Avampire is amythical creature that subsists by feeding on thevital essence (generally in the form ofblood) of the living. InEuropean folklore, vampires areundead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods which they inhabited while they were alive. They woreshrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century.
In modern times, the vampire is generally held to be a fictitious entity, although belief in similar vampiric creatures (such as thechupacabra) still persists in some cultures. Early folk belief in vampires has sometimes been ascribed to the ignorance of the body's process ofdecomposition after death and how people in pre-industrial societies tried to rationalize this, creating the figure of the vampire to explain the mysteries of death.Porphyria was linked with legends of vampirism in 1985 and received much media exposure, but has since been largely discredited.[2]
The charismatic and sophisticated vampire of modern fiction was born in 1819 with the publication of "The Vampyre" by the English writerJohn Polidori; the story was highly successful and arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century.Bram Stoker's 1897 novelDracula is remembered as the quintessentialvampire novel and provided the basis of the modern vampire legend, even though it was published after fellow Irish authorJoseph Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novelCarmilla. The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampiregenre, still popular in the 21st century, with books,films, television shows, and video games. The vampire has since become a dominant figure in thehorror genre.
Etymology and word distribution
The exactetymology is unclear.[3][4] The term "vampire" finds its earliest records in English, Latin and French, and references to vampirism were found in Russia, Poland and North Macedonia.[5] TheEnglish term was derived (possibly viaFrenchvampyre) from theGermanVampir, in turn derived in the early 18th century from theSerbianвампир (vampir).[6][7][8] Though this being a popular explanation, a pagan worship ofupyri was already arrested in Old Russian in the 11–13th century.[9][10] Some claim an origin fromLithuanian.[11][12] Oxford and others[13] maintain a Turkish origin (from Turkishuber, meaning "witch"[13]), which passed to English via Hungarian and French derivation.[14][15] In addition, others sustain that the modern word "Vampire" is derived from theOld Slavic andTurkic languages form "онпыр (onpyr)", with the addition of the "v" sound in front of the large nasal vowel (on), characteristic of Old Bulgarian.[16][17] Parallels are found in virtually allSlavic andTurkic languages:Bulgarian andMacedonianвампир (vampir),Turkish:Ubır, Obur, Obır,Tatar language:Убыр (Ubır),Chuvash language:Вупăр (Vupăr),Bosnian:вампир (vampir),Croatianvampir,Czech andSlovakupír,Polishwąpierz, and (perhapsEast Slavic-influenced)upiór,Ukrainianупир (upyr),Russianупырь (upyr'),Belarusianупыр (upyr), fromOld East Slavicупирь (upir') (many of these languages have also borrowed forms such as "vampir/wampir" subsequently from the West; these are distinct from the original local words for the creature). InAlbanian the wordslu(v)gat anddhampir are used; the latter seems to be derived from theGheg Albanian wordsdham 'tooth' andpir 'to drink'.[18][4] The origin of the modern word Vampire (Upiór meansHortdan, Vampire orwitch inTurkic andSlavic myths.) comes from the term Ubir-Upiór, the origin of the word Ubir or Upiór is based on the regions around theVolga (Itil) River andPontic steppes. Upiór myth is through the migrations of theKipchak-Cuman people to theEurasian steppes allegedly spread. The Bulgarian format is впир (vpir, other names: onpyr, vopir, vpir, upir, upierz).[16][17]
Czech linguistVáclav Machek proposes Slovak verbvrepiť sa 'stick to, thrust into', or its hypothetical anagramvperiť sa (in Czech, the archaic verbvpeřit means 'to thrust violently') as an etymological background, and thus translatesupír as 'someone who thrusts, bites'.[19] The term was introduced to German readers by the Polish Jesuit priestGabriel Rzączyński in 1721.[20]
The wordvampire (asvampyre) first appeared in English in 1732, in news reports about vampire "epidemics" in eastern Europe.[21][a] After Austria gained control of northernSerbia andOltenia with theTreaty of Passarowitz in 1718, officials noted the local practice ofexhuming bodies and "killing vampires".[23] These reports, prepared between 1725 and 1732, received widespread publicity.[23][24]
