"Blood" forms naturally on a few square centimeters of the outside of an aged watermelon. Another picture shows the whole melon.

Vampire watermelons are a folk legend from the Balkans, in southeastern Europe. The story is associated with the Roma people of the region, who originated much of vampire folklore among other unusual legends. Download high resolution version (858x971, 97 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (858x971, 97 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (907x1143, 99 KB) This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe southeastern Europe (see the Definitions and boundaries section below). ... World map showing Europe (geographically) When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ... The Roma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rom, sometimes Rroma, and Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies in English, and as Tsigany in most of Europe. ... This article contains information that has not been verified. ... Folklore is the ethnographic concept of the tales, legends, or superstitions current among a particular population, a part of the oral history of a particular culture. ...

The belief in vampire watermelons 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, virtually any kind of melon or 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 melons because of the creatures' lack of teeth. One of the main indications that a 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. Binomial name Citrullus lanatus (Thunb. ... Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ... Sara Bura Binomial name Cucumis melo L. The melon is the fruit and plant of a typically vine-like (climber and trailer) herb that was first cultivated more than 4000 years ago (~ 2000 BC) in Persia and Africa. ... Pumpkins A pumpkin is a gourd (Cucurbitaceae), most commonly orange in colour when ripe, that grows from a trailing vine. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a holiday in the Christian calendar, usually observed on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... Types of teeth Molars are used for grinding up foods Carnassials are used for slicing food. ... Red blood cells (erythrocytes) are present in the blood and help carry oxygen to the rest of the cells in the body Blood is a circulating tissue composed of fluid plasma and cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets). ... Model of the layers of human skin In zootomy and dermatology, skin is an organ of the integumentary system; which is composed of a layer of tissues that protect underlying muscles and organs. ...

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: Tatomir P. Vukanović (1907-1997) was a prominent historian and ethnologist of the Balkans region of south-eastern Europe. ... Serbia and Montenegro  â€“ Serbia    â€“ Kosovo and Metohia        (UN administration)    â€“ Vojvodina  â€“ Montenegro Official language Serbian1 Capital Belgrade Area  â€“ Total  â€“ % water  88,361 km²  n/a Population  â€“ Total (2002)     (without Kosovo)  â€“ Density  7. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Gypsy Lore Society was founded in Great Britain in 1888 to unite persons interested in the history and lore of Gypsies and rovers and to establish closer contacts among scholars studying aspects of such cultures. ...

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.
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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. Islam ( ♫) (Arabic: الإسلام al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second-largest religion. ... Kosovo and Metohia (Serbian: Косово и Метохија / Kosovë, Albanian: Kosovë / Kosova), in English most often called just Kosovo, is a province of Serbia. ...

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 watermelons are not necessarily any more implausible than other superstitious beliefs. Skepticism (Commonwealth spelling: Scepticism) can mean: Philosophical skepticism - a philosophical position in which people choose to critically examine whether the knowledge and perceptions that they have are actually true, and whether or not one can ever be said to have absolutely true knowledge; or Scientific skepticism - a scientific, or practical... A superstition is an incorrect belief about the relation between certain actions (often behaviors) and other actions. ... Oral history is an account of something passed down by word of mouth from one generation to another. ...

The story was popularised 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, and recent popular books on the topic of vampirism include a mention. Terence David John Pratchett OBE (known to some fans as Pterry, following the convention he used in his book Pyramids where characters were given names such as Ptraci and Pteppic) is an English fantasy author (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Bucks), best known for his Discworld series. ... Carpe Jugulum is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the twenty third in the Discworld series. ... Jan L. Perkowski, originally from Austin, Texas, is Professor of Slavic Languages and literatures at the University of Virginia. ...

Sources

• T. P. Vukanović, The Vampire; published in four parts in the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society from 1957 to 1960. (excerpts)
  • (reprinted in) Jan L. Perkowski, Vampires of the Slavs (Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers, 1976)
• Matthew Bunson, The Vampire Encyclopedia (New York: Gramercy, 2000)
• Annotations for Carpe Jugulum (see the note for page 150).