I finally got some of my books out of storage, some of which are vampire books. My plan is to post a few facts and bits of vampire information a day. I don't plan on posting things like "vampires drink blood." Everyone knows that kind of stuff. So instead it will be random vampire info. A lot of people don't know that most every culture has a form of vampire, there is much more than the classic Dracula. The idea is for you learn something new about our beloved creatures of the night.

I am thinking about doing 5 facts a day, if you think I should do more let me know.
And FYI I am getting this information from actual books, not some wiki page made by a 13 year old.

1. Asanbosam: A vampire found in Africa. The asanbosam is believed to reside deep in the forests, most often encountered there by hunters. It is of general human shape, with two exceptions: its teeth are made of iron, and its legs have hooklike appendages. Anyone walking past the tree in which they dangle will be scooped up and killed. There are male, female and small asanbosoms.

2. Fishnets: An item used in many gypsy villages as well as in other cultures to protect against vampire attack. Fishnets were dropped over doors of houses with the knowledge that vampires who sought entrance would be compelled to count all the knots in the net before setting about feeding. This action was similar to the placing of knots in graves to distract the vampires.

3. Hydra: Known in the Greek as Idhra, an island in the Aegean Sea, just off the Argolis Peninsula in Greece. It was said in Greek folk tales to have once been infested by a multitude of vampires. So troublesome and undesirable did they become that a local cleric used prayers and exorcisms to banish all of them to the distant isle of Santorini, which soon acquired the reputation of being the most vampire-infested place in the world. (So its NOT New Orleans )

4. Langsuir: A flying vampire of Malaysia, said always to be a female of stunning beauty. A woman can become one if she dies in childbirth or from the shock of hearing her child has been a stillborn (see #5 to learn what happens to the stillborn). She emerges as a langsuir before a period of 40 days has elapsed. She can be identified by her incredibly long nails, green robes and long black hair that hangs to her ankles. The hair is supposedly that long to conceal a hole in the back of her neck, through which she drinks the blood of children. She also craves fish and her and her companions can be seen at the mouths of rivers waiting to steal fish. It is possible to prevent transformation into a langsuir by placing a number of glass beads into the mouth of the corpse or by putting hens eggs under each armpit and needles in the palms of the hands. The needles do not allow the woman to wave her arms or close her hands to fly, nor can she open her mouth to let out her terrible wail (which is called ngilai). If a woman is already a langsuir the best way to rid of her is to capture her, cut her nails and stuff her hair into the hole in her neck. Once this is accomplished she will be tame, ceasing her devilish activities. She can even marry and have children, living for many years as a normal woman. Merry making and dancing are not allowed for these will cause her to revert to her fiendish state, flying off into the night with a devilish glee.

5. Pontianak: Also known as mati-anak, the stillborn child of a female vampire, the Langsuir of Malaysia. Such an infant will become a bloodsucker and care has to be taken with its burial. Hens eggs are placed under each armpit, a needle needs to be stabbed in the palm of each hand and glass beads are put into the mouth (same as the mother). In conjunction with these a charm is designed to help it find eternal rest.

Thats all for today. Tomorrow i'll post more.

These are interesting. The only one I'd heard of something like it before was the fishing net one, except I heard of it with putting seeds around your home - the vampire had to count and pick up every seed before it would enter the house.

These are great, what cool books have this in them?

Vampire encyclopedias and vampire history books. My favorite is by Matthew Bunson.


And today's facts areee...

1. Johan Fluckinger: An Austrian army surgeon who, in 1732,with his fellow medical officers published a sensational report on a vampire epidemic in Serbia. Fluckinger was one of the several officials sent from Belgrade to investigate stories that vampires were active in the area around Meduegna. As a result of their findings, the group issued a detailed account of the vampires, focusing on individual cases. Signed on January 7, 1732, the report stated categorically that the undead did exist and that they were spreading throughout the German-speaking world. These declarations caused an enormous uproar, inspiring articles and learned treatises in an effort to explain the phenomenon. On March 4 of that year, the London Journal printed an almost complete translation of the account, making the introduction of the word vampire into common English.

2. Ohyn: A species of Polish vampire, caused by the presence of teeth and a caul at birth. The only way one can prevent such a child from becoming an ohyn is to extract the teeth of the infant, lest it die and awaken in the earth and chew its own flesh and bones before feasting on relatives.

3. Vampire Protection: We all know about the most common form of protection, that being garlic but there are also other things as well. Fishnets (as I said in my first post), seeds: such as mustard or poppy seeds which are sprinkled on yards and walkways, bells: the constant ringing is said to drive vampires away and tar: crosses are painted with tar on doors and windows.

