History of the Vampire!
Belief in vampires is found all over the world - in China, India, Malaya, Indonesia, etc.- but typically it is a Slavic concept; Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia and thence Greece. Rumania, Albania, Hungary are the great vampire areas. In Hungary in the 18th century, the uproar about vampires was as great as that during the witch hunts of colonial New England.
The vampire was thought to be a bloodsucking creature, supposedly the restless soul of a heretic, criminal or suicide. Also, anyone who is different in some way, hare-lips, red hair, odd birthmarks and children born with teeth have all been persecuted for alleged vampirism. It must be remembered the vampire is a resuscitated corpse, not an immaterial spirit. Basically the vampire is a walking corpse with some of the powers and functions of a non-corporeal spirit.
The vampire looks cadaverous:lean, pale with the pallor of death, icy cold to the touch. Some tales describe him as skeletal and withered, like an Egyptian mummy, and he may be clothed in a shroud. More usually he is merely gaunt to an extreme, and to wear normal clothing with perhaps a touch of the theatrical, like Dracula's entirely black costume. His thinness may vanish, in some cases, when he is well fed; when like a leech, he is horribly swollen with engorged blood. At these times he may be hot to the touch. More usually the only sign of life about his face will be the thick ruddiness of his lips, which display his long, pointed canine teeth.
Different Types of Vampires
ASANBOSAM
These are African Vampires which have hooks instead of feet. They usually bite their victims on the thumb.
AZETO
In Haitian voodoo, an evil loa (spirit of the dead) either a male or female vampire.
BAITAL
An Indian vampire race which is half man/half bat, one 1/2 meter tall.
BAOBHAM SITH
An evil Scottish fairie which appears as a beautiful Scottish young woman, who will dance with men and then will kill and feed on them. They can be killed by a cold iron.
CAMAZOTZ
In Mayan mythology, a vampire bat god of the Quiche Maya of Guatemala. He is often portrayed with a sacrificial knife in one hand and his victim in the other.
CH'LANG SHIH
In China there are vampire like creatures called Ch'lang Shih, created by having a cat jumping over the corpse of a dead person. They apppear livid and may kill with a poisonus breath, in addition to draining blood. If it encounters a pile of rice, it must count the grains before it can pass on.
CHONCHON
In the folklore of Araucanian Indians of Chile, a vampire with a human head and huge ears. It uses its large ears for wings to fly about seeking its prey.
DEARG-DUE
In Ireland many Druids speak of Dearg-Dues which have to be killed by building a cairn of stones up on the grave. The Dearg-Dues can't shapechange.
EKIMINU
Ekiminu's are spirits (half ghost/half vampire) caused by no proper burial. They are naturally invisible and are capable of possessing humans. They can be destroyed by wooden weapons and exorisim
KATHAKANO The vampire Kathakano is much like the original, but can only be killed by chopping off the head or boiling it in vinegar.
KRVOPIJAC
Bulgarian vampires also known as Obours. They look like normal vampires but have only one nostril and a pointed tongue. They can be immobilizedby placing roses around their grave. It can be destroyed by letting a magician order it into a bonfire.
LAMIA
Lamias were known in ancient Rome and Greece. They were mostly female vampires, which appeared in half human/half animal form (snake usually the lower body). They ate the flesh of their victims and drank there blood. Lamias could be attacked and killed with weapons.
NOSFERATE
Another name fo the original vampire or vampyre.
PENANNGGA LAN
In Mayan mythology, a vampire woman who has died in childbirth, returning to torment small children with her horrible face and entrails hanging out.
RAKSHASA
Indian vampire and magician. Appear as humans with animal features (claws, fangs, slitted eyes, etc.) or as animals with human features (feet, hands, nose, etc.). The animal side is often a tiger. They eat flesh and drink blood. They can be destroyed by burning, sunlight or exorcism.
STRIGOIUL
Romanian vampire, like the original which attacks in flocks. They can be killed by putting garlic in the mouth or removing the heart.
SUCCUBUS
This is a lesser known type of vampire. The general way they feed is by having sexual relations with the victim, exhausting them, then feeding on the energy released during intercourse. They enter homes uninvited, they also appear as other persons. They visit there victims more than once. The victim of the Succubus will experience the visits as dreams. A male version of the Succubus is Incubus.
VLOKOSLAK
These are Serbian vampires also called Mulos. They normally appear as people wearing white clothes. They are active day and night, can assume shapes of horses and sheep. They eat their victims and drink their blood. They can be killed by cutting off their toes or by driving a nail through their neck.
UPIERCZI
These vampires have origins from Poland and Russia and are also called Viesczy. They have a sting under the tongue instead of fangs. They sre active from noon to midnight and can only be destroyed by burning. When burned, the body aill burst giving rise to hundreds of small, disgusting animals (maggots, rats, etc.). If any of these creatures escape then the Upierczi's will escape too, and will return to seek revenge.
CHARACTERISTICS
Vampires are feared creatures who kill people but themselves look like people. They do not cast shadows or do not reflect in mirrors. During the day they sleep in coffins because the sun's ray's are deadly for them. At night they live by drinking the blood of humans. Vampires couldn't enter houses if they weren't invited but if they were they would renter as often as they like.
The vampire cannot rest in the grave; it must spend the night searching for a victim, but at cockrow, when the sun rises, or when the bell rings in the morning, it must return to its coffin. It may also transform into a bat and fly through the window of a victim and suck their blood.After being killed by a vampire that person would also turn into a vampire.
Vampires are immortal they can commonly be killed by putting a stake through the heart, chopping their head off, burning their body or destroying their daytime resting places.
COMMON ABILITIES
Vampires are more likely to change into an animal such as a bat, rat, wolf, cat, spider, or raven. They can also transform into a cloud of mist.
A vampire has the strength beyond human capability.
Vampires can control animals into the shape the vampire is in. This is the most rare ability of the three.
COMMON WEAKNESSES
Almost all vampires have to sleep in there coffin during the day. Originally so animals couldn't dig up the body.
Vampires are sensitive to the sun's ray's. Some vampires are weakened, harmed or even killed. Bram Stroker's "Dracula" was unaffected.
Vampires are affected by many symbols like the crucufix but its mainly the faith in the person that is showing the symbol to the vampire to keep the vampire away.
They have no reflection because it was thought the reflection is of a persons soul which a vampire doesn't have.
With no reflection that a vampire has a stream of water is no better than a mirror.
OTHER CHARACTERISTICS
Light, bells, iron, garlic are all effective against vampires. If a corpse about to buried has its mouth open, it will probably be a vampire; the mouth must be stuffed with clay before the coffin is closed. If it is suspected that a certain corpse already buried is a vampire, it must be dug up and examined; if it proves to be red-cheeked and fresh, not decomposed, with blood-stains around the mouth, it is a vampire. Such a body must be decapitated, burned, buried at a crossroads, or a wooden stake driven through its heart. It will twist in agony as the stake pierces it, but after that it will lie in peace.
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