The notion of vampirism has existed for millennia. Cultures such as theMesopotamians,Hebrews,Ancient Greeks,Manipuri andRomans had tales ofdemons and spirits which are considered precursors to modern vampires. Despite the occurrence of vampiric creatures in these ancient civilizations, the folklore for the entity known today as the vampire originates almost exclusively from early 18th-centurysoutheastern Europe,[25] whenverbal traditions of many ethnic groups of the region were recorded and published. In most cases, vampires arerevenants of evil beings,suicide victims, orwitches, but they can also be created by amalevolent spiritpossessing a corpse or by being bitten by a vampire. Belief in such legends became so pervasive that in some areas it caused mass hysteria and evenpublic executions of people believed to be vampires.[26]
It is difficult to make a single, definitive description of the folkloric vampire, though there are several elements common to many European legends. Vampires were usually reported as bloated in appearance, and ruddy, purplish, or dark in colour; these characteristics were often attributed to the recent drinking of blood, which was often seen seeping from the mouth and nose when one was seen in its shroud or coffin, and its left eye was often open.[27] It would be clad in the linen shroud it was buried in, and its teeth, hair, and nails may have grown somewhat, though in general fangs were not a feature.[28] Chewing sounds were reported emanating from graves.[29]
The causes of vampiric generation were many and varied in original folklore. InSlavic andChinese traditions, any corpse that was jumped over by an animal, particularly a dog or a cat, was feared to become one of the undead.[30] A body with a wound that had not been treated with boiling water was also at risk. InRussian folklore, vampires were said to have once been witches or people who had rebelled against theRussian Orthodox Church while they were alive.[31]
InAlbanian folklore, thedhampir is the hybrid child of thekarkanxholl (alycanthropic creature with an ironmail shirt) or thelugat (a water-dwellingghost or monster). The dhampir sprung of akarkanxholl has the unique ability to discern thekarkanxholl; from this derives the expressionthe dhampir knows the lugat. The lugat cannot be seen, he can only be killed by the dhampir, who himself is usually the son of a lugat. In different regions, animals can be revenants as lugats; also, living people during their sleep.Dhampiraj is also an Albanian surname.[32]
Prevention
Cultural practices often arose that were intended to prevent a recently deceased loved one from turning into an undead revenant. Burying a corpse upside-down was widespread, as was placing earthly objects, such asscythes orsickles,[33] near the grave to satisfy any demons entering the body or to appease the dead so that it would not wish to arise from its coffin. This method resembles theancient Greek practice of placing anobolus in the corpse's mouth to pay the toll to cross theRiver Styx in the underworld. The coin may have also been intended to ward off any evil spirits from entering the body, and this may have influenced later vampire folklore. This tradition persisted in modern Greek folklore about thevrykolakas, in which a wax cross and piece of pottery with the inscription "Jesus Christ conquers" were placed on the corpse to prevent the body from becoming a vampire.[34]
Other methods commonly practised in Europe included severing thetendons at the knees or placingpoppy seeds,millet, or sand on the ground at the grave site of a presumed vampire; this was intended to keep the vampire occupied all night by counting the fallen grains,[35][36] indicating an association of vampires witharithmomania. Similar Chinese narratives state that if a vampiric being came across a sack of rice, it would have to count every grain; this is a theme encountered inmyths from the Indian subcontinent, as well as in South American tales of witches and other sorts of evil or mischievous spirits or beings.[37]
Identifying vampires
Many rituals were used to identify a vampire. One method of finding a vampire's grave involved leading a virgin boy through a graveyard or church grounds on a virgin stallion—the horse would supposedly balk at the grave in question.[31] Generally a black horse was required, though in Albania it should be white.[38] Holes appearing in the earth over a grave were taken as a sign of vampirism.[39]
Corpses thought to be vampires were generally described as having a healthier appearance than expected, plump and showing little or no signs of decomposition.[40] In some cases, when suspected graves were opened, villagers even described the corpse as having fresh blood from a victim all over its face.[41] Evidence that a vampire was active in a given locality included death of cattle, sheep, relatives or neighbours. Folkloric vampires could also make their presence felt by engaging in minorpoltergeist-styled activity, such as hurling stones on roofs or moving household objects,[42] andpressing on people in their sleep.[43]