4. Upior or Upier: An eastern Slavic name for vampire, used most often in Poland. It differs from other species in Eastern Europe (except the upyr) by sleeping much of the night, rising only between noon and midnight and is distinguished by its dangerous barbed tongue, which it uses to consume mass amounts of blood. Its thirst is quite legendary among the undead. This creature has a particular fascination with blood: the upior sleeps in it, drinks it, and literally explodes with it when staked. A person can be prevented from becoming an upior by being buried facedown with a cross of willow placed under the armpits, chest or chin. Destruction of an upior is possible by staking or by decapitation. It is possible to become immune to attack by the upior by mixing vampire blood with flour and consuming the substance in the form of baked blood bread.

5. Der Vampir: A poem written in 1748 by Heinrich August Ossenfelder. It is generally recognized as one of the first appearances of a vampire in creative literature.

And thats it for the day

Oh. I'm excited to see more. :D

Bookmarked ^_^ Learning is fun! (yes, I'm a geek!)

I'm gonna have to track down these books you're using, methinks!

Yay! I am glad you guys like this.

Today's five are...

1. Bruxsa: A feared female vampire species found in Portugal. The bruxsa exhibits many characteristics of the aswang of the Philippines. Normally transformed into vampiric form through witchcraft, she leaves her home at night and flies in the shape of a large bird. Tormenting travelers is one of her frequent activities. Much of her nourishment is taken from her own offspring, whose blood she drinks. There are no known ways of destroying the creature, the customary methods proving unsuccessful.

2. Frogs: Amphibian creatures, one of the animal species into which vampires are supposedly able to transform into. In Wallachia it was claimed that red-haired men returned as undead who could turn into frogs, preferring to suck the blood of beautiful women.

3. Glass Phials: Containers or vessels used in ceremonies and rites to trap evil spirits or vampires. Such uses for the phials probably had their origins in the legends of the Middle or Near East, moving to the West over a period of time during the middle ages. A recurring theme in legends is that of the imp or jinn that is forced into a phial and later released, usually giving a reward to the individual who frees it. While the bajang of Malaysia is controlled in bamboo, glass phials are used in the dangerous business of bottling a vampire in Bulgaria.

4. Karens: A tribe found in Burma noted for the power of its wizards, who possessed the skill of resuscitating corpses by grabbing the souls of sleeping persons and placing them in dead bodies. As the sleepers died the dead returned. This process could be interrupted, however, by another sorcerer, who snared the soul of a second sleeper, putting it into the body of the original one, the second victim dying as the first one awoke. What made the series of rituals so peculiar was the fact that it could go on endlessly, as feuding wizards moved souls from body to body in a kind of eternal game. A good night's rest was presumably rare among the uninitiated Karens.

5. Neuntöter: A German vampire species found especially in Saxony, traditionally a great carrier of plagues, usually seen during severe epidemics. The name neuntöter (the "nine-killer") comes from the generally held belief that it takes nine days for this vampire to be fully formed in the grave. the accepted method for destroying the neuntöter is to place a lemon in its mouth.

Wow, this is really interesting.

Sorry this is coming late in the day, I kinda passed out when I got out of work.

1. Vukodlak: A Serbian term for "vampire," derived from the word for werewolf, as the werewolf is associated with the undead in Slavic folklore. Werewolves are believed to return after death as members of the vampire species. Over time, as the vampire connotations out placed the lycanthropic ones, the vukodlak was used more and more frequently in its present sense. In some parts of Yugoslavia the vukodlak remains a werewolf, stories of people changing into wolves and attacking sheep continued to circulate into the late nineteenth century.

2. Tlaciques: Vampire witches found among the Nahuatl Indians of Mexico, similar to the West Indian loogaroo, as they can turn into balls of flame. The Tlaciques are also able to transform into turkeys in order to suck the blood of humans without being discovered. (hahahaha vampire turkeys )

3. Liver: An organ frequently mentioned in the determination of a person's possible status as a vampire or revenant. An undead's liver is said to be white in color, instead of the normal reddish brown. A white liver is found not only in the Slavic and German species of vampire. It is also said that witches' livers have the same pigmentation, as do women whose husbands die with suspicious frequency. The belief may have come from the custom of throwing bodies into rivers to see if they would float. Livers that are exposed to fresh water are said to turn white; examinations of such corpses would reveal whitened livers and thus provide a useful proof for vampire hunters.

4. Dearg-due: Also dearg-dul, a dreaded creature of Ireland, whose name means "Red Blood Sucker." An ancient vampire dating perhaps to pre-Celtic or early-Celtic days, it is greatly feared. The only way to curb its predations is to pile stones upon any grave suspected of housing such a beast. The most famous tale of the dearg-due is the story of a beautiful woman supposedly buried in Waterford, in a small churchyard near Strongbow's Tree. Several times a year she rises from the earth, using her stunning appearance to lure men to their doom.

