood of its victim. It can be stopped by driving a nail into the bloodstained ground.



Alp (folklore)



An alp is a nightmare creature or vampire originating from Teutonic or German folklore.

Not to be mistaken with the similarly named Alp Luachra, the alp sometimes likened to a vampire, but its behavior is more like that of the incubus. The word "alp" is also a variation on the word "elf", and it also is known by the following names: trud, mare, mart, mahr, Schrat, and Walrider. Many other variations exist in surrounding European areas.

An alp is typically male, while mara and mart appear to be more feminine versions of the same creature. Its victims are often female, and it usually attacks during the nighttime, controlling dreams and creating horrible nightmares. An alp attack is referred to as an alpdrücke, and "pressing" is a favorite night torment of the alp. The alp "sits upon" a sleeper's chest and becomes heavier until the crushing weight awakens the terrified (and breathless) dreamer. They may awake terrified and unable to move under the alp's weight. This may have been an early explanation for sleep apnea and sleep paralysis, as well as night terrors. It may also include lucid dreams. An alp will repeat these sessions until it is repelled sufficiently, for it is quite persistent and determined once it selects its victim, and have been known to travel great distances to and from their favorite haunt.

The reason it is sometimes associated with vampires is because it may drink the blood from the nipples of men and young children. Alps also exhibit an elf-like tendency for mischief, like souring milk and re-diapering a baby. A maid must sign a cross on the diaper or the alp will put the soiled diaper back on it. They also enjoy tangling hair into "elfknots" or chewing and twisting horse's tails. They will ride a horse to exhaustion during the night and may sometimes crush small farm animals to death during a pressing attack.

It is said that alps originated from rather friendly elf-like beings, then turned toward more negative and malevolent ways. The alp, in many cases, is considered a demon, but there have been some instances in which the alp is created from the spirits of recently dead relations. Children may become an alp if a mother needs to use a horse collar to ease the pain during an extremely long and torturous childbirth. Also, a child born with a caul or stillborn may become an alp. As with the case of werewolves, sometimes a human or animal may become an alp during the night. Proof of this is injuring or marking the alp during the attack and seeing the being with a similar mark during the day. Also, people who have eyebrows that meet are suspected to be alps.

Sometimes an alp is a spirit sent by a witch or a person wishing harm on another. Tricking an alp shall lead you to the the sender.

The alp also is known for its shape-shifting abilities, similar to the creatures from werewolf lore. It may change into a cat, pig, dog, snake or a small white butterfly. It has also been said that it can fly like a bird and ride a horse. In almost all accounts and manifestations, the Alp is said to wear a hat, giving it an almost comical appearance. The hat (Tarnkappe, essentially a cloak with a hood, but in the case of the alp it is simply a hat, or "cap of concealment") is said to possess magic powers and give the alp the ability to turn invisible. An alp who has lost this hat will offer a great reward for its safe return.

Protections against an alp include laying a broomstick under a pillow, iron horseshoes hung from the bedpost, placing shoes against the bed or placing a mirror on the chest. Steel and crosses are also used. If awoken by the alp and finding him still there, one can address him by asking him to return in the morning to borrow something or have coffee. It is said it will dash away at once, arriving in the morning in his "true" form for his gifts. Also, plugging up any holes (specifically keyholes) before a visitation will keep the demon out while during a visitation will invariably seal him in the room, as they often leave only through their original entrance. A light kept constantly on during the night will also effectively ward off an alp, as they tend to shrink from the light.



Asanbonsam (folklore)



The Asanbonsam (Asanbosam, Asasabonsam, or Sasabonsam) is a vampire-like folkloric being from West Africa. It belongs to the folklore of the Ashanti of southern Ghana, as well as Côte d'Ivoire and Togo. It is said to have iron teeth and to live in trees, attacking from above, where it waits for its victims by hanging upside-down from a tree by its hook-shaped feet where it snatches up its victims and drinks their blood- or it would hang by its hands and snag its victims with its hooked feet.



Asema (folklore)

The asema is a blood-sucking sorcerer or witch in the South American country of Surinam. This tradition may be imported from Africa with the slaves.

It is usually pictured as an elderly person during the day, which leaves its skin at night and flies off in the form that appears to be a blue ball of light. It uses this shape to feed from people's vital energy and/or blood.

Popular forms of protection against the asema were garlic, eating herbs that would make one’s blood bitter, and scattering rice or sesame seeds outside one's door, which it had to pick up before it could enter.

When the sesame seeds or rice grains are mixed with the nails of a ground owl, the asema is still 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.



Asrapa (folklore)

In Indian folklore, the asrapa is a blood-sucking witch who attends the goddess Kali, from whom they draw their power from. This being usually roams naked through cemeteries, where it raises the dead to life and practices shape-shifting.



Astral Vampire (folklore)

Believed to be the spirit form of the vampire in occult lore, the astral vampire is a spirit shape of a living vampire, such as a witch or sorcercer who have the ability to project themselves outside their body and attack victims from a distance.

Astral vampires, a type of thought form, can be created through magical procedures for psychic attack.

Vampire researcher Vincent Hillyer theorized that an astral form might also be the “real” vampire in cases of the restless dead. Hillyer said the astral vampire, the spirit essence of the dead person, might be able to project itsself out of the corpse, feed on the living, and then return to the corpse to sustain it. He developed a theory calledt the “hemolytic factor” to explain how an astral form can draw off the blood of a living person. The theory rests on the process of hemolysis, which is the destruction of red corpuscles that occurs with the release of hemaglobin into surrounding fluids. Hemolysis is caused be hemolysin, a substance in the blood serum that causes destruction of the red corpuscles. The effect is sometimes produced when red corpuscles from a different blood group are injected into the blood.

According to the hemolytic factor theory, the vampire’s astral body penetrates the victim’s aura and physical body. The vampire, which is great need of blood, has sparse red corpuscles and can be considered the “wrong blood group.” Hemolysis occurs, and the vampire sucks up the red corpuscles that are released in the victim’s blood. These are transported back to the grave and infused into the corpse.



Aswang (folklore)

An Aswang (or Asuwang) is a vampire-like ghoul in Filipino folklore. The myth of the Aswang is popular in the Western Visayan regions such as Capiz, Iloilo and Antique. The trademark or major feature of Aswangs which distinguish them from other Filipino mythological creatures is their propensity to replace stolen cadavers with the trunk of a banana tree carved in the cadaver's likeness. They are also said to like to eat small children. Their favorite body parts are the liver and heart. Other local names, especially in Capiz are tik-tik and wak-wak.

Aswang, at times, is also a generic term applied to all types of witches, manananggals, shapeshifters, lycanthropes, and monsters. An Aswang is often interchanged with manananggal, but they are different. There are also characteristics and features that the Aswang also varies from Filipino to Filipino.They usually live near the mountains and they never go in to cities. But there are some reports of Aswangs in the cities.

With respect to Aswang, Capiz (a province on Panay island) is the focus of many Aswang, and other types of mythological and folkloric goblins, ghouls, manananggal, giant half-horse men (tikbalang) and other monster stories, especially for tabloids. Capiz is (unfairly) rumored to have a number of aswang and covens of witches. Superstitious folk who believe in their existence can still be found in these parts. They typically adorn windows, rooms, etc. with garlic bulbs, holy water, and other anti- aswang paraphernalia which supposedly repels these creatures. Aswangs have the ability to transform into other animals like dogs, bats and snakes.

The myth of the Aswang is popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, specially in the western provinces of Capiz, Iloilo, Antique. One of the most famous urban legends in the visayas region is the infamous Aswang Tiniente Gimo (lieutenant Gimo).Aside from entertainment value, mothers are said to tell their children Aswang stories to keep them off the streets and keep them home at night. Similar to Count Vlad III Dracula of Transylvania in Vampire stories, the most popular characters are the clan of Teñente/ Tenyente/ Tiniente Gimo of the town of Dueñas, Iloilo.

An aswang is a regular townsperson by day and prefer an occupation related to meat, such as butchery or making sausages.

Aswangs have an ageless appearance and a quiet, shy and elusive manner. They can be distinguished from humans by two signs. One is the bloodshot eyes from staying up all night looking for opportunities to sneak into houses where funeral wakes are being held, and stealing the dead bodies to drink their blood.

According to the elderly, the Aswang can also transform from human to animal and animal to human. The Aswang can disguise him/herself as a pig, dog or a black bird. Supposedly if a person looks at them in the eyes, the reflection would appear inverted. During their nocturnal activities, they walk with their feet facing backwards and toenails reversed.

One type is the kikik which transforms into a huge bird/bat at night and prowls. The kikik looks for a sleeping pregnant woman. Then it extends a very long proboscis into the womb and kills the fetus by draining its blood. It is said that while this is taking place, a 'kik-kik-kik' sound is often heard.

In some stories, the kikik is an aswang's familiar, said to confuse people by its 'kikik' sound. If the aswang is near, the sound would be faint so that people hearing it would think that the aswang is still far away.

The term wak-wak or wuk-wuk is frequently used for the same creature in the Cebu region. The legends of the wak-wak and kikik are much the same, but the wak-wak is specifically supposed to change into its birdlike form by leaving behind its lower body, much like the Manananggal, another Philippine vampire. The cry of a night bird which makes a "wuk-wuk-wuk" sound is believed to be the call of this monster and is feared by superstitious villagers. As with the call of the kikik, the wak-wak is believed able to make its cry sound distant when the creature is near.

In Panitan (Panit'an) Capiz, there is a myth of the Dangga or Agitot. This type of aswang is typically funny because some say it is a handsome gay man that hunts women during the night and eats fresh blood like a vampire.

Another familiar is the sigbin or Zegben. Some say that this is another form that the aswang transforms into and yet some say it is the companion of the kikik. It appears to be similar to the chupacabra and Tasmanian devil in appearance with the exception of spotty fur. It supposedly has a wide mouth with large fangs.

It is said that an Aswang can be revealed, with the use of a bottle of a special oil extracted from the boiled and decanted coconut meat and mixed with certain plant stems upon which special prayers were said. When an Aswang comes near or walks outside the house at night, the oil is supposed to boil (or froth into bubbles) and continue boiling until the aswang leaves the area. A Buntot Pagi, a stingray's tail, is also a very effective weapon against such beings, if one is brave enough to face the aswang in combat, a shiny sword made of sterling silver or an image of an old crone (a grandmother's) would effectively dispel their presence according to local folklore. The myth of silver weapons dispelling evil creatures is probably taken from western mythology. In the case of the Agitot type of aswang, freshly drawn semenal fluids thrown or whisked at the Agitot's way would distract this aswang from attacking as it would lap-away the precious fluids before pursuing its intended victim. Rumors have it, that this type of aswang continues to prevail among modern societies, hence the anecdotal/idiomatic expression "hiding in the closet" or closet-queen.

Throwing salt at aswangs may cause their skin to burn due to the purifying powers of the salt crystals in witchcraft. By "salt," this means all acid-base combinations, not limited to table salt alone. Hypochlorides and other types of salts may produce the same burning effect in Aswangs. This belief may stem from the purifying powers attributed to salt crystals by various traditions of witchcraft.



Ataru (folklore)

In Ashanti folklore, the ataru is a vampire that, like the asanbonsam, drinks blood from its victims’ thumbs.



Bajang (folklore)

In Malaysia, the bajang is a vampire that appears as a cat and normally threatening children. The Bajang can be enslaved and turned into a demon servant and is often handed down from one generation to the next within a family. It is kept in a tabong (bamboo vessel) which is protected by various charms. While imprisoned it is fed with eggs and will turn on its owner if not enough food is provided. The master of such a demon can send it out to inflict harm on his/her enemy, the enemy usually dying soon after of a mysterious disease. According to traditions the Bajang came from the body of a stillborn child, coaxed out of it by various incantations.



Baobhan Sith (mythology)



A baobhan sith (pronounced baa'-van shee) is a type of vampire in Scottish mythology, similar to the Manx Leanan Sídhe or Irish banshee. They are also known as the White Women of the Scottish Highlands.

Usually found in forests or natural settings, a baobhan sith has the form of a beautiful woman in a green dress. One version of the legend says that they have deer hooves for feet, which they keep hidden under the dress. Often several baobhan siths will appear together as a group. Legends have them seducing young men with their beauty, inviting the men to dance with them and eventually drinking their blood.

There is a certain legend in regards to the baobhan sith, where a group of young travellers stopped for the night in a small glade in the Scottish Highlands. They build a fire and begin to wish for the company of beautiful women. Four stunning women appear, and begin to dance with the men. The dance, which started out for enjoyment, becomes harsh, and the women tear at the men and draw blood. One of the men runs from their shelter and hides between two horses. The strange women circle the horses, but cannot seem to cross to him. When dawn comes, they disappear. He finds his companions dead and drained of blood. It is thought that the Baobhan Sith could not cross to him because of the iron in the shoes of the horses.

The weakness of the Baobhan Sith seems similar to most vampires: they cannot tolerate daylight. It also seems that they do not use fangs to draw blood, and rather use sharp fingernails. Similar to other vampires, Baobhan Sith use seduction to gain their victims. According to legend, they arise from their graves once a year to feed, and a way to stop them from waking is to build a cairn over their grave.



Blutsauger (folklore)



In Bavaria, people who were not baptized Roman Catholic, were involved in witchcraft, lived an immoral life, or committed suicide became Blutsaugers. Those that ate the meat of an animal killed by a wolf, or had an animal or nun jump/step over their grave also were likely candidates. They were pale in color and resembled zombies.

Bavarians protected themselves by smearing garlic over their doors and windows and placing hawthorn around their houses. Those residents with a black dog could paint an extra set of eyes on the animal, which was also thought to ward off vampires. Blutsauger could be killed by driving a stake though their heart and stuffing garlic in their mouths.



Bori (folklore)



The Bori is a forest-dwelling vampire in the Hausa folklore of West Africa. It is often descrided as having hooves and no head. It is also said to take the forms of various animals such as a monkey, bird, a swarm of insects or, most commonly, a python.

The bori is said to be a trikster that disguises itself as a lost loved one in order to lure victims into the forest where it can attack.

In some regional tales, the bori can be a rather helpful creature as long as it is appeased with offerings of freshly killed fowl and bowls of fruit. If a person ever chances to hear the bori’s true name then the vampire is instantly enslaved and must do whatever its master commands. On the other hand, if the master is careless and speak the bori’s name in vain or burns the creature either by scattering sparks or touching it with a cigarette, accidental or deliberate, the bond of enslavement is broken and the bori is free. The first thing a freed bori does is savagely attack its former master and that person’s entire family. It will suck out all the life force from every person in that family, including the offender him/herself.

The only defense from a bori is a weapon made of iron. The creature cannot abide the touch of it and will flee.



Brahmaparush (folklore)

The brahmaparush is a vampire Indian who ciberebbe blood of the victims through their skull. According to the myth, the monster would extract the brain for cibarsene and then use the 'intestines of the same avvolgendoselo around to make a dance ritual. The brahmaparush is often seem wearing the intestines around its head and holding a skull from which it drank blood from.



Broxa (folklore)

In Jewish folklore, Broxa, or Bruxa, is a vampiric bird or witch that is said to suck the milk of goats during the night. It is also known to drink the blood of infants as they sleep in their cribs. Their counterparts are known as the bruxo.



Bruja (folklore)

In Central America folklore, the Bruja is a vampiric witch who is considered more prevalent, and considered more powerful than her masculine counterpart, the brujo. She is sought as a remedy for physical illness, and spells and charms to remedy emotional, romantic, and social problems. In rural areas, the bruja is regarded as more sinister than helpful, and is blamed for the wounds of vampire bats. The witrch is believed to take on the form of a bat and suck the blood of her victims.

To protect one’s self from being attacked by a bruja a person must cover up and cracks and keyholes around the house and sprinkle a bag of rice in front of the dooor. The bruja will be forced to stop and count the grains and will be unable to finish before the dawn comes and takes away her powers.



Burculacas (mythology)

The Burculacas is a vampire in Greek mythology. It is made of slime and excrement, and is blamed for spreading plague.



Catacano (folklore)

The Catatano, or Kathakano, is a legendary vampire in Crete and Rhodes. He spits blood on its victims, causing horrific burns and a state of paralysis.

The most effective barrier against this creature is salt water. According to the myth its long claws are highly flammable and can burn with a flame, the creature can be killed by cutting his head and bollendola in 'vinegar.

The Khatakano is a vampire Sinhala, considered the male counterpart of the Indian Punyiaima, in some ways like a zombie.



Chedipe (folklore)



In Indian folklore, the Chedipe (literally: “prostitute”) is a vampire prostitute. In various folktales and paintings the chedipe is depicted riding a tiger, unclothed, through the moonlit night. She seldom preys on one person: usually feeding on whole households, though men are preferred. The chedipe casts a spell to keep the residents asleep. From there she seeks out the strongest male in the household and sucks blood from his toes. On occasion, the chedipe would attack men in the forest in the form of a tiger with a human leg.

Sexually assaulting men, and feeding off their blood, the chedipe often pollutes the sanctity of the household and weakens the marriage bond. She also taints the bloodline and causes despair. It gives her great pleasure to devastate a family’s love, trust and maital purity, for the chedipe not only feeds on blood but on sorrow and misery as well.

If the victim feels drained of energy or intoxicated by morning he should seek treatment, otherwise the vampire will return. Not only will the vampire’s continuous visits cause the end of a strong family life, but the victim will eventually waste away and die.

The surest way to defeat a chedipe is to keep it from ever entering, which can be accomplished by purifying the house with incense and holy icons. The incense must be renewed every hour, meaning someone has to stay up all night. The presence of an awake person maintaining the rituals of sacred protection frightens the chedipe, causing her to seek out another household in the neighborhood to begin the ruin of another family life.



Chiang-shih (folklore)

In popular Chinese mythology, Chiang-shih (or kiang shi), sometimes called hopping corpse or Chinese vampires by Westerners, are reanimated corpses that hop around, killing living creatures to absorb life essence (qì) from their victims.

Some would appear to look as a normal human being while others had a hideous green phosphorescent glow with serrated teeth and long talons. They have difficulty walking because of the pain and stiffness of being dead so they hop instead. They are far more pale and have very dark circles under their eyes.

Generally in the movies the hopping corpses are dressed in imperial Qing Dynasty clothes, their arms permanently outstretched due to rigor mortis. Like those depicted in Western movies, they tend to appear with an outrageously long tongue and long fingernails. Their visual depiction as horrific Qing Dynasty officials reflects a common stereotype among the Han Chinese of the foreign Manchu people, who founded the much-despised dynasty, as bloodthirsty creatures with little regard for humanity.

Chiang-shihs were nocturnal creatures and had difficulties crossing running water. It was said that they were particularly vicious and ripped the head or limbs off their victims. They were also said to have a strong sexual drive which led them to attack and rape women. After a period of growing stronger, chiang-shihs would gain the ability to fly, grow long white hair, and possibly change into wolves.

They can be evaded by holding one's breath, as they are blind and track living creatures by detecting their breathing. People also protected themselves from chiang-shih by using garlic or salt. They were driven away with loud noises, and it was thought that thunder could kill them. Brooms were used to sweep the creature back to its resting spot, while iron filings, rice, and red peas were used as barriers. If a chiang-shih reached its flying, white-haired stage, it could only be killed by a bullet or thunder. Its body must then be cremated.

Usually villages that are 'infested' with vampire occurances recruit a Taoist priest to perform a 'ceremony' to exorcise the negative energy. Taoist Priests traditionally rely on talismans-yellow paper strips with illegible characters written in red ink or blood. It is commonly believed that with incantations the priest can 'activate' the talisman, which can totally inhibit a vampire's actions when applied to its forehead area, thus putting the vampire under a spell. The priest will then, after subduing the vampire(s), use a special bell, which with every ring will command the vampires to take a single jump. Should the vampire be too strong to subdue, the priest usually draws upon a wooden sword, or a sword made entirely of copper coins linked by a red string as a weapon. Although Taoist priests nowadays do not go 'capturing' vampires, they still perform ceremonies of exocism from "unclean spirits" and still commonly use talismans.

It is also conventional wisdom of feng shui in Chinese architecture that a threshold, a piece of wood approximately six inches high, be installed along the width of the door to prevent a hopping corpse from entering the household

They are said to be created when a person's soul fails to leave the deceased's body. Usually chiang-shih were created after a particularly violent death, such as a suicide, hanging, drowning, or smothering. It could also be a result of an improper burial, as it was thought that the dead would become restless if their burial was postponed after their death. The chiang-shih were not known to rise from the grave, so their transformation had to take place prior to burial.

The influence of Western vampire stories brought the blood-sucking aspect to the Chinese myth in modern times (the traditional Chiang-shih steal the breath of his victim). In fact, Dracula is translated to Chinese as "blood-sucking jiangshi" where the thirst of blood is explicitly emphasized because it is not a traditional trait of a jiangshi.

The wife of teacher named Liu wakes in the morning and finds that her husband who had been sleeping next to her is dead - his head is missing and the bed is drenched in blood. She reports this to the local authorities who then accuse her of murder and put her in jail. She remained there for months. The mystery was finally solved as the result one of the villagers finding a neglected grave on a hillside. A coffin was laid bare next to it with the lid slightly raised.

This villager summoned the rest of the community. When the coffin lid was raised, the corpse was found within resembling the dead person when he was still alive except that it was covered with white hair. Between its arms, it held the head of Liu. The head of Liu could not be pulled from the arms of the corpse. After they cut off the corpse's arms, fresh blood gushed from them and their stumps. But their was not a drop of blood to be found in Liu's head. It had been sucked dry by the vampire. This tale can be found in Supernatural Tales from Around the World edited by Terri Harden (Barnes and Noble, 1995) as an excerpt from Religious Systems of China, vol. 5, book 2, by Jan de Groot (E.J. Brill, 1907.). It also can be found in The Vampire: His Kith and Kim by Montague Summers.

In another tale, a man walking down a country road at night finds an open coffin in the middle of the road. He realized that it must be the coffin of a chiang-shih. He filled the coffin with rocks and broken pottery. Then he retreated to the loft of a nearby barn to observe the coffin and see what would happen there next. About an hour after midnight, the corpse tried to climb back into the coffin. Finding the coffin filled with rocks and debris, the corpse became angry and its eyes began to blaze. In the moonlight, this chiang-shih saw the traveler in the loft and went to the barn. The man feared that he was trapped in the loft and jumped out the window into a tree. But the chiang-shih could not climb the ladder to the loft and went outside where it spotted the man after he climbed down from the tree. The chiang-shih pursued the man. The man finally escaped by jumping into a stream and swimming to the other shore. The chiang-shih could not cross running water. The chiang-shih stood near the stream screaming and gesticulating in anger. Then it jumped into the air three times, turned into a wolf, and ran off. This tale is given in Lust for Blood by Olga Hoyt (Scarborough House, 1984).

According to one tale, in 1761 A.D., the twenty sixth year of the Kien-lung period, there was a time of drought in Peking and its vicinity. During this time, a courier was dispatched with an urgent message from one general to another in a different city. On the way, while he was in a lonely place, a storm suddenly brewed up and the rain poured heavily upon him. The courier took shelter in the pavilion of a post house. Here a lovely young woman joined him. She invited him to her house. The courier followed her, tied his horse to a post outside her house, and went inside. The woman treated him first with tea. They spent the night together enjoying each others embraces in bed. But when cock crowed the woman suddenly got out of bed, put on her clothes, and left. The exhausted courier fell asleep. When he awoke again, he found himself on a tomb stone in the open pain. There were no buildings nearby. He found his horse tied to a tree.

Frightened, he quickly untied his horse, mounted it, and road off. When he reached his destination, he was many hours late. Under interrogation, he told what had happened to him on the way. The general had the tomb investigated. It turned out to that of a young unmarried woman who had hung herself out of shame after it was discovered that she was no longer a virgin. Her specter had enticed and seduced travelers coming through the vicinity of her tomb. And it was suspected that her specter was the cause of the drought. The general ordered the tomb opened. There, inside, rested the woman’s corpse still undecayed, plump and rosy in complexion, but covered with white hair. This corpse was then cremated. The drought ended the next day and the tomb was no longer haunted. From Supernatural Tales from Around the World.

