This article deals with vampires in folklore and legends. For treatments of the vampire legend in fiction, see Vampire fiction.

Vampires are mythical or folkloric creatures, typically held to be the re-animated corpses of human beings and said to subsist on human and/or animal blood (hematophagy), often having unnatural powers, heightened bodily functions, and/or the ability to physically transform. Some cultures have myths of non-human vampires, such as demons or animals like bats, dogs, and spiders. Vampires are often described as having a variety of additional powers and character traits, extremely variable in different traditions, and are a frequent subject of folklore, cinema, and contemporary fiction.

Vampirism is the practice of drinking blood from a person/animal. Vampires are said to mainly bite the victim's neck, extracting the blood from the carotid artery. In folklore and popular culture, the term generally refers to a belief that one can gain supernatural powers by drinking human blood. The historical practice of vampirism can generally be considered a more specific and less commonly occurring form of cannibalism. The consumption of another's blood (and/or flesh) has been used as a tactic of psychological warfare intended to terrorize the enemy, and it can be used to reflect various spiritual beliefs.

In zoology and botany, the term vampirism is used to refer to leeches, mosquitos, mistletoe, vampire bats, and other organisms that prey upon the bodily fluids of other creatures. This term also applies to mythic animals of the same nature, including the chupacabra.

Etymology

English vampire comes from German Vampir, in turn from early Old Polish *vąper' (where ą is a nasal a, and both p and r' are palatalized), in turn from Old Slavic *oper (with a nasal o) or Old Church Slavonic opiri. It is similar to Serbian verb piriti, "to swell", and to greek apyros, "not undergone by fire". The Slavic word, like its cognate netopyr' ("bat"), comes from the PIE root for "to fly". The word Upir as a term for vampire is found for the first time in written form in 1047 in a letter to a Novgorodian prince referring to him as 'Upir Lichyj' (Wicked Vampire). Evidence suggests that an Upir was originally just a sort of psychopomp, a spirit which accompanies the soul of a dead person from the grave to the afterlife .

In early Slavic folklore, a vampire drank blood, was afraid of (but could not be killed by) silver and could be destroyed by cutting off its head and putting it between the corpse's legs or by putting a wooden stake into its heart.

Medieval historians and chroniclers Walter Map and William of Newburgh recorded the earliest English stories of vampires in the 12th century.

Many vampire legends also bear similarities to legends regarding succubi or incubi.

Folk beliefs in vampires

It seems that until the 19th century, vampires in Europe were thought to be hideous monsters rather than the debonair, aristocratic vampire made popular by later fictional treatments. They were usually believed to rise from the bodies of suicide victims, criminals, or evil sorcerers, though in some cases an initial vampire thus "born of sin" could pass his vampirism onto his innocent victims. In other cases, however, a victim of a cruel, untimely, or violent death was susceptible to becoming a vampire. Most of the European vampire myths have Slavic and/or Romanian origins.

Slavic vampires

The Slavic people including most east Europeans from Russia to Serbia to Poland, have the richest vampire folklore and legends in the world. The Slavs came from north of the Black Sea and were closely associated with the Balts. By the 8th century AD, they had migrated north and west to where they are now.

Christianisation began almost as soon as the Slavs arrived in their new homelands. However, through the 9th and 10th centuries, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the western Roman Catholic Church were struggling with each other for supremacy. They formally broke in 1054 AD, with the Bulgarians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians, and Serbians staying Orthodox, while the Poles, Czechs, and Croatians went Roman. This split caused a major difference in the development of vampire lore: The Orthodox church believed incorrupt bodies were vampires, while the Roman church believed they were saints. At that time, vampire beliefs were common in (Catholic) Poland, and there is little indication they were less common in Croatia than among the Serbs.