5. Frankincense: An aromatic resin or gum taken from several types of of trees found in East Africa. It is turned into a kind of incense, traditionally one of the gifts brought to the infant Jesus by the Magi. In Dalmatia and Albania frankincense was used by the clergy to bless daggers or knives intended as stakes or weapons in fighting the undead.

Sorry again for the delay

lmfao... vampire turkeys. That's epic.

The white liver thing is cool though. x_x

Vampire turkeys, hahaha!

Turning into frogs - so when people disect frogs in biology, they could really be disecting vampires?!

Haha sillies

And nowwwwwwww...

1. Jaracacas: One of the species of vampire found in Brazil, normally appearing in the shape of a snake feeding from the breasts of nursing mothers. Children are pushed out of the way by the creature, which keeps them quiet by shoving its tail into their mouths.

2. Java: An Indonesian island south of Borneo in the Indian Ocean. The most feared Javanese vampire is known as the sundal bolong (meaning hollowed-bitch), a female creature, the result of a suicide and return of a woman raped and impregnated by evil men. Her chosen victims are young men to whom she appears dressed in white. She lures them to their deaths, draining them of their blood. Java is also associated with vampirism in the traditional presence of several species of vampire bats on the island.

3. Seventh Sons: In Romania, those persons born seventh are deemed fated to become vampires. The seventh son of a seventh son, a truly cursed individual, can be detected at birth by the presence of a small tail. This belief contradicts Gaelic and English views that seventh sons (or generally the seventh child of a family) are born with certain positive powers, such as remarkable luck and healing. The occult nature of the seventh son, including an affinity for the spirit world, is interpreted by the Romanians as an unavoidable attraction to vampirism after death.

4. Socks: Items of clothing that can be used to destroy a vampire or at least drive it away, especially in the traditions of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe. It relies upon the obsessive nature of the vampire toward certain items, such as grains, seeds or its own clothes. Vampire hunters steal the left sock from the grave of an offending vampire, fill it with rocks or dirt from the grave and throw it outside the village boundary or preferably into running water. The undead will awaken, miss his sock and start searching for it, even enduring water in order to retrieve it. The vampire, of course, drowns when he enters th water.

5. Aswang: A vampire of the Philippines, believed always to be a female of considerable beauty by day and a fearsome flying fiend by night. The aswang lives in a house, can carry and rear children and is seemingly a normal human during daylight hours. At night, however, the creature is led to houses of its victims by night birds, supposedly crying Kikik! (or Kakak!) as it flies. Its nourishment is always blood, and it feeds with its long hallow, thin tongue inserted through the cracks in roofs of it's prey's houses. An aswang will feed especially on children but not on those that sleep on the edge of mats. It always preys on those who sleep in the middle and supposedly announces this as it enters the abode. The creature is recognized by it's swollen appearance after feasting, so much that it looks pregnant. Dawn marks the return of the aswang to its human form, possibly because of the sun or because it washes itself clean of the special ointment it uses each night to acquire it's powers. If the aswang licks someone's shadow, that person will die soon after. Garlic rubbed under the armpit is said to be a repellent (I think that would repel anyone or anything).

I choose the aswang today because I was scanning through a book of erotic vampire short stories I have and there is one featuring an aswang. Just picture two hot naked women rubbing that "special ointment" on each other all over, as in, every bare bit of flesh.

OOOOH. Kinky. xD

As someone of Romanian origin if I ever have six kids...I'll get myself fixed before I ever have a seventh. It's just bad luck.

So I have decided to cut down to 3 facts, sorry guys but at this rate I am going to run out of things to post much sooner.
Anyway...

1. Children Of Judas: An evil clan of vampires found in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, distinguished by their red hair. They are known mainly by oral traditions and are considered the worst of the Balkan undead, the spawn of Judas Iscariot, whose hair was supposedly red. The childred of Judas posses the awful power of draining a victim with a single kiss or bite, leaving a scar in the shape of XXX, signifying the thirty pieces of silver given to Judas for betraying Christ.

2. Dr. David Dolphin: A professor of chemistry at the University of British Columbia, who is 1985 presented a theory that the victims of the disease porphyria during the middle ages may have been responsible for the spread of the vampire legend and hysteria. Their symptoms Dolphin argued, made them seem like the undead, with their photosensitivity, aversion to garlic, hairiness and elongated teeth. They supposedly took to drinking blood in the desperate effort to alleviate their suffering from the terrible disease by introducing its required elements (heme) into their systems. Covered by the press with headlines that were both sensational and comical, the hypothesis created a major stir in the medical field, especially among the physicians involved in treating porohyria and its victims. Numerous experts attacked Dolphin's hypothesis, either pointing out the flaws in his reasoning or complaining about the negative publicity generated by the controversy, as well as the unfortunate perpetuation of traditions and legends.