In Chinese belief, each person has two souls, a superior or rational soul and an inferior irrational soul. The superior soul could leave a sleeping body and appear as the body's double as it roamed about. It could also possess and speak through the body of another. However, if something would happen to the disembodied soul during its journey, its body would suffer.

The inferior soul, on the other hand, was called p'ai or p'o and was that which inhabited the body of a fetus during pregnancy and often lingered in the bodies of the dead. It was thought to preserve the corpse. If the p'ai was strong enough, it could preserve and inhabit a corpse for a length of time, using the body to serve its needs.

The chiang-shih would arise from people who died a violent death, including suicide. Improper burial procedures such as a long postponement of burial which angered the dead. Animals, particularly cats, were kept away from the unburied corpse for fear that the might jump over it and thus the deceased would come back as a chiang-shih. Because they had no powers to dematerialize, transformation had to occur before burial, an added incentive for prompt burial.

It came from the mythical folklore practice of "Traveling a Corpse over a Thousand Li", where traveling companion or family members who could not afford wagons or have very little money would hire Tao priests to transport corpses of their friends/family members who died far away from home over long distances by teaching them to hop on their own feet back to their hometown for proper burial. Some people speculate that hopping corpses were originally smugglers in disguise who wanted to scare off law enforcement officers.



Chordewa (folklore)

The Chordewa is a vampiric witch from the Oraon tribe of central and eastern India. She is cable of turning her soul into a form of vampire cat. It is said that if the cat licks a persons lips that they will die soon after.



Chupacabras (cryptid)



Chupacabra (also chupacabras /tʃupa'kabɾas/, from Spanish chupar: to suck, cabra: goat; goats sucker) is a cryptid said to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated with the ancient myth of the chimera or gryphon, and more recently with alleged sightings of an unknown animal in Puerto Rico (where these sightings were first reported), Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter's Latin American communities. The name translates literally from the Spanish as "goat sucker." It comes from the creature's reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1990 in Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. Mainstream scientists and experts generally hypothesize that the chupacabra is an ordinary, though perhaps unknown, species of canid, a legendary creature, or a type of urban legend. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.

The first known attacks attributed to the Chupacabra occured in March of 1995, in the island of Puerto Rico. In this attack eight sheep where discovered dead, the bodies presented three puncture wounds in the chest area and where completely drained of blood. It is predated by El Vampiro de Moca (The Vampire of Moca), a creature blamed for similar killings that occurred in the small town of Moca in the 1970s. While at first it was suspected that the killings were done randomly by some members of a satanic cult, eventually these killings spread around the island, and many farms reported loss of animal life. The killings had one pattern in common: each of the animals had their bodies’ bled dry through a series of small circular incisions. Puerto Rican comedian and entrepreneur Silverio Pérez is credited with coining the term "chupacabras" soon after the first incidents were reported in the press. Shortly after the deaths in Puerto Rico, other animal deaths were reported in other countries, such as the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, Brazil, the United States and Mexico.

In July 2004, a rancher near San Antonio killed a hairless dog-like creature, which was attacking his livestock.]This creature is now known as the Elmendorf Beast. It was later determined by DNA assay conducted at UC Davis to be a coyote, and identified by Texas zoologist as a coyote with demodectic or sarcoptic mange. In October 2004, two animals said to resemble the Elmendorf Creature were supposedly observed in the same area. The first was dead, and a local zoologist who was called to identify the animal noticed the second while she was traveling to the location where the first was found. Specimens of the dead animals were studied by biologists in Texas, who found that the creatures were coyotes suffering from very severe cases of mange. In Coleman, Texas, a farmer named Reggie Lagow caught an animal in a trap he set up after the deaths of a number of his chickens and turkeys. The supposed animal was described as a mix between a hairless dog, a rat and a kangaroo. The animal was provided to Texas Parks and Wildlife in order to determine what species it belonged to, but Lagow reported in a September 17th, 2006, phone interview with John Adolfi, founder of the Lost World Museum, that the "critter was caught on a Tuesday and thrown out in Thursday's trash."

In April of 2006, MosNews reported that the chupacabra was spotted in Russia for the first time. Reports from Central Russia beginning in March 2005 tell of a beast that kills animals and sucks out their blood. Thirty-two turkeys were killed and drained overnight. Reports later came from neighboring villages when 30 sheep were killed and had their blood drained. Finally eyewitnesses were able to describe the chupacabra. In May of 2006, experts were determined to track the animal down.

In mid-August 2006 Michelle O'Donnell of Turner, Maine, described an "evil looking" rodent-like creature with fangs that had been found dead alongside a road. The mystery beast was apparently struck by a car, and was otherwise unidentifiable. Photographs were taken and witness reports seem to be in relative agreement that the creature was canine in appearance, but unlike any dog or wolf in the area. The carcass was picked clean by vultures before experts could examine it. For years, residents of Maine have reported a mysterious creature and a string of dog maulings.[9]

In May 2007, a series of reports on national Colombia news reported more than 300 dead sheep in the region of Boyaca, and the capture of a possible specimen to be analysed by zoologists at Universidad Nacional of Colombia.

In August 2007, Phylis Canion claimed to have found three of the animals on ranches in Cuero, Texas. She and her neighbors purported to have discovered three strange animal corpses outside Canion's property in Cuero, Texas; she took photographs of the corpses and preserved the head of one in her freezer before turning it over for DNA analysis. Canion reported that nearly 30 chickens on her farm had been exsanguinated over a period of years, a factor which led to her connection of the corpses with the chupacabra of legend. The animal in Canion's pictures, as well as her freezer, was assumed to be a grey fox suffering from an extreme case of mange by state mammaligist John Young. Results of the DNA tests are pending.

The most common description of Chupacabra is a reptile-like being, appearing to have leathery or scaly greenish-gray skin and sharp spines or quills running down its back. This form stands approximately 3 to 4 feet (1 to 1.2 m) high, and stands and hops in a similar fashion to a kangaroo. In at least one sighting, the creature hopped 20 feet (6 m). This variety is said to have a dog or panther-like nose and face, a forked tongue protruding from it, large fangs, and to hiss and screech when alarmed, as well as leave a sulfuric stench behind. When it screeches, some reports note that the chupacabra's eyes glow an unusual red, then give the witnesses nausea. For some witnesses, it was seen with bat-like wings.

The second description can best be described as a mix between a bat, a kangaroo and a porcupine. It has a bat-like head and wings, usually on its arms, and a kangaroo or wallaby-like body and legs. Its back is covered in porcupine quills. It could also be seen as just a giant vampire bat.

Another description of Chupacabra, although not as common, is described as a strange breed of wild dog. This form is mostly hairless, has a pronounced spinal ridge, unusually pronounced eye sockets, fangs, and claws. It is claimed that this breed might be an example of a dog-like reptile. The corpse of an animal found in Leon, Nicaragua, and forensically analyzed at UNAN-Leon is claimed as a specimen of this genus. Pathologists at the University found that it was an unusual looking dog-like creature of an unknown species. Unlike conventional predators, the chupacabra is said to drain all of the animal's blood (and sometimes organs) through a single hole or two holes.



Chupa-chupa (cryptid)

The Chupa-chupa, also known as vampire UFO, is named after the chupacabras. The chupa-chupa is associated with red UFO lights that burn and injure people, leaving them weak and anemic, as though their blood has been drained.

Chupa-chupas have been reported in South America, as well as in Central A merica and Puerto Rico. Attacks have been reported since 1970, around the same time as chupacabras attacks.



Churel (folklore)

A churel, also written as "churail", or rather "chudail" (pronounced chew-dail) is a vampiric female ghost out of Hindu folklore. She appears either as a hideous creature with long sagging breasts and unkempt hair, or as a beautiful young woman who can charm any man. Often, her feet are backward, and she has an unnaturally long and thick black tongue, needle-like teeth, long, pendulous breats, and thick, slimy lips. In some descriptions sahe is white in front and black in back.

The churel is said to be the unhappy ghost of a woman who died in childbirth or while menstruating. This connection means that she sucks blood, a habit shared with another monster, the vampire, and because young men are the cause of her death, the Churel always drinks from young men, beginning with the one she loved in life. The churel usually lives near small rivers or springs. She is either seen wearing a white or a red sari, representing a widow or a bride respectively.

For defense, a corpse is buried face-down. A ball of wool or twine is then placed to keep the vampire occupied and prevent it from leaving. This prevents the corpse from becoming a a churel.



Cihuateteo (mythology)

In Aztec mythology, the Cihuateteo (also Ciuteoteo, Ciuateoteo or Civateteo; singular Ciuateotl, lit. goddess) were the vampiric spirits of human women who died in childbirth (mociuaquetzque.). Childbirth was considered a form of battle, and its victims were honored as fallen warriors. Their physical remains were thought to strengthen soldiers in battle while their spirits became the much-feared Cihuateteo who accompanied the setting sun in the west. They also haunted crossroads at night, stealing children to drink their blood and cause sickness, especially seizures, madness, infantile paralysis, and death, and seducing men to sexual misbehavior.

Their images appear with the beginning day signs of the five western trecena, (1 Deer, 1 Rain, 1 Monkey, 1 House, and 1 Eagle) during which they were thought to descend to the earth and cause particularly dangerous mischief. They are depicted with skeletal faces and with eagle claws for hands.

They are associated with the goddess Cihuacoatl and are sometimes considered envoys of Mictlan, the world of the dead. Cihuateteo are servants of the Aztec moon deities Tezcatlipoca and Tlazolteotl.

Clinical Vampirism

Renfield's syndrome, also called simply Renfield syndrome and traditionally known as clinical vampirism, though not currently categorized in the DSM-IV, is a mental disorder used to describe an obsession to drink blood. The term was first coined by Richard Noll and is named after Dracula's insect-eating assistant, Renfield, in the novel by Bram Stoker. The term has been used in both psychiatric and fictional literature, as well as on television, where it was briefly mentioned in an episode of CSI titled "Committed."

People who suffer from this condition are primarily male. The craving for blood arises from the idea that it conveys life-enhancing powers. According to Noll, the condition starts with a key event in childhood that causes the experience of blood injury or the ingestion of blood to be exciting. After puberty, the excitement is experienced as sexual arousal. Throughout adolescence and adulthood, blood, its presence, and its consumption can also stimulate a sense of power and control. Noll explains that Renfield's syndrome begins with autovampirism and then progresses to the consumption of the blood of other creatures.

The usefulness of this diagnostic label remains in question. Very few cases of the syndrome have been described, and the published reports that do exist refer to what has been proposed as Renfield's syndrome through the use of official psychiatric diagnostic categories such as schizophrenia or as a variety of paraphilia. A number of murderers have performed seemingly vampiric rituals upon their victims. Serial killers Peter Kürten and Richard Trenton Chase were both called "vampires" in the tabloids after they were discovered drinking the blood of the people they murdered. Similarly, in 1932, an unsolved murder case in Stockholm, Sweden was nicknamed the "Vampire murder", due to the circumstances of the victim’s death.



Dakhanavar (folklore)

According to an Armenian legend, there was a vampire, Dakhanavar (also called 'Dashnavar'), who resided in the mountains of Ultmish Alto-tem. He was very protective and did not like anyone intruding in around his residence that covered 366 valley surrounded by mountains. If one did, he would attack them in the night and kill them by sucking the blood from the soles of the intruders feet.

However, it is told that two travelers outwitted Dakhanavar by sleeping with their feet tucked up under another’s heads. Confused by this strange creature with two heads and no feet, Dakhanavar left the region never to be heard of again.



Danag (folklore)

The Danag is a vampire in Phillippine folklore. This creature is not considered dangerous until it tastes its first drop of blood.



Dhampir (folklore)

A Dhampir (also dhampire, dhamphir or dhampyr) in Balkan folklore and in vampire fiction is the child of a vampire father and a human mother, with vampire powers but none of the weaknesses. A dhampir is believed to have the unique ability to see vampires, even when they are invisible, and is unusually adept at killing them.

The word "dhampir" is associated with the folklore of the Roma people of the Balkans, whose beliefs have been described by T. P. Vukanović. In the rest of the region, terms such as Serbian vampirović, vampijerović, vampirić (thus, Bosnian lampijerović, etc.) literally meaning "vampire's son", are used. In other regions the child is named "Vampir" if a boy and "Vampiresa" if a girl or “Dhampir if a boy and "Dhampiresa" if a girl. In Bulgarian folklore, numerous terms such as glog (lit. "hawthorn"), vampirdzhiya ("vampire" + nomen agentis suffix), vampirar ("vampire" + nomen agentis suffix), dzhadadzhiya and svetocher are used to refer to vampire children and descendants, as well as to other specialized vampire hunters.

In the Balkans it is believed that male vampires have a great desire for women, so a vampire will return to have intercourse with his wife or with a woman he was attracted to in life. Indeed, in one recorded case, a Serbian widow tried to blame her pregnancy on her late husband, who had supposedly become a vampire, and there were cases of Serbian men pretending to be vampires in order to reach the women they desired. In Bulgarian folklore, vampires were sometimes said to deflower virgins as well. A vampire may also move to a village where nobody knows him and marry and have children there. The sexual activity of the vampire seems to be a peculiarity of South Slavic vampire belief as opposed to other Slavs, although a similar motive also occurs in Belarusian legends.

Some traditions specify signs by which the children of a vampire can be recognized. Serbian legends state they have a large head and lack a shadow. In Bulgarian folklore, possible indications include being "very dirty", snub-nosed or even noseless, having a soft body, no nails and bones (the latter physical peculiarity is also ascribed to the vampire itself), and "a deep mark on the back, like a tail".

Among all Balkan peoples it is believed that the child of a vampire has a special ability to see and destroy vampires. Among some groups, the ability to see vampires is considered exclusive to dhampirs. The powers of a dhampir may be inherited by the dhampir's offspring. Various means of killing or driving away vampires are recognized among peoples of the region, but the dhampir is seen as the chief agent for dealing with vampires. Methods by which a dhampir kills a vampire include shooting the vampire with a bullet, transfixing it with a hawthorn stake, and performing a ceremony that involves touching "crowns" of lead to the vampire's grave. If the dhampir can't destroy a vampire, he may command it to leave the area.

A dhampir is always paid well for his services. The amount of money varies, but there is never haggling over the price. Standard pay for a dhampir may also include a meal or a suit of clothing. Sometimes a dhampir is paid in cattle, jewelry or women.

Charlatans traveling the regions around the Carpathian Mountains, Balkans and elsewhere in Eastern Europe would claim to be dhampirs. They were believed to be the only ones who could see the spirit and would put on elaborate shows for villages. Once fear, grief and superstition took hold in a village following a recent death, the dhampir would "come to the rescue".



Doppelsauger (folklore)

The Doppelsauger, not to be confused with Doppelganger, is a vampire in the German Slavs.

“Doppelsauger” a German word which literally means "double-sucker".

He supposed to be the revenant of a child who again sucked his mother's breasts after he had been weaned. If such a child dies, then in his grave he consumes the flesh of his own breasts. Then it preys on a living member of his family, causing the person to rapidly lose weight.

To prevent the doppelsauger from rising, one must place a gold coin or cross between the teeth of the corpse, place a semi-circular board under the chin of the corpse so that the mouth cannot reach the chest, and make sure that the cloth of the burial garments does not touch the lips of the corpse. When the corpse is removed from the house, the doorsill is raised and the coffin and funeral entourage pass out beneath it- the sill is then tightly replaced. According to lore, the only way a doppelsauger can get back into its house is to return the same way it left. The moving from the sill prevents it from doing so.

The doppelsauger can still escape its grave. If a family member loses weight rapidly and becomes ill, then other relatives must go to the cemetery in the middle of the night and exhume the doppelsauger and knock off the back of its neck with a spade. If the corpse is a genuine doppelsauger, it will let out a loud cry.



Draugr (mythology)

A draugr (original Old Norse plural draugar, as used here, not draugrs), draug or draugen (Norwegian meaning the draug) is a corporeal undead from Norse mythology. The original Norse meaning of the word is ghost, and on older literature one will find clear distinctions between Sea-draug and land-draug. Draugar were believed to live in the graves of dead Vikings, being the body of the dead.

Views differed on whether the personality and soul of the dead person lingered in the draugr. As the graves of important men often contained a good amount of wealth, the draugr jealously guarded his treasures, even after death.

All draugar possess superhuman strength, the ability to increase their size at will and the unmistakable stench of decay. They were also noted for the ability to rise from the grave as wisps of smoke. The draugar slew their victims through various methods including crushing them with their enlarged forms, devouring their flesh, and drinking their blood. Animals feeding near the grave of a draugr were often driven mad by the creature's influence.

Some draugar were gifted with immunity to usual weapons. To defeat a draugr, a hero was often necessary, since only such a man had strength and courage enough to stand up to so formidable an opponent. The hero would often have to wrestle the draugr back to his grave, thereby defeating him, since weapons would do no good. A good example of this kind of fight is found in Hrómundar saga Gripssonar.

It is said that the draugr, even when defeated, would come back, requiring the hero to dispose of the body in unconventional ways. The most preferred method was to cut off the draugr's head, burn the body, and dump the ashes in the sea, the emphasis being on making absolutely sure the draugr was dead and gone. This may be related to the traditional practice of killing vampires seen in other cultures.

The draugar were said to be either hel-blár ("death black") or, conversely, nár-fölr ("corpse-pale").

Some draugar were able to leave their dwelling place, the burial mound, and visit the living during the night. Such visits were universally horrible events, and often ended in death for one or more of the living, and warranted the exhumation of the draugr's tomb by a hero.

A subtype of the draugr was the haugbui. The notable difference between the two was that the haugbui was unable to leave its grave site and only attacked those that trespassed upon their territory.

The creature is said to either swim alongside boats or sail around them in a partially submerged vessel, always on their own. In some accounts, witnesses portray them as shapeshifters who take on the appearance of seaweed or moss-covered stones on the shoreline.



Edimmu (mythology)

The edimmu, read incorrectly sometimes as ekimmu, were a type of utukku in Sumerian mythology. They were envisioned as the ghosts of those who were not buried properly. They were considered vengeful toward the living and might possess people if they did not take into account certain taboos, such as the prohibition against eating ox meat. They were thought to cause disease and inspire criminal behavior in the living, but could sometimes be appeased by funeral repasts or libations. The ekimmu were also thought to be completely or nearly incorporial, "wind" spirits that sucked the life out of children and the sleeping.

It is believed in some circles that Ekimmu were a form of psychic vampire. They were referred to as "evil wind guests;" 'wind' could have been used to mean 'breath,’ and some Occult studies posit that breath is directly related to the transfer of psychic energy. For example, the god Enki in the Sumerian creation saga creates mankind by first making him out of clay and then breathing into him, thus giving him a soul.

Elemental Vampire (mythology)

Whereas psychic vampires "feed" primarily from other human beings' energy, Elemental Vampires pretend to "feed" from non-human living things and other sources.

Natural phenomena ie: lightning storms, thunder storms, hurricanes, ley lines, waterfalls are known to carry "energy."

While some exclusively feed on elemental events and forces, some just use the elements to supplement their feeding until they can get a donor or person to feed from. These recipients of energy can be as different as trees, animals or crystals.

Though they do not feed off of any lifeforce, elemental vampires could also feed off of elements organisms require to consume, like salt or water. This makes them predatory as the easiest way to obtain their food source is through drawing it from their victims.



Empusa (mythology)

In ancient Greek mythology, the Empusae (singular Εμπουσα — Empousa, "forcer-in") were female supernatural vampiric monsters or demonesses; the daughters of Hecate sent by her to harass travelers. It scared to death or ate anybody that travelled along the paths or roads it inhabited. The empusae are sometimes described as having donkey-like hindquarters or legs and brazen slippers. Sometimes they arew said to not have a shape of their own.

The Empusae are best known for their appearance in Aristophanes's The Frogs, in which they scared Dionysus and Xanthias on their way to the underworld. They could assume the form of bitches, cows or beautiful women, and lie with men and drain their life forces.

Empusae are known to inhabit corpses, where they consume its flesh and drink its blood.

More recent Greek tales describe the creature as a merely frightening shapeshifter, but blame it for injuring sheep.

The Empusae are similar to the lilim of ancient Palestinian legend, and the former may be derived from that of the latter.



Energy Vampire (mythology)

An energy vampire or psychic vampire is a mythical being said to have the ability to feed off the "life force" (often also called qi, prana, energy or vitality) of other living creatures. Alternative terms for these persons are pranic vampire, empathic vampire, energy predator, psy/psi-vamp, energy parasite, and energivore or psionic vampire.

The legends and spiritual teachings of some cultures refer to people, often given priestly attributes, who manipulate or remove (feed from) the energy of others. The tiger-women spoken of across Asia (as well as the fox-women of Japan), Routaissa of Chicago, and the Jiang Shi of China may be noted, as can the incubus and succubus of Judaeo-Christian mythology. This concept is purportedly represented in the myths of a number of cultures, just as blood-drinking vampires are.

In the oral tradition of the Hopi, a powaqa is a sorcerer who comes to a victim pretending to help and then feeds off the victim's life force.

Dion Fortune wrote of psychic parasitism in relation to vampirism as early as 1930 (considering it a combination of psychic and psychological pathology) in "Psychic Self-Defense".The term "psychic vampire" first gained attention in the 1960s with the publication of Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible. LaVey, who claimed to have coined the term, used it to mean a spiritually or emotionally weak person who drains vital energy from other people. Adam Parfrey likewise attributed the term to LaVey in an introduction to The Devil's Notebook.

The term is also used by Luis Marques in his work on vampirism and spirituality, entitled the Asetian Bible, where the definition of a psychic vampire goes beyond his ability to drain energy, but is portrayed as a definitive condition of the individual's soul and a secret mark of a connection to a shared past. This polemic view of the energy predator is based on an esoteric tradition known as Asetianism, which relies on predatory spirituality and the extensive use of Ancient Egyptian symbolism, whose teachings are strictly and thoroughly maintained by the occultist Order of Aset Ka.

The theme of the psychic vampire has been a focus within modern Vampire subculture. The way that the subculture has manipulated the image of the psychic vampire has been investigated by researchers such as Mark Benecke and A. Asbjorn Jon. Jon has noted that, like the traditional psychic vampires, those of Vampire subculture 'prey upon life-force or 'pranic' energy'. Jon also noted that the group has been loosely linked to the Goth subculture. A book author has speculated that psychic vampires can feel the emotions of those from whom they steal energy; this has been linked to empathy.



Eretik (folklore)

In Russian folklore, the Eretik, also known as Erestun or Eretica, is a type of cannibalistic vampire associated with heretics, which were thought to become vampires after death. The eretik leaves its grave to attack people and drink their blood. It can be dispatched by being staked through the back or burning to ash.



Fifollet (folklore)

In African American folklore, the Fifollet, or Feu-follet, was the traditional willow-the-wisp, light seem at night over swamp areas. The fifollet became a vampire who sucks the blood out of people, especially children.



Gayal (folklore)

The Gayal is a vampiric spirit from India. Usually created due to the death of a man who has no one to properly perform the burial rites at his funeral. When he returns the Gayal reeks his revenge upon the sons of others and upon his on relatives. The threat of a relative returning as a Gayal usually ensures that the proper funeral rites are preformed.



Hannya (foklore)

In Japanese foklore, the Hannya is a vampire-like demon-possessed woman who eats children and drinks their blood.



Hantpare (folklore)

In Asian folklore, the Hantpare is a vampire that attaches itself to running sores and sucks blood through them.



Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the habit of certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words, haima "blood" and phagein "to eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without enormous effort, hematophagy has evolved as a preferred form of feeding in many small animals such as worms and arthropods. Some intestinal nematodes, such as Ancylostomids, feed on blood extracted from the capillaries of the gut and about 75% of all species of leeches (e.g. Hirudo medicinalis), a free-living worm, are hematophagous. Some fish, such as lampreys, and mammals, especially the vampire bats, also practice hematophagy.

