Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897

Vampires(or vampiress, for female) 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). They are also the frequent subject of cinema and fiction, albeit fictional vampires have acquired a set of traits distinct from those of folkloric vampires (see Traits of vampires in fiction). In folklore, the term usually refers to the blood-sucking undead of Eastern European legends, but it is often extended to cover similar legendary creatures in other regions and cultures. Vampire characteristics vary widely between different traditions. Some cultures have myths of non-human vampires, such as animals like bats, dogs, and spiders. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1391x1963, 513 KB) Philip Burne-Jones Bt. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1391x1963, 513 KB) Philip Burne-Jones Bt. ... // The word mythology (Greek: μυθολογία, from μυθος mythos, a story or legend, and λογος logos, an account or speech) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. ... Folklore is the body of verbal expressive culture, including tales, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs current among a particular population, comprising the oral tradition of that culture, subculture, or group. ... With regard to living things, a body is the integral physical material of an individual, and contrasts with soul, personality and behavior. ... Human blood smear: a - erythrocytes; b - neutrophil; c - eosinophil; d - lymphocyte. ... An Anopheles stephensi mosquito obtaining a blood meal from a human host through its pointed proboscis. ... The Three Graces, here in a painting by Sandro Botticelli, were the goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility in Greek mythology. ... Vampire fiction covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. ... Undead is the collective name for all types of supernatural entities that are deceased yet behave as if alive. ... The definition of continental subregions in use by the United Nations. ... Suborders Megachiroptera Microchiroptera See text for families. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (or its younger counterpart puppy) is a mammal in the order Carnivora. ... Suborders Araneomorphae Mesothelae Mygalomorphae See the taxonomy section for families Spiders are predatory invertebrate animals that produce silk, and have two tagma, eight legs, no chewing mouth parts and no wings. ...

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. The neck is the part of the body on many limbed vertebrates that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. ... The carotid artery is a major artery of the head and neck that supplies blood to the head and neck. ... The supernatural (Latin: super- exceeding + nature) refers to forces and phenomena which are beyond ordinary scientific measurement. ... Cannibalism in Brazil in 1557 as described by Hans Staden. ... The U.S. Department of Defense defines psychological warfare (PSYWAR) as: The planned use of propaganda and other psychological actions having the primary purpose of influencing the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of hostile foreign groups in such a way as to support the achievement of national objectives. ...

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. Zoology is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... Pinguicula grandiflora Botany is the scientific study of plantlife. ... Orders Arhynchobdellida or Rhynchobdellida There is some dispute as to whether Hirudinea should be a class itself, or a subclass of the Clitellata. ... Genera The mosquito is a member of the family Culicidae; these insects have a pair of scaled wings, a pair of halteres, a slender body, and long legs. ... Families Santalaceae(Viscaceae) Loranthaceae Mistletoe is the common name for various parasitic plants of the families Santalaceae (in the section of the family formerly separated as Viscaceae) and Loranthaceae. ... Genera Desmodus Diphylla Diaemus Vampire bats are bats that feed on blood (hematophagy). ... In biology and ecology, an organism (in Greek organon = instrument) is a living complex adaptive system of organs that influence each other in such a way that they function as a more or less stable whole. ... The chupacabra (or chupacabras) is a creature said to inhabit parts of the Americas. ...