3. Churel: Also called churail, a vicious and vengeful ghost-like vampire found in India; normally a woman who died while pregnant during the Dewali Festival or while unclean at any time. The churel is horrible in appearance, possessing pendent breasts, sharp long teeth, thick ugly lips, unkempt hair and a black tongue. She is also white in front and black behind. She hates life, saving her greatest spite for her relatives. Prevention is possible by burying her facedown or filling her grave with stones or thorns and strewing the ground where she died with mustard seeds. Prior to her burial, small nails are driven through her forefingers and thumbs and her big toes are welded together with iron rings. Cremation is possible, but a ball of thread is burned with the body so that she will remain busy unwinding it and will forget about her family.

I think is is amazing that some people would actually do all these things to a corpse. Crazy that they really believed all of this. *shrugs* I wonder if anthropologists have ever found bodies like that, with the nails and such in them. Hmmm...

Yeah... I really don't envy the people that actually DID that to the corpses.
It makes me think to the part of Interview With the Vampire when Luis and Claudia are in Romania and they watch the villagers on the hunt in a grave yard.

1. Mosquitoes: Flying insects found virtually worldwide, known to suck blood from animals and humans as the female pierces the skin, injects its own salivary fluids and then withdraws blood. Mosquitoes are knowns to transmit diseases and have been associated with vampires. In some regions it was believed that vampires could control mosquitoes or transform themselves into one in order to enter homes and feed on their victims. A famous tale about the origin of the mosquito recited by African Americans told of the mating of a witch with a devil, a union that resulted in children. The devil's wife exacted revenge by slaying the witch and turning the offspring into mosquitoes.

2. Obayifo: A kind of living vampire found in the Ashanti people on the Gold Coast in West Africa. The Obayifo is said to be a male or female human, able to leave its body at night to travel about and cause harms of all sorts. The vampire's chief delight is to drink the blood of children, causing their slow painful deaths. It also attacks crops, sucking out the sap and vital juices, thereby causing terrible blights, especially in cacao crops. Anyone can be an Obayifo, although certain clues to their identity are available; an obsession with food, meat is particular and constantly shifting eyes. While in flight at night the vampire is phosphorescent. The name is derived from the Ashanti word bayi, meaning sorcery.

3. Saturday: A day of the week traditionally said to be holy and held most sacred to the Virgin Mary, the mother of God and thus a time of little evil activity, even for some vampires. According to tradition, the Cretan species, called katakhana, as well as the Greek variety, the vrykolakas, were able to sleep in the ground only on Saturdays during daylight. It was thus common practice in many regions to hunt for the creatures on Saturdays, especially if they were very dangerous. Persons born on Saturdays were called Sabbatarians and they were deemed to possess powers against the undead, especially if they were twins.

1. Blue Eyes: A tradition in found in regions of the Balkans and especially in areas of Greece held that persons with blue eyes would become vampires after death or already were. The belief probably stemmed from the scarcity of blue-eyed people in that part of the world and was reflected in the suspicion shown to blue-eyed strangers or travelers from other lands. In Ireland, however, blue or gray-eyed people were said to be able to see ghosts.

2. Carmilla: The 1872 novella or short story, written by the Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and published originally in his collection of tales, In a Glass Darkly. Camilla is one of the most significant vampire stories ever created and one of the seminal works in all of vampire literature. With its brilliant style, horrifying but subtle sensuality, daring use of vampiric lesbianism, and application of fresh Gothic atmosphere, it revised the structure of the undead tale, influencing countless other authors, including Bram Stoker, who acknowledged his own debt to Le Fanu in the writing of Dracula (1897). Le Fanu clearly researched the legends pertaining to the undead, using them not as inhibiting factors in his work but as colorful, liberating devices to add authenticity and harsh elements of realism to his often supernatural, otherworldly passages. The character Camilla Karnstein remains the preeminent female vampire.

3. Varcolaci: A mythical vampire species found in Romania that ranks with the most powerful of the undead because of its ability to "eat" the sun and the moon. Traditions vary as to what exactly the varcolaci are. They have been depicted as smaller than dogs, as dragons, or as animals with many mouths. They can originate as the souls of undead unbaptized children, those cursed by god, or the children of unmarried persons. They can be created when women spin at midnight without a candle or when people place a porridge stick into a fire, even if a person sweeps at sunset, directing the accumulated dust and dirt toward the sun. The varcolaci may also appear as humans with pale faces and dry skin. Varcolaci cause eclipses when their bodies drop deep into a deep sleep and their spirit goes into the sky to munch their way across the heavens. They can travel on the thread used in the midnight spinning, going where they wish as long as the cord remains unbroken. Another name in use for these beings is priculics.

The varcolaci sound very fairy tale like. I can see someone writing a novel about them and some magical story.
The part about riding thread reminds me if the vampire trilogy The Darkangel.