These hematophagous animals have evolved different specialized mouth parts and chemical agents for penetrating vascular structures in the skin of hosts, mostly of mammals, birds and fish. This type of feeding is known as phlebotomy (from the Greek words, phleps "vein" and tomos "cutting").

Once phlebotomy is performed (in most insects by a specialized fine hollow "needle" called proboscis which perforates skin and capillaries; in bats by sharp incisor teeth that act as a razor to cut the skin), blood is acquired either by sucking action directly from the vases, or from a pool of escaped blood, or by lapping (again, in bats). In order to overcome natural hemostasis (blood coagulation), vasoconstriction, inflammation and pain sensation in the host, biochemical solutions in the saliva for instance, for pre-injection, anesthesia and capillary dilation have evolved in different hematophagous species. In fact, new anticoagulant medicines have been developed on the basis of substances found in the saliva of several hematophagous species, such as leeches (hirudin).

Hematophagy can be classified into obligatory and optional practice. Obligatory hematophagous animals do not have any other type of food besides blood; one such species is Rhodnius prolixus (an assassin bug from South America). Contrast that with optional hematophages, like the many mosquitoes species, such as Aedes aegypti, which may also feed on pollen, fruit juice and other biological fluids besides blood. Sometimes, only the female of the species is a hematophage (this is essential for egg production and reproduction). Coyotes, wolves, and other canids may lick blood.

Hematophagy has apparently evolved independently in many disparate arthropod, annelid, nematode and mammalian taxa. For example Diptera (insects with two wings, such as flies) have eleven families with hematophagous habits (more than half of the 19 hematophagous arthropod taxa). About 14,000 species of arthropods are hematophagous, even including some genera that were not previously thought to be, such as moths of the genus Calyptra. Several complementary biological adaptations for locating the hosts (usually in the dark, as most hematophagous species are nocturnal and silent, in order to avoid detection and destruction by the host) have also evolved, such as special physical or chemical detectors (for sweat components, CO2, heat, light, movement, etc.).

The phlebotomic action opens a channel for contamination of the host species with bacteria, viruses and blood-borne parasites contained in the hematophagous organism. Thus, many animal and human infectious diseases are transmitted by hematophagous species, such as the bubonic plague, Chagas disease, dengue fever, filariasis, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, malaria, rabies, sleeping sickness, St. Louis encephalitis, tularemia, typhus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, West Nile fever and many others.

Among the hematophagous insects of medical importance are the sandfly, blackfly, tsetse fly, bedbug, assassin bug, mosquito, tick, louse, mite, midge, chigger, and flea.

Recently, hematophagous organisms have been used by physicians for beneficial purposes (hirudotherapy). Some doctors now use leeches to prevent the clotting of blood on some wounds following surgery or trauma. The anticoagulants in the laboratory-raised leeches' saliva keeps fresh blood flowing to the site of an injury, actually preventing infection and increasing chances of full recovery. In a recent study, a genetically engineered drug called desmoteplase based on the saliva of Desmodus rotundus (the vampire bat) was shown to improve stroke patients



Homovorus (cryptid)

Vampyres (Homo sapiens homovorus) are an extinct anthropophagous subspecies of Homo sapiens. Since their extinction, they have been embedded in the mythology and folklore of various cultures. In folklore, they acquired numerous supernatural characteristics, the most common is that they were re-animated corpses of human beings. In modern times, vampyres are the frequent subject of cinema and fiction. Their taxonomic name, Homo sapiens homovorus, is Latin for "human eating wise-man."

The difference in external diagnostic features between humans and vampyres were actually pretty subtle, both because vampyres never lasted long enough to diverge greatly from the human baseline, and also because natural selection is going to promote superficial similarity. However, while virtually identical to modern humans in terms of gross physical morphology, vampyres were radically divergent from humans on the biochemical, neurological, and soft-tissue levels. This limited significant physical changes to soft tissue and microstructures that do not fossilise. This is one of the reasons why it's so difficult to identify these creatures in the fossil record-the other reason being that they sat at the very apex of the food pyramid, which means that they were quite rare even at peak numbers.

More gracile than Homo sapiens sapiens, gross physical divergence from baseline humans included a slight but distinct extension of the mandible, and of course of the slight elongation of canines, the classic "fangs" of the predatory grip-and-tear feeding mode (although this wasn't quite as pronounced as the popular mythology would have you believe). Vampyres also tended to be taller and longer-limbed than humans. All of this was in service of an increasingly predatory lifestyle.

Vampyre skin possessed a ghastly white pallor. This discoloration however, was not the result of anemia; in fact their blood volume was actually seven percent higher than humans. Instead their blood volume was redistributed away from the peripheral tissues and sequestered deep in the core.

They had capillary beds formed in the body core. All humans have these, the digestive system is highly vascularised to facilitate nutrient transport from the intestine into the bloodstream, but the capillary meshes in a vampyre's core were far more extensive than anything seen in humans.

Tissue levels of adenosine triphosphate were elevated; ATP is the chemical battery that powers the cell, and this explains the abnormal strength and stamina that vampyres displayed.

The gastrointestinal tract was foreshortened and secreted a distinct range of enzymes more suited to a carnivorous diet. Since cannibalism carries with it a high risk of prionic infection, the vampyre immune system displayed great resistance to prion diseases, as well as to a variety of helminth and anasakid parasites.

The central nervous system is where the difference between vampyres and humans really showed up. The corpus callosum was twenty percent larger in vampyres than in humans. This enabled high-speed broadband communication between hemispheres. Interneuron/glial density, cortical folding and lamination were far above those in a human, particularly in the visual cortex. Their motor neuron nerve axons were almost twice as thick as conventional humans. This gave vampyres faster signal transmission and faster reflexes than humans. A vampyre could literally snatch a speck out of your eye before you had time to blink.

A vampyres's amygdala and visual cortex--essentially, the pattern-matching wetware at the back of the head-were seven and thirteen percent larger than what is found in humans, respectively. Synaptic interconnections between the anterior cingulate gyrus and the rest of the brain were much lower than normal, almost as if the core of the brain were being isolated from the neocortex.

They also possessed some very unusual wiring in the retina. Human eyes contain whole arrays of specialized receptor cells; some fire only when they see light and shadow in conjunction, some fire only when they see horizontal lines-horizons and so on. In a vampyre's case, the receptors that responded to horizontal lines were crosswired with those that responded to vertical ones. When both sets of receptors fired simultaneously in a very specific way-that is, when intersecting right angles occupied more than thirty degrees of visual arc-positive feedback generated a neuroelectrical overload in the visual cortex. This what caused the famous adverse reaction to crosses, which consisted of violent convulsions which strongly resembled grand mal seizures. The reaction is commonly called the "crucifix glitch" by scientists.

Within the vampyre eye there was an increased reflectivity of the retina, reminiscent of the tapetum lucidum found in the eyes of cats and other nocturnal predators. Vampyres also had quadrochromatic vision; while we humans have only three types of cones in our eye vampyres had four, the fourth being tuned to near-infrared.

The reason vampyres did not resorted to non-human prey and evolved such radical adaptations to accommodate human meat into their diet is because they received something from humans that they couldn't from other species. What they received that is so essential to their diet is PCDH-Y, a protein responsible for certain aspects of central nervous system development. Vampyres possessed a genetic defect that resulted in the inability to synthesize the protein. Since this protein occurs only in other hominids, human prey was an essential component of the vampyre diet.

Technically vampyres were closer to what might be called obligate cannibals, eating human flesh rather than simply drinking the blood. However, given that the only thing they really needed from humans was a certain type of protein, it's theoreticaly possible that a blood diet could meet that need, although they had to drink a large amount of blood. Perhaps this was a deliberate conservation strategy; drinking the blood leaves you with an anemic victim that can recover over time and serve as a future food source, while eating the flesh basically relegates your victim to single-serving status; and vampyres could feed on other species to meet most of their dietary needs. They were much more intelligent than humans, intelligent enough to figure out the virtues of resource conservation.

Because of modifications to the digestive system, PCDH-Y was obviously not broken down in the stomach as with other proteins, but instead was absorbed with its full effects into the central nervous system. Those modifications probably also included anticoagulants that stopped blood from curdling in the stomach, thereby preventing any emetic effects of ingesting blood.

Since vampyre grey matter was "underconnected" compared to human norms due to a relative lack of interstitial white matter; this forced isolated cortical modules to become self-contained and hypereffective, leading to pattern-matching and analytical skills far in excess of the human norm. Vampyres were omnisavants; their groove extended to pretty much every logical and pattern-matching dimension known to man, and more besides. They were insanely smart by human standards. Vampyres had to be smarter than people, because they hunted people for a living. Lions are smarter than gazelles for pretty much the same reason.

By the same token, something else vampyres had to be is clinically sociopathic. Among our own kind, a lack of conscience, of empathy for one's fellow human beings, is considered a pathology. Among vampyres, though, sociopathy is an essential survival trait. If you felt empathy for your prey, you'd starve to death. Natural selection would have weeded "moral" vampyres out of the gene pool relatively fast. On the biological level, the sociopathy was caused by the poor connection of the anterior cingulate gyrus, as its ventral area is related to emotional cognition.

A major prey-related problem that vampyres faced was the predator-prey ratio. In most every case where one species eats another, the prey species is at least an order of magnitude more numerous than the predator, and breeds faster. The reasons for this are obvious: the transfer of food energy between trophic levels is very inefficient. Cows have to eat ten kilograms of grass to make one kilogram of cow; it takes ten kilograms of cow to make one kilogram of human; and of course, it takes ten kilograms of human to make one kilogram of vampyre. So at any given level, the level below you must out-produces you by at least ten to one, or you'll exterminate your own food supply.

Since the metabolic and reproductive rates of vampyres were pretty much the same as humans, what they did was cut back on their activity levels. The bodies of vampyres contained high concentrations of Leuenkephalin, an opioid peptide found in animals like bears and squirrels, and is involved in hibernation. Vampyres conserved energy-and their food supply-by extended periods of hibernation. Suspended animation is not uncommon even among higher animals like birds and mammals.

Vampyres were able to shut themselves down for decades, dessicating down to this biologically dormant condition and entering what's commonly known as an "undead state." This worked in three ways: firstly, it drastically reduced their energetic needs, redressing the original imbalance between prey production and predator consumption. Secondly, it gave the prey population time to recover in the event that it had been severely hammered by predation, and let the vampyres wait out food shortages. And thirdly, it's possible that these extended leaves-of-absence might have given humans time forget that they were prey. By the Pleistocene era, humans were intelligent enough to pass information from generation to generation, but were also intelligent enough for skepticism. Stories of "nightstalking demons" were likely taken as mere tales of fantasy by senile elders. Primitive cultures were likely to get careless after a few decades with no vampyres on the horizon.

At any rate, scientists believe that this is where the blood-pooling strategy started; part of being "undead" involved sequestering blood around the vital organs and letting the peripheral tissues starve, much the way seals and whales triage their oxygen supply when cut off from the air. This likely proved so effective that over time, it became a normal state of affairs even among active vampyres; the ghastly white pallor of vampyres was actually a strategy for increasing their gas mileage. When lactate levels in the surface tissues got too high--or when vampyres were feeding-blood was redirected to the skin and the complexion flushed.

As the classic mythology would have it, vampyres reproduced by turning their victims into other vampyres. Revisionists and horror writers have played around with the idea of vampirism as a kind of viral infection, an STD transmitted from saliva to blood. Biologically, of course, there are some problems with this idea: if you create another vampyre every time you feed, it won't be long before all your prey have been turned into vampyres, all of which will get very hungry very fast. However, the idea isn't as absurd as it may seem on the surface.

Lateral gene transmission is not unheard of in nature; certain microbes are known to act as carriers for the DNA of other species, transmitting them from one host to another; and in any event, it appears that predator and prey share many of the same genes anyway; perhaps the only thing that needs to be transmitted is some kind of catalyst to activate them. More conventionally, vampyres and humans never achieved complete reproductive isolation in any event; there's no reason why interbreeding couldn't produce vampyre offspring, especially if the critical vampyre genes were heterozygously dominant.

Many scientists have theorized that the genes responsible for vampirism are widely spread amongst the human population, simply dormant in most people. They lie within junk DNA, which are ancient genes that haven't expressed themselves in thousands of years. These scientists believe that in certain cases, some of these genes do express spontaneously; that psychopathy, autism and certain types of schizophrenia arise partly from the partial expression of these genes in a broken and rudimentary form. That sociopaths and savants show us one or two bits of the vampyre subspecies.

Judging by nuclear introns and mitochondrial satellites, scientists believe that vampyres split off the human lineage something less than 90 thousand years ago, and persisted (albeit in small numbers) into the beginning of historical times. Their genesis has been traced to a paracentric inversion mutation on the Xq21.3 block on the X-chromosome, resulting in functional changes to genes that code for protocadherins. PCDH-Y is a protocadherin, and as mentioned they play a critical role in brain and central nervous system development. They occur in the headwaters of CNS development, as it were, and a relatively small change far upstream can lead to a whole variety of interrelated cascade effects.

A headwater mutation had such a huge impact on so many aspects of CNS development that suddenly there was far more variation for natural selection to work on, and so vampyres arose relatively quickly.

Despite common misconception, natural selection does not optimize anything. It's actually something along the lines of "survival of the least inadequate." It doesn't matter if a given adaptation is the best possible solution. All that matters is rather it works better than the competition. Overall vampyres did work better than the competition. But that doesn't mean they didn't have a few design flaws. The biggest were the broken pathway which forced them to eat other hominids and the defect referred to as the so-called crucifix glitch. It is this glitch that doomed them from the moment humans developed Euclidean architecture. Vampyres would have been barred from approaching any human dwellings that featured quartered windows, supporting crossbeams, and so on. And this weakness was likely discovered by the people of early civilization rather soon. The cross is not an exclusively Christian icon: it has been used as a religious symbol back into prehistoric times, and vampyres were apparently the reason.

The crucifix glitch, such a lethal trait remained in the vampyre population and was not weeded out by natural selection very soon because the trait wasn't lethal at first. An aversion to crosses is not a disadvantage in a world where crosses don't exist and there aren't many right angles in nature. Neutrally selective traits can become fixed in small populations through a simple process called "genetic drift". In this case the trait wasn't even neutral: the same crosswiring responsible for the crucifix glitch was also involved in vampiric pattern-matching skills, and that was a trait that natural selection would have actively promoted - right up until the point that their human prey discovered geometry and Euclidean architecture.

The crucifix glitch spelled the end of the vampyre lineage. Suddenly denied access to its prey-the entire subspecies went extinct shortly after the dawn of recorded history. Although they obviously persisted long enough to embed themselves in our cultural mythology.

The crucifix glitch is likely the source of the myth that vampyres can't enter someone's house uninvited. It would be more accurate to say that vampyres couldn't come into a house unless they kept their eyes closed; and since that would have made them extremely vulnerable to attack, they usually could only enter a house when the house's inhabitants didn't wish them ill.

Vampyres had very sensitive night vision and their pupils didn't react as quickly as humans to changes in light intensity; they could be easily snowblinded. Although it couldn't cause them to burst into flame when struck by the sun's rays, but it might explain a general aversion to bright light. A crowd of peasants with torches likely presented a real problem to the subspecies.

It's possible that vampyres themselves spread the myth of garlic repelling them, to engender a false sense of security among their prey. It's also possible that the whole story is pure fiction.

A lot of other myths-that vampyres can fly, or shapeshift, or that they don't reflect in mirrors-are likely to be mostly fiction as well. But it's worth remembering that these creatures were both faster and more intelligent than humans, and their superlative pattern-matching skills would have given them a real advantage in "blending in" via crypsis; it's quite likely that one might seem to disappear simply by fading into shadow, or adopting a posture that broke up its outline against the background. Combine such a vanishing act with, for example, the flushing of some startled animal caught in its path, and a primitive human might think that some kind of shape-shift had occurred.



Hone-onna (folklore)

Hone-onna (骨女, literally: skeleton woman) is a yokai of Japanese folklore.

Hone-onna is known for taking the frightening form of a skeleton woman. She may also take the guise of a beautiful woman, to lure unwitting men into having sex with her while she sucks them dry.



Huli Jing (mythology)

Huli jing (狐狸精 húlijing, or huli jing), or Fox Faeries, in Chinese mythology are fox spirits that are akin to European faeries or to the Japanese kitsune. Hu li jing can be either good spirits or bad spirits.

Huli jing are also seen as spirits who vampirize their victims sexually. They are said to rise from their graves and shapeshift into seductive women or old men. It then seduces its victim and sucks out the victim’s life force during orgasm. When the victim falls ill with consumption, the huli jing leaves them for another.

In Chinese mythology, it is believed that all things are capable of acquiring human forms, magical powers, and immortality, provided that they receive sufficient energy, in such forms as human breath or essence from the moon and the sun.

The fox spirits encountered in tales and legends are usually females and appear as young, beautiful women. One of the most infamous fox spirits in Chinese mythology was Daji (妲己), who is portrayed in the Ming novel Fengshen Yanyi. A beautiful daughter of a general, she was married forcibly to the cruel tyrant Zhou Xin (紂辛 Zhòu Xīn). A nine-tailed fox spirit who served Nüwa, whom Zhou Xin had offended, entered into and possessed her body, expelling the true Daji's soul. The spirit, as Daji, and her new husband schemed cruelly and invented many devices of torture, such as forcing righteous officials to hug red-hot metal pillars. Because of such cruelties, many people, including Zhou Xin's own former generals, revolted and fought against Zhou Xin's dynasty, Shang. Finally, King Wen of Zhou, one of the vassals of Shang, founded a new dynasty named after his country. The fox spirit in Daji's body was later driven out by Jiang Ziya (姜子牙), the first Prime Minister of the Zhou Dynasty.

Typically fox spirits were seen as dangerous, but some of the stories in Pu Songling's Liaozhai Zhiyi are love stories between a fox appearing as a beautiful girl and a young human male.

In modern Mandarin and Cantonese slang, the term hu li jing is a derogatory expression describing a woman who seduces a man ("gold digging").

The fox spirit has also been used as an explanatory factor in the incidence of attacks of koro, an ethnic psychosis found in Southern China and Malaysia in particular.



Hupia (folklore)

In Taíno culture, the hupia (also opia, opi'a, op'a, operi'to) is the spirit of a dead person or a vampire who kidnaps babies at night.

In Taíno religious beliefs, hupias (spirits of the dead) were contrasted with goeiza, spirits of the living. While a living goieza had definite form, after death the spirit was released as a hupia and went to live in a remote earthly paradise called Coaybay.

Hupias were believed to be able to assume many forms, sometimes appearing as faceless people or taking the form of a deceased loved one. Hupias in human form could always be distinguished by their lack of a navel. This interest in navels is especially meaningful if one considers that the navel is the point at which newborns are attached to their mothers. In light of the matrilineal descent customs of the Taino, the navel or physical link to the mother also determined a person's place in the community or society. Thus hupias were spirits without faces and navels. They were spirits that lacked both a unique individual identity and a place within the Taino community derived from the mother's line of descent.

Hupias, as spirits of the dead and the night, were feared and said to seduce women and kidnap people who ventured outside after dark. Hupias were also associated with bats and said to hide or sleep during the day and come out at night to eat guava fruit.



Impundulu (folklore)

The Impundulu (or izulu, inyoni yezulu) is a mythological vampire-like creature in the folklore of the tribes of the Southern Africa including the Pondo, the Zulu and the Xhosa. The impundulu, which translates as "lightning bird" takes the form of a black and white bird, the size of a human which is said to summon thunder and lightning with its wings and talons. It is a vampiric creature associated with witchcraft which was often the servant or familiar of a witch or witch doctor, attacking the witch's enemies. It is said to have an insatiable appetite for blood. It is said to sometimes take the form of a beautiful young man and seduce women.

In 2005, a South African man was convicted of culpable homicide after killing a two year old child he believed to be an impundulu.



Incubus (folklore)

In Western medieval legend, an incubus (plural: incubi) is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them. It was believed to do this in order to spawn other incubi. The incubus drains energy from the woman on whom it performs sexual intercourse in order to sustain itself, and some sources indicate that it may be identified by its unnaturally cold penis. Religious tradition holds that repeated intercourse with such a spirit by either males or females (the female version of the incubus is called a succubus) may result in the deterioration of health, or even death.

A number of mundane explanations have been offered for the origin of the incubus legends. They involve the Medieval preoccupation with sin, especially sexual sins of women. Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. Also, nocturnal arousal, orgasm or nocturnal emission could be explained by the idea of creatures causing an otherwise guilt-producing and self-conscious behavior.

Purported victims of incubi could have been the victims of sexual assault by a real person. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative may have assaulted the victim in her sleep. The victims and, in some cases the clergy, may have found it easier to explain the attack as supernatural rather than confront the idea that the attack came from someone in a position of trust.

One of the earliest mentionings of an incubus comes from Mesopotamia on the Sumerians king's list, ca. 2400, where the hero Gilgamesh's father is listed as Lilu (Lila). It is said that Lilu disturbs and seduces women in their sleep, while Lilitu, a female demon, appears to men in their erotic dreams. Two other corresponding demons appear as well, Ardat lili, who visits men by night and begets ghostly children from them, and Irdu lili, who is known as a male counterpart to Ardat lili and visits women by night and begets from them. These demons were originally storm demons, but they eventually became regarded as night demons due to mistaken etymology.

Incubi and succubi were said by some not to be different genders but the same demons able to change their gender. A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Their offspring were thought to be supernatural in many cases, even if the actual genetic material originally came from humans.

Though many tales claim that the incubus is bisexual, others indicate that it is strictly heterosexual and finds attacking a male victim either unpleasant or detrimental. There are also numerous stories involving the attempted exorcism of incubi or succubi who have taken refuge in, respectively, the bodies of men or women.

Incubi were sometimes said to be able to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is a Cambion. The most famous legend of such a case includes that of Merlin, the famous wizard from Arthurian legend.

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, exorcism is one of the five ways to overcome the attacks of Incubi, the others being Sacramental Confession, the Sign of the Cross (or recital of the Angelic Salutation), moving the afflicted to another location, and by excommunication of the attacking entity, "which is perhaps the same as exorcism." On the other hand, the Franciscan friar Ludovico Sinistari stated that incubi "do not obey exorcists, have no dread of exorcisms, and show no reverence for holy things, at the approach of which they are not in the least overawed."

There are a number of variations on the incubus theme around the world. The alp of Teutonic or German folklore is one of the better known. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa primarily attacks men and generally behind closed doors. El Trauco, according to the traditional mythology of the Chiloé Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young women and seduces them. El Trauco is said to be responsible for unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women. In Hungary, a lidérc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light (an ignis fatuus or will o' the wisp) or, in its more benign form as a featherless chicken.

In Brazil and the rain forests of the Amazon Basin, the Boto is a combination of siren and incubus, a very charming and beautiful man who seduces young women and takes them into the river. It is said to be responsible for disappearances and unwanted pregnancies, and it can never be seen by daylight, because it metamorphoses into kind of river dolphin during those hours. According to legend the boto always wears a hat to disguise the breathing hole at the top of its head.



Incus (folklore)

The Vietnamese folklore, the Incus is a vampire that sucks out its victims’ blood through an antenna that grows out of its nose.



Jaracaca (folklore)

The Jaracaca is a snake-shaped vampire from Brazilian folklore that attacks nursing mothers and sucks the milk from their breasts, meanwhile lodging its tail in the mouth of the infants. Some describe the jaracaca as a mix between a gorgon and a lamia: with an upper body of a woman, a lower body of a serpent, and live snakes for hair.



Jenglot (mythology)



A jenglot is a type of mysterious creature or vampire in Indonesian and Malaysian culture and mythology. The appearance is like a tiny human doll with long hair and appears to be alive. It is usually described as a mythical creature and some say the Jenglot was actually a human body.

There are controversies about this creature since there is not enough scientific evidence to support its existence.

Some paranormal studies say the “jenglot” is not a vampire but an animal or some sort of doll.