Causes of vampirism included being born with a caul, teeth, or tail, being conceived on certain days, "irregular" death, excommunication, and improper burial rituals. Preventive measures included placing a crucifix in the coffin, placing blocks under the chin to prevent the body from eating the shroud, nailing clothes to coffin walls for the same reason, or piercing the body with thorns or stakes. In the case of stakes, the general idea was to pierce through the vampire and into the ground below, pinning the body down. Certain people would bury those believed to be potential vampires with scythes above their necks, so the dead would decapitate themselves as they rose.

Evidence that a vampire was at work in the neighbourhood included death of cattle, sheep, relatives, or neighbours, an exhumed body being in a lifelike state with new growth of the fingernails or hair, a body swelled up like a drum, or blood on the mouth coupled with a ruddy complexion.

Vampires could be destroyed by staking, decapitation (the Kashubs placed the head between the feet), burning, repeating the funeral service, sprinkling holy water on the grave, or exorcism.

Romanian vampires

Tales of vampiric entities were also found among

There are different types of Strigoi. Strigoi vii are live witches who will become vampires after death. They can send out their souls at night to meet with other witches or with Strigoi i, which are reanimated bodies that return to suck the blood of family, livestock, and neighbours. Other types of vampires in Romanian folklore include Moroi and Pricolici.

A person born with a caul, tail, born out of wedlock, or one who died an unnatural death, or died before baptism, was doomed to become a vampire, as was the seventh child of the same sex in a family, the child of a pregnant woman who did not eat salt or who was looked at by a vampire or a witch. Moreover, being bitten by vampire meant certain condemnation to a vampiric existence after death.

The Vârcolac, which is sometimes mentioned in Romanian folklore, was more closely related to a mythological wolf that could devour the sun and moon (similar to Fenris in Norse mythology), and later became connected with werewolves rather than vampires. (A person afflicted with lycanthropy could turn into a dog, pig, or wolf.)

The vampire was usually first noticed when it attacked family and livestock, or threw things around in the house. Vampires, along with witches, were believed to be most active on the Eve of St George's Day (April 22 Julian, May 4 Gregorian calendar), the night when all forms of evil were supposed to be abroad. St George's Day is still celebrated in Europe.

A vampire in the grave could be discerned by holes in the earth, an undecomposed corpse with a red face, or having one foot in the corner of the coffin. Living vampires were identified by distributing garlic in church and seeing who did not eat it.

Graves were often opened three years after the death of a child, five years after the death of a young person, or seven years after the death of an adult to check for vampirism.

Measures to prevent a person from becoming a vampire included removing the caul from a newborn and destroying it before the baby could eat any of it, careful preparation of dead bodies, including preventing animals from passing over the corpse, placing a thorny branch of wild rose in the grave, and placing garlic on windows and rubbing it on cattle, especially on St George's and St Andrew's day.

To destroy a vampire, a stake was driven through the body, followed by decapitation and placing garlic in the mouth. By the 19th century, one would also shoot a bullet through the coffin. For resistant cases, the body was dismembered and the pieces burned, mixed with water, and given to family members as a cure.

Roma and vampires

Even today, Roma frequently feature in vampire fiction and film, no doubt influenced by Bram Stoker's book, Dracula, in which the Szgany Roma served Dracula, carrying his boxes of earth and guarding him.

Traditional Romani beliefs include the idea that the dead soul enters a world similar to ours except that there is no death. The soul stays around the body and sometimes wants to come back. The Roma myths of the living dead added to and enriched the vampire myths of Hungary, Romania, and Slavic lands.

The ancient home of the Roma, India, has many mythical vampire figures. The Bhut or Prét is the soul of a man who died an untimely death. It wanders around animating dead bodies at night and attacks the living like a ghoul. In northern India could be found the BrahmarākŞhasa, a vampire-like creature with a head encircled by intestines and a skull from which it drank blood. Vetala and pishacha are some other creatures who resemble vampires in some form. Since Hinduism believes in reincarnation of the soul after death, it is supposed that upon leading an unholy or immoral life, sin or suicide, the soul reincarnates into such kinds of evil spirits. This kind of reincarnation does not arise out of birth from a womb, etc, but is achieved directly, and such evil spirits' fate is pre-determined as to how they shall achieve liberation from that yoni, and re-enter the world of mortal flesh through next incarnation.