1. Montenegro: A Balkan region in southwestern Yugoslavia, situated on the Adriatic and bordering Albania. The Montenegrin vampire is traditionally called the tenatz and is usually found in the shape of a dead person, although in the past there was a tradition that a tenatz also be a so-called live vampire. The process by which a person became a tenatz was known as potentzio se, the means of such an event typical of other regions, such as having a cat jump over the corpse. The tenatz will return from the grave to torment the living, although its bloodsucking habits are rarely mentioned. It can be destroyed by staking, burning, or hamstringing. By custom, priests must do the staking.

2. Oldenburg: A district of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. In the 19th century the people of Oldenburg had a firm belief that all corpses must be buried very deep in the ground. Should a body be placed too close to the surface, the deceased would invariably become a revenant, chewing its way to the living.

3. Watermelons: Like pumpkins, these fruit can become vampires; they are not considered very dangerous, particularly because they have no teeth. Watermelon vampires are found among the Muslim Gypsies of Yugoslavia. Virtually any kind of melon is susceptible, transforming if kept for more than ten days or for too long a period after Christmas. They make growling sounds, are stained with traces of blood and roll around pestering the living. Hahahahaha wtf!?

Sorry guys, the facts will have to wait until tonight. I have been busy alllllllllllllllllllllllllll day and this is the first time I have sat down all day. I have to run off to the store soon so I cant type out the facts right now. Sorry.

And just wondering, who reads this? Just curious.

I do. It's always a fascinating read.

Ok, time for your very very late facts of the day (I painted my room today, first time ever doing that. It took a biiiiit longer than I thought).

1. Morlacchi: A people living in Dalmatia, whose beliefs concerning vampires and other evil beings were preserved by the naturalist Giovanni Battista Alberto Fortis (1740-1803) in his Viaggio in Dalmazia (travels in Dalmazia). The Morlacchi (also Morlachs) believed in vampires, as well as witches, fairies, and ghosts. The name that they gave to the undead was traditional for the region, vukodlak, a fiend who hunted the blood of children. Their most common methods of vampire prevention were slashing a corpse's hamstrings and sticking pins in his body. Morlacchi who feared that they might return from the grave left careful instructions for relatives to take all necessary steps to keep their bodies in the earth.

P'o: The name given by the Chinese to the second of the two souls belonging to each person. The superior soul, the hun, partakes in the finest qualities of the spirits of goodness, while p'o is the inferior, ranked with evil spirits and characterized by malevolence. In Chinese vampire lore, the p'o plays an important role in the creation of the undead. Should any part of the corpse remain intact or undestroyed, the p'o might be able to use this piece to pass forth from the tomb, becoming a vampire and making the fragment the base of its powers. The accidental exposure of whole body parts to the sun or the moon was a terrible event, as the p'o could be energized enough to go out and drink human blood, thus adding its own vitality.

Nosferatu: (not the old movie) Also, nosferat, a decidedly lustful Romanian species of vampire associated with both the incubus and the succubus, said to be the illegitimate child of parents who are illegitimate. Shortly after its burial, the creature wakens, departs the grave and embarks on a long and savage career. It sucks blood, but it also delights in tormenting and engaging in wild orgies with the living. The male nosferatu is able to impregnate women. The resulting children are born covered with hair and are destined to become witches or live-vampires. The vampire also dislikes recently married couples, making the male impotent and the bride barren. The best method of destroying the creature is by firing a shot into its grave or by impaling it on a stake.

Isn't it amazing how different cultures have different beliefs on how vampires exist, but there seems to be evidence from people in every place in the world? This has really started to interest me as of late.

Yea it really gets you thinking. Almost every country has its own kind of vampire and there are people here that believe 100% that vampires exist. But what kind of vampire are they believing in? Very few people do real research, very few people know of all these different species so it makes me wonder what is it exactly that they are thinking is real when they don't even know of these others. What makes one vampire legend right and the others wrong? I also think about the people that claim to be vampires. Its the same thing, what vampire are they? Do they even know of these others? Its like their ignorance proves they are lying. Meh. I cant explain what I am thinking. There are just too many kinds of vampires and few of the ones of lore are like our current view of them, the image we have had burned into our heads for years. Whats what and whos who

Honestly..I believe that Vampires are people who just have a lust for blood. I don't believe in any of the supernatural hexes and stuff only because I've never been confronted with one. I still have an open mind for it.

So I am/will become a vampire and I can see ghosts? Hm, I'll have a great life, won't I?



I haven't read this story, but I've read the quote of it in the story Moth Diaries. Perhaps I should find it.




That's even sillier than the vampire turkeys!

And who thought there was such a possibility.

Facts will be up later on. :)

Today...