Protection
Garlic, Bibles, crucifixes, rosaries, holy water, and mirrors have all been seen in various folkloric traditions asmeans of warding against or identifying vampires.[44][45]
Apotropaics—items able to ward offrevenants—are common in vampire folklore.Garlic is a common example;[46] a branch ofwild rose andhawthorn are sometimes associated with causing harm to vampires, and in Europe,mustard seeds would be sprinkled on the roof of a house to keep them away.[47] Other apotropaics include sacred items, such ascrucifix,rosary, orholy water. Some folklore also states that vampires are unable to walk onconsecrated ground, such as that of churches or temples, or cross running water.[45]
Although not traditionally regarded as an apotropaic,mirrors have been used to ward off vampires when placed, facing outwards, on a door (in some cultures, vampires do not have a reflection and sometimes do not cast a shadow, perhaps as a manifestation of the vampire's lack of asoul or their weakness to silver).[48] This attribute is not universal (the Greekvrykolakas/tympanios was capable of both reflection and shadow), but was used by Bram Stoker inDracula and has remained popular with subsequent authors and filmmakers.[49]
Some traditions also hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited by the owner; after the first invitation they can come and go as they please.[48] Though folkloric vampires were believed to be more active at night, they were not generally considered vulnerable tosunlight.[49]
Reports in 1693 and 1694 concerning citings of vampires in Poland and Russia claimed that when a vampire's grave was recognized, eating bread baked with its blood mixed into the flour,[50] or simply drinking it, granted the possibility of protection. Other stories (primarily theArnold Paole case) claimed the eating of dirt from the vampire's grave would have the same effect.[51]
Methods of destruction
A runestone with an inscription to keep the deceased in its grave[52]
Methods of destroying suspected vampires varied, withstaking the most commonly cited method, particularly in South Slavic cultures.[53]Ash was the preferred wood in Russia and the Baltic states,[54] orhawthorn in Serbia,[55] with a record ofoak inSilesia.[56][57]Aspen was also used for stakes, as it was believed thatChrist's cross was made from aspen (aspen branches on the graves of purported vampires were also believed to prevent their risings at night).[58] Potential vampires were most often staked through the heart, though the mouth was targeted in Russia and northern Germany[59][60] and the stomach in north-eastern Serbia.[61] Piercing the skin of the chest was a way of "deflating" the bloated vampire. This is similar to a practice of "anti-vampire burial": burying sharp objects, such as sickles, with the corpse, so that they may penetrate the skin if the body bloats sufficiently while transforming into a revenant.[62]
Decapitation was the preferred method in German and western Slavic areas, with the head buried between the feet, behind thebuttocks or away from the body.[53] This act was seen as a way of hastening the departure of the soul, which in some cultures was said to linger in the corpse. The vampire's head, body, or clothes could also be spiked and pinned to the earth to prevent rising.[63]
800-year-old skeleton found in Bulgaria stabbed through the chest with an iron rod[64]
Romani people 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. In a 16th-century burial nearVenice, a brick forced into the mouth of a female corpse has been interpreted as a vampire-slaying ritual by the archaeologists who discovered it in 2006.[65] InBulgaria, over 100 skeletons with metal objects, such asplough bits, embedded in the torso have been discovered.[64]
Further measures included pouring boiling water over the grave or complete incineration of the body. In Southeastern Europe, a vampire could also be killed by being shot or drowned, by repeating the funeral service, by sprinklingholy water on the body, or byexorcism. In Romania, garlic could be placed in the mouth, and as recently as the 19th century, the precaution of shooting a bullet through thecoffin was taken. For resistant cases, the body wasdismembered and the pieces burned, mixed with water, and administered to family members as a cure. InSaxon regions of Germany, alemon was placed in the mouth of suspected vampires.[66]
Ancient beliefs
Lilith, 1887 byJohn Collier. Stories of Lilith depict her as a demon drinking blood.