Etymology

The English word vampire was borrowed (perhaps via French vampire) from German Vampir, in turn borrowed in early 18th century ^[1] from Serbian вампир/vampir ^{[1] [2]}, ^[3] or, according to some earlier sources, from Hungarian vámpír ^[4], ^[5]. The Serbian and Hungarian forms have paralells in virtually all Slavic languages: Bulgarian вампир (vapir), вапир (vapir) or въпир (vəpir), Czech and Slovak upír, Polish wąpierz and (perhaps East Slavic-influenced) upiór, Russian упырь (upyr' ), Belarussian упiр (upyr), Ukrainian упирь (upir' ), from Old Russian упирь (upir' ). The etymology is uncertain ^[6]. Among the proposed proto-Slavic forms are *ǫpyr' and *ǫpir' ^[7]. The Slavic word might, like its possible Russian cognate netopyr' ("bat"), come from the Proto-Indo-European root for "to fly" ^[7]. Another theory has it that the Slavic word comes from a Turkic form (cf. Kazan Tatar ubyr "witch") ^[8], ^[5]. This theory has now become obsolete ^[7], but has recently been embraced by one Polish scholar ^[9]. 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). The Serbian language is one of the standard versions of the Å tokavian dialect, used primarily in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and by Serbs everywhere. ...  Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language  Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language  Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup... This article or section should be merged with List of East Slavic languages The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. ... Belarusian can refer to: the Belarusian language the Belarusian people adjective for Belarus This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The name Old Russian language has been applied to different things. ... Proto-Slavic is the proto-language from which Old Church Slavonic and other Slavic languages later emerged. ... This article is about the baked good, for other uses see Pie (disambiguation). ... The Turkic languages constitute a language family of some thirty languages, spoken across a vast area from Eastern Europe to Siberia and Western China with an estimated 140 million native speakers and tens of millions of second-language speakers. ... Kazan (Russian: ; Tatar: Qazan, Казан) is the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, and one of Russias largest cities. ... Historically, the term Tatar (or Tartar) has been ambiguously used by Europeans to refer to many different peoples of Inner Asia and Northern Asia. ...

Vampires in ancient cultures

Tales of the dead craving blood are ancient in nearly every culture around the world. Vampire-like spirits called the Lilu are mentioned in early Babylonian demonology, and the bloodsucking Akhkharu even earlier in the Sumerian mythology. These female demons were said to roam during the hours of darkness, hunting and killing newborn babies and pregnant women. One of these demons, named Lilitu, was later adapted into Jewish demonology as Lilith. Lilitu/Lilith is sometimes called the mother of all vampires. For further information, see the article on Lilith. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Lilu is a wandering spirit from Akkadian mythology (in Sumerian mythology: Lilla). ... Babylonian mythology is a set of stories depicting the activities of Babylonian deities, heroes, and mythological creatures. ... Jewish mythology is a body of stories that explains or symbolizes Jewish beliefs. ... Lilith is a female Mesopotamian night demon believed to harm male children. ...

The Ancient Egyptian goddess Sekhmet in one myth became full of bloodlust after slaughtering humans and was only sated after drinking alcohol colored as blood. Two statues of Sekhmet (standing) in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin. ... // The word mythology (Greek: μυθολογία, from μυθος mythos, a story or legend, and λογος logos, an account or speech) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use supernatural events or characters to explain the nature of the universe and humanity. ... Bottles of cachaça, a Brazilian alcoholic beverage. ...

In Homer's Odyssey, the shades that Odysseus meets on his journey to the underworld are lured to the blood of freshly sacrificed rams, a fact that Odysseus uses to his advantage to summon the shade of Tiresias. Roman tales describe the strix, a nocturnal bird that fed on human flesh and blood. The Roman strix is the source of the Romanian vampire, the Strigoi and the Albanian Shtriga, which also show Slavic influence ^{[citation needed]}. The Homère Caetani bust at the Louvre, a 2nd century Roman copy of a 2nd century BC Greek original. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre For other uses, see Odyssey (disambiguation). ... A manufactured image of a ghostly woman ascending a staircase A ghost is an alleged non-corporeal manifestation of a dead person (or, rarely, an animal or a vehicle). ... Odysseus and the Sirens. ... Hades [from Greek HadÄ“s (), originally HaidÄ“s () or AïdÄ“s (); of uncertain origin,[1] although it has been ascribed to Greek unseen[2]] refers to both the ancient Greek abode of the dead and the god of that underworld. ... In Greek mythology, Tiresias (also transliterated as Teiresias) was a blind prophet, the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. ... The appearance and sound of the screech owl influenced Roman ideas of the blood-drinking strix. ... The appearance and sound of the screech owl influenced Roman ideas of the blood-drinking strix. ... In Romanian mythology, strigoi (same form singular or plural) 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. ... The Shtriga, in Albanian folklore, was a witch that would suck the spirtus vitaé which is the living force of a person out of people at night while they slept, and would then turn into a flying insect. ...