1. Capes: More properly black capes with red lining, one of the most well-known and hence caricatured possessions of vampires on stage, screen or in the popular imagination. The image of it as part of a vampire's wardrobe did not play a major part in Bram Stoker's Dracula but was a conscious devise instituted by Hamilton Deane, who brought the work to the stage for the first time in 1924. Deane, recognized that the cape would provide a powerful visual impact on the audience, His decision was totally successful and henceforth, the actors portraying Dracula made the cape an essential part of their costumes. Bela Lugosi first wore a cape on screen in the 1931 Dracula and was buried in it in 1956.

2. Callicantzaro: A terrible creature found in Greece, linked to vampires and recorded by the 16th century writer Leo Allatius. The callicantzaro (plural callicantzari) is a child born during the time of holiness between Christmas and Epiphany, who must leave his or her family to live most of the year in the underworld. From Christmas to New Year's Day, however the creature comes back to earth to terrorize people, especially hoping to devour its brothers and sisters. Its exact nature varies from region to region, changing according to village lore. It can be large or small, appearing most often with a black face, red eyes, ears like a donkey and sharp fangs. Little relief is found in death, for it is known to return as a vampire. One method of saving a child from becoming a callicantzaro is to singe the toes and feet.

3. Pacu Pati: A powerful Indian vampire whose name means "master of the herd" known also as mmbyu (an earlier personification of death). The creature is deemed the lord of all beings of mischief, including varieties of ghouls, ghosts and vampires. He is seen at night, surrounded by his terrible servants, frequenting cemeteries and places of execution.

What would happen if you eat them?

1. Draskylo: A Greek term meaning "to step across" or "stepping across' referring to the fear of animals jumping over a corpse; a phobia of the region directed especially at cats. The act was believed to create a vampire of the corpse. Another variation on this fear was called pernáei apano apo (passing over).

2. Drowning: One of the ways in which a person can become a revenant or vampire. The belief in this transformation in grounded in the fact that drowning, much like suicide or murder, normally occurs suddenly, cutting short a person's life, shocking the soul and allowing an evil spirit or demon to enter the corpse and use the body as a vampire.

3. Armenia: A region in eastern Asian Minor, a onetime Republic in the Soviet Union and an area of rich history and constant strife. Among the many stories told of vampires in Armenia, the most famous was that of Dakhanavar, who inhabited the mountains of Ultmish Altotem. The creature disliked having anyone violate his territory and hunted down those who tried to count the valleys nestled in the mountains, murdering them by sucking the blood from the soles of their feet. Two travelers outwitted him, however, by sleeping with their feet tucked under one another's heads. Unable to find the feet of either victim, Dakhanavar grumbled that he had journeyed through the 366 valleys of the mountains but had never come across anyone with two heads and no feet. With that he left the region.



You would have to catch them first

Do you know if it's certain animals that make the corpses vampires??

Love this thread, Moonlight. Keep going :)

So far all I have read is cats.



I am glad you like it

omfg.
That's awesome. lol




Hrm. Evil watermellons and pumpkins. My dad's gonna get a riot out of that one. He hates watermelon, and now we know why. lmfao
Though... I can't say that I've ever been chased by a growling fruit. x_X

1. Whiskey: A liquor known as rachia in Romania, where it was used to prevent a strigoii from returning home to feast upon relatives. A bottle of whiskey would be buried with the corpse; the surviving family members then declare "drink this and go away, and don't come home!" While the vampire drinks the whiskey and prepares to travel to some other village, the family members go home in silence. Should they speak, the spell is broken and they are susceptible to attack.

2. Adze: A vampire spirit that dwells in tribal sorcerers among the Ewe, a people inhabiting parts of southeastern Ghana and southern Togo in Africa. The adze flies around in the shape of a firefly but, if caught, changes into human form. It drinks blood, palm oil, and coconut water and preys and children, especially pretty children.

3. Alucard: An assumed name used by Count Dracula, created by spelling his real name backward. This novelty was first used in the 1943 movie Son of Dracula, starring Lon Chaney Jr. The use of this name was repeated with such regularity in subsequent works that its very appearance in a film created either a campy atmosphere or unintentional humor.

Hrmm.
"Go be a drunk and haunt someone else, grandma!!"

Could it possibly be a kind of Bathory situation with preying mainly on pretty children? Maybe the Adze believes it is pure blood.

1. Aluga (Aluka): Aname for a vampire or bloodsucking demon (meaning horse-leech) derived from Proverbs (30:15), translated into the Latin as sanguisuga (bloodsucker). The aluga was probably similar to the Arabian algul (ghoul) but was considered by some sources to be a formidable blood demon, possibly even the demon king of the vampires.

2. Brahmaparush: This bloodthirsty monster took ghoulish delight in completely consuming the people it attacked. Its method of devouring its victims was highly ritualized; the brahmaparush would begin by drinking the blood through a hole in the skull, following that the brain would also be consumed. This feeding ritual would not be complete until the vampire performed a macabre dance with the body's intestines wrapped around its head like a turban.