Tales of supernatural beings consuming the blood or flesh of the living have been found in nearly every culture around the world for many centuries.[67] The termvampire did not exist in ancient times.Blood drinking and similar activities were attributed todemons or spirits who would eat flesh and drink blood; even thedevil was considered synonymous with the vampire.[68] Almost every culture associates blood drinking with some kind of revenant or demon, or in some cases a deity. In India tales ofvetālas, ghoulish beings that inhabit corpses, have been compiled in theBaitāl Pacīsī; a prominent story in theKathāsaritsāgara tells of KingVikramāditya and his nightly quests to capture an elusive one.[69]Piśāca, the returned spirits of evil-doers or those who died insane, also bear vampiric attributes.[70]
ThePersians were one of the first civilizations to have tales of blood-drinking demons: creatures attempting to drink blood from men were depicted on excavatedpottery shards.[71] AncientBabylonia andAssyria had tales of the mythicalLilitu,[72] synonymous with and giving rise toLilith (Hebrew לילית) and her daughters theLilu fromHebrew demonology. Lilitu was considered a demon and was often depicted as subsisting on the blood of babies,[72] andestries, female shapeshifting, blood-drinking demons, were said to roam the night among the population, seeking victims. According toSefer Hasidim, estries were creatures created in the twilight hours beforeGod rested. An injured estrie could be healed by eating bread and salt given to her by her attacker.[73]
Greco-Roman mythology described theEmpusae,[74] theLamia,[75] theMormo[76] and thestriges. Over time the first two terms became general words to describe witches and demons respectively. Empusa was the daughter of the goddessHecate and was described as a demonic,bronze-footed creature. She feasted on blood by transforming into a young woman and seduced men as they slept before drinking their blood.[74] The Lamia preyed on young children in their beds at night, sucking their blood, as did thegelloudes orGello.[75] Like the Lamia, thestriges feasted on children, but also preyed on adults. They were described as having the bodies of crows or birds in general, and were later incorporated into Roman mythology asstrix, a kind of nocturnal bird that fed on human flesh and blood.[77]
InTurkic mythology, anubır is a vampiric creature characterized by various regional depictions. According to legends, individuals heavily steeped in sin and practitioners ofblack magic transform into ubırs upon their death, taking on a bestial form within their graves. Ubırs possess the ability to shape-shift, assuming the forms of both humans and various animals. Furthermore, they can seize the soul of a living being and exert control over its body. Someone inhabited by a vampire constantly experiences hunger, becoming increasingly aggressive when unable to find sustenance, ultimately resorting to drinking human blood.[78]
Lithograph showing townsfolk burning the exhumed skeleton of an alleged vampire
Many myths surrounding vampires originated during themedieval period. With the arrival ofChristianity inGreece, and other parts ofEurope, the vampire "began to take on decidedly Christian characteristics."[79] As various regions of the continentconverted to Christianity, the vampire was viewed as "a dead person who retained a semblance of life and could leave its grave-much in the same way that Jesus had risen after His death and burial and appeared before His followers."[79] In theMiddle Ages, theChristian Churches reinterpreted vampires from their previous folk existence into minions ofSatan, and used anallegory to communicate a doctrine toChristians: "Just as a vampire takes a sinner's very spirit into itself by drinking his blood, so also can a righteous Christian by drinking Christ's blood take the divine spirit into himself."[80][81] The interpretation of vampires under the Christian Churches established connotations that are still associated in the vampire genre today.[82] For example, the "ability of the cross to hurt and ward off vampires is distinctly due to its Christian association."[83][84]