Jenglot is a mystical creature found in Indonesia, especially in Java. Jenglots are mostly found by native psychics after they have performed a supernatural ceremony. Jenglots can be found everywhere, from under the ground, on a wrecked house roof, and even in the trunk of a huge tree.

Jenglot is a small human-like creature, usually around 10-15cm with long nails. The hair on its head is said to be able to grow over time. The face of a jenglot is shaped like a skeleton or a zombie. This creature has been found with joined feet, which makes it look like a mermaid.

Jenglot keepers feed their creature with blood, either animal blood (goat) or human blood. A person who feeds the creature with human blood buys the blood legally from the Indonesian Red Cross. The jenglot is said to not drink the blood directly. The person places the jenglot near the blood, but the jenglot doesn't even move or touch the blood. It is said that the jenglot will get the nutrients of the blood in their own way.

People who have caught the jenglot usually bring their creature all over Indonesia to exhibit them in order to gain some money.



Jubokko (mythology)

In Japanese mythology Jyubokko (樹木子, Vampire Tree) or Jubokko is a kind of tree spirit, which is said to feed off the energy of humans.

Jubokko are sometimes said to suck the blood of humans and according to some tales they were born by growing near carnage places or battlefields where so much human blood was shed on the ground that it was sucked up in great quantities by the roots of certain trees.

Jyubokko are not like all other trees, and in fact if a jyubokko is cut, it will bleed red blood like a human. However, they are also fast healers and tend to be sturdier than other trees. Any branch taken from a jyubokko tree, with permission, is a powerful item that can be used to heal and purify by nearly anyone. Jyubokko may also hide themselves amongst other trees and bushes, and they may even appear to alter the flora around them. They may make it easy for someone to become lost in the nearby forest, through communication with other plants.



Kallikantzaros (folklore)

A Kallikantzaros (Καλλικάντζαρος, pl. Kallikantzaroi), also spelled Callicantzaros, is a malevolent goblin or vampire in Greek and Cypriot folklore. They dwell underground but come to the surface from 25 December to 6 January (from the winter solstice for a fortnight during which time the sun ceases its seasonal movement) to attack victims with its long, sharp talons and drink their blood. Its name is possibly derived from "kalos-kentauros, or "beautiful centaur.".

It is believed that Kallikantzaroi stay underground sawing the World tree, so that it will collapse, along with Earth. However, when they are about to saw the final part, Christmas dawns and they are able to come to surface. They forget the Tree and come to bring trouble to mortals.

Finally, on the Epiphany, the sun starts moving again, and they must go underground again to continue their sawing. They see that during their absence the World tree has healed itself, so they must start working all over again. This happens every year.

There is no standard appearance of Kallikantzaroi; there are regional differences on their appearance. Some Greeks have imagined them with some animal parts, like hairy bodies, horse legs, or boar tusks, sometimes enormous, other times diminutive. Others see them as humans of small size smelling horribly. They are predominatly male, often with protruding sex characteristics.

The Kallikantzaroi are creatures of the night. There were ways people could protect themselves during the days when the Kallikantzaroi were loose. They could leave a colander on their doorstep: if a Kallikantzaros approached for his evildoings, he would instead decide to sit and count the holes until the sun rose and he was forced to hide. The Kallikantzaroi also could not count above 2, since 3 is a holy number, and by pronouncing it, they would kill themselves. Another method of protection is to leave the fire burning in the fireplace all night so that they cannot enter through there.

Legend has it that any child born during the twelve days of the Saturnalia (17th through 26 December) was in danger of transforming to a Kallikantzaros for each Christmas season, starting with adulthood. The antidote: Binding the baby in tresses of garlic or straw, or singeing the child's toenails.

In Greek Kallikantzaros is also used for every short, ugly and usually mischievous being. If not used for the abovementioned creatures, it seems to express the collective sense for the Irish word leprechaun and the English words gnome and goblin.



Kappa (folklore)



Kappa (河童? "river-child"), alternately called Gatarō (川太郎? "river-boy") or Kawako (川子? "river-child"), are legendary creatures; a type of vampiric water sprite found in Japanese folklore. However they are also considered to be a part of cryptozoology, due to apparent sightings. In Shintoism they are considered to be one of many suijin (literally "water-deity").

Most depictions show kappa as child-sized humanoids, though their bodies are often more like those of monkeys or frogs than human beings. Some descriptions say their faces are apelike, while others show them with beaked visages more like those of tortoises or with duck beaks. Pictures usually show kappa with thick shells and scaly skin that ranges in color from green to yellow or blue.

Kappas inhabit the ponds and rivers of Japan and have various features to aid them in this environment, such as webbed hands and feet. They are sometimes even said to smell like fish, and they can certainly swim like them. The expression kappa-no-kawa-nagare ("a kappa drowning in a river") conveys the idea that even experts make mistakes.

The most notable feature of the kappa, however, is the water-filled depressions atop their heads. These cavities are surrounded by scraggly hair, and this type of bobbed hair style is named okappa-atama for the creatures. The kappas derive their incredible strength from these liquid-filled holes, and anyone confronted with one may exploit this weakness by simply getting the kappa to spill the water from its head. The kappa possesses a deep sense of etiquette, so one trusted method is to appeal to this, for a kappa cannot help but return a deep bow, even if it means losing its head-water in the process. Once depleted, the kappa is seriously weakened and may even die. Other tales say that this water allows kappa to move about on land, and once emptied, the creatures are immobilized. Stubborn children are encouraged to follow the custom of bowing on the grounds that it is a defense against kappa. In addition, the Japanese Folklore says that the kappa is a master of Koppo; the bone-breaking technique, which was actually invented by them.

Kappas are mischievous troublemakers. Their pranks range from the relatively innocent, such as loudly passing gas or looking up women's kimonos, to the more troublesome, such as stealing crops, kidnapping children, or raping women. In fact, small children are one of the gluttonous kappa's favorite meals, though they will eat adults as well. They feed on these hapless victims by drowning them, sucking out the blood through the anus, and then resting inside the person’s rectum. If a drowning victim appears to have a swollen anus it is said that they were attacked by a kappa and probably had one inside them. Even today, signs warning about kappa appear by bodies of water in some Japanese towns and villages. Kappa are also said to be afraid of fire, and some villages hold fireworks festivals each year to scare the spirits away.

Kappas are not entirely antagonistic to mankind, however. They are curious of human civilization, and they can understand and speak Japanese. They thus sometimes challenge those they encounter to various tests of skill, such as shogi or sumo wrestling. They may even befriend human beings in exchange for gifts and offerings, especially cucumbers, the only food kappa are known to enjoy more than human children. Japanese parents sometimes write the names of their children (or themselves) on cucumbers and toss them into kappa-infested waters in order to mollify the creatures and allow the family to bathe. There is even a kind of cucumber-filled sushi roll named for the kappa, the kappamaki.

Once befriended, kappas have been known to perform any number of tasks for human beings, such as helping farmers irrigate their land. They are also highly knowledgeable of medicine, and legend states that they taught the art of bone setting to mankind. Due to these benevolent aspects, some shrines are dedicated to the worship of particularly helpful kappa. Kappa may also be tricked into helping people. Their deep sense of decorum will not allow them to break an oath, for example, so if a human being can dupe a kappa into promising to help him, the kappa has no choice but to follow through.



Ker (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Keres (singular: Ker from the Greek Kêr) were female death-spirits and sources of evils. In some texts, Ker is the single goddess of violent death (Kêr or Kêres Danatoio).

The passages in the Homeric poems in which the Kêres appear as real personifications, are not very numerous (Il. ii. 302, iii. 454, xviii. 535), and in most cases the word may be taken as a common noun. The plural form seems to allude to the various modes of dying which Homer ((Il. xii. 326) pronounces to be muriai, and may be a natural, sudden, or violent death. (Od. xi. 171, &c., 398, &c.) Epidemic diseases are sometimes personified as Kêres. (Orph. Hymn. xiii. 12, lxvi. 4, Lith. vii. 6; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 847.)

They were described as dark beings clad in red with gnashing teeth, sharp claws and with a thirst for human blood. They would hover over the battlefield and search for dying and wounded men. In the fifth century Keres were imaged as small winged sprites in vase-paintings adduced by J.E. Harrison (Harrison, 1903), who described apotropaic rites and rites of purification that were intended to keep the Keres at bay.

According to Hesiod, the Keres were daughters of Nyx, and as such the sisters of Fate (Moirae), Doom (Moros), Death and Sleep (Thanatos and Hypnos), Strife (Eris), Old Age (Geras), Divine Retribution (Nemesis), Charon, and other personifications. Some, such as Cicero who calls them by a Latin name, Tenebrae, or the Darknesses, name them daughters of Erebus and Nyx.

As death daemons, they were also associated with the Hound of Hades, Cerberus, whose name can be read as the Ker of Erebus.

"And Nyx (Night) bare hateful Moros (Doom) and black Ker (Violent Death) and Thanatos (Death), and she bare Hypnos (Sleep) and the tribe of Oneiroi (Dreams). And again the goddess murky Nyx, though she lay with none, bare Momos (Blame) and painful Oizys (Misery), and the Hesperides ... Also she bare the Moirai (Fates) and the ruthless avenging Keres (Death-Fates) ... Also deadly Nyx bare Nemesis (Envy) to afflict mortal men, and after her, Apate (Deceit) and Philotes (Friendship) and hateful Geras (Old Age) and hard-hearted Eris (Strife)." (Hesiod, Theogony 211, translated by Evelyn-White).

The Keres execute the Fates' commands. They are often seen hovering around battle fields where they collect the souls of the deceased warriors. As psychopump monsters, they were believed to appear at the last moment to take the soul of the dying. They are also called “The dogs of Hades” because of their contribution to the increasing population of the Underworld.

Although no living being can escape them, the Keres have yet no absolute power over the life of men: they are under Zeus and the gods, who can stop them in their course or hurry them on. (Il. xii. 402, xviii. 115, iv. 11; Od. xi. 397.) Even mortals themselves may for a time prevent their attaining their object, or delay it by flight and the like. (Il. iii. 32, xvi. 47.)

Witches could summon Keres with the power of the evil eye to bring death to their enemies

"Medea went up on the deck. She covered both her cheeks with a fold of her purple mantle, and Iason (Jason) led her by the hand as she passed across the benches. Then, with incantations, she invoked the Keres (Spirits of Death), the swift hounds of Hades who feed on souls and haunt the lower air to pounce on living men. She sank to her knees and called upon them, three times in song, three times with spoken prayers. She steeled herself of their malignity and bewitched the eyes of Talos with the evil in her own. She flung at him the full force of her malevolence, and in an ecstasy of rage she plied him with images of death.

Is it true then, Father Zeus, that people are not killed only by disease or wounds, but can be struck down by a distant enemy? The thought appals me. Yet it was thus that Talos, for all his brazen frame, was brought down by the force of Medea’s magic. He was hoisting up some heavy stones with which tow keep them from anchorage, when he grazed his ankle on a sharp rock and the ichor ran out of him like molten lead. He stood there for a short time, high on the jutting cliff. But even his strong legs could not support him long; he began to sway, all power went out of him, and he came down with a resounding crash." - Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.1659

During the festival known as Anthesteria, the Keres were driven away. Their Roman equivalents were Letum (“death”) or the Tenebrae (“shadows”).

According to a statement of Stesichorus noted by Eustathius, Stesichorus "called the Keres by the name Telchines", whom Eustathius identified with the Kuretes of Crete, who could call up squalls of wind and would brew potions from herbs (noted in Harrison, p 171).

The term Keres has also been cautiously used to describe a person’s fate. In the second century AD Pausanias equated the two (x.28.4). "Here and elsewhere to translate 'Keres' by fates is to make a premature abstraction," Jane Ellen Harrison warned (Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, "The Ker as Evil Sprite" p 170. See also Harrison's section "The Ker as Fate" pp 183-87).

An example of this can be found in the Illiad where Achilles was given the choice (or Keres) between either a long and obscure life and home, or death at Troy and everlasting glory. Also, when Achilles and Hector were about to engage in a fight to the death, the god Zeus weighed both warrior's keres to determine who shall die.

This Kerostasia, or weighing of keres, may be paralleled by the Psychostasia or weighing of souls; a lost play with that title was written by Aeschylus and the Egyptian parallel is familiar. As Hector’s ker was deemed heavier, he was the one destined to die. The subject appears in vase-paintings, where little men are in the scales: "it is the lives rather than the fates that are weighed", Harrison remarks (Prolegomena p 184). "Hunger, pestilence, madness,. nightmare have each a sprite behind them; are all sprites," J.E. Harrison oberved (Harrison 1903, p 169), but two Keres might not be averted, and these, which emerged from the swarm of lesser ills, were Old Age and Death. Odysseus says, "Death and the Ker avoiding, we escape" (Odyssey xii.158), where the two are not quite identical: Harrison (p. 175) found the Christian parallel "death and the angel of death".

"The other army, as soon as they heard the uproar arising ... suddenly mounted behind their light-foot horses, and went after, and soon overtook them. These stood their ground and fought a battle by the banks of the river, and they were making casts at each other with their spears bronze-headed; and Eris (Hate) was there with Kydoimos (Confusion) among them, and Ker (Death) the destructive; she was holding a live man with a new wound, and another one unhurt, and dragged a dead man by the feet through the carnage. The clothing upon her shoulders showed strong red with the men's blood as she glared horribly and gnashed her teeth till they echoed. All the Keres closed together like living men and fought with each other and dragged away from each other the corpses of those who had fallen." - Homer, Iliad 18.535

The black Dooms gnashing their white teeth, grim-eyed, fierce, bloody, terrifying fought over the men who were dying for they were all longing to drink dark blood. As soon as they caught a man who had fallen or one newly wounded, one of them clasped her great claws around him and his soul went down to Hades, to chilly Tartarus. And when they had satisfied their hearts with human blood, they would throw that one behind them and rush back again into the battle and the tumult. - Hesiod, Shield of Herakles (248-57).

"For ere this [the opening of Pandora's jar] the tribes of men lived on earth remote and free from ills (kakoi) and hard toil (ponoi) and heavy sickness (nosoi argaleai) which bring the Keres (Death-Demons) upon men; for in misery men grow old quickly. But the woman [Pandora] took off the great lid of the jar with her hands and scattered all these and her thought caused sorrow and mischief to men." - Hesiod, Works & Days 90

"In his hands he [Herakles] took his shield, all glittering: no one ever broke it with a blow or crushed it. And a wonder it was to see ... In the centre was Phobos (Fear) worked in adamant, unspeakable, staring backwards with eyes that glowed with fire. His mouth was full of teeth in a white row, fearful and daunting, and upon his grim brow hovered frightful Eris (Battle-Strife) who arrays the throng of men: pitiless she, for she took away the mind and senses of poor wretches who made war against the son of Zeus ... Upon the shield Proioxis (Pursuit) and Palioxis (Flight) were wrought, and Homados (Tumult), and Phobos (Panic), and Androktasia (Slaughter). Eris (Battle-Strife) also, and Kydoimos (Confusion) were hurrying about, and deadly Ker (Fate) was there holding one man newly wounded, and another unwounded; and one, who was dead, she was dragging by the feet through the tumult. She had on her shoulders a garment red with the blood of men, and terribly she glared and gnashed her teeth." - Hesiod, Shield of Herakles 139

"There were men fighting in warlike harness, some defending their own town and parents from destruction, and others eager to sack it; many lay dead, but the greater number still strove and fought ... and behind them the dusky Keres, gnashing their white fangs, lowering, grim, bloody, and unapproachable, struggled for those who were falling, for they all were longing to drink dark blood. So soon as they caught a man overthrown or falling newly wounded, one of them would clasp her great claws about him, and his soul would go down to Haides to chilly Tartaros. And when they had satisfied their souls with human blood, they would cast that one behind them, and rush back again into the tumult and the fray. The Moirai or Fates Klotho and Lachesis were over them and Atropos less tall than they, a goddess of no great frame, yet superior to the others and the eldest of them. And they [the Keres] all made a fierce fight over one poor wretch, glaring evilly at one another with furious eyes and fighting equally with claws and hands. By them stood Akhlys (Death-Mist), mournful and fearful, pale, shrivelled, shrunk with hunger, swollen-kneed. Long nails tipped her hands, and she dribbled at the nose, and from her cheeks blood dripped down to the ground. She stood leering hideously, and much dust sodden with tears lay upon her shoulders." - Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 237



Koscima (foklore)

In Croatian folklore, the Koscima (feminine: kosicama) is a vampire. These vampires are involved with the case of the diarrhea- and illness-causing Lastovo Island Vampires in the early 18th century.

A villager of Lastovo testified in an opfficial investigation that kosci designate the dead who have revived and who, residing in their graves, especially people who drowned in their lives, kill and destroy people and all too frequently go to their homes and have sexual intercourse with their wives when they are men, as they did before death.

Another villager testified that kosci would enter houses at night and chew on people’s heart, because they feed on the hearts and innards of the living and drink their blood, above all of those with whom they had a quarerel.

To dispatch the vampire, it must be decapitated, stuck in the knees with an axe or sword, or be stabbed by a black thorn stake, as it is the only wood powerful enough to inpale kosci.



Kozlak (folklore)

In Dalmatian folklore, the Kozlak is a poltergeist vampire that likes to enter homes at night and torment sleeping persons and annoy housewives by throwing around pots and pans. If it goes to a farm, it likes to pull the wagon around noisily.

If a corpse is feared to become a kozlak, a preventive measure calls for not sweeping out the room where the death occurred for several days. Despite this practice, the remedy seldom works, and another measure must be taken. A troublesome kozlak must be dealt with by a priest. The priest must go to the kozlak’s grave and say prayers to summon the vampire. When it appears, the priest must run it through with a thorn that has been grown high on a mountain, in a place from which the sea cannot be seen. The kozlak will not return to plague the living.



Krvopijac (folklore)

In Bulgarian folklore, the Krvopijac, also known as Krvvoijac or Obour, is a vampire. They look like normal people, but have only one nostril and a pointed tongue. A krvopijac can be immobilized by placing roses around their graves. It can be destroyed by letting a sorcerer order it into a bottle and throwing it into a bonfire.



Lamia (mythology)



In Greek mythology, Lamia was one of many mythical Greek monsters (others being her daughter Scylla, and Empousa). She had the head and torso of a woman, and the body of a serpent. Her name comes from a Greek word for gullet (Laimos), thus she devoured human children. The Lamia is also interpreted as another form Greek vampire. The children she devoured would later be regurgitated, drained of their blood.

Lamia was the daughter of Poseidon and Lybie—a personification of the country of Libya. Lamia was a queen of Libya herself, whom Zeus loved. Hera turned her into a monster, either because the grief of killing all her children, except Scylla, made her monstrous, or because she was already one of Hecate's brood. Plutarch heard that Lamia had the gift to be able to take her eyes out and then put them back in, A paternalistic embroidery on this archaic mytheme is that this gift was the gift of Zeus, and by a further explanatory improvisation, that Lamia was "cursed" with the inability to close her eyes so that she would always obsess over the image of her dead children.

Horace, in Ars Poetica imagined the impossibility of retrieving the living children she had engulfed:

Neu pranse Lamiae vivum puerum extrabat alvo.

Which Alexander Pope translates

Shall Lamia in our sight her sons devour,

and give them back alive the self-same hour?

Apuleius, in The Golden Ass, describes the witch Meroe and her sister once as Lamiae Further passing references to Lamia were made by Strabo; and Aristotle, Ethicsvii.5.

In the Vulgate Jerome translated Lilith, the spirit in Isaiah 34:14 who conceived by Adam a brood of monsters, lamia.



Lampir (folklore)

In Bosnian folklore, the lampir is a vampire related to the vukodlak. It is blamed for deaths due to highly contageous diseases.



Langsuir (folklore)



Langsuir, also spelled Langsuyar or Hantu Lagsuir, are popular in Malaysia as one of the deadliest vampires in Malay folklore. Different from a pontianak, which always appeared as a beautiful woman to devour the victim, langsuir would possess the victim and suck the blood from the inside, slowly causing a fatal end. It is believed that langsuir are from women who had laboring sickness (meroyan) as a result of suffering the death of their children and who themselves died afterwards. Portrayed as hideous, scary, vengeful, and furious, the langsuir is further characterized as having red eyes, sharp claws, long hair, a hole in their neck from which they drink blood and hide under their hair, a white robe (most of the time), a rotten face, long fangs, and sometimes with bat-like wings. These are the common images described by people who claimed to have seen one. Pontianaks are sometimes claimed to be the male counterparts or still-born children of langsuirs.



Leanan Sidhe (folklore)

Leanan Sidhe, or Dearg-due, often considered the Irish version of the Manx Lhiannan Shee, is a source of inspiration for young artists.

Often considered the Irish version or Scottish version of female vampires and succubi (as they lure men through sexual attraction), Leanan Sidhe is an opposite of her Manx counterpart Lhiannan Sidhe, a life-giving spirit inspiring artists, mostly poets and musicians.

Corporeal to the beloved artist she chose as her mate, sometimes the Leanan Sidhe took the form of a woman, who gave men valour and strength in battle thanks to her songs.

Dearg-due translates as red blood sucker. A Celtic legend tells that a famous female called Dearg-due is buried next to Strongbow's Tree in Waterford.

Leanan Sidhe instead means either faerie mistress or faerie sweetheart for she used to take an artist as lover.

The Faerie Mistress seems to be fond of poets and musicians, inspiring them with her muse like power. It is said that her lover gives her the vital depth of emotion that she craves and she in turn gives inspiration to his genius.

Leanan Sidhe is intelligence, creativity, art and magic. She was the embodiment of all that as well as so beautiful and sensual to cause fear and be considered dangerous as well as evil for she didn’t conceal her power, beauty and mystery.

Her purpose is revealed through the creative works she inspired in poets, painters, and musicians. Her beauty gave so many emotions that she taught her lovers love and despair, longing and desire.

According to Irish lore, the way to prevent the undead, such as Leanan Sidhe, from rising is to put a cairn of stones over their grave.

Leanan Sidhe is the famous Celtic muse with such a dark and incomparable beauty that her lover was often distraught with longing and suffering for her absence. Because Gaelic poets died at a very young age, this spirit is considered an evil faerie. As W.B. Yeats states in his book Faerie and Folk Tales of Ireland she grew restless and carried them away to other worlds, for death does not destroy her power.

On the other hand W.Y. Evens-Wents, in his book The Faerie Faith in Celtic Countries, reports of a similar tale about a faerie woman mistaken for a succubi, suggesting that at the time (Middle Age) fairies where often mistaken for succubi. He clearly states

Leanan was believed to have taken human form; such was the poetess Eodain by whom Eugene, king of Munster, gained complete victory over his foes. Afterwards he gave himself up to luxury and pleasure, and moved to Spain, where he stayed for nine years, got married and had children. After that long period he returned to find his Irish kingdom ruined, while a few people were feasting in his banquet hall and most of his people were starving to death. The country despised Eugene and would not listen to him when he was supposed to give just judgement for iniquity. Eugene looked for Eodain to come and give him advice. So she came and upheld him with her strong spirit, for she had the power within her of the poet and the prophet. Following her suggestions and guided by her, he was eventually successful and brought order back to his land.



Leyak (folklore)

In the folklore of Bali, the Leyak (in Indonesian, people called it 'Leak' (le-ak)—the Y is not written or spoken) is a Balinese supernatural being or vampire in the form of a flying head with entrails (heart, lung, liver, etc) still attached. Leyaks are said to fly about trying to find a pregnant woman in order to suck her baby's blood (some versions state that they eat the newborn child). There are three legendary Leyak, two females and one male.

It is believed that the Leyak is an ordinary human who practices black magic and who needs human embryos blood in order to sustain themselves. It is said that a Leyak practitioner can transform into a pig or a ball of fire, amongst other forms. In normal Leyak form, they are said to have an unusually long tongue and large fangs. In daylight they appear as an ordinary human, but at night their head and entrails break loose from their body and fly. Some people have said that Leyak black magic only works on the island of Bali, thus preventing this magic from spreading to Java or the surrounding islands.