3. William of Malmesbury: English chronicler (d. ca. 1143), Benedictine monk, and author of a history of England, Gesta Regnum Anglorum (1120). in this work he makes mention of the belief common at the time that men who died in a state of sin were condemned to return from the dead and wander the earth, their bodies reanimated by the devil.

Heeeey. Number three's speculation sounds like Brahm Stoker's Drac. (Renounced God and started feasting on blood of the living, then died and came back, you know the drill.)

1. Bebarlangs: A tribe found in the Philippines that supposedly had members who practiced a kind of psychic vampirism. They had the capacity to send out their astral bodies to prey on fellow tribe members or on others. They fed not on blood but on the vitality or life force of individuals.

2. Blackthorn: Also called sloe, a shrub belonging to the rose family and found throughout Europe. By tradition, the blackthorn is a powerful protection against vampires and vampiric attack. Among the Romanians the plant was considered useful enough to have it sewn into clothing.

3. Danag: A Filipino vampire held to be very ancient as a species, responsible for having planted taro in the islands long ago. The danag worked with humans for many years but the partnership ended on day when a human cut her finger and a danag her wound, enjoying the taste so much it drained her completely.

COMING SOON: I also have a book on superstitions from all around the world. Some of them are beyond crazy. I plan on doing what I am doing here by posting three a day in a separate thread. Not sure when I will get around to it, it may be today or next week, I don't know yet. We shall see. So if you are interested in that look for it soon.

An example of one superstition is....

Bacon: In some parts of Europe and the USA bacon is credited with certain healing powers, but only if it has been stolen rather than acquired legitimately. Such purloined bacon is particularly valued against warts, which will disappear if rubbed with a rasher or two and is also considered of use in treating fever. In Devon it is said that if cooking bacon curls up in the pan a new lover is about to arrive.

Crazy! Some of them make me laugh a lot, so I will be sharing...eventually.

Never knew that about bacon, and I have it eveyr Sunday. Always bought though, not stolen.

1. Bhutastan: Large temples found in parts of India, erected to honor several bhutas or one bhuta considered great or important enough to be worshiped by an entire village. Much more decorated and impressive than its smaller counterparts, the bhandara, the bhutastan customarily houses a bronze statue representing the bhuta residing within it. These shrines are also settings for festivals during which the vampires supposedly speak to the villagers through a dancer, who appears naked and painted in yellow, white and red. Blood sacrifices are often made at the end of the ceremonies.

2. Twins: Identical or similar siblings, honored among the gypsies for their powers over vampires. The twins, must meet certain requirements: they must be born on Saturday, wear their underclothes inside out, and preferably be brother and sister rather than same sex twins. Should these regulations be fulfilled, the twins can protect their own village. Among the Muslim Gypsies of Yugoslavia twins are supposedly able to see vampires, event hough their version of the vampire is invisible to most.

3. Zmeu: A ghostly vampirelike creature found in Moldavia. The Zmeu took the form of a long flame that each night entered the room of a young girl or widow. Once inside, the flame became a man, who promptly seduced the female. Among Transylvanians, the Zmeu was found in the shape of a young girl, a maiden of the woods who had no back. She tempted shepherds by offering to lead them and their sheep to green pastures if they would make love to her. The recommended way of preserving one's virtue in this case was to carry a mixture of garlic, celandine (an herb from the poppy family),and candle wax.

Damn, this thread rocks! I just spent about 15 minutes reading everything and can't wait to see more here.

I just wanted to say that I am getting all of this straight from The Vampire Encyclopedia by Matthew Bunson. Its kinda funny, almost all of his other books are about catholicism and religion. Anyway...

1. Dhampir: The name given by Slavonic gypsies, this is the child of a vampire; a person possessing certain unique powers in combating his undead sires and relatives. The title and characteristics change from region to region. Traditionally, the male Gypsy vampire had an insatiable need to have sex with his widow, doing this before anything else. It was possible that the spouse could become pregnant, giving birth. The offspring was often called a Dhampir but was also know to other gypsy groups as the vampir (if male), vampuiera (if female), vampijerovic, or lampijerovic. Some believed that the child was always a male; others claimed that it was short-lived because of a jellylike body, or that it could not come from the family of an Orthodox or Muslim cleric, or that it was a normal human at all.
Dhampirs were very effective in detecting and destroying their vampiric families. They were found in Serbia and elsewhere in parts of Yugoslavia, many making comfortable livings as vampire hunters. Only they could see the bloodsuckers (Serbian undead being invisible), and they preformed bizarre rituals, whistling, running about, undressing, and using shirtless sleeves as a sort of telescope. Wrestling furiously with a invisible foe, the Dhampir finally declared dramatically that the feared vampire was dead. A large fee was then collected. The last known Dhampir ritual was held in 1959 in the Yugoslavian province of Kosovo.