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. General Name, Symbol, Number silver, Ag, 47 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 5, d Appearance lustrous white metal Atomic mass 107. ...

Medieval historians and chroniclers Walter Map and William of Newburgh recorded the earliest English stories of vampires in the 12th century. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... Walter Map (~1137-1209) was a medieval writer, probably either of Welsh origin or from Herefordshire (which at the time was almost the same thing). ... William of Newburgh (1136?-1198?), also known as Nubrigensis, was a 12th century English historian, and monk, from Yorkshire. ... In the Middle Ages, the idea that souls of dead return to earth and haunt the living was commonly believed. ... Centuries: 11th century - 12th century - 13th century Decades: 1050s 1060s 1070s 1080s 1090s - 1100s - 1110s 1120s 1130s 1140s 1150s Years: 1100 1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 Events and Trends 1107 Emperor Toba ascends the throne of Japan The great Buddhist centre of learning at Nalanda is...

Many vampire legends also bear similarities to legends and religious beliefs regarding succubi or incubi. // For other senses of this word, see Legend (disambiguation). ... A bracket carved as a winged succubus on the outside of an English inn, suggesting that a brothel could have been found inside. ... In Western medieval legend, an incubus (plural incubi; from Latin incubare, to lie upon) is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially on women in order to have sexual intercourse with them. ...

Folk beliefs in vampires

It seems that until the 19th century, vampires in Europe were thought to be hideous monsters from the grave. 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 Ukraine to Serbia to Poland, have the richest and earliest 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. This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... Motto: none Anthem: Bože Pravde Capital Belgrade Largest city Belgrade Official language(s) Serbian1 Government Republic  - President Boris Tadić  - Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica Formation and independence    - Formation of Serbia 814   - Formation of the Serbian Empire 1345   - Independence from the Ottoman Empire July 13, 1878   - Serbia and Montenegro union... Map of the Black Sea. ... The Baltic Sea The Balts or Baltic peoples (Latvian: balti, Lithuanian: baltai), defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between lower Vistula and upper Dvina and Dneper. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ...

Christianization 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. St Francis Xavier converting the Paravas: a 19th-century image of the docile heathen Ansgar, the 9th century apostle of the North in an 1830 drawing. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... Pentecost is considered in Eastern Orthodoxy to be the birth of the Church. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... Events Cardinal Humbertus, a representative of Pope Leo IX, and Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople, decree each others excommunication. ... Several Christian Churches or church bodies are commonly referred to as Orthodox. Most of them are identifiable as part of Eastern Christianity. ... Incorruptibility is the property of a (usually human) body that doesnt decompose after death. ...

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, putting sawdust in the coffin (vampire revives in the evening and counts sawdust until he dies again in the morning)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. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

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, like other Slavic mythical monsters, were afraid of garlic and liked counting grain, sawdust, etc (see above). 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. The Beheading of Cosmas and Damian, by Fra Angelico Decapitation (from Latin, caput, capitis, meaning head), or beheading, is the removal of a living organisms head. ... Kashubians (also Kassubians, or Cassubians, in Kashubian: Kaszëbi) are a Slavic ethnic group living in modern-day northwestern Poland. ... Burning of two sodomites at the stake outside Zürich, 1482 (Spiezer Schilling) Execution by burning has a long history as a method of punishment for crimes such as treason and for other unpopular acts such as heresy and the practice of witchcraft. ... The baptismal font at St. ... Saint Francis exorcised demons in Arezzo, fresco of Giotto Exorcism is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities which are supposed to have possessed (taken control of) a person or object. ...