In Thailand there is another from of Leyak, which, while also taking the form of a flying head, has the additional ability of killing people.

On film, those who wish to learn black magic will offer the Leyak diamonds in exchange for knowledge. The Leyak then tattoos its student using a type of Pali or Sanskrit language (this could be due to the Indian origins of Balinese religious practices).

If people stab the neck of the Leyak's headless body during the night with a sharp object that points upward (towards the head), the Leyak cannot return to its body unless it can remove that object with its teeth. If the Leyak is separated from its body for an extended period of time, it may die.

For all their abilities, there is no practical use for the Leyak's magic, which calls into question why anyone would choose to learn this form of magic.



Lhiannan Shee (folklore)

Lhiannan Shee or Lannan Shee is a vampiric spirit of the Isle of Man taking the form of a beautiful woman in order to seduce them and drink their blood.

Manx version of female vampires and succubi (as they lure men through sexual attraction), Lhiannan Shee are dangerous and evil predators.

On the contrary the Irish Leanan Sidhe is more favourably regarded, as a life giving spirit, the inspiration of poets, but both names mean the "faerie sweetheart", or faerie mistress, so they are easily confused.

Leanhuan Shee or Leanhuan Sidhe stand for ‘’faerie mistress’’.

They usually settle in a natural environment, they haunt wells and springs.

Corporeal to the beloved, but invisible as for spirit or ghost to anybody else, Lhiannan Shee is mostly non corporeal beings.

Lhiannan Shee of Man is considered both as a vampire and as a spirit or who overcomes the man to whom she appears as an irresistible beauty, though she’s invisible to anyone else. If the yeilds to her seduction, he is ruined body and soul.

When a Lhiannan wants a man, she doesn’t draw his blood off, but she sucks his life force instead. She’s capable of glamour for she may appear, and as a very beautiful woman, to her beloved and managing to stay invisible to others. Her skill to draw off energy compares the Sidhe to vampire, the psychic kind. Lhiannan Shee fears iron as it might be harmed and killed by it.

This spirit looks for the love of a man. When he refuses she becomes her slave, if they agree they are subdued to slavery and can only run by finding a replacement for the Lhiannan. As she lives on her lover’s lives, the man gets ruined in body and soul. Because of Gaelic poets, who until recently all had a muse, their Lhiannan, died at a very young age this spirit is considered an evil faerie. As W.B. Yeats states in his book “Faerie and Folk Tales of Ireland) she grew restless and carried them away to other worlds, for death does not destroy her power. On the other hand W.Y. Evens-Wents, in his book ‘’The Faerie Faith in Celtic Countries”, reports of a similar tale about a faerie woman mistaken for a succubi, suggesting that at the time (Middle Age) fairies where often mistaken for succubi. He clearly states ‘’… it is not intended by this observation to confuse the higher orders of the Sidhe and all faerie folk such as the fae who come from Avalon with succubi; though succubi and faerie women were often confused and improperly identified the one with the other.”



Liderc (folklore)

A Liderc, or Lidérc, is a unique supernatural being, sometimes a vampire, of Hungarian folklore. It has three known varieties, which often borrow traits from one another.

The first, more traditional form of the Lidérc is as a miracle chicken, csodacsirke in Hungarian, which hatches from the first egg of a black hen kept warm under the arm of a human. Some versions of the legend say that an unusually tiny black hen's egg, or any egg at all, may become a Lidérc, or that the egg must be hatched by placing it in a heap of manure. The Lidérc attaches itself to people to become their lover. If the owner is a woman, the being shifts into a man, but instead of pleasuring the woman, it fondles her, sits on her body, and sometimes sucks her blood, making her weak and sick after a time. From this source comes a Hungarian word for nightmare -- lidércnyomás, which literally means "Lidérc pressure", from the pressure on the body while the being sits on it. Alternate names for the Lidérc are iglic, ihlic in Žitný ostrov, lüdérc, piritusz in the south, and mit-mitke in the east. The Lidérc hoards gold and thus makes its owner rich. To dispose of this form of the Lidérc, it must be persuaded to perform an impossible task, such as haul sand with rope, or water with a sieve. It can also be destroyed by locking it into a tree hollow.

The second variety of the Lidérc is as a tiny being, a temporal devil, földi ördög in Hungarian. It has many overlapping qualities with the miracle chicken form, and it may also be obtained from a black hen's egg, but more often it is found accidentally in rags, boxes, glass bottles, or in the pockets of old clothes. A person owning this form of the Lidérc suddenly becomes rich and is capable of extraordinary feats, because the person's soul has supposedly been given to the Lidérc, or even to the Devil.

The third variety is as a satanic lover, ördögszereto in Hungarian, quite similar to an incubus or succubus. This form of the Lidérc flies at night, appearing as a fiery light, a will o' the wisp, or even as a bird of fire. In the northern regions of Hungary and beyond, it is also known as ludvérc, lucfir. In Transylvania and Moldavia it goes by the names of lidérc, lüdérc, and sometimes ördög, literally, the Devil. While in flight, the Lidérc sprinkles flames. On earth, it can assume a human shape, usually the shape of a much lamented dead relative or lover. Its footprints are that of a horse. The Lidérc enters houses through chimneys or keyholes, brings sickness and doom to its victims. It leaves the house with a splash of flames and dirties the walls. Burning incense and birch branches prevent the Lidérc from entering one's dwelling. In the eastern regions of Hungary and beyond, it is said the Lidérc is impossible to outrun, it haunts cemeteries, and it must disappear at the first crow of a rooster at dawn.



Loogaroo (folklore)



The Loogaroo is a woman, who is in league with the devil. She will have magical abilities only if she gives the devil blood every night.

The Loogaroo can leave its own skin (by going to a Devil Tree - unsure if that is a specific tree or type of tree) and turn into a flame or blue ball of bright light that haunts the night searching for blood to meet the terms of her deal. After it has collected enough blood it can return to its skin and retake human form.

This creature is apparently compulsive and must stop to count grains of sand spread upon the ground. So, a defence against it was to leave a pile of rice or sand near your front door. Hopefully, the creature would take so long to count it all that the sun would eventually return with the coming of morning. By that time the Loogaroo would have to return to its skin without making an attack.

The Loogaroo is an example of how a vampire belief can result from a combination of beliefs, here a mixture of French and African Vodu or voodoo. The term Loogaroo possibly comes from the French mythological creature called the Loup-garou, a type of werewolf and is common in the Culture of Mauritius. However, the stories of the Loogaroo are widespread through the Caribbean Islands and Louisiana in the USA.



Lugat (mythology)

Some northern Albanian mountain tribes hold the belief that an undead or vampire, which they call either a lugat, kukuthi, or kukudhi grows stronger with time until, after thirty years, it reachs a final stage where he is no longer required to return to its grave and can live in a home during the day.

He then typically travels to other lands as a merchant.

Before the lapse of the thirty year period following burial, the vampire can be destroyed in its grave by such means as driving a stake through its heart, cutting the tendons behind the knee caps (ham stringing), and cremation.

Some other northern Albanian tribes believe that the kukuthi or lugat can only be destroyed by a wolf. The wolf bites the vampire's legs off. The vampire then retreats to his grave and never leaves it again.



Manananggal (folklore)



A manananggal in Filipino folklore is a mythical creature. It resembles a Western vampire, in being an evil, human-devouring monster or witch. The myth of the Manananggal is popular in the Visayan region of the Philippines, especially in the western provinces of Capiz, Iloilo, Antique. There are varying accounts of the features of a manananggal. Like vampires, Visayan folklore creatures, and aswangs, manananggals are also said to abhor garlic and salt. Folklore of similar creatures can be found in the neighbouring nations of Indonesia and Malaysia.

A manananggal is described as being an older, beautiful woman (as opposed to an aswang), capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the night with huge bat-like wings to prey on unsuspecting, pregnant women in their homes; using an elongated proboscis-like tongue, it sucks the hearts of fetuses or blood of an unsuspecting, sleeping victim. The severed lower torso is left standing and it is said to be the more vulnerable of the two halves. Sprinkling salt or smearing crushed garlic or ash on top of the standing torso is fatal to the creature. The upper torso then would not be able to rejoin and will die at daybreak. The name of the creature originates from an expression used for a severed torso: Manananggal comes from the Tagalog, tanggal (cognate of Malay and Indonesian tanggal) which means to remove or to separate. Manananggal then means the one who separates itself from its lower body.

Superstitious folk in the Visayan provinces still hang cloves of garlic or onion around windows, doors, etc. with the purpose of repelling this creature as well as the aswang. They are a favorite theme for sensationalist tabloids. They may be a product of mass hysteria or intentionally propagated to keep children off the street, home at night and wary or careful of strangers, or simply to entertain them.

A manananggal is also said to create other manananggals by tricking ordinary persons to drink the manananggal's saliva or blood, similar to the vampires' making an ordinary person to drink vampire blood.



Mandurugo (folklore)

In Phillipian folklore, the mandurugo is a vampire that is said to appear as a beautiful woman during the day and as a foul flying fiend at night. She uses her beauty to attract, seduce and wed young men, thus providing herself with a constant blood supply. When not feasting secretly upon her husband, she flies away in the dark of night, hunting her prey until dawn, when the crowing of the cock signals her return to home. She then changes back into human form.



Mjertovjec (foklore)



The Mjertovjec, also known as myertovets or myertovjec, is a vampire in Russian folklore. It has a purple face and is active from midnight until the cock crows thrice in the morning. It becomes a vampire by being the son of werewolf or a witch, if it has ever behaved like a werewolf, or if it ever cursed its own father or the church.

To prevent a corpse from becoming a mjertovjec: sprinkle poppy seeds along the road leading from the tomb to the house of the deceased. If this fails and it becomes a vampire, nail the coffin shut and burn it with the vampire inside.



Mmbyu (folklore)

The Mmbyu (also known as pacu pati), in Indian folklore, is a vampire that is known to frequently visit places where people have been executed. This vampire is attended by a retinue of demon servants.



Mora (mythology)

Mora are mostly malevolent folkloric beings associated with sleep that in some form or another can be found throughout Europe.

In Polish folklore, mora are the souls of living people that leave the body during the night, and are seen as wisps of straw or hair or as moths. In certain Slavic languages, variations of the word mora actually mean moth.

In Croatian, "mora" refers to a "nightmare". Mora or Mara is one of the spirits from ancient Slav mythology. Mara was a dark spirit that takes a form of a beautiful woman and then visits men in their dreams, torturing them with desire, and dragging life out of them. Other Slavic names were nocnica, night woman, or ejjeljaro, night-goer.

In Germany they were known as mara, mahr, mare, in Romania they were known as Moroi. In Slavic countries the terms included mora, zmoras, morava and moroi; in France, such a witch was the cauchemar. Hungarian folklorist Éva Pócs traces the core term back to the Greek root moros, death.

According to author and researcher Paul Devereux, mora included witches who took on the form of animals when their spirits went out while they were in trance. Animals such as frogs, cats, horses, hares, dogs, oxen, birds and often bees and wasps.

Like other trance practitioners, mora witches traditionally owed their abilities to being born with a caul. In their metamorphosed form they could fly through the night, walk on or hover above water and travel in a sieve. Dead mora witches were said to return as ghosts.



Mormo (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Mormo was a spirit who bit bad children, said to have been a companion of the goddess Hecate. The name was also used to signify a female vampire-like creature in stories told to Greek children by their nurses to keep them from misbehaving. This reference is primarily found in some of the Plays of Aristophanes.

Aristophanes, Archanians 582 ff: "Your terrifying armor makes me dizzy. I beg you, take away that Mormo (bogy-monster)!"

Aristophanes, Peace 474 ff: "This is terrible! You are in the way, sitting there. We have no use for your Mormo's (bogy-like) head, friend."

According to Anton LaVey, in The Satanic Bible, Mormo is the, "King of the Ghouls, consort of Hecate."



Mullo (folklore)

Mullo (Muli: female, Mulo: male) is an undead, revenant, or vampire of gypsy (Roma) folklore. 'Mullo' means 'one who is dead'. A dead person would return and do bad things and/or feed on the blood of a living person. The victim was usually a relative who had caused the mullo's death, or who didn't correctly observe the burial ceremonies, or who kept the corpse's possessions instead of destroying them as was proper. A European mulo shares similarities with the Japanese onryo.



Nachzehrer (folklore)

A Nachzehrer is a sort of German vampire. Nachzehrer translates "afterwards (nach) devourer (zehrer)". The Nachzehrer was prominent in the northern region of Germany, including Silesia and Bavaria, and also with the Kashubes of Northern Europe. Though officially a vampire, they are also similar to zombies, and in many ways different from either undead. The nachzehrer is not a blood-sucker. Instead, they live off of the consumption of already dead bodies.

A nachzehrer is created most commonly after suicide, and sometimes from an accidental death. According to German lore, you don't become one from being bitten, or scratched. It is just something that happens. Nachzehrers are also related to sickness and disease. If a large group of people died of the plague, the first person to have died is believed to be a nachzehrer.

Typically a Nachzehrer devours its family members upon waking. It’s also been said that they devour themselves, including their funeral shroud, and the more of themselves they eat, the more of their family they physically drain. It is not unlikely that the idea of the dead eating themselves might have risen from bodies in open graves that had been partly eaten by scavengers like rats.

Some Kashubes believed that the Nachzehrer would leave its grave, shapeshifting into the form of a pig, and pay a visit to their family members to feast on their blood. In addition, the Nachzehrer was able to ascend to a church belfry to ring the bells, bringing death to anyone who hears them. Another lesser known ability of the Nachzehrer is the power it had to bring death by causing its shadow to fall upon someone. Those hunting the Nachzehrer in the graveyard would listen for grunting sounds that it would make while it munched on its grave clothes.

In addition to the ability to shapeshift into a pig, and drain away its family's life force much the way a vampire drains away blood (only from a distance), a Nachzehrer can ascend to the bell tower of a church, and ring the bells. All who hear the bells are murdered.

The Nachzehrer was similar to the Slavic vampire in that it was known to be a recently deceased person who returned from the grave to attack family and village acquaintances. It usually originated from an unusual death such as a person who died by suicide or accident. They were also associated with epidemic sickness, such as whenever a group of people died from the same disease, the person who died first was labeled to be the cause of the group's death. Another belief was that if a person's name was not removed from his burial clothing, that person would be a candidate for becoming a Nachzehrer.

To protect themselves from the Nachzehrer, villagers would place clumps of earth under the vampire's chin, place a coin or stone in its mouth, or tie a handkerchief tightly around its neck. In other cases, the corpse would be beheaded, a spike would be driven through head to pin the corpse to the ground, or the tongue would be fixed into place.

The official killing myth says you can kill a Nachzehrer by placing a coin in its mouth, and then axing off its head. It can be discerned from this that a mere coin in the mouth may result in paralysis as some myths say that a stake through a vampires heart does.

It is characteristic of a Nachzehrer to lie in its grave with its thumb in its opposite hand, and its left eye open.



Nagasjatingarong (folklore)

In Indonesian folklore, the Nagasjatingarong is a vampire. In 1975, a nagasjatingarong was blamed for the deaths of five husbands of a 25-year-old woman who lived in South Samatra. Each husband died of acute anemia within a month of marrying the woman. A local sahman determined that the woman was possessed by the nagasjatingarong, which had sucked the husbands’ blood.



Neamma-parusha (folklore)

In Indian Folklore, the Neamma-parusha is a vampiric spirit who wears a wreath of intestines around its head. This vampire tears open the skulls of its victims and drinks the blood through their brains.



Nelapsi (folklore)

In Slovakian folklore, the Nelapsi is a vampire able to kill entire villages, including livestock. Usually, the vampire suffocates its victims and then drinks their blood. It can also kill with a single glance.

The nelapsi has two hearts and two souls, which allows it to thrive as a vampire. Other signs to identify the vampire would be if the corpse was not yet stiff, two curls in its hair, if its face is not yet pale, and if its eyes are open.

A way to prevent a corpse from becoming a nelapsi is to stab the corpse in the head or heart with an iron wedge, hat pin, or a stake made of hawthorn, black thorn, or oak. The corpse’s clothing, limbs and hair must be nailed to the coffin. Poppy seeds must then be placed in the nose and mouth, in the coffin, in the grave, on the ground near the grave, and on the road into the cemetery.



Nukekubi (folklore)

Nukekubi (抜首) are monsters found in Japanese folklore. By day, nukekubi appears to be normal human beings. By night, however, their heads and necks detach smoothly from their bodies and fly about independently in search of human prey. These heads attack by screaming, (to increase their victims' fright) then closing in and biting.

While the head and neck are detached, the body of a nukekubi becomes inanimate. In some legends, this serves as one of the creatures few weaknesses; if a nukekubi's head cannot locate and reattach to its body by sunrise, the creature dies. Legends often tell of would-be victims foiling the creatures by destroying or hiding their bodies while the heads are elsewhere.

By day, nukekubi often try to blend into human society. They sometimes live in groups, impersonating normal human families. The only way to tell a nukekubi from a normal human being is a line of red symbols around the base of the neck where the head detaches. Even this small detail is easily concealed beneath clothing or jewelry.



Obayifo (folklore)



An obayifo, or asiman, is a vampire-like mythological creature from West Africa coming from the folklore of the Ashanti. It is known as asiman by the Dahomey people. The obayifo was also considered a kind of witch. In Ashanti folklore, obayifo are very common and may inhabit the bodies of ordinary people. They are said to have shifty eyes and be obsessed with food. When travelling at night they emit a phosphorescent light from their armpits and anus.

Obayifo are believed to kill children by remotely sucking their blood. They can enter the bodies of animals to attack humans. They are also said to suck the life from the land and weaken crops, particularly cacao. Konstantinos describes the obayifo as an "intentional psychic vampire".



Palis (folklore)

In Persian-Islamic folklore, the Palis is a vampiric demon that attacks victims at night and kills them by licking the soles of their feet until all their blood has been sucked out.

The palis is not very intelligent. One story tells how two camel drivers discovered how to outwit the creature. When they lay down to sleep, they made sure that the soles of their feet were the soles of the other’s. When the palis arrived, it coulsd find no soles to lick. The demon cried out, “”I have traveled a thousand and thirty-three valleys, but never met a man with two heads.



Patasola (mythology)



The Patasola or "one foot" is one of many myths in South American folklore about woman monsters from the jungle, appearing to male hunters or loggers in the middle of the wilderness when they think about women. The Patasola appears in the form of beautiful and seductive women, often in the likeness of a loved one, which would ultimately lure them away from their partners deep into the jungle to reveal their true, hideous appearance as one-legged freaks with ferocious vampire-like lust for human flesh and blood, attacking and devouring or sucking the blood of their victims. More common in Colombia, they are similar to the Sayona (Venezuela), the Tunda (Colombian Pacific), and the Madremonte or Marimonda (Colombia). They are usually regarded as protective of nature and the forest animals and unforgiving when humans enter their domains to alter or destroy them.





Pelesit (folklore)

Pelesit is a Malay term for an inherited spirit or ghost that originates from a genie which serves a master. It is found in early Malay animism.

The genie or Pelesit is reared by a woman as a shield for protection, guidance, and most probably as a weapon to harm other people. In that way it is associated with a black magic practitioner. It is the female version of Hantu Raya which confers great power on the owner.

In old Malay culture some people chose to live alone thus isolating themselves from society. They practiced black magic in order to gain strength, power, protection, beauty, but not popularity. Some gained a certain level of popularity or renown but there were others who remained in secrecy and refused to mingle with people.

This practice is popular among Malays who are animists and involved in the so-called Saka (the inheritance of the dark spirit from one generation to another). Pelesit is commonly associated with the grasshopper since it has the ability to turn itself into one. Some say it is the green sharp pointed-head grasshopper.

Typically the owner, the Bomoh (shaman), uses the spirit in an exploitative way for monetary gain. The pelesit is first used to attack someone randomly, and then the same Bomoh will be called to exorcise the so-called demon inside the victim (while the spectators have no idea that the bomoh is playing tricks on them). Later, a certain amount of money is given to the bomoh as a token of appreciation.

A bomoh keeps his pelesit in a small bottle and offers it his own blood every full moon.

Pelesit is a dark spirit (genie) revered by shamans in Malay culture. It feeds on blood and work as a servant for its master. It demonizes people and causes chaos in society. Pelesit must always have a continuous host and therefore must be passing down from one generation to the next. It should always be taken care of and fed contantly because if not, the demon will soon create havoc among the local inhabitants of its master's village especially after the master's death.



Penanggalan (mythology)



The Penanggalan or `Hantu Penanggal` is a peculiar variation of the vampire myth that apparently began in the Malay Peninsula. "Penanggal" or "Penanggalan"' literally means "detach", "to detach", "remove" or "to remove". Both terms - Manananggal and Penanggal - may carry the same meaning due to both languages being grouped or having a common root under the Austronesian language family, though the two creatures are culturally distinct in appearance and behavior.

According to the folklore of that region, the Penanggalan is a detached female head that is capable of flying about on its own. As it flies, the stomach and entrails dangle below it, and these organs twinkle like fireflies as the Penanggalan moves through the night. In Malaysian folklore, a Penanggal may either be a beautiful old or young woman who obtained her beauty through the active use of black magic, supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means which is most commonly described in local folklores to be dark or demonic in nature. Another cause where one becomes a Penanggal in Malaysian folklore is due the result of a powerful curse or the actions of a demonic force although this method is less common than the active use of black magic abovementioned. Unlike Manananggal, all Penanggal are females and there is no variation in Malaysian folklore to suggest a Penanggal to be male.

A notable difference between a Penanggal and Manananggal is that a Penanggal detaches only her head with her lungs, stomach and intestines attached while leaving the body in a pre-prepared container filled with vinegar to preserve the body against rapid decomposition.

The Penanggalan is usually a female midwife who has made a pact with the devil to gain supernatural powers. It is said that the midwife has broken a stipulation in the pact not to eat meat for 40 days; having broken the pact she has been forever cursed to become a bloodsucking vampire/demon. The midwife keeps a vat of vinegar in her house. After detaching her head and flying around in the night looking for blood the Penanggalan will come home and immerse her entrails in the vat of vinegar in order to shrink them for easy entry back into her body.

One version of the tale states that the Penanggal was once a beautiful woman or priestess, who was taking a ritual bath in a tub that once held vinegar. While bathing herself and in a state of concentration or meditation, a man entered the room without warning and startled her. The woman was so shocked that she jerked her head up to look, moving so quickly as to sever her head from her body, her organs and entrails pulling out of the neck opening. Enraged by what the man had done, she flew after him, a vicious head trailing organs and dripping venom. Her empty body was left behind in the vat.

The Penanggal, thus, is said to carry an odor of vinegar with her wherever she flies, and returns to her body during the daytime, often posing as an ordinary mortal woman. However, a Penanggal can always be told from an ordinary woman by that odor of vinegar.

The Penanggalan's victims are traditionally pregnant women and young children. Like a banshee who appears at a birth rather than a death, the Penanggalan perches on the roofs of houses where women are in labour, screeching when the child is born. The Penanggalan will insert a long invisible tongue into the house to lap up the blood of the new mother. Those whose blood the Penanggalan feeds upon contract a wasting disease that is almost inescapably fatal. Furthermore, even if the penanggalan is not successful in her attempt to feed, anyone who is brushed by the dripping entrails will suffer painful open sores that won't heal without a bomoh's help.

Midwives who become Penanggalans at night appear as normal women in the daytime. They however can be identified as Penanggalans by the way they behave. When meeting people they will usually avoid eye contact and when performing their midwife duties they may be seen licking their lips, as if relishing the thought of feeding on the pregnant woman's blood when night comes.

Pregnant women can protect themselves from the penanggalan by surrounding their houses with thorns. A Penanggalan who attacks the house will get her entrails caught in the thorny bushes and can then be killed with parangs or machetes. As an extra precaution the pregnant woman can keep scissors or betel nut cutters under her pillow as the Penanggalan is afraid of these items. Another way of killing the vampire is for some brave men to spy on the Penanggalan as it flies around in the night. The men should find out where the Penanggalan lives. When the Penanggalan leaves the house to feed, the men should enter the midwife's house and find the midwife's body that is now emptied of its entrails. They should insert broken glass and nails into the hollow body and leave the house. When the Penanggalan comes home to insert her entrails into the body she will die a painful death with her entrails cut to shreds.