The 12th-century British historians and chroniclersWalter Map andWilliam of Newburgh recorded accounts of revenants,[26][85] though records in English legends of vampiric beings after this date are scant.[86] TheOld Norsedraugr is another medieval example of an undead creature with similarities to vampires.[87] Vampiric beings were rarely written about in Jewish literature; the 16th-century rabbiDavid ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (Radbaz) wrote of an uncharitable old woman whose body was unguarded and unburied for three days after she died and rose as a vampiric entity, killing hundreds of people. He linked this event to the lack of ashmirah (guarding) after death as the corpse could be a vessel for evil spirits.[88]
In 1645, the Greek librarian of the Vatican,Leo Allatius, produced the first methodological description of the Balkan beliefs in vampires (Greek: vrykolakas) in his workDe Graecorum hodie quorundam opinationibus ("On certain modern opinions among the Greeks").[89] Vampires properly originating in folklore were widely reported from Eastern Europe in the late 17th and 18th centuries. These tales formed the basis of the vampire legend that later entered Germany and England, where they were subsequently embellished and popularized.[90] An early recording of the time came from the region ofIstria in modernCroatia, in 1672; Local reports described a panic among the villagers inspired by the belief thatJure Grando had become a vampire after dying in 1656, drinking blood from victims and sexually harassing his widow. The village leader ordered a stake to be driven through his heart. Later, his corpse was also beheaded.[91]
Title page oftreatise on the chewing and smacking of the dead in graves (1734), a book on vampirology byMichael Ranft
From 1679, Philippe Rohr devotes an essay to the dead who chew their shrouds in their graves, a subject resumed by Otto in 1732, and then byMichael Ranft in 1734. The subject was based on the observation that when digging up graves, it was discovered that some corpses had at some point either devoured the interior fabric of their coffin or their own limbs.[92] Ranft described in his treatise of a tradition in some parts of Germany, that to prevent the dead from masticating they placed a mound of dirt under their chin in the coffin, placed a piece of money and a stone in the mouth, or tied a handkerchief tightly around the throat.[93] In 1732 an anonymous writer writing as "the doctor Weimar" discusses the non-putrefaction of these creatures, from a theological point of view.[94] In 1733, Johann Christoph Harenberg wrote a general treatise on vampirism and theMarquis d'Argens cites local cases. Theologians and clergymen also address the topic.[92]
Some theological disputes arose. The non-decay of vampires' bodies could recall the incorruption of the bodies of the saints of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Indeed, vampires were traditionally considered highly problematic within Christianity, as their apparent immortal existence ran against the Christian belief that all true believers may look forward to an eternal existence with body and soul as they wereresurrected, but only at the end of time when Jesusreturns to judge the living and the dead. Those who are resurrected as immortal before this are thus in no way part of the divine plan of salvation. The imperfect state of the vampire body and how they, in spite of their immortal nature, still needed to feed of the blood of the living, further reflected the problematic aspect of the vampires. Contrary to how the incorruptible saints foreshadowed the immortality promised all true Christians at the end of time, the immortality of the undead vampires was thus not a sign of salvation, but of perdition.[95] The unholy dimension of vampirism may also be reflected in how, in parts of Russia, the very wordheretic,eretik, was synonymous with a vampire. Whoever denied God or his commandments became aneretik after his death, the improperly immortal figure that wandered the night in search of people to feed on.[96] A paragraph on vampires was included in the second edition (1749) ofDe servorum Dei beatificatione et sanctorum canonizatione, On thebeatification of the servants of God and oncanonization of the blessed, written by Prospero Lambertini (Pope Benedict XIV).[97] In his opinion, while theincorruption of the bodies of saints was the effect of a divine intervention, all the phenomena attributed to vampires were purely natural or the fruit of "imagination, terror and fear". In other words, vampires did not exist.[98]