The most famous Indian deity associated with blood drinking is Kali, who has fangs, wears a garland of corpses or skulls and has four arms. Her temples are near the cremation grounds. She and the goddess Durga battled the demon Raktabija who could reproduce himself from each drop of blood spilled. Kali drank all his blood so none was spilled, thereby winning the battle and killing Raktabija.

Sara, or the Black Goddess, is the form in which Kali survived among gypsies. Gypsies have a belief that the three Marys from the New Testament went to France and baptised a gypsy called Sara. They still hold a ceremony each May 24 in the French village where this is supposed to have occurred. Some refer to their Black Goddess as "Black Cally" or "Black Kali".

One form of vampire in Romani myth is called a mullo (one who is dead). This vampire is believed to return and do malicious things and/or suck the blood of a person (usually a relative who had caused their death, or hadn't properly observed the burial ceremonies, or who kept the deceased's possessions instead of destroying them as was proper).

Female vampires could return, lead a normal life and even marry but would exhaust the husband.

Anyone who had a hideous appearance, was missing a finger, or had animal appendages, etc., was believed to be a vampire. If a person died unseen, he would become a vampire; likewise if a corpse swelled before burial. Plants or dogs, cats, or even agricultural tools could become vampires. Pumpkins or melons kept

To get rid of a vampire people would hire a Dhampir (the son of a vampire and his widow) or a Moroi

In Romania during February 2004, several relatives of Toma Petre, thinking that he had become a vampire, dug up his body, tore out his heart, burned the organ and drank its ashes in water.

In January 2005, it was reported that an attacker had bitten a number of people in Birmingham, England, fueling concerns about a vampire roaming the streets. However, local police stated that no such crime had been reported, and this case appears to be an urban legend.

In the modern folklore of Puerto Rico and Mexico, the chupacabra (goat-sucker) is said to be a creature that feeds upon the flesh or drinks the blood of domesticated animals, leading some to consider it vampiric. The "chupacabra hysteria" was frequently associated with deep economic and political crises, particularly during the mid-1990s. The chupacabra is also believed to be an alien.

Traits of vampires

• Vampires, being already dead, do not need most normal things required for human life, such as oxygen. They often have a pale (for vampires from literature and cinema) or ruddy (for those from folklore) appearance, and are cool to the touch from the perspective of humans.

• Vampires are sometimes considered to be shape-shifters, though this feature is more commonly present in fiction than in the original folklore.

• Some vampires can fly. Sometimes this power is supernatural, other times it is connected to the vampire's ability to turn into flying creatures (e.g., bats, owls, flies) or into lightweight forms (e.g. straw, dust, smoke) and then create winds as a means of propulsion.

• Vampires typically cast no shadow and have no reflection. This mythical power is largely confined to European vampiric myths and may be tied to folklore regarding the vampire's lack of a soul. In modern fiction, this may extend to the idea that vampires cannot be photographed.

• Some tradititions hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless he or she is invited in. This concept has been referenced throughout the history of vampire fiction (from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Christabel, through Bram Stoker's novel Dracula to Stephen King's novel Salem's Lot, and even Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Generally, however, a vampire can come and go at will after being invited once.

• Vampire powers are often limited during the day or in daylight. In some cases sunlight may burn or kill vampires, or they may be comatose during the day.

• Vampires may be reluctant to enter or cross bodies of water, particularly running water.

• Some tales maintain that vampires must return to their native soil before sunrise to take their rest safely. Others place native soil in their coffins, especially if they have relocated.

• Vampires in some tales have very specific dietary requirements while others do not. However, most tales of the undead feature vampires that cannot eat (or at least cannot gain nourishment from) normal human food. In most cases they sustain themselves by sucking living people's blood or life force ; this seems to be a requirement for their continued existence regardless of whether they are able to absorb other food and drink, or gain anything from such.