Additionally, unlike the Manananggal which uses a proboscis-like tongue, a Penanggal is commonly depicted as having fangs. The number of fangs varies from one region to another, ranging from two like the Western vampire to a mouthful of fangs.

A Penanggal is said to feed on human blood or human flesh although local folklore (including its variations) commonly agrees that a Penanggal prefers the blood of a newborn infant, the blood of woman who recently gave birth or the placenta (which is devoured by the Penanggal after it is buried). All folktales also agree that a Penanggal flies as it searches and lands to feed. One variation of the folklore however claims that a Penanggal is able to pass through walls. Other, perhaps more chilling, descriptions say that the Penanggal can ooze up through the cracks in the floorboards of a house, rising up into the room where an infant or woman is sleeping. Sometimes they are depicted as able to move their intestines like tentacles.

The most common remedy prescribed in Malaysian folklore to protect against a Penanggal attack is to scatter the thorny leaves of a local plant known as Mengkuang which would either trap or injure the exposed lungs, stomach and intestines of the Penanggal as it flies in search of its prey. These thorns, on the vine, can also be looped around the windows of a house in order to snare the trailing organs. This is commonly done when a woman has just given birth. However this practice will not protect the infant if the Penanggal decides to pass through the floorboards.

A prescribed method of permanently killing a Penanggal requires for it to be carefully followed and tracked back to its lair (which is always well hidden), with the person or creature to be positively identified. The act of destroying it is carried out the next time the Penanggal detaches itself from its body. Once the Penanggal leaves its body and is safely away, it may be permanently destroyed by either pouring pieces of broken glass into the empty neck cavity which will sever the internal organs of the Penanggal when it reattaches to the body, or by sanctifying the body and then destroying it by cremation or by somehow denying the Penanggal from reattaching to its body upon sunrise.

Due to the common theme of Penanggal being the result of active use of black magic or supernatural means, a Penanggal cannot be readily classified as a classical undead being or a vampire as per Western folklore or literature. The creature is, for all intent and purposes, a living human being during daytime (much like the Japanese Rokurokubi) or at any time when it does not detach itself from its body.



Peuchen (mythology)

The Peuchen is a creature from the Mapuche and Chilota mythology pertaining to southern Chile, a much feared shapeshifting creature which could instantly change into animal form.

It has often been described as gigantic flying snake which produced strange whistling sounds, while its gaze could petrify an intended victim and permit it to suck its blood. It has often been reported as the cause of sucking the blood from sheep.

The creature was eliminated by a machi (Mapuche Medicine Man).



Pichal Peri (mythology)

Pichal Peri, also known as the Back-Footed Vampire, is an ambiguous Indian entity that resembles a human female except that its feet are abnormal and point backward. Esoteric in nature, the Pichal Peri simply cannot be differentiated from the actual human species without examining its feet. It has become a part of Indian culture during the past. According to the legend, the Pichal Peri is a visitor from the dark side of creation.

The legend of the Pichal Peri is rooted in India during the past. These cryptic entities have haunted hilly regions, particularly the Himalayan foothills and some closely connected Indian villages, during the days of the British rule in India. The Pichal Peri or the Back-Footed Vampire phenomena seems to originate from the mountainous regions of India and Pakistan, but it may have links in other mountain systems like the Caucasus.

The people who have lived in the Indian subcontinent during the past have heard the Pichal Peri stories. The past generations talked a lot about the phenomenon. People in the Himalayan foothills and some villagers of the connected higher-altitude regions claim to have witnessed the Pichal Peri. But normally not many have revealed their true accounts about this numinous entity. Some travelers, visitors, and sightseers of the mountainous regions in the Himalayan Foothills also say they have encountered the Pichal Peri.



Pisacha (mythology)

In Hindu folklore, the pisacha (literally, "eater of raw flesh") is a vampiric spirit often associated with the vetala and the rakshasa but of a lower order than both of these creatures. The name pisacha is occasionally used in a way that includes all the ghosts, goblins and vampires that haunt cemeteries and ruins in India.

Their name appears in the Atharva Veda. The Kashmir tradition holds that they lived in central Asia.

These are the lowest form of the demons and are considered cruel, barbaric, and eaters of raw flesh. 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 lowest form of marriage, by rape is associated with them.

According to Akhtar Muhi-ud-Din the Dard, the Naga and the Pisacha were three different names of the aboriginal inhabitants of Kashmir with repositories of a rich culture and language. They were called Nagas because of their religious beliefs at whose centre was their reverence of the serpent (the Naga). They were known as Pisachas for their meat-eating and Dards or Dravads because they belonged to the Dravidian stock and spoke a language which belongs to the Dardic group of languages.

The Burzahom excavations have conclusively shown that the civilization of the original inhabitants of Kashmir was as advanced and sophisticated as the Indus Valley civilization. The Katha-sarit-sagara, a famous 11th century CE collection of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk claims to be a mainly based on Gunadhya's Brhat-katha written in Paisachi dialect from the south of India.



Plakavac (folklore)

A plakavac as recorded in Herzegovina, is a small vampire, a newborn strangled by its mother, which will rise from its grave at night, return to its house and scream around it, but otherwise can't do any harm.



Polong (folklore)

Polong is Malay for a flying vampiric spirit enslaved by a man (most of the time) for personal use. Like the Hantu Raya and Toyol, it has a master. It is an unseen ghost that can be used by a black magic practitioner to harm someone. It is particularly meant to harm other people, especially when the owner has wicked intentions towards these people.

Polong is said to have been created from the blood of a murdered person and this blood is put into a bottle for one to two weeks before the spirit is invoked with incantations and magic spells.

After two weeks, the owner will start to hear sounds coming out of the bottle. It is the sound of crying. By then he should cut his finger and drain the blood into the bottle to feed the demon. This is the sign of allegiance and of loyalty to serve the master. The blood which feeds the demon is said to have tied both parties together: one as Master and the other as the servant.

No one has ever illustrated the figure of the demon but all agree that it is evil and hideous.

Polong has almost a similar role as Pelesit, furious when not fed and will start to harm society. Normally the owner will keep the Polong inside the bottle but unleashes it when needed. People who have been attacked by Polong are left with bruises, a few markings and almost always have blood coming out of their mouths.

During possession, a Polong will not listen to anyone except its owner. The owner will come and pretentiously exorcise the demon in order to get money from people. But in some cases a polong which is "sent out" by its owner refuses to free the body that it has attacked. In fact it goes a step further by causing more suffering to the victim. At this stage a Bomoh (shaman and witch-doctor) or spiritual leader such as an Imam is called to cast out the polong.

Many of them know that the polong is easily weakened by black pepper seeds (mix with oil and few cloves of garlic). Normally, the shaman will place the seeds on certain parts of the body followed by Qu'ranic recitation to take control of the body and cast off the polong. The tormented polong will cry and plead, asking for the recitations to cease. It will then confess to the shaman the name of its master. However, it is not uncommon for the polong to name some other person to misguide the pawang (shaman). Hence, the admission must be taken cautiously.



Pontianak (folklore)



A Pontianak, also known as Kuntilanak or Matianak (as known in Indonesia, sometimes shortened to just kunti) is a type of vampire in Malay folklore, similar to the Langsuir. The pontianak is usually a woman who died during childbirth and becomes undead, seeking revenge and terrorizing villages. Sometimes it is the male counterpart or the stillborn child of a langsuir.

In folklore, Pontianak often appears as a beautiful and at times seductive woman, usually accompanied by the strong scent of frangipani. According to myth, men who are not wary will be killed or castrated when she morphs into a hideous being; she will also eat babies and harm pregnant women and has been said to cause miscarriages.

People believe that having a sharp object like a nail helps them fend off potential attacks by pontianaks, the nail being used to plunge a hole at the back of the pontianak's neck. It is believed that when a nail is plunged into the back of a pontianak's neck, she will turn into a beautiful woman, until the nail is pulled off again. The Indonesian twist on this is plunging the nail into the apex of the head of the kuntilanak.

Pontianak is associated with banana trees, and its spirit is said to reside in them during the day.



Psychic Vampirism (mythology)

A psychic vampire, in mythology, is a being said to have the ability to feed off the "life force" of other living creatures. The concept appears in the mythologies of many cultures, just as do blood-drinking vampires.

Psychic vampirism is also called psychic attack.

Regions where belief in psychic vampires is common include Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and rural South America. Some North American Indian cultures, such as the Hopi, also share this belief.

The legends and spiritual teachings of some cultures refer to people, often given priestly attributes, who manipulate or remove (feed from) the energy of others. The tiger-women spoken of across Asia (as well as the fox-women Kitsune of Japan) may be noted, as can the incubus and succubus of Judaeo-Christian mythology. This concept is purported to be represented in the myths of a number of cultures, just blood-drinking vampires are.

In the oral tradition of the Hopi, a powaqa is a sorcerer who comes to a victim pretending to help and then feeds off the victim's life force.

The concept of both 'vampire' and homologously psychic vampire can be interpreted to represent the issue of social parasitism applied to spiritually or emotionally weak persons; those who appear to "drain" strength from others. This concept was popularized by Anton LaVey and his Church of Satan, but most probably not invented by them. Anton LaVey claimed to have introduced the concept of the psychic vampire into English, but this claim is at least in part spurious. Dion Fortune, who died before Anton LaVey reached adulthood, also wrote about psychic vampirism. In her book psychic self-defense she discusses both what she perceives to be true psychic vampirism and mental conditions that produce similar symptoms. For the latter she names folie a deux and similar phenomena. A related form of psychic vampirism is known as sexual vampirism, where one is said to be able to feed off sexual energy. 'Vampire s who feed using this method are known as Succubi or Incubi, named after the demons who enter the dreams of men or women tempting them into having intercourse.

The victim experiences a fatigue and exhaustion, nightmares, sexual assaults and symptoms of the Old Hag syndrome.

Psychic attack

In the philosophical practice of the Church of Satan, a psychic vampire is a spiriually or emotion ally weak person who drains vital energy from other people. Such a person does not rely on supernatural powers, but rather the ability to exploit the victim's sense of pity and compassion Occult author Dion Fortune wrote of psychic vampirism as early as 1930, considering it a combination of psychic and psychological pathology. According to Mrs. Fortune there are two kind of attacks, the one directed by nonphysical entities and the one led by human beings. The latter are possible through great mental powers and/or out-of-body experiences in astral form. Though most people are protected by psychic attacks thanks to the vitality of their own energy shields, there are four conditions in which shields might now work properly:

being where occult places are concentrated

meeting people adept at handling these forces

dabbling in the occult

falling victim to certain pathological conditions

The majority of attacks take place by night (but they may occur at any time), as when the victim is sleeping its resistance is at its lowest level. Phases of the moon are also important as the best moments to work harmful magic (such as psychic vampirism) are the waning moon or the dark of the moon.

In New Age terminology, an energy vampire or psychic vampire is a being said to have the ability to feed off the "life force” of other living creatures (Other terms for these persons are pranic vampire, empathic vampire, energy predator, psy/psi-vamp, energy parasite, psionic vampire, or emotional vampire). The term, and concept of, "energy vampire" is mostly modern in origin. While there are countless life-force feeding creatures across many cultures (linked more to the mythological vampire), accurate sources referring to the exact creatures described in New-Age books do not exist. The energy vampire, from a modern standpoint, is alternately seen as a predator who attacks its victim or as a symbiotic partner who forms a mutually beneficial relationship with its donor.When the donor is unwilling, it becomes an attack which could be equated with energy-rape. This has given the illusion that the majority of self-proclaimed "energy vampires" are intentionally predating on the unwilling, when the opposite is generally considered to be true.

In order to protect oneself against psychic vampirism occult experts suggest to picture an ovoid shell of white mist surrounding one's body. Also the determination that evil forces will not penetrate the shell is necessary to ward off the attacks. The shell has to be formed in the morning, repeated at midday and whenever getting into crowds or threatening places. It should also be repeated before going to sleep. While walking, keeping one's hands closed means to retain one's magic energies. When aboard a bus, train, etc. keeping hands clasped and sitting with the left foot over the right is said to close the circuit of the body's electricity.



Quaxates (folklore)

In Mexican folklore, the Quaxates is a vampire that makes women weep before it bites them.



Rabisu (mythology)



In Akkadian mythology Rabisu ("the vagabond") or possibly Rabasa is an evil vampiric spirit or demon that is always menacing the entrance to the houses and hiding in dark corners, lurking to attack people. It is said that pure sea salt can ban them as the salt represents incorruptible life (salt preserves, and life was first born from the sea). In Hell, they live in the Desert of Anguish, attacking newly arrived souls as they travel down the Road of Bone to the City of the Dead.

The book The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria by Theophilus G. Pinches describes the Rabisu as being "the seizer" which is "regarded as a spirit which lay in wait to pounce upon his prey". Chapter 4 of Genesis lines 6 and 7 reads:

“ So the LORD said to Cain: "Why are you so resentful and crestfallen? If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master." ”

Or in Genesis 4:7:

“ If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. ”

The New American Bible among others believes that "Demon lurking" which in Hebrew means "the croucher" is similar to the word Rabisu. If this is the case then this part of the bible could be taken to imply that god is saying don't worry about Rabisu or Mesopotamian deities worry about me the one true god.

Rabisu is listed in the rituals of Shurpu which are to do with burning such as the symbolic burning of witches. The Shurpu ritual allows us to banish Rabisu described as "a demon that springs unawares on its victims".

In the book Simon Necronomicon which contains a blend of myths including Sumerian, Rabisu are described as ancient demons. It talks about the god Marduk who battled Tiamat, Kingu, and Azag-Thoth. Marduk who had fifty names had a sixth name which was Nariluggaldimmerankia. Nariluggaldimmerankia is said to be the sub commander of wind demons, described as the foe of Rabisu and all maskim who haunt humans. Marduks seventh name Asaruludu is said to have the power using his sacred word Banmaskim to banish all Maskim and Rabisu.



Rakshasa (mythology)

A rakshasa (Sanskrit: rakṣasaḥ; alternately rakshas, Malay: raksasa, Bangla: rakshosh, Japanese: 羅刹天, rasetsuten) is a demon or unrighteous spirit in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Rakshasas are also called man-eaters ("Nri-chakshas," "Kravyads") or cannibals. A female rakshasa is called a rakshasi, and a female rakshasa in human form is a manushya-rakshasi.

According to the Ramayana, rakshasas were created from Brahma's foot; other sources claim they are descended from Pulastya, or from Khasa, or from Nirriti and Nirrita. Legend has it that many rakshasas were particularly wicked humans in previous incarnations. Rakshasas are notorious for disturbing sacrifices, desecrating graves, harassing priests, possessing human beings, and so on. Their fingernails are venomous, and they feed on human flesh and spoiled food. They are shapechangers, illusionists, and magicians.

In the world of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, rakshasas are a populous race of supernatural humanoids who tend toward evil. Powerful warriors, they resort to the use of magic and illusion when unsuccessful with conventional weapons. As shapechangers, they can assume various physical forms, and it is not always clear whether they have a true or natural form. As illusionists, they are capable of creating appearances which are real to those who believe in them or who fail to dispel them. Rakshasas are cannibals, and make their gleeful appearance when the slaughter on the battlefield is at its worst. Occasionally they serve as rank-and-file soldiers in the service of one or the other warlord.

Aside from its treatment of unnamed rank-and-file rakshasas, the epic tells the stories of certain members of the race who rose to prominence, some of them as heroes, most of them as villains.

The Battle of Lanka pitted an army of rakshasas under Ravana against an army of Vanaras or monkeys under Rama and Sugriva.

• Ravana, a rakshasa with 10 heads, was the king of the rakshasas and the mortal enemy of Rama, the hero of the Ramayana. In the Mahabharata (Book III: Varna Parva, Section 271 ff.), the sage Markandeya recounts the story of how Ravana kidnapped Rama's wife Sita and whisked her off to his stronghold Lanka, and how Rama, aided by the monkey King Sugriva and his army of monkeys, laid siege to Lanka, slew Ravana, and rescued Sita.

• Vibhishana, Ravana's younger brother, was a rare good-hearted rakshasa; he was beautiful, pious and assiduous in his religious observances. When Brahma granted him a boon, he asked never to swerve from the path of righteousness and to be illumined by divine knowledge (Book III, Varna Parva: Section 273.) Vibhishana joined Rama in his campaign against Ravana, and helped Rama's army to cross the ocean into Lanka (Section 281). When invisible rakshasas infiltrated Rama's camp, Vibhishana caused them to become visible, and Rama's monkey soldiers destroyed them (Section 283). After Rama's final victory over Ravana, the loyal Vibhishana was made king of Lanka (Section 289).

• Kumbhakarna was another brother of Ravana. A fearsome warrior and master of illusion, he slept through most of the Battle of Lanka (having long before requested and received a gift of long-lasting sleep from Brahma), but arose and took the field when Ravana awakened him with alarming news about the progression of the conflict. Upon marching out of the city, Kumbhakarna was immediately swarmed by Rama's monkeys, causing him only to laugh and to wreak great mayhem among them. When the monkey king Sugriva attacked, Kumbhakarna grabbed him and started to drag him off. It was at that point that Rama and his brother Lakshmana used arrows and a secret Brahmastra "Brahma weapon" to kill Kumbhakarna, dropping the rakshasa like a huge tree cleft in twain by a thunderbolt. (Mahabharata, Book III: Varna Parva, Section 285.)

The Pandava hero Bhima was the nemesis of forest-dwelling rakshasas who dined on human travellers and terrorized human settlements.

• Hidimba was a cannibal rakshasa who was slain by Bhima. The Mahabharata (Book I: Adi Parva, Section 154) describes him as a cruel cannibal with sharp, long teeth and prodigious strength. When Hidimba saw the Pandavas sleeping in his forest, he decided to eat them. He made the mistake of sending his eponymous sister Hidimbi to reconnoiter the situation, and the damsel fell in love with the handsome Bhima, whom she warned of the danger. Infuriated, Hidimba declared himself ready to kill not only the Pandavas but also his sister, but he was thwarted by the heroism of Bhima, who defeated and killed him in a duel.

• Bakasura was a cannibalistic forest-dwelling rakshasa who terrorized the nearby human population by forcing them to take turns making him regular deliveries of food, including human victims. Unfortunately for Bakasura, the Pandavas travelled into the area and took up residence with a local Brahmana whose turn had come up to make the delivery. As the Brahmana and his family debated which one of them would have to be sacrificed, the rugged Bhima volunteered to take care of the matter. Bhima went into the forest with the food delivery (consuming it on the way to annoy Bakasura) and engaged Bakasura in a ferocious wrestling match, which ended with Bhima breaking his opponent's back. The human townspeople were amazed and grateful, and the local rakshasas begged for mercy, which Bhima granted them on the condition that they give up cannibalism. The rakshasas agreed to the proposal, and soon acquired a reputation for being peaceful towards humans. (Book I: Adi Parva, Sections 159-166.)

• Kirmira, the brother of Bakasura, was a cannibal and master illusionist. He haunted the wood of Kamyaka, dining on human travellers. Like his brother before him, Kirmira made the mistake of fighting the Pandava hero Bhima, who killed him with his bare hands (Book III: Varna Parva, Section 11).

• Jatasura was a cunning rakshasa who, disguised as a Brahmana, attempted to steal the Pandavas' weapons and to ravish their wife Draupadi. Bhima arrived in time to intervene, and killed Jatasura in a duel. (Book III: Varna Parva, Section 156). Jatasura's son was Alamvusha, who fought on the side of the Kauravas at Kurukshetra.

Rakshasa heroes fought on both sides in the Battle of Kurukshetra.

• Ghatotkacha, a hero fighting on the side of the Pandavas, was the son of Bhima and the rakshasa woman, Hidimbi, the eponymous sister of a demon slain by Bhima. After performing many heroic deeds on the battlefield and fighting numerous duels with other great warriors (including the rakshasa Alamvusha, the elephant-riding king Bhagadatta, and Aswatthaman, the son of Drona), Ghatotkacha was himself slain by the human hero Karna. In order to defeat Ghatotkacha, Karna found himself compelled to use a one-time secret weapon that he had been intending to reserve for use against his bitter rival Arjuna. When Arjuna defeated Karna in battle, it was in no small part because Karna had already expended his secret weapon. (Book VII: Drona Parva, Section 179.)

• Alamvusha was a rakshasa skilled at fighting with both conventional weapons and the powers of illusion. According to the Mahabharata, he fought on the side of the Kauravas. Arjuna defeated him in a duel (Book VII: Drona Parva, Section 167), as did Arjuna's son Abhimanyu (Book VI: Bhishma Parva, Section 101-102). However, Alamvusha was able to kill Iravat, Arjuna's son by a naga princess, when the rakshasa used his powers of illusion to take on the form of Garuda. Alamvusha was also defeated by Bhima (Book VII: Drona Parva, Section 107), and he was slain by above-mentioned rakshasa Ghatotkacha (Book VII: Drona Parva, Section 108).

In the Maha Samaya Sutta, the defeated antagonist of the Buddha, Mara also known as "Namuci" or the "Dark One" is described as an Asura whose army consisted of "Sensual passions, Discontent,Hunger & Thirst, Craving, Sloth & Drowsiness,Terror, Uncertainty, Hypocrisy & Stubbornness, Gains, Offerings, Fame, & Status wrongly gained,and whoever would praise self & disparage others" (Sn 3.2 Padhana Sutta). The Asuras try to capture the devas and bind them.

One of Buddha's ten titles is "Sasta deva manusanam", or the teacher of Gods and Men.

Ravana is mentioned in the famous Buddhist sutra, "Lankavatara Sutra" as paying homage to the Buddha.

Chapter 26 of the Lotus Sutra includes a dialogue between the Buddha and a group of Rakshasa daughters, who swear to uphold and protect the Lotus Sutra. They also teach magical dharanis to protect followers who also uphold the sutra.

• The artists of Angkor in Cambodia frequently depicted Ravana in stone sculpture and bas-relief.

o The "naga bridge" at the entrance to the 12th century city of Angkor Thom is lined with large stone statues of Devas and Asuras engaged in churning the Ocean of Milk. The ten-headed Ravana is shown anchoring the line of Asuras.

o Likewise, a bas-relief at the 12th century temple of Angkor Wat that depicts the churning has Ravana anchoring the line of Asuras that are pulling on the serpent's head. It is speculated that one of the figures in the line of Devas participating in the churning by pulling on the serpent's tail is Ravana's brother Vibhishana.

o A lintel at the 10th century temple of Banteay Srei depicts Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa.

o Likewise, a bas-relief at Angkor Wat shows a 20-armed Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa.

• The artists of Angkor also depicted the Battle of Lanka between the rakshasas under the command of Ravana and the Vanaras or monkeys under the command of Rama and Sugriva.

o The 12th century Khmer temple Angkor Wat contains a dramatic depiction in bas-relief of the Battle of Lanka between Ravana's rakshasas and Rama's monkeys. Ravana himself is depicted with ten heads and twenty arms, mounted on a chariot drawn by creatures that look to be a mixture of horse, lion and bird. Vibhishana is shown standing behind and aligned with Rama and his brother Lakshmana. Kumbhakarna, mounted on a chariot similar to that of Ravana, is shown fighting Sugriva.

o Likewise, the battle is depicted in a crude bas-relief at the 12th century temple of Preah Khan.



Ramanga (folklore)

In the lore of Madagascar, the Ramanga is a living vampire who serves the tribal elders. The vampire drank the spilled blood and ate the nail clippings of its masters so that these would not fall into the hands of evil sorcerers.