The most famous Serbian vampire was Sava Savanovic, famous from a folklore-inspired novel of Milovan Glišić.^[10] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Portrait of Milovan Glisić Milovan GliÅ¡ić (1847-1908) was a famous Serbian writer, dramatist, and literary theorist. ...

In the Old Russian anti-pagan work Word of saint Grigoriy (written in the 11th-12th century), it is claimed that pagan Russians made sacrifices to vampires. Pagan may refer to: A believer in Paganism or Neopaganism Bagan, a city in Myanmar also known as Pagan Pagan (album), the 6th album by Celtic metal band Cruachan Pagan Island, of the Northern Mariana Islands Pagan Lorn, a metal band from Luxembourg, Europe (1994-1998) Pagans Mind, is... Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes: contemporary bas-relief, Capitoline Museum, Rome Sacrifice (from a Middle English verb meaning to make sacred, from Old French, from Latin sacrificium : sacer, sacred; sacred + facere, to make) is commonly known as the...

Romanian vampires

Tales of vampiric entities were also found among the ancient Romans and the Romanized inhabitants of eastern Europe, Romanians (known as Vlachs in historical context). Romania is surrounded by Slavic countries, so it is not surprising that Romanian and Slavic vampires are similar. Romanian vampires are called Strigoi, based on the ancient Greek term strix for screech owl, which also came to mean demon or witch. The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... Vlachs (also called Wallachians, Wlachs, Wallachs, Olahs or Ulahs) is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. ... In Romanian mythology, strigoi (same form singular or plural) 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. ... Species many, see species list The scops owls, known as screech owls in the Americas are small owls in the genus Otus of the typical owl family Strigidae. ... St. ... This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ...

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. This article on Romanian mythology covers both the mythology traditional to the Romanian people and to certain earlier civilizations that occupied the same geographic area, and whom the ethnic Romanians tend to claim either as spiritual or as more literal ancestors. ... A Moroi (same form in plural) is a type of vampire or ghost in Romanian folklore. ... A Pricolici (same form in plural) is a werewolf in Romanian mythology. ...

A person born with a caul, extra nipple, extra hair, born too early, black cat crossed the mothers' path, born with a tail, born out of wedlock, 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. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

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.) Fenrir biting off Tyrs arm In Norse mythology, The Fenrisulfr or Wolf of Fenrir, usually known simply as Fenrir in English, was a monstrous wolf, the son of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. ... Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... In folklore, Lycanthropy is the ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a 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. Saint George oil painting by Raphael St. ... April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). ... The Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC by Julius Caesar and took force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ...

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. Rotting fruit Decomposition is a phenomenon common in the sciences of biology and chemistry. ...

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. Saint George oil painting by Raphael St. ...

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. 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. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847–April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... Dracula (1897) is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, and the name of the worlds most famous vampire character. ...

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. In Hinduism and Buddhism, a bhut is a type of evil spirit (pl: bhutas, buthas) Categories: Stub ... A ghoul is a monster from ancient Arabian folklore that dwells in graveyards and other uninhabited places. ... A vetala is a vampire from Indian mythology. ... Pishachas are flesh eating demons, according to Hindu mythology. ... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... The word yoni is the Sanskrit word for the female reproductive organ. ...

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. Kali (Sanskrit: काली) is a goddess with a long and complex history in Hinduism (although sometimes presented in the West as dark and violent). ... In Hinduism, Durga (Sanskrit: , Bengali: ) is a form of Devi, the supreme goddess, also identified with Parvati. ...

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". May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ...

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). Mullo (Muli : female, Mulo : male) is an undead, revenant, or vampire of gypsy (or Roma) folklore. ...