2. Forty Days: A time period of biblical origin that has been associated through legend of the lifespan of a vampire. According to Bulgarian traditions, the ubour (undead) takes shape over a forty day period, during which time the corpse remains bloated, its bones reduced to a jellylike substance. Only when the forty days have elapsed does a skeleton form again and the vampire emerges looking like a normal human being. Among certain Gypsy tribes, such as the Orthodox Christian clan in the Raska region of the Balkans, it was said that their undead, more like ghosts, haunted the cemetery at night , but only for forty days.

3. Roses: A prevailing theory among occultists holds that the petals and fragrance of the roses are a terrible bane to all evil, including, witches, werewolves and vampires. Its aroma repels them, and its flowers burn them like acid. In Romania, specifically Transylvania, a branch of the wild rose was places across a body to prevent its return as a vampire. Placed upon a grave, the rose will supposedly trap a vampire within the earth.

One of these days/nights I'm gonna sit the fuck down and read all of this topic Moonlight!

That's a promise!

Haha... I always hated the smell of roses... xD

1. Eretica: A fierce Russian vampire species, associated with the traditions in the region that heretics became members of the undead after death. The Eretica, (Ereticy for plural) was a woman who sold her soul to the devil during her lifetime, returning after she had died and assuming, during the day, the guise of an old woman in rags. By nightfall she gathered with fellow Ereticy in ravines, where they held a sort of sabbat. She was active only in the spring and in the late fall, sleeping at night in the coffins of those who, in life, had been impious. To fall or sink into one of the graves containing an Eretica caused a person to waste away. Most dangerous of all was seeing the evil eye of the creature, as to do so brought about a slow, withering death. The Eretica could be destroyed by staking and burning.

2. Gleaner: A dutch journal, known originally as the Glaneur Hollandois, that helped spread vampire stories in the 18th century. In 1732 it published a copious list of vampire cases in eastern Europe - Hungary, Serbia and Moravia in particular - recommending that those who did not believe in them or were interested in learning more should consult the numerous other treatises on the subject that had been written by German theologians, scientists and academicians. The Gleaner thus not only added to the hysteria of the time but legitimized the pseudoscientific writings of supposed vampire experts.

3. Palm Hair: One if the most unappealing characteristics of vampires, a trait that is largely fictional in origin. Bram Stoker mentioned palm hair in his novel Dracula, in Jonathan Harker's description of the count. There is no general folk tradition of palm hair being a regular attribute to the undead. Once Stoker used it, however, it became an accepted fact by such writers as Montague Summers (an English cleric, gothic scholar, studier of the occult).

1. Vampire of Alnwick Castle: A voracious vampire that terrorized the town and area around Alnwick castle in Northunberland, England, whose predations and pestilential activities were recorded by the 12th century English chronicler William of Newburgh. The undead in question was, in life and cruel and wicked man who moved from Yorkshire to Alnwick, where the local lord granted him a position. One night, while spying his wife in adultery with a neighbor, he fell from his place on the roof and died during the night. Although given a Christian burial, he soon reappeared and started attacking villagers, spreading plague in his wake. The once populated town was emptied as the victim multiplied. A group of brave survivors finally marched to the cemetery and began digging, finding the vampire in a shallow grave. They pierced the blood engorged body, watching in horror as blood poured out in abundance. The body was then burned, and the epidemic and deaths ceased immediately. This is an excellent example of plagues or epidemics being attributed to a revenant.

2. Native Americans: The numerous peoples found in America who had their own beliefs concerning the return of dead spirits, ghost or revenants. There are so many individual native traditions that it is impossible to detail them all, but several are quite noteworthy. The Ojibwa Indians accepted a kind of revival or resurrection in which a soul that could not enter the next world for whatever reason would return to its body, bringing it back to life.. Specific vampire beings also existed, such as the Ojibwa man-eater or the Cherokee liver eaters. The nastiest Native American vampire was the creature who had a horn shaped mouth and was known to suck out people's brains through their ears.

3. Muroni Also called Murony and Muronul, a kind of vampire found in the Southern Romanian region of Wallachia. The Muroni are very similar to the Romanian Strigoii, although it is especially feared for its ability to transform itself into a variety of shapes, including cats, dogs, fleas, or spiders. While in these incarnations, the Muroni slays easily, leaving behind marks that disguise its true nature. The only real clue is the fact that its victim is left completely drained of blood without the usual puncture marks. Anyone thus slain is doomed to become a vampire, and no preventatives are available. The recommended methods of destroying the Muroni are simple: pound a long nail through the forehead or a stake through the heart.


I hope I haven't done any repeats, I don't think I have but if I do just let me know

The Muroni are malicious indeed. To find one within its grave to find a creature that has fangs, sharp talons, blood pouring from the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Very interesting thread. Many of these facts I had forgotten and a few of them are quite new to me.