Redcap (folklore)



A Red Cap or Redcap, also known as a powrie or dunter, is a type of malevolent murderous goblin, elf or faerie found in British folklore. They inhabit ruined castles found along the border between England and Scotland. Redcaps are said to murder travelers who stray into their homes and dye their hats with their victims' blood (from which they get their name). Indeed, redcaps must kill regularly, for if the blood staining their hats dries out, they die. Redcaps are very fast in spite of the heavy iron pikes they wield and the iron-shod boots they wear. Outrunning the buck-toothed little daemons is quite impossible; the only way to escape one is to quote a passage from the Bible. They lose a tooth from hearing it, which they leave behind.

Redcaps are described as a thickset old man with long prominent teeth, skinny fingers armed with eagle-like talons, large eyes of a fiery red color, hair streaming down to his shoulders, iron boots, a pikestaff, and a red cap or hat on his head.

The most infamous redcap of all was Robin Redcap. As the familiar of Lord William de Soulis, Robin wreaked much harm and ruin in the lands of his master's dwelling, Hermitage Castle. Men were murdered, women cruelly abused, and dark arts were practiced. So much infamy and blasphemy was said to have been committed at Hermitage Castle that the great stone keep was thought to be sinking under a great weight of sin, as though the very ground wanted to hide it from the sight of God.

Yet Soulis, for all the evil he wrought, met a very horrible end: he was taken to the Nine Stane Rigg, a circle of stones hard by the castle, and there he was wrapped in lead and boiled to death in a great cauldron.

The boiling to death end of Lord Soulis by his infuriated vassals is only Scottish folklore. In reality William De Soulis was imprisoned in Dunbarton castle and died there, following his confessed complicity in the conspiracy against Robert the Bruce in 1320.



Rokurokubi (folklore)

Rokurokubi (ろくろ首 rokuro-kubi?) are yokai found in Japanese folklore. They look like normal human beings by day, but at night they gain the ability to stretch their necks to great lengths. They can also change their faces to those of terrifying oni (Japanese ogres) to better scare mortals. Due to an error made by Lafcadio Hearn in his book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, these creatures are often mistaken for a more vicious monster, the nukekubi.

In their daytime human forms, rokurokubi often live undetected and may even take mortal spouses. Many rokurokubi become so accustomed to such a life that they take great pains to keep their demonic forms secret. They are tricksters by nature, however, and the urge to frighten and spy on human beings is hard to resist. Some rokurokubi thus resort to revealing themselves only to drunkards, fools, the sleeping, or the blind in order to satisfy these urges. Other rokurokubi have no such compunctions and go about frightening mortals with abandon. A few, it is said, are not even aware of their true nature and consider themselves normal humans. This last group stretch their necks out while asleep in an involuntary action; upon waking up in the morning, they find they have weird dreams regarding seeing their surroundings in unnatural angles.

According to some tales, rokurokubi were once normal human beings but were transformed by karma for breaking various precepts of Buddhism. Often, these rokurokubi are truly sinister in nature, eating people or drinking their blood rather than merely frightening them. These demonic rokurokubi often have a favored prey, such as others who have broken Buddhist doctrine or human men.

Tanuki often imitated rokurokubi when playing practical jokes on people.



Sampiro (folklore)

Sampiro is a vampire in Albanian lore that stalks its victims while wearing heeled shoes and a shroud



Sarkomenos (folklore)

The Srakomenos is a ghoulish vampire of Crete and Rhodes whose name means “the fleshy one”.



Sexual Vampire (mythology)

A sexual, sympathetic or tantric vampire is a person who feeds on sexual energy.

Tantra is an ancient Hindu practice which mixes meditation and non-orgasmic sex to attain a state of perfect bliss.

The ritual is based on activating the human energy centers or chakras, which hold the potential to reach 'cosmic awareness'. The human body is thought to have 6 main chakras (base of spine, near navel, near heart, near throat, between brows and most importantly genitals) each of which represents a gateway to higher energy. Tantric rituals emphasize the need to open up these energy points in order to harmonize the flow of energy throughout the body to help achieve an elevated state of sexual awareness.

A common term for female vampires who feed exclusively through sex is Succubus, a word which originally denoted a medieval demon who was believed to rob men's sperm by visit them in dream and tempt them into sexual misconduct.



Sigbin (mythology)

The Sigbin is a creature of Philippine mythology said to come out at night to suck the blood of victims from their shadows. The creature walks backward with its head lowered between its hind legs. It resembles a hornless goat, emits a very nauseating smell and possess a pair of very large ears which are capable of clapping like a pair of hands. It is also claimed to issue forth from its lair during Holy Week, looking for children that it will kill for the heart, which is made into an amulet.

It is also believed that there are families known as Sigbinan ("those who own Sigbin"), who possess the power to command them. The aswang is said to keep it as a pet, along with another mythical creature, a bird known as the Wakwak. The sigbin is said to bring wealth and luck to its owners.

In the Eastern Visayas they are also known as the Amamayong.

There is speculation that the legend may be based on sightings of an actual animal species that is rarely seen; based on the description of the sigbin in popular literature, the animal species might be related to the kangaroo. With the recent discovery in the island of Borneo of the cat-fox, a potential new species of carnivore described as having hind legs that are lower than its front legs, the animal species that is the possible basis of the legend as well as the reported sightings of sigbin may belong to or is related to the cat-fox species.



Soucouyant (folklore)

The Soucouyant or Soucriant, also known as Sukuyan, in Caribbean and specifically Trinidad folklore is a vampire that lives by day as an old woman at the end of the village. By night, however, she strips off her wrinkled skin, puts it in a mortar and flies in the shape of a fireball through the darkness, looking for a victim to suck the life-blood out of. To get rid of her, you must put coarse salt in the mortar containing her skin, and then she cannot put it back on and must perish. The Soucouyant practices witchcraft, voodoo, and black magic. Belief in Soucoyants is still preserved to some extent in Trinidad.

Belongs to a class of spirits called Jumbies. However, some believe that soucouyants were brought from the European countries which brought with them vampires from France that intermingled with the Africans which were then enslaved. Although for those who don't have the spirit to believe in actual witch lore, many believe that soucouyants were actually elder ladies, who experienced many things a lot of people could not bear. Those with mean humour would make up witch stories about them in regard to their wrinkled skin, and wisdom.

The skin of the soucouyant is said to be very valuable, as it is used when practicing the Black Magic - Obeah. The soucouyant can enter a home by turning into a fireball, and then entering through the keyhole or any crack/crevice in the home. If the soucouyant draws out too much blood from its victim, it is believed that the victim will die and become a soucouyant themselves. However some believe that the victim dies and that the existing soucouyant takes over/possesses the victim’s skin.



Soul Eater (folklore)

A soul eater is a folklore figure in the traditional belief systems of some African peoples, notably the Hausa people of Nigeria and Niger.

Belief in soul eaters is related to traditional folk beliefs in witchcraft, vampires, zombies, and related phenomena. The soul eater is supposedly able to consume an individual's spirit, causing a wasting disease that can be fatal; "the soul eater is a classical form of the cannibalistic witch." In Hausa belief, the desire and capacity for the practice, termed maita, is rooted in special stones kept in a person's stomach. The trait allegedly can be inherited from one's parents, or can be acquired from an existing practitioner. The soul eater can take the form of a dog or other animal in pursuit of his or her practice — a belief that connects with the beliefs in werewolves, werecats, selkies, and other were-creatures and human/animal beings found in world folklore.

The belief survived into African-American folklore in the United States and the Caribbean region. Related beliefs can be found in other traditional African cultures, like the Fulbe and the Serer, and in cultures outside of Africa too — such as in the tribes of the Mount Hagen area of Papua New Guinea. The hix or ix of the Maya and related peoples is a comparable figure; the Pipil term teyollocuani translates literally as "soul eater."

Some traditional religions, from that of the ancient Egyptians to the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Natchez, contain figures whose names have been translated into English as "soul eater." These mythological figures, however, are spiritual and not human beings, and so are distinctly different from Hausa and comparable beliefs.



Stregoni Benefici (folklore)

An Italian vampire, said to be on the side of goodness, and a mortal enemy of all evil vampires.



Strigoi (mythology)



In Romanian mythology, strigoi (feminine: strigoaica) are the evil souls of the dead rising from the tombs (or living) that transform into an animal or phantomatic apparition during the night to haunt the countryside, troubling whoever it encounters. Strigoi are also known as "moroi" in some parts, especially rural areas. They are close relatives of the werewolves known as "pricolici" or "vârcolaci", the latest also meaning "goblin" at times.

These names are derived from striga, which in Romanian meant "witch" or "barn owl", cognate with Italian strega, which means "witch", and descended from the Latin word strix, for a shrieking vampiric bird. Strigoi viu (plural: Strigoi vii) is a living vampiric witch. Strigoi mort (plural: Strigoi morti) is a dead (undead) vampire. They are most often associated with vampires or zombies. According to Romanian mythology a strigoi has ginger hair, blue eyes and two hearts or souls. The strigoi can change into a variety of animals, such as barn owls, bats, rats, cats, wolves, dogs, pigs, sheep/goats, snakes, toads, lizards, spiders/insects, etc.

There are several ways for a deceased person to become a strigoi. One way is if a person dies before married they are at rick of becoming a vampire. Most often in a situation like this, the corpse is wed to another unmarried person around the same age to prevent them from returning to the grave. Though, if this technique fails, the strigoi will return to have sexual intercourse with their spouse, and will attack family members. The corpse should then be stabbed through the heart with a sickle, to prevent any more attacks. Corpses walked over by cats are also at risk of become strigoi. To get rid of them, bury a bottle of wine near the grave. Six weeks later, dig it up and drink the wine with relatives. Whoever drinks the wine will be protected against the strigoi, who will not return. A person who is filled with pain and regret will turn into a cat or dog after death and return as a strigoi to torment his/her relatives. Piercing the body of the strigoi with a needle will prevent it from leaving the grave, as will placing a candle, coin or towel in the hand of the corpse. Walking around the grave with burning hemp will cause the strigoi to become helpless. One remedy against strigoi is to bury a bottle of whiskey with the corpse. The vampire will drink it and not return home.

Garlic is said to be potent against the vampire. Due to this weakness, most burial ceremonies have rings of garlic around the corpse, coffin and grave.

One way to dispatch the strigoi is to drive a stake, made from wild rosebush or aspen wood, through its heart(s) and into the earth to hold it to its grave. The vampire must be set on fire before it gets up. Another way is to remove the vampire’s heart(s) and burn it and the vampire, or do precisly that and decapitate the vampire aswell. Then bury the remains at a crossroad.

One gypsy remedy for killing a strigoi is as follows: dig up the vampire corpse, remove remove its heart(s), and cut the organ in two. Drive a nail into the forehead, place a clove of garlic under the tongue, and smear the body with the fat of a pig killed on St. Ignatius’s Day. Turn the body face-down in the coffin.

Strigoi are said not to be faund of light, though there is no suggestion that they burn from sunlight. Travelers often stay close to a bond fire to protect themselves from the vampire.

It is said that if the strigoi goes undetected for seven years, it can travel to another country or place where another language is spoken and become human again. Once human, the strigoi can marry and have kids, but they will all become vampires when they die.



Stryx (mythology)



The stryx (pl. striges; occasionally corrupted to stirge) was an Ancient Roman legendary creature, usually described as a nocturnal bird of ill omen that fed on human flesh and blood, like a vampire. Unlike later vampires, it was not a revenant—a risen corpse—but the product of metamorphosis. The name is Greek in origin and means "owl", with which bird it is usually identified (the name of the genus Stryx follows this meaning).

The earliest recorded tale of the strix is from the lost Ornithologia of the Greek author Boios, which is partially preserved in Antoninus Liberalis's Metamorphoses. This tells the story of Polyphonte and her two sons Agrios and Oreios (their father being a wild bear), who were punished for their cannibalism, like Lycaon, by being transformed into wild animals. Polyphonte became a strix "that cries by night, without food or drink, with head below and tips of feet above, a harbinger of war and civil strife to men". The first Latin allusion is in Plautus's Pseudolus, dated to 191 BCE, in which a cook, describing the cuisine of his inferiors, compares its action to that of the striges— disemboweling a helpless victim. Horace, in his Epodes, makes the strix's magical properties clear: its feathers are an ingredient in a love potion. Seneca the Younger, in his Hercules Furens, shows the striges dwelling on the outskirts of Tartarus. Ovid tells the story of striges attacking the legendary king Procas in his cradle, and how they were warded off with arbutus and placated with the meat of pigs, as an explanation for the custom of eating beans and bacon on the Kalends of June.

Though descriptions abound, the concept of the strix was nonetheless vague. The scientific Pliny, in his Natural History, confesses little knowledge of them; he knows that their name was once used as a curse, but beyond that he can only aver that the tales of them nursing their young must be false, since no bird except the bat suckled its children.



Strzyga (folklore)

A strzyga is a kind of vampire in Slavic (and especially Polish) folklore. While still alive, the strzyga has two hearts and two souls, as well as two sets of teeth (one of which grows in normally). When such a person dies, only one soul gets passed on, and the other soul causes the deceased strzyga to come alive and prey upon other living beings. Decapitating the corpse and burying the head separate from the rest of the body is said to prevent strzyga from rising back from the dead; burying the body face down with a sickle around its head is said to work as well.

A common version of this belief says that a strzyga is an undead newborn child. Any child born dead was believed to become one if certain precautions (like those mentioned in the previous paragraph) were not met. Those undead little creatures would stalk forests at night and attack night-time travellers and people who simply wander off into the woods at night, eating out their insides.



Suangi (folklore)

A suangi is a type of male witch in the belief system of certain tribes of New Guinea such as the Kombai and Inanwatan. Suangis are said to consume the blood and/or internal organs of their victims and then stuff the bodies with leaves and grass. They are also believed to devour the person's soul. After being attacked, the zombified victim is then said to return home where they seem to have fallen mysteriously ill. If a victim is able to name the suangi that has attacked him, they are often killed and eaten by the victim's family in the belief that it will free the person's spirit.



Succubus (folklore)

In Western medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi) or succuba (plural succubae) is a demon who takes the form of a beautiful human female to seduce men (especially monks) in dreams to have sexual intercourse. They draw energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death of the victim. From mythology and fantasy, Lilith and the Lilin (Jewish) and Lilitu (Sumerian) are, in redactive Christian fables (folktales not part of official Christian theology), considered succubi.

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, or "Witches' Hammer", succubi would collect semen from the men they slept with, which incubi would then use to impregnate women. Children so begotten were supposed to be more susceptible to the influence of demons.

In some beliefs the succubi would metamorphose into the Incubus with its newly collected semen ready to impregnate their victims. This was to account for the fact that demons could not reproduce naturally, however the incubus could impregnate women.

From the 16th century, the carving of a succubus on the outside of an inn indicated that the establishment also operated as a brothel.

The appearance of succubi varies, but in general they are depicted as alluring women with unearthly beauty, often with demonic batlike wings, and large breasts; they also have other demonic features, such as horns and cloven feet. Occasionally they appear as an attractive woman in dreams that the victim cannot seem to get off their mind. They lure males and in some cases, the male has seemed to fall "in love" with her. Even out of the dream she will not leave his mind. She will remain there slowly draining energy from him.

A Middle Eastern version of the succubus known as "um al duwayce" portrays this succubus as a beautiful, alluringly scented woman who wanders the desert on the hooves of a camel. While other forms of the succubus participate in sexual intercourse to collect semen and become impregnated, this particular succubus is instead a judge of character and exacts revenge on those who commit adultery. She attempts to lure these men to have intercourse with her, at which time sharp razors within her vagina slice off the partner's penis, leaving him in agonizing pain. Having rendered the man helpless, she turns into her true form and proceeds to eat him alive.



Talamaur (folklore)

The Talamaur is a vampire-like creature said to inhabit the Banks Islands in the South Pacific in Melanesian folklore. It usually attacks those on the brink of death.



Tin-tin (folklore)

In the folklore of Ecuador, the Tin-tin is a vampiric demon. It whistles to adolescent girls on moonlit nights to lure them to him. He then carries them off to his cave and seduces or rapes them, impregnating them. After the child is born, the tin-tin returns that night to drain the girl’s blood, and then takes the infant to raise it on his own.



Tlahuelpuchi (folklore)

Belief in the vampire Tlahuelpuchi is prominent in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, with deep roots amongst the indigenous Nahua culture of the region.

The tlahuelpuchi is a type of vampire or witch that lives with its human family. It is able to shape shift and sucks the blood of infants at night. It has a kind of glowing aura when shape shifted. Tlahuelpuchi are born with their curse and cannot avoid it. They first learn of what they are sometime around puberty. Most tlahuelpuchi are female and the female tlahuelpuchi are more powerful than males. The tlahuelpuchi have a form of society. Typically they each have their own territories. They also have a pact with shamans and other supernatural creatures; a shaman won't turn in a suspected tlahuelpuchi. The typical sign that a victim was killed by the tlahuelpuchi are bruises on their upper body. The Tlahuelpuchi largely feeds on children, though it can kill others.

Tlahuelpuchi are able to change form by detaching their body from their legs (which are left in the house of the witch). They then go hunting, usually in the form of some bird like a turkey or a vulture. The tlahuelpuchi has to perform a ritual before she can enter the house of a victim. The tlahuelpuchi must fly over the house in the shape of a cross from north to south, east to west.

Tlahuelpuchi must feed at least once a month on blood or they die. Their victim of choice is an infant. There is no way to detect a tlahuelpuchi except by catching them in the act. Their family protects them out of shame and because if a family member is responsible for the death of a tlahuelpuchi the curse will be passed down to them. The curse cannot be lifted, and if a tlahuelpuchi is identified, they must be killed on the spot. Garlic, onions and metal repel the tlahuelpuchi.



Toyol (mythology)

A Toyol, or Tuyul, is a mythical spirit in the Malay mythology of South-East Asia (notably Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore). It is a small child spirit invoked by a bomoh (Malay witch doctor) from a dead human foetus using black magic. It is possible to buy a toyol from such a bomoh.

A person who owns a toyol uses it mainly to steal things from other people, or to do mischief. According to a well-known superstition, if money or jewellery keeps disappearing mysteriously from your house, a toyol might be responsible. One way to ward off a toyol is to place some needles under your money, for toyols are afraid of being hurt by needles.

Some say that toyol has its origins from Mecca near the Kaaba (the belief refers to the Pre-Islamic Era where the Arabs used to kill their children and bury them all around Mecca. The Chinese name for the toyol is gui zai (literally "ghost child"). The corresponding term in the Hokkien dialect is kwee kia with "kwee" meaning "ghost" and "kia" meaning "child".

People normally associate the appearance of a toyol with that of a small baby, frequently that of a newly born baby walking in nakedness with a big head, small hands, clouded eyes and usually greyed skin. More accurately, it resembles a goblin. It can be seen by the naked eye without the use of magic, though they are unlikely to be spotted casually.

Keeping a toyol has its price. In essence, the spirit is that of a still-born (or aborted) child, and its temperament reflects this.

According to most Asian practices and beliefs, the afterlife of a person is taken care of by the family, in the form of a tablet. It is usually made of wood, with the name of the deceased engraved. A collection of tablets at an elaborate family altar is a typical item in a large (and often wealthy) family. Following the same principle, the master of the toyol keeps its tablet and cares for it. He must feed it with a few drops of his blood everyday, usually through his thumb or big toe. In addition, it requires certain coaxing and attention, along with offerings. Such offerings might include candy and toys, for the toyol is essentially a child and must be kept happily entertained. According to other stories, a toyol must be fed with blood from a rooster.

In old village tales, people keep toyols for selfish but petty gains. They use such spirits for theft, sabotage and other minor crimes. Serious crimes, like murder, are usually beyond the capability of these toyols. A person who suddenly becomes wealthy without explanation might be suspected of keeping a toyol. The toyol is kept in a jar or an urn, and hidden away in a dark place until needed.

What happens at the end of the "contract" is not very clear. It could be that the tablet, along with the urn, is buried in a graveyard (with the relevant rituals), and the spirit is then laid to rest. An alternative method is to dispose them in the sea. Or else, a toyol gets passed down in a family through the generations. This seems to suggest that once you obtain a toyol, not only are you stuck with it for the rest of your life, but all your descendants will also be condemned to own it.

Although seemingly cunning, toyols are supposedly not very intelligent. It is said that they are easily deceived by marbles and sand and strands of garlic hanging on the door post or placed on certain parts of the house. The toyol will start playing with these items until it forgets its task at the intended victim's house. Money placed under mirrors has the potentcy to ward off toyols due to a phobia of their reflections.



Tunda (mythology)

The Tunda (La Tunda) is a myth of the Colombian pacific region, and particularly popular in the afro-American community, about a vampire-like monster woman that lures people into the forests and keeps them there. Sometimes it appears in the form of a loved one, as the likeness of a child's mother, who would lure him into the forest and feed its victim with shrimps she has farted upon (camarones peídos) to keep her victims docile in some kind of trance. This is call entundamiento and a person in this state is entundado(a).

They say her changeling-like abilities are not perfect, as this doppelgänger of sorts would always have a wooden leg in the shape of a molinillo, or wooden kitchen utensil used to stir hot drinks such as chocolate or aguapanela. The monster, however, is very cunning when trying to hide this defect from its would-be victims.

In other versions, it appears to male loggers or hunters working deep into the jungle as a beautiful woman that tries to lure a man away so it can reveal its hideous, monstrous nature and suck his blood or downright devour him as a wild animal.

The Tunda bears a marked resemblance to another Colombian female shape-shifting monster known as the Patasola who shares a deformity of the foot that gives her away as a supernatural creature and not a real woman. She too lures men to their deaths.

This feature of deformed feet also shows up stories about the Deer Woman, another shape-shifter of North American natives mythology. Deer woman is also a seducer of men, luring them to their deaths unless they are fortunate to notice in time that she has hooves instead of human feet.



Tupilaq (folklore)

In Greenlandic Inuit (Kalaallit) folklore, a tupilaq (tupilak) was an avenging monster fabricated by a practitioner of witchcraft or shamanism by using various objects such as animal parts (bone, hair, etc...) and even parts taken from the corpses of children. The creature was given life by being allowed to suck the vital essence or life force from its creator's sexual organs. It was then placed into the sea to seek and destroy a specific enemy.

The use of a tupilaq was risky however because if it was sent to destroy someone who had greater magical powers than the one who had formed it, it could be sent back to kill its maker instead, although the maker of tupilaq could escape by public confession of his/her own deed.

Because tupilaqs were made in secret, in isolated places and from perishable materials, none have been preserved. Early European visitors to Greenland, fascinated by the native legend, were eager to see what tupilaqs looked like so the Inuit began to carve representations of them out of Sperm Whale.

Today, tupilaqs of many different shapes and sizes are carved from various materials such as narwhal and walrus tusk, wood and caribou antler. They are an important part of Greenlandic Inuit art and are highly prized as collectibles.

As mentioned above, tupilaqs were made in secret; and making a tupilaq was risky to its own maker if the attacked person made it rebound: in this case, public confession was the only rescue. The magic consequences of situations of concealment, and the neutralizing effect of public confession was believed also in several other areas of life, thus, this is an example of the more general topic of secrecy versus publicity.

Concealment or secrecy could raise magic consequences in several areas of life:

Concealed miscarriage or infanticide could give birth to a monster called anngiaq.

It could make harm for the community if somebody concealed his/her taboo breach.

Secrecy was also preliminary for the functioning of so-called formulae (texts or songs used like charm or spell in danger, need, hunt, practical everyday situations).

Thus, concealment was a preliminary for several magical effects. If this was broken, unintentionally or intentionally, the effect could lose its power.

The shamans in some Eskimo groups resolved the consequence of taboo breach by achieving public confession of the breacher.

Hunting means killing, and animals were believed to have souls as well. Efforts were made to avoid the revenge taken by the game and to please the game symbolically. Such would be the danger inherent in the first kill of a boy and it was "neutralized" by a public ritual, in which the each adult member of the community had to make an incision into the head of the game, or ate a piece from it. Thus, the belief was, that public partaking in a dangerous thing reduces the danger, that is it has a neutralizing effect.