• Werewolves are sometimes held to become vampires after death, and vampires are frequently held to have the ability to transform themselves into wolves.

• Apotropaics, or objects intended to ward off vampires, include garlic, a branch of wild rose, and all things sacred (e.g., holy water, a crucifix, a rosary, or sacred objects from other faiths). This weakness on the part of the vampire varies depending on the tale. Garlic is confined mostly to European vampire legends. In myths of other regions, other plants of holy or mythical properties sometimes have similar effects. Holy water and other holy symbols depend upon the culture. In Eastern vampiric myths, vampires are often similarly warded by holy devices such as Shintō seals.

• There are three main ways to destroy a typical European vampire: a consecrated bullet, a wooden stake through the heart where two roads meet, or decapitation. This includes other means of death that effectively removes a vampire's head, such as incinerating the body completely.

• Old folklore from Eastern Europe suggests that many vampires suffered from a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, being fascinated with counting. Millet or poppy seeds were placed on the ground at the gravesite of a presumed vampire, in order to keep the vampire occupied all night counting. Chinese myths about vampires also state that if a vampire comes across a sack of rice, s/he will have to count all of the grains. Aside from the Muppet character of Count von Count on television's Sesame Street, this characteristic seems to have largely disappeared from popular culture.

Natural phenomena that propagate the vampire myth

Pathology and vampirism

Some people argue that vampire stories might have been influenced by a rare illness called porphyria. The disease disrupts the production of heme. People with extreme but rare cases of this hereditary disease can be so sensitive to sunlight that they can get a sunburn through heavy cloud cover, causing them to avoid sunlight — although it should be noted that the idea that vampires are harmed by sunlight is largely from modern fiction and not the original beliefs. Certain forms of porphyria are also associated with neurological symptoms, which can create psychiatric disorders. However, the hypotheses that porphyria sufferers crave the heme in human blood, or that the consumption of blood might ease the symptoms of porphyria, are based on a severe misunderstanding of the disease. There is no real evidence to suggest that porphyria had anything to do with the development of the original folklore, as the hypothesis is mainly based off the characteristics of the modern vampire in any case.

Others argue that there is a relationship between vampirism and rabies, since people suffering from this disease would avoid sunlight and looking into mirrors and would froth at the mouth. This froth could sometimes look like blood, being red in colour. However, like porphyria, there is little evidence to prove any links between vampires and rabies.

There have been a number of murderers who performed seemingly vampiric rituals upon their victims. Serial killers Peter Kurten and Richard Trenton Chase were both called "vampires" in the tabloids after they were discovered drinking the blood of the people they murdered, for example. Legends that Erzsébet Báthory, a medieval Slovak aristocrat, murdered hundreds of women in bizarre rituals involving blood, helped mold contemporary vampire legends.

Some psychologists in modern times recognize a disorder called clinical vampirism (or Renfield Syndrome, from Dracula's insect-eating henchman, Renfield, in the novel by Bram Stoker) in which the victim is obsessed with drinking blood, either from animals or humans.

Finding vampires in graves

When the coffin of an alleged vampire was opened, people sometimes found the cadaver in a relatively undecomposed state, which could have been interpreted as the corpse being the equivalent of a well-fed vampire. Another reason to believe that a body is a vampire that has fed on the living is the strange illusion that the hair, nails, and teeth have grown . It is a well known phenomenon that after death the skin and gums lose fluids and contract, exposing the roots of the hair, nails, and teeth, even teeth that were concealed in the jaw. Folkloric accounts almost universally represent the alleged vampire as having ruddy or dark skin, not the pale skin of vampires in literature and film. In the past, people were often malnourished and therefore thin in life, which could account for the pale skin often referred to. Corpses swell as gases from decomposition accumulate in the torso and blood tries to escape the body. During decomposition blood can often be seen emanating from nose and mouth, which could give the impression that the corpse was a vampire who had been drinking blood. Natural processes of decomposition, absent embalming, tend to darken the skin of a corpse — hence the black, blue, or red complexion of the folkloric vampire. Decomposition also contorts the body into positions other than that which it was laid to rest, adding to the illusion that the corpse has been active after death.