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 appendages similar to those of an animal, 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 in the house too long would start to move, make noises or show blood. (See the article on vampire watermelons.) This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

To get rid of a vampire people would hire a Dhampir (the son of a vampire and his widow) or a Moroi to detect the vampire. To ward off vampires, Gypsies drove steel or iron needles into a corpse's heart and placed bits of steel in the mouth, over the eyes, ears and between the fingers at the time of burial. They also placed hawthorn in the corpse's sock or drove a hawthorn stake through the legs. Further measures included driving stakes into the grave, pouring boiling water over it, decapitating the corpse, or burning it. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A Moroi (same form in plural) is a type of vampire or ghost in Romanian folklore. ... Species See text. ...

According to the late Serbian ethnologist Tatomir Vukanović, Roma people in Kosovo believed that vampires were invisible to most people. However, they could be seen "by a twin brother and sister born on a Saturday who wear their drawers and shirts inside out." Likewise, a settlement could be protected from a vampire "by finding a twin brother and sister born on a Saturday and making them wear their shirts and drawers inside out (cf previous section). This pair could see the vampire out of doors at night, but immediately after it saw them it would have to flee, head over heels." Tatomir P. Vukanović (1907-1997) was a prominent historian and ethnologist of the Balkans region of south-eastern Europe. ... Kosovo (Albanian: Kosovë/Kosova, Serbian: Косово и Метохија/Kosovo i Metohija) is one of two autonomous provinces in Serbia (the other being Vojvodina, in northern Serbia). ...

Some common traits of vampires in folklore

It's difficult to make a unified description of the folkloric vampire, because its properties vary widely between different cultures.

• The appearance of the European folkloric vampire contained mostly features by which one was supposed to tell a vampiric corpse from a normal one, when the grave of a suspected vampire was opened. The vampire has a "healthy" appearance and ruddy skin, he is often plump, his nails and hair have grown and, above all, he/she is not in the least decomposed.
• The most usual ways to destroy the vampire are driving a wooden stake through the heart, decapitation, and incinerating the body completely. The use of a consecrated or silver bullet to kill a vampire seems to have a folkloric basis, too ^{[citation needed]}. Ways to prevent a suspected vampire from rising from the grave in the first place include burying it upside-down, severing the tendons at the knees, or placing poppy seeds 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. There are similar myths recorded on the Indian Subcontinent.
• A great deal of vampire myths from a variety of cultures seem to imply that such creatures are incredibly obsessive-complusive. Thus, the seeds/rice theory (as previously mentioned) arose.
• apotropaics, i.e. objects intended to inhibit or ward off vampires (ans well as other evil supernatural creatures), include garlic (confined mostly to European legends), a branch of wild rose, the hawthorn plant, and all things sacred (e.g., holy water, a crucifix, a rosary). This weakness on the part of the vampire varies depending on the tale. In myths of other regions, other plants of holy or mythical properties sometimes have similar effects. In Eastern vampiric myths, vampires are often similarly warded by holy devices such as Shintō seals.
• Vampires are sometimes considered to be shape-shifters.
• Vampires in European folklore are said to cast no shadow and have no reflection. ^{[citation needed]} This may be tied to folklore regarding the vampire's lack of a soul.
• Some traditions hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless he or she is invited in. ^{[citation needed]}

The metaphor of the silver bullet applies to any straightforward solution perceived to have extreme effectiveness. ... Apotropaic is an adjective that means intended to ward off evil or averting or combating evil and commonly refers to objects such as amulets and talismans or other symbols. ... Shapeshifting, transformation , transmogrification or morphing is a change in the form or shape of a person, especially: a change from human form to animal form and vice versa a change in appearance from one person to another Shapeshifting is not considered scientifically or medically possible for humans (and animal shapeshifting...

Eighteenth century vampire controversy

During the 18th century there was a major vampire scare in Eastern Europe. Even government officials frequently got dragged into the hunting and staking of vampires.