Eskimo cultures were far from being alike, although there were some similarities. Similarly to shamanism among Eskimo peoples, also the tupilaq concept had variants. It might be a man-made object, a ghost-like being or a haunting soul. In some cultures it was exactly the shaman who had to deal with it.

Such distant groups like the Caribou Inuit, Greenland Inuit, Iglulingmiut (Iglulik, Nunavut Inuit) and Copper Inuit knew the concept of tupilaq. But the details differed:

Iglulik:

The tupilaq was an invisible ghost. Only the shaman could notice it. It was the soul of a dead person, which became restless because the breach of some death taboo. It scared game away from the vicinity. Thus, the shaman had to help by scaring it away with a knife.

Caribou Inuit:

The tupilaq was also an invisible being. Like at Iglulik, also the shaman was the only one who could see it. It was a chimera-like creature, with human head and parts from different species of animals. It was dangerous, it might attack the settlement. Then, the shaman had to combat it and devour it with his/her helping spirits.

Greenland:

The tupilaq was manifested in real, human-made object. It was made by people to the detriment of their enemies. It was a puppet-like thing, but was thought of have magical power onto the victim. It might be made e.g. of mixtured parts of dead animals, dead child.

Copper Inuit:

To the Copper Inuit the tupilaq was similar to the Christian Devil.



Upir (folklore)

The Upir (also spelled Upier or Upior), or Vapir, is a vampire in Polish, Russian and Ukranian folklore. The upierzyca (feminine form), whose body is covered with down or feathers, is very light and agile.

The upir lies incorrupt in its grave with a ruddy face. Its head, eyes, mouth, and tongue may move. It eats its windling sheet and parts of its body for sustenance, which it regenerates. It is active from noon to midnight, and is sometimes seen riding about on a horse. When the vampire rises from its grave it goes past crossroads and houses, attacking sleeping people and trying to suffocate them.

In some accounts, the upir has no fangs. Instead it has a stinger under or on its tongue. It has the powwer to dry up dew. This vampire can only be destroyed by burning. When burned, the body bursts, giving rise to hundreds of small, disgusting animals such as maggots and rats. If any of these creatures escape, the upir’s spirit escapes along with them, and will return to seek revenge.



Ustrel (folklore)

In Bulgarian folklore, the Ustrel is a vampiric spirit of a child who had been born on a Saturday and died before receiving baptism. It is said that on the ninth day after burial, the ustrel will work its way out of its grave to attack and drink the blood of livestock like cattle, sheep and other farm animals. After feasting all night it returns to its grave before dawn. After ten days it is believed that the vampire was strong enough that it no longer needed to return to its grave. It found a place to rest either between the horns of a calf or ram or between the legs of a cow. It was able to pick out a large herd and begin to work its way through it, the fattest animals first. If the animal was found cut open in the morning the signs of the wound lefty by the vampire would be evident.



Ut (folklore)

In Indian folklore, the Ut is a restless vampire-like entity who rises from its grave due to improper burial. Therefore, it seeks revenge on the livng by drinking their blood at night. Another reason it rises is that in life he never sired a son. The Ut may return to the grave if a woman offers herself to him and successfully gives birth to his son.



Utukku (mythology)

In Sumerian mythology, the utukku were a type of spirit or demon that could be either benevolent or evil. In Akkadian mythology, they were referred to as utukki, were seven evil demons who were the offspring of Anu and Antu.

The evil utukku were called Edimmu or Ekimmu; the good utukku were called shedu. One of the best known of The evil Utukku is Alû.

They were siblings of the Anunnaki. They were in the service of the underworld, and were required to fetch home the fruit of the sacrifices and burnt offerings, which generally consisted of the blood, liver, and other "sweetmeats" of the sacrificed animal.



Vampire Fruit/Vegetables (folklore)

Vampire pumpkins and watermelons are a folk legend from the Balkans, in southeastern Europe, described by ethnologist Tatomir Vukanović. The story is associated with the Roma people of the region, from whom much of traditional vampire folklore, among other unusual legends, originated.

The belief in vampire fruit is similar to the belief that any inanimate object left outside during the night of a full moon will become a vampire. According to tradition, watermelons or any kind of pumpkin kept more than ten days or after Christmas will become a vampire, rolling around on the ground and growling to pester the living. People have little fear of the vampire pumpkins and melons because of the creatures' lack of teeth. One of the main indications that a pumpkin or melon is about to undergo a vampiric transformation (or has just completed one) is said to be the appearance of a drop of blood on its skin.

The only known reference in scholarship is Tatomir Vukanović's account of his journeys in Serbia from 1933 to 1948. He wrote several years later in the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society:

The belief in vampires of plant origin occurs among Gs. [Gypsies] who belong to the Mosl. faith in KM [Kosovo-Metohija]. According to them there are only two plants which are regarded as likely to turn into vampires: pumpkins of every kind and water-melons. And the change takes place when they are 'fighting one another.' In Podrima and Prizrenski Podgor they consider this transformation occurs if these vegetables have been kept for more than ten days: then the gathered pumpkins stir all by themselves and make a sound like 'brrrl, brrrl, brrrl!' and begin to shake themselves. It is also believed that sometimes a trace of blood can be seen on the pumpkin, and the Gs. then say it has become a vampire. These pumpkins and melons go round the houses, stables, and rooms at night, all by themselves, and do harm to people. But it is thought that they cannot do great damage to folk, so people are not very afraid of this kind of vampire. Among the Mosl. Gs. in the village of Pirani (also in Podrima) it is believed that if pumpkins are kept after Christmas they turn into vampires, while the Lešani Gs. think that this phenomenon occurs if a pumpkin used as a syphon, when ripe and dry, stays unopened for three years. Vampires of vegetable origin are believed to have the same shape and appearance as the original plant.

The Gs. in KM. destroy pumpkins and melons which have become vampires ... by plunging them into a pot of boiling water, which is then poured away, the vegetables being afterwards scrubbed by a broom and then thrown away, and the broom burned.

The majority of Vukanović's article discusses human vampires; vampiric agricultural tools are also mentioned. Though modern readers may be skeptical that such beliefs ever existed, the superstitions of Gypsy culture are well documented. The Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society has many articles that are collections of Gypsy tales, presumably oral history. However others are horror stories that allegedly include the direct involvement of the source (e.g., the fatal consequences of disrespecting the dead). In this context, vampire pumpkins and watermelons are not necessarily any more implausible than other superstitious beliefs.

The story was popularized by Terry Pratchett's 1998 book Carpe Jugulum, a comic fantasy novel making extensive use of vampire legends. Pratchett has stated that he did not invent the vampire watermelon story himself. It is found in several other works: Jan Perkowski's 1976 book reprinted Vukanović's account, the webcomic Digger incorporates a field of vampire squash (most of which resemble Butternut squashes in appearance), and recent popular books on the topic of vampirism include a mention.



Varkolak (folklore)

A varkolak (Bulgarian върколак) or valkolak is an undead revenant or monster in Bulgarian folklore. Its name is derived from a common Slavic term, which means werewolf in most Slavic languages as well as in modern literary Bulgarian, and is originally a compound of вълк /valk, "wolf"/ and длака /dlaka, "fur"/. Nevertheless, the creature as described in original folklore is more similar to a vampire.

According to the legends, when a bandit, a "hajdutin" dies (some versions specify he must be killed with a rifle or a knife) in the wilderness, after 40 days, his swollen corpse or his blood turns into a varkolak (a vampire also takes 40 days to arise in Bulgarian folklore). The varkolak may appear in the form of various animals, or as a large human-like creature with only one eye, the size of a goose egg, on its forehead. The varkolak dwells near the place where he was killed, in uninhabited areas such as forests, mountains, crossroads, abandoned mills and in caves. When travellers pass near the varkolak's dwelling, the creature calls them by name, attacks them, sometimes robbing them, kills them and either drinks their blood, or voraciously devours their meat (hence the expression яде като вълколак - "he eats like a valkolak") and stores it by hanging pieces in the cave.

It should be noted that Naiden Gerov's early dictionary (a work of partly ethnographic character) has separate entries on valkolak (vlakolak) and varkolak (vrakolak); the two are said to be similar, but only the vǎrkolak is explicitly described as a large one-eyed blood-drinker, while only the valkolak is described as an undead man-eater. In Gerov's version, most of the other details in the paragraph above are also ascribed to the valkolak, not to the vǎrkolak. This article follows Dimitrova's Bǎlgarska narodna mitologija (The Bulgarian people's mythology) in describing both as a single creature.

In North-Western Bulgaria, a distinct notion is present. There, it is said that the vǎrkolak is a (probably wolf-like) creature that devours the sun and the moon, which explains eclipses. This latter belief is also found in Romania, where the entity is called a vârcolac (a loanword from Bulgarian). In contrast, the Greek vrykolakas (also borrowed from Bulgarian) is a being similar to the Slavic vampire (although it rarely drinks blood), and the Serbo-Croatian cognate vukodlak is just the main term for "vampire" in Western Serbia and Croatia. In the village of Peštani in Macedonia, the word volkolak denotes the "mature" stage of a vampire's development, i.e. a vampire that has survived for 40 days after its death and has attained human form, while the term voper is reserved for the initial, invisible stage.



Veshtitza (folklore)

In Slavic lore, the Veshtitza, or Vjeshtitza, is a vampiric witch appeareing as an old woman being hostile towards men, other women, and children. By night, the sleeping witch’s soul wandered at night in the form of a moth, fly, bee, or mosquito. She would then enter the homes of neighbors and suck the blood of her sleeping victims. Over time, the victim became paler, developed a fever, and eventually died. These vampires are especially powerful during the first week of March.

Pretective measurements would be taken against them. The protective ceremony, performed the first day of March each year, included the stirring of ashes in the family hearth with two horns, which were then stuck into the ash heap. Garlic is also a protective substance.



Vetala (mythology)



A vetala, or baital, is a vampire-like being from Hindu mythology.The vetala are defined as spirits inhabiting corpses. These corpses may be used as vehicles for movement (as they no longer decay while so inhabited), but a vetala may also leave the body at will.

In Hindu folklore, the vetala is an evil spirit who haunts cemeteries and takes demonic possession of corpses. They make their displeasure known by troubling humans. They can drive people mad, kill children and cause miscarriages but they also guard their villages.

They are hostile spirits of the dead trapped in the twilight zone between life and after-life. These creatures can be repelled by the chanting of holy mantras. One can free them from their ghostly existence by performing their funerary rites. Being spirits, unaffected by the laws of space and time, they have an uncanny knowledge about the past, present and future and a deep insight into human nature. Hence, many sorcerers seek to capture them and turn them into slaves.

One version that describes these vampires is that they appear like in a form that is half-man, half-bat. They had hazel eyes, brown hair and skin, thin and ribbed body like a skeleton or bamboo framework, a goat-like tail, and iron-like skin, making it imopervious to blows.

A sorcerer once asked King Vikramaditya to capture a vetala who lived in a tree that stood in the middle of a crematorium. The only way to do that was by keeping silent.

However, every time Vikramaditya caught the vetala, the vetala would enchant the king with a story that would end with a question. No matter how hard he tried, Vikramaditya would not be able to resist answering the question. This would enable the vetala to escape and return to his tree. The stories of the vetala have been compiled in the book Baital Pachisi.

There is also a strong Vetala cult in the Konkan region, under the names of Betal, Vetal, etc. It seems, however, that the relation between the literary Vetala and this demigod's is feeble at best.



Viscera Sucker (folklore)

In Philippine and Malaysian lore, a viscera sucker is a vampiric demon that has the form of a human torso. Viscera suckers fly about at night and attack people to suck out their entrails and body fluids. They also suck out the fetuses of pregnant women.



Vjesci (mythology)

In Kashubian mythology, the Vjesci (alsao spelled Vieszcy) is a vampire found in Poland. A person destined to become one can be identified at birth by a caul. Another sign is that the left eye remains open after death.

The vjesci sucks the blood of sleeping victims, who are found dead the next morning with a small wound on the left breast, directly over the heart.

To prevent a person from becoming a vjesci, remove and burn the caul to ashes, and feed it to the child in a drink at age seven.



Vrykolakas (folklore)



The vrykolakas (Greek βρυκόλακας pronounced "vree-KO-la-kahss", plurel: vrykolakoi), variant vorvolakas, is a harmful undead creature in Greek folklore. It has similarities to many different legendary creatures, but is generally equated with the vampire of the folklore of the neighbouring Slavic countries. While the two are very similar, blood-drinking is only marginally associated with the vrykolakas.

The Greeks traditionally believed that a person could become a vrykolakas after death due to a sacrilegious way of life, an excommunication, a burial in unconsecrated ground, or eating the meat of a sheep which had been wounded by a wolf or a werewolf. Some believed that a werewolf itself could become a powerful vampire after being killed, and would retain the wolf-like fangs, hairy palms, and glowing eyes it formerly possessed.

The bodies of vrykolakoi have the same distinctive characteristics as the bodies of vampires in Balkan folklore. They do not decay; instead, they swell and may even attain a "drum-like" form, they have a ruddy complexion, and are, according to one account, "fresh and gorged with new blood". The activities of the vrykolakas are nearly always harmful, verging from merely leaving their grave and "roaming about", through engaging in poltergeist-like activity, and up to causing epidemics in the community. Among other things, the creature is believed to knock on the doors of houses and call out the name of the residents. If it gets no reply the first time, it will pass without causing any harm. If someone does answer the door, he or she will die a few days later and become another vrykolakas. For this reason, there is a superstition present in certain Greek villages that one should not answer a door until the second knock. Legends also say that the vrykolakas crushes or suffocates the sleeping by sitting on them, much like a mara or incubus- as does a vampire in Bulgarian folklore.

Since the vrykolakas becomes more and more powerful if left alone, legends state that one should destroy its body. According to some accounts, this can only be done on Saturday, which is the only day when the vrykolakas rests in its grave (Bulgarian legends state the same about vampires) This may be done in various ways, the most common being exorcising, impaling, beheading, cutting into pieces, and especially cremating the suspected corpse, so that it may be freed from living death and its victims may be safe.



Vukodlak (folklore)

The Vukodlak is a vampire from Srbian and Croatian folklore. It is associated with werewolves due to its meaning “wolf’s hair”. In particular, it is related to the varcolac for causing eclipses and eating the sun and the moon.

A person can become a vukodlak by being born feet first or mith teeth. These creatures are made forty days after death by the entry to the corpse by a demonic spirit.

Vukldlaci (plurel) sleep in their graves until the full moon, where they arise to attack men and drink their blood. They sleep with their eyes open and their hair and fingernails grow extensively. The vampire will leave its grave to have intercourse with a former spouse. If a child is born from this union the vukodlak is said to have no bones and a body like jelly.



Wurdulac (mythology)

Wurdulac, also spelled "verdilak", is a type of Russian vampire that must consume the blood of its loved ones and convert its whole family. Alexei Tolstoy wrote most famously of one such family, and Mario Bava made a 1963 portmanteau film of it starring Boris Karloff called Black Sabbath.



Yakshini (mythology)

Yakshinis (also called yaksinis or yaksis and yakkhini in Pali) are benevolent mythical beings of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology. A yakshini is the female counterpart of the male yaksha, and they both attend on Kubera (also called Kuber), the Hindu god of wealth who rules in the mythical Himalayan kingdom of Alaka. They both look after treasure hidden in the earth and resemble that of fairies. Yakshinis are often depicted as beautiful and voluptuous, with wide hips, narrow waists, broad shoulders, and exaggerated, spherical breasts. In the Uddamareshvara Tantra, thirty-six yakshinis are described, including their mantras and ritual prescriptions. A similar list of yakshas and yakshinis is given in the Tantraraja Tantra, where it says that these beings are givers of whatever is desired.

The list of thirty-six yakshinis given in the Uddamareshvara Tantra is as follows:

1. Vichitra (The Lovely One)

2. Vibhrama (Amorous One)

3. Hamsi (Swan)

4. Bhishani (Terrifying),

5. Janaranjika (Delighting Men)

6. Vishala (Large Eyed)

7. Madana (Lustful)

8. Ghanta (Bell)

9. Kalakarni (Ears Adorned with Kalas)

10. Mahabhaya (Greatly Fearful)

11. Mahendri (Greatly Powerful)

12. Shankhini (Conch Girl)

13. Chandri (Moon Girl)

14. Shmashana (Cremation Ground Girl)

15. Vatayakshini, Mekhala (Love Girdle)

16. Vikala, Lakshmi (Wealth)

17. Malini (Flower Girl)

18. Shatapatrika (100 Flowers)

19. Sulochana (Lovely Eyed)

20. Shobha

21. Kapalini (Skull Girl)

22. Varayakshini

23. Nati (Actress)

24. Kameshvari

25. Unknown

26. Unknown

27. Manohara (Fascinating)

28. Pramoda (Fragrant)

29. Anuragini (Very Passionate)

30. Nakhakeshi

31. Bhamini

32. Padmini

33. Svarnavati

34. Ratipriya (Fond of Love)

The three sites of Bharhut, Sanchi, and Mathura, have yielded huge numbers of Yakshi figures, most commonly on the railing pillars of stupas. These show a clear development and progression that establishes certain characteristics of the Yakshi figure such as her nudity, smiling face, common association with fertility (usually shown with her hand touching a tree branch), and sinuous pose.

In South India, Yakshis are not considered benevolent beings. They are reputed to waylay men with their beauty and drink their blood. The Yakshi theme is the subject of popular Kerala tales, like the legend of The Yakshi of Trivandrum, as well as of certain movies in modern Malayalam cinema.



Yara-ma-yha-who (folklore)



The Yara-ma-yha-who is a vampire from Australian Aboriginal folklore. This creature resembles a little red man (sometimes hairy), three to four feet high, with a very big head and large mouth with no teeth. On the ends of its hands and feet are suckers.

It lives in fig trees and does not hunt for food, but waits until an unsuspecting traveler rests under the tree, then catches the victim and drains their blood using the suckers on its hands and feet, making them weak. It later comes back and consumes the person, and then takes a nap. When the Yara-ma-yha-who awakens, it regurgitates the victim (still alive), leaving him/her slightly shorter and redder than before. The yara-ma-yha-who then waits in a distant fig tree and keeps a close eye on its victim. If they move, the vampire will come back and swallow and regurgitate them again. Causing the victim to appear shorter and redder each time, and eventuelly becoming a yara-ma-yha-who themselves. If the person lies still for several hours the yara-ma-yha-who will get bored and leave.

If a person is attacked by one of these creatures they have a better chance not to struggle. Otherwise the yara-ma-yha-who will kill them.



Yuki-onna (folklore)

Yuki-onna (雪女? snow woman) is a spirit or yokai found in Japanese folklore. She is a popular figure in Japanese animation, manga, and literature. Yuki-onna is sometimes confused with Yama-uba ("mountain crone"), but the two figures are not the same.

Yuki-onna appears as a tall, beautiful woman with long hair on snowy night. Her skin is inhumanly pale or even transparent, causing her to blend into the snowy landscape (as she is most famously described in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things). She sometimes wears a white kimono, but other legends describe her as nude, with only her face, hair, and pubic region standing out against the snow. Despite her inhuman beauty, her eyes can strike terror into mortals. She floats across the snow, leaving no footprints (in fact, some tales say she has no feet, a notable feature for many Japanese ghosts), and she can transform into a cloud of mist or snow if she is threatened.

The Yuki-onna, being associated with winter and snowstorms, is said in some legends to be the spirit of an individual who has perished in the snow and cold. She is at the same time beautiful and serene, yet ruthless in her killing of unsuspecting mortals. Until the 18th century, she was almost uniformly portrayed as evil. Today, however, stories often color her as more human, emphasizing her ghostlike nature and ephemeral beauty.

In many stories, Yuki-onna reveals herself to travelers who find themselves trapped in snowstorms and uses her icy breath to leave them as frost-coated corpses. Other legends say that she leads them astray so they simply die of exposure. Other times, she manifests holding a child. When a well-intentioned soul takes the "child" from her, he or she is frozen in place. Parents searching for lost children are particularly susceptible to this tactic. Other legends make Yuki-onna much more aggressive. In these stories, she often physically invades people's homes, blowing in the door with a gust of wind, to kill them while they sleep (though some legends require her to be invited inside first).

Exactly what Yuki-onna is after varies from tale to tale. Sometimes she is simply satisfied to see her victim's death. Other times, however, she is more vampiric, draining her victims' blood or "life force". She occasionally takes on a succubus-like manner, preying on weak-willed men in order to drain or freeze them through sexual intercourse or a kiss.

Like the snow and winter weather she represents, Yuki-onna has a softer side. She sometimes lets would-be victims go for various reasons. In one popular Yuki-onna legend, for example, she sets a young boy free due to his beauty and age. She makes him promise to never mention her again, though, and when he relates the story to his wife much later in life, his wife reveals herself to be none other than the snow woman. She reviles him for breaking his promise but spares him yet again, this time out of concern for the children she has born him (but if he dares mistreat their children, she will return with no mercy. Luckily for him, he is already a loving father). In a similar legend, Yuki-onna melts away once her husband discovers her true nature.


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Vamp Lifestylers and the Vamps who Hate them...

21:58 May 15 2009
Times Read: 18,606


1 thing i cannot stand about the vampyre culture is VampLifestylers! 4 those who dont know a VampLifestyler is a person who claims 2 be a vampyre (often gloating about it)... and is a little over the top with it. they where plastic removable fangs/dentures, or get actual dental caps, and they "play the part"... what i mean by that is that they wear capes, fake fangs, drink blood or some red drink 2 substitute, hiss at ppl in public, and sleep in coffins because they feel like they have 2 now. these ppl probably dont know anything about vampyres. i mean, some of that stuff is ok 4 fun, and i dont hate ppl who do claim 2 being vampyres, but they shouldnt try so hard 2 where it becomes like living with Bella Lugosi's stunt double. if this is still a little confusing 2 those of u reading this, watch the Goths vs. Vampires episode of South Park. thats a brief summary of what im talking about.



real "vampyres," or vampyre goths, are ok though. as long as they keep it all at a minimum and like an average life 2 them and not making it a huge issue that they r, or think they really r, vampyres. just my thought on it. but mainly, they are vampyres as part of following the cult, and acknowledge that they arent truly undead, supernatural creatures.


COMMENTS

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Dnamra
Dnamra
20:59 Dec 06 2009

Amen!











lol





 

Type of Vampyre by Feeding

02:32 May 15 2009
Times Read: 18,612


Sanguinarian: those who feed on blood, or sanguinate.



Psychic Vampyre: those who feed off of a person's energy or spirit/soul either by being in their presence or faint physical contact.



Energy/Sex Vampyre: those who feed on a person's energy simply by trouching them or by have sex with the victim... called the Incubus/Succubus Act



Elemental Vampyre: those who feed off of the energy of the elements, cometimes within a person's body... like salt.



Astral Vampyre: those who astrally project themselves out of their physical bodies and send a psychic energy force or spirit to feed on others on whatever lifeforce they require.



... which would you consider yourself to be?


COMMENTS

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Dysx
Dysx
18:57 May 16 2009

i'd like to drink blood. so the first one. maybe ) x





 

Vampyres vs Vampires... whats the difference?

01:35 May 15 2009
Times Read: 18,616


i have read that there is no real difference between "vampyres" and "vampires"... i have heard that "vampires" is used for supernatural undead beings and "vampyres" is for people who live and fantasize to be just like them. ive heard there is no difference but the origin of the word in use. in my opinion, "vampyres" are the supernatural undead beings and "vampires" are vampiric creatures who may not be the same... even if they are supernatural or undead. vampires would include vampire bats, vampire finches, fleas, ticks, leeches, mosquitos etc. the chupacabra would be more of a vampire than a vampyre as well. vampyres would enclude strigoi, vrykolakoi, baobhan siths, mannananggala, pennangalans, etc.


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Species

01:28 May 15 2009
Times Read: 18,615


i have done much research to find the many different species of vampyres and vampiric creatures. with them i have also gathered info on fantasy species that appealed to me. 4 my books i am giving them latin names, historical backgrounds and more species vs plague characteristics based on the old world legends. i will post them in my journals as soon as i can.


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