Vampire bats

Bats have become an integral part of the vampire myth only recently, although many cultures have myths about them. In Europe, bats and owls were long associated with the supernatural, mainly because they were night creatures. Conversely, the gypsies thought them lucky and wore charms made of bat bones. In English heraldic tradition, a bat means "Awareness of the powers of darkness and chaos". In South America, Camazotz was a bat god of the caves living in the Bathouse of the Underworld.

The three species of actual vampire bats are all endemic to Latin America, and there is no evidence to suggest that they had any Old World relatives within human memory. It is therefore extremely unlikely that the folkloric vampire represents a distorted presentation or memory of the bat. During the 16th century the Spanish conquistadors first came into contact with vampire bats and recognized the similarity between the feeding habits of the bats and those of their mythical vampires. The bats were named after the folkloric vampire rather than vice versa; the Oxford English Dictionary records the folkloric use in English from 1734 and the zoological not until 1774. It wasn't long before vampire bats were adapted into fictional tales, and they have become one of the more important vampire associations in popular culture.

Vampires in fiction

Main article: Vampire fiction

Lord Byron introduced many common elements of the vampire theme to Western literature in his epic poem The Giaour (1813). These include the combination of horror and lust that the vampire feels and the concept of the undead passing its inheritance to the living.

John Polidori authored the first "true" vampire story called The Vampyre. Polidori was the personal physician of Lord Byron and the vampire of the story, Lord Ruthven, is based partly on him — making the character the first of our now familiar romantic vampires. Coincidentally enough, the "ghost story competition" between Byron and his close friends which spawned this piece, was also the same competition which motivated Mary Shelley to write her novel Frankenstein, another archetypal monster story.

Bram Stoker's Dracula has been the definitive description of the vampire in popular fiction for the last century. Its portrayal of vampirism as a disease (contagious demonic possession), with its undertones of sex, blood, and death, struck a chord in a Victorian Europe where tuberculosis and syphilis were common.

Sources

Books:

• Barber, Paul : Vampires, Burial and Death : Folklore and Reality . Yale University Press.1988. ISBN 0300048599
• Bell, Michael E.: Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires. Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2001. ISBN 0786708999
• Bunson, Matthew: The Vampire Encyclopedia. Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1993. ISBN 0517881004
• McNally, Raymond T.: Dracula Was a Woman. McGraw Hill, 1983. ISBN 0070456712
• Wright, Dudley: The Book of Vampires. 1914 (available in various reprints)
• Frayling, Christopher: "Vampyres, Lord Byron to Count Dracula". 1991. ISBN: 0-571-16792-6

Articles:

1.   "", Raphael Tenthani, BBC News, December 23 2002
2.   "Romanian villagers decry police investigation into vampire slaying", Matthew Schofield, Knight Ridder Newspapers, March 24 2004
3.   "", Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian, January 18 2005, accessed online August 17 2005
4.   "", Henry Steel Olcott, The Theosophist, Vol XII, 1891, accessed online December 15 2005
5.   "", SDSTAFF Hawk (pseudonym), The Straight Dope, August 9 2001, accessed online December 15 2005

See also

Related legendary creatures

• Civatateo
• Hopping corpse
• Kitsune
• Lamia
• Manananggal
• Oni
• Pontianak
• Vrykolakas
• Vetala
• Yakshi

Other

• Dracula
• Elizabeth Bathory
• Energy vampire
• Maschalismos
• Medieval revenant
• Mercy Brown vampire incident
• Vampire bat
• Vampire hunter
• Vampire lifestyle

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