It all started with an outbreak of alleged vampire attacks in East Prussia in 1721 and in the Habsburg Monarchy from 1725 to 1734. Two famous cases involved Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole. As the story goes, Plogojowitz died at the age of 62, but came back a couple of times after his death asking his son for food. When the son refused, he was found dead the next day. Soon Plogojowitz returned and attacked some neighbours who died from loss of blood. East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... The Habsburg Monarchy, often called Austrian Monarchy or simply Austria, are the territories ruled by the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg, and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine, between 1526 and 1867/1918. ... Peter Plogojovitz was a man who lived in the early eighteenth century, in a village named Kisilova in what was then called lower Hungary (NiederUngarn), but is probably now part of Serbia . ... Arnold Paole (d. ...

In the other famous case, Arnold Paole, an ex-soldier turned farmer who had allegedly been attacked by a vampire years before, died while haying. After his death, people began to die, and it was believed by everyone that Paole had returned to prey on the neighbours. Hay is dried grass (and pasture flowers) cut and used for animal feed. ...

These two incidents were extremely well documented. Government officials examined the cases and the bodies, wrote them up in reports, and books were published afterwards of the Paole case and distributed around Europe. The controversy raged for a generation. The problem was exacerbated by rural epidemics of so-claimed vampire attacks, with locals digging up bodies. Many scholars said vampires did not exist, and attributed reports to premature burial, or rabies. Nonetheless, Dom Augustine Calmet, a well-respected French theologian and scholar, put together a carefully thought out treatise in 1746 in which he claimed vampires did exist. This had considerable influence on other scholars at the time. Antoine Augustine Calmet (February 26, 1672 – October 25, 1757) was a French Benedictine born in Mesnil-la-Horgne. ... Theology is literally rational discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, rational discourse). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. ...

Eventually, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria sent her personal physician to investigate. He concluded that vampires do not exist, and the Empress passed laws prohibiting the opening of graves and desecration of bodies. This was the end of the vampire epidemics. By then, though, many knew about vampires, and soon authors would adopt and adapt the concept of vampire, making it known to the general public. Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria Maria Theresa (Vienna, May 13, 1717 – November 29, 1780 in Vienna) was the first and only female head of the Habsburg dynasty. ...

New England

During the 18th and 19th centuries the belief in vampires was widespread in parts of New England, particularly in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut. In this region there are several well-documented cases of families disinterring loved ones and removing their hearts in the belief that the deceased was a vampire who was responsible for sickness and misfortune in the family. The most well known case is that of nineteen year old Mercy Brown who died in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. Her father, assisted by the family physician, removed her from her tomb two months after her death. Her heart was cut out then burnt to ashes. An account of this incident was found among the papers of Bram Stoker and the story closely resembles the events in his classic novel, Dracula. The Mercy Brown vampire incident, which occurred in 1892, is one of the best documented cases of the exhumation of a corpse in order to perform certain ritual activities, such as the conduct of magical rites, supposedly for the purpose of banishing an undead manifestation. ...

Contemporary belief in vampires

Vampire beliefs still persists across the globe. While some cultures preserve their original traditions, the modern notion of a vampire tends to be influenced, even for those who believe in it, by the well known fictional image of the vampire as it occurs in films and literature, rather than by folkloric prototypes. Vampire fiction covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. ...

Bela Lugosi as Dracula; U.S. postage stamp first issued in 1997 as part of a series celebrating "Famous Movie Monsters"

In the 1970s, there were rumours (spread by the local press) that a vampire haunted Highgate Cemetery in London. Amateur vampire hunters flocked in large numbers in the cemetery. Several books have been written about the case, notably by Sean Manchester, a local man who was among the first to suggest the existence of the "Highgate Vampire" and who later claimed to have exorcised and destroyed a whole nest of vampires in the area. This image is a postage stamp produced by the United States Postal Service after 1978. ... This image is a postage stamp produced by the United States Postal Service after 1978. ... Bela Lugosi as Dracula United States stamp. ... Circle of Lebanon, West Cemetery Entrance to the Egyptian Avenue, West Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in Highgate, London, England. ... London is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom, and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... The Highgate Vampire was a supernatural being that allegedly haunted Highgate Cemetery in London. ... Exorcism is the practice of evicting or destroying demons or other evil spiritual entities which are supposed to have possessed (taken control of) a person or a building. ...