In the early 18th century, despite the decline of many popular folkloric beliefs during theAge of Enlightenment, there was a dramatic increase in the popular belief in vampires, resulting in a mass hysteria throughout much of Europe.[26] The panic began with an outbreak of alleged vampire attacks inEast Prussia in 1721 and in theHabsburg monarchy from 1725 to 1734, which spread to other localities. The first infamous vampire case involved the corpses ofPetar Blagojević from Serbia. Blagojević was reported to have died at the age of 62, but allegedly returned after his death asking his son for food. When the son refused, he was found dead the following day. Blagojević supposedly returned and attacked some neighbours who died from loss of blood.[90]
In the second case,Miloš Čečar, an ex-soldier-turned-farmer who allegedly was attacked by a vampire years before, died whilehaying. After his death, people began to die in the surrounding area; it was widely believed that Miloš had returned to prey on the neighbours.[99][100]
The Blagojević and Čečar incidents were well-documented. Government officials examined the bodies, wrote case reports, and published books throughout Europe.[100] The problem was exacerbated by rural epidemics of so-called vampire attacks, undoubtedly caused by the higher amount of superstition that was present in village communities, with locals digging up bodies and in some cases, staking them.[101] Even government officials engaged in the hunting and staking of vampires.[90]
The hysteria, commonly referred to as the "vampire controversy,"[102] continued for a generation. At least sixteen contemporary treatises discussed the theological and philosophical implications of the vampire epidemic.[103]Dom Augustine Calmet, a French theologian and scholar, published a comprehensive treatise in 1751 titledTreatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants which investigated and analysed the evidence for vampirism.[101][b] Numerous readers, including bothVoltaire (critical) and numerousdemonologists (supportive), interpreted the treatise as claiming that vampires existed.[101][c]
The controversy in Austria ceased when EmpressMaria Theresa sent her personal physician,Gerard van Swieten, to investigate the claims of vampiric entities. Van Swieten concluded that vampires did not exist and the Empress passed laws prohibiting the opening of graves and the desecration of bodies, thus ending the vampire epidemic. Other European countries followed suit. Despite this condemnation, the vampire lived on in artistic works and in local folklore.[101]
Non-European beliefs
Beings having many of the attributes of European vampires appear in the folklore of Africa, Asia, North and South America, and India. Classified as vampires, all share the thirst for blood.[106]
Africa
Various regions of Africa have folktales featuring beings with vampiric abilities: inWest Africa theAshanti people tell of the iron-toothed and tree-dwellingasanbosam,[107] and theEwe people of theadze, which can take the form of afirefly and hunts children.[108] The easternCape region has theimpundulu, which can take the form of a large taloned bird and can summon thunder and lightning, and theBetsileo people ofMadagascar tell of theramanga, an outlaw or living vampire who drinks the blood and eats the nail clippings of nobles.[109] In colonial East Africa, rumors circulated to the effect that employees of the state such as firemen and nurses were vampires, known in Swahili aswazimamoto.[110]
Americas
TheRougarou is an example of how a vampire belief can result from a combination of beliefs, here a mixture of French and African Vodu orvoodoo. The termRougarou possibly comes from the Frenchloup-garou (meaning "werewolf") and is common in theculture of Mauritius. The stories of theRougarou are widespread through theCaribbean Islands andLouisiana in the United States.[111] Similar female monsters are theSoucouyant ofTrinidad, and theTunda andPatasola ofColombian folklore, while theMapuche of southernChile have the bloodsucking snake known as thePeuchen.[112]Aloe vera hung backwards behind or near a door was thought to ward off vampiric beings in South American folklore.[37]Aztec mythology described tales of theCihuateteo, skull-faced spirits of those who died in childbirth who stole children and entered into sexual liaisons with the living, driving them mad.[31]