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 by some to be an extraterrestrial. The chupacabra (or chupacabras) is a creature said to inhabit parts of the Americas. ... This is a list of animals that have been domesticated by humans. ... Extraterrestrial, as an adjective, refers to something that originates, occurs, or is located outside Earth or its atmosphere. ...

During late 2002 and early 2003, hysteria about alleged attacks of vampires swept through the African country of Malawi. Mobs stoned one individual to death and attacked at least four others, including Governor Eric Chiwaya, based on the belief that the government was colluding with vampires.^[11] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ... Eric Chiwaya, a member of the United Democratic Front, is the urban governor for Blantyre, Malawi. ...

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 it and drank its ashes in water.^[12]

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.^[13] The city from above Centenary Square. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... Urban legends are a kind of folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them (see rumor). ...

Natural phenomena that propagate the vampire myth

Pathology and vampirism

Folkloric vampirism has typically been associated with a series of deaths due to unindentifiable or mysterious illnesses, usually within the same family or the same small community. The "epidemic pattern" is obvious in the classical cases of Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole, and even more so in the case of Mercy Brown and in the vampire beliefs of New England generally, where a specific disease, tuberculosis, was thought to be caused by a deceased family member preying upon the person at night. In epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people) is a disease that appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is expected, based on recent experience (the number of new cases in the population during a... Peter Plogojovitz was a man who lived in the early eighteenth century, in a village named Kisilova in what was then called lower Hungary (NiederUngarn), but is probably now part of Serbia . ... Arnold Paole (d. ... The Mercy Brown vampire incident, which occurred in 1892, is one of the best documented cases of the exhumation of a corpse in order to perform certain ritual activities, such as the conduct of magical rites, supposedly for the purpose of banishing an undead manifestation. ...

In his book, De masticatione mortuorum in tumulis (1725), Michaël Ranft makes a first attempt to explain folk's belief in vampires in a natural way. He says that, in the event of the death of every villager, some other person or people - much probably a person related to the first dead - who saw or touched the corpse, would eventually die either of some disease related to exposure to the corpse or of a fenetic delirium caused by the panic of only seeing the corpse. These dying people would say that the dead man had appeared to them and tortured them in many ways. The other people in the village would exhume the corpse to see what it had been doing. He gives the following explanation when talking about the case of Peter Plogojowitz: "This brave man perished by a sudden or violent death. This death, whatever it is, can provoke in the survivors the visions they had after his death. Sudden death gives rise to inquietude in the familiar circle. Inquietude has sorrow as a companion. Sorrow brings melancholy. Melancholy engenders restless nights and tormenting dreams. These dreams enfeeble body and spirit until illness overcomes and, eventually, death." Peter Plogojovitz was a man who lived in the early eighteenth century, in a village named Kisilova in what was then called lower Hungary (NiederUngarn), but is probably now part of Serbia . ...

Nowadays, 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.^[14] This article is about the disease. ... Structure of Heme b A heme or haem is a prosthetic group that consists of an iron atom contained in the center of a large heterocyclic organic ring called a porphyrin. ...

Others argue that there might be 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.

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. Renfield syndrome, also known as clinical vamprisim, is a mental disease recodnised by doctors in modern times as the obsession to drink blood. ... Dracula (1897) is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, and the name of the worlds most famous vampire character. ... Dwight Fry as Renfield in the 1931 adaptation of Dracula. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847–April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ...

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. Serial killers are individuals who have a history of multiple slayings of victims who were usually unknown to them beforehand. ... Peter Kürten, who was given the name The Vampire of Düsseldorf by the contemporary media, was a psychopathic criminal. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Richard Chase. ... Newspaper sizes in August 2005. ...