During the late 18th and 19th centuries the belief in vampires waswidespread in parts of New England, particularly inRhode Island and easternConnecticut. There are many 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 death in the family, although the term "vampire" was never used to describe the dead. The deadly diseasetuberculosis, or "consumption" as it was known at the time, was believed to be caused by nightly visitations on the part of a dead family member who had died of consumption themselves.[113] The most famous, and most recently recorded, case of suspected vampirism is that of nineteen-year-oldMercy Brown, who died inExeter, Rhode Island, in 1892. Her father, assisted by the family physician, removed her from her tomb two months after her death, cut out her heart and burned it to ashes.[114]
Sarah Roberts (1872–1913) was an Englishwoman who died and was buried inPisco, Peru. After her death, a legend evolved that she was a vampire and bride of Dracula. On June 9 1993, the 80th anniversary of her death, locals in Pisco feared she would come back to life and take her revenge.[115]
Asia
Vampires have appeared inJapanese cinema since the late 1950s; the folklore behind it is western in origin.[116] TheNukekubi is a being whose head and neck detach from its body to fly about seeking human prey at night.[117] Legends of female vampiric beings who can detach parts of their upper body also occur in thePhilippines,Malaysia, andIndonesia. There are two main vampiric creatures in the Philippines: theTagalogMandurugo ("blood-sucker") and theVisayanManananggal ("self-segmenter"). The mandurugo is a variety of theaswang that takes the form of an attractive girl by day, and develops wings and a long, hollow, threadlike tongue by night. The tongue is used to suck up blood from a sleeping victim.[118] Themanananggal is described as being an older, beautiful woman capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the night with huge batlike wings and prey on unsuspecting, sleeping pregnant women in their homes. They use an elongated proboscis-like tongue to suckfetuses from these pregnant women. They also prefer to eat entrails (specifically theheart and theliver) and the phlegm of sick people.[118]
The MalaysianPenanggalan is a woman who obtained her beauty through the active use ofblack magic or other unnatural means, and is most commonly described in local folklore to be dark or demonic in nature. She is able to detach her fanged head which flies around in the night looking for blood, typically from pregnant women.[119] Malaysians hungjeruju (thistles) around the doors and windows of houses, hoping thePenanggalan would not enter for fear of catching its intestines on the thorns.[120] TheLeyak is a similar being fromBalinese folklore of Indonesia.[121] AKuntilanak orMatianak in Indonesia,[122] orPontianak orLangsuir in Malaysia,[123] is a woman whodied during childbirth and became undead, seeking revenge and terrorising villages. She appeared as an attractive woman with long black hair that covered a hole in the back of her neck, with which she sucked the blood of children. Filling the hole with her hair would drive her off. Corpses had their mouths filled with glass beads, eggs under each armpit, and needles in their palms to prevent them from becominglangsuir. This description would also fit theSundel Bolongs.[124]
A stilt house typical of theTai Dam ethnic minority of Vietnam, whose communities were said to be terrorized by the blood-suckingma cà rồng
InVietnam, the word used to translate Western vampires, "ma cà rồng", originally referred to a type of demon that haunts modern-dayPhú Thọ Province, within the communities of theTai Damethnic minority. The word was first mentioned in the chronicles of 18th-centuryConfucian scholarLê Quý Đôn,[125] who spoke of a creature that lives among humans, but stuffs its toes into itsnostrils at night and flies by its ears into houses with pregnant women to suck their blood. Having fed on these women, thema cà rồng then returns to its house and cleans itself by dipping its toes into barrels ofsappanwood water. This allows thema cà rồng to live undetected among humans during the day, before heading out to attack again by night.[126]