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 ^[15]. 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. ^[16] 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. (The same phenomenon accounts for the swollen body and dusky skin of the draug, an undead being in medieval Icelandic belief). 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. The staking of the body could not only cause the body to bleed, but also force the accumulated gases to escape the body, producing a groan when they move past the vocal chords, or a sound reminiscent of flatus when they pass through the anus (the official reporting on the Plogojowitz case speaks of "other wild signs which I pass by out of high respect"). An artists rendition of the draug The draug is a sinister, malevolent being of Nordic origin, often linked to legends of the Icelandic draugr, that is often identified with the spirits of mariners drowned at sea. ... fart, see fart Flatulence is the release of a mixture of gases known as flatus produced by symbiotic bacteria and yeasts living in the gastrointestinal tract of mammals. ...

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"[1]. In South America, Camazotz was a bat god of the caves living in the Bathouse of the Underworld. Suborders Megachiroptera Microchiroptera See text for families. ... Rampant redirects here. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Also known as Cama-Zotz, Sotz, and Zotz. ...

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. Genera Desmodus Diphylla Diaemus Vampire bats are bats that feed on blood (hematophagy). ... In biology and ecology endemic means exclusively native to a place or biota, in contrast to cosmopolitan or introduced. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus; it includes Europe, Asia, and Africa (collectively known as Africa-Eurasia), plus surrounding islands. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). ...

Vampires in fiction and popular culture

Main article: Vampire fiction

Count Orlock, a well-known example of vampire fiction, from the 1922 film Nosferatu

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. Vampire fiction covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. ... Count Orlock Found in a Google image search. ... Count Orlock Found in a Google image search. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (A Symphony of (the) Horror in German) is a German Expressionist film shot in 1922 by F.W. Murnau. ... Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 РApril 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ... In mathematics, see epic morphism. ... Combat of the Giaour and the Pasha Painted by Eug̬ne Delacroix (1827) The Giaour is a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 and the first in the series of his Oriental romances. ...

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. John William Polidori (September 7, 1795 – August 24, 1821) is credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy fiction. ... The Vampyre is a short novel written by John William Polidori and is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction. ... Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ... Lord Ruthven is a fictional character. ... Romantic love is a form of love that is often regarded as different from mere needs driven by sexual desire, or lust. ... Mary Shelley Mary Shelley (30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist, the author of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. ... Insert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text here:This article is about the 1818 novel. ...

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. Dracula (1897) is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, and the name of the worlds most famous vampire character. ... Genre fiction is a term for writings by multiple authors that are very similar in theme and style, especially where these similarities are deliberately pursued by the authors. ... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian era of Great Britain is considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... Tuberculosis (commonly abbreviated as TB) is an infection caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affects the lungs (pulmonary TB) but can also affect the central nervous system (meningitis), lymphatic system, circulatory system (Miliary tuberculosis), genitourinary system, bones and joints. ... Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by a spirochaete bacterium, Treponema pallidum. ...

Vampires are featured in the role-playing games Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Requiem, as well as many others. A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ... Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised Edition) cover. ... This articles content is specific to the fictional setting known as the World of Darkness. ...

References

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
• Frayling, Christopher: Vampyres, Lord Byron to Count Dracula. 1991. ISBN 0-571-16792-6
• McNally, Raymond T.: Dracula Was a Woman. McGraw Hill, 1983. ISBN 0070456712
• Melton, J. Gordon.: The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead Visible Ink Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8102-2295-1
• Montague Summers: The Vampire: His Kith and Kin, 1928 (reprinted with alternate title: Vampires and Vampirism ISBN 0486439968), The Vampire in Europe, 1929 (reprinted ISBN 0517149893) (reprinted with alternate title: The Vampire in Lore and Legend ISBN 0486419428)
• Wright, Dudley: The Book of Vampires. 1914 (available in various reprints)