Jiangshi, sometimes called "Chinese vampires" by Westerners, are reanimated corpses that hop around, killing living creatures to absorb life essence (qì) from their victims. They are said to be created when a person's soul (魄pò) fails to leave the deceased's body.[127]Jiangshi are usually represented as mindless creatures with no independent thought.[128] This monster has greenish-white furry skin, perhaps derived from fungus ormould growing on corpses.[129] Jiangshi legends have inspired agenre of jiangshi films and literature in Hong Kong and East Asia. Films likeEncounters of the Spooky Kind andMr. Vampire were released during the jiangshi cinematic boom of the 1980s and 1990s.[130][131]
Modern beliefs
In modern fiction, the vampire tends to be depicted as a suave, charismaticvillain.[28] Vampire hunting societies still exist, but they are largely formed for social reasons.[26] Allegations of vampire attacks swept throughMalawi during late 2002 and early 2003, with mobs stoning one person to death and attacking at least four others, including GovernorEric Chiwaya, based on the belief that the government was colluding with vampires.[132] Fears and violence recurred in late 2017, with 6 people accused of being vampires killed.[133]
A vampire costume
In early 1970, local press spread rumours that a vampire hauntedHighgate Cemetery in London. Amateurvampire hunters flocked in large numbers to 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 haveexorcised and destroyed a whole nest of vampires in the area.[134] In January 2005, rumours circulated that an attacker had bitten a number of people inBirmingham, England, fuelling concerns about a vampire roaming the streets. Local police stated that no such crime had been reported and that the case appears to be anurban legend.[135]
Thechupacabra ("goat-sucker") ofPuerto Rico andMexico is said to be a creature that feeds upon the flesh or drinks the blood ofdomesticated animals, leading some to consider it a kind of vampire. The "chupacabra hysteria" was frequently associated with deep economic and political crises, particularly during the mid-1990s.[136]
In Europe, where much of the vampire folklore originates, the vampire is usually considered a fictitious being; many communities may have embraced the revenant for economic purposes. In some cases, especially in small localities, beliefs are still rampant and sightings or claims of vampire attacks occur frequently. In Romania during February 2004, several relatives of Toma Petre feared that he had become a vampire. They dug up his corpse, tore out his heart, burned it, and mixed the ashes with water in order to drink it.[137]
Origins of vampire beliefs
Commentators have offered many theories for the origins of vampire beliefs and relatedmass hysteria. Everything ranging frompremature burial to the early ignorance of the body'sdecomposition cycle after death has been cited as the cause for the belief in vampires.[138]
Pathology
Decomposition
Author Paul Barber stated that belief in vampires resulted from people ofpre-industrial societies attempting to explain the natural, but to them inexplicable, process of death and decomposition.[138] People sometimes suspected vampirism when a cadaver did not look as they thought a normal corpse should when disinterred. Rates of decomposition vary depending on temperature and soil composition, and many of the signs are little known. This has led vampire hunters to mistakenly conclude that a dead body had not decomposed at all or to interpret signs of decomposition as signs of continued life.[139]
Corpses swell as gases from decomposition accumulate in the torso and the increased pressure forces blood to ooze from the nose and mouth. This causes the body to look "plump", "well-fed", and "ruddy"—changes that are all the more striking if the person was pale or thin in life. In theArnold Paole case, an old woman's exhumed corpse was judged by her neighbours to look more plump and healthy than she had ever looked in life.[140] The exuding blood gave the impression that the corpse had recently been engaging in vampiric activity.[41] Darkening of the skin is also caused by decomposition.[141] The staking of a swollen, decomposing body could cause the body to bleed and force the accumulated gases to escape the body. This could produce a groan-like sound when the gases moved past the vocal cords, or a sound reminiscent offlatulence when they passed through the anus. The official reporting on thePetar Blagojevich case speaks of "other wild signs which I pass by out of high respect".[142] 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. This can produce the illusion that the hair, nails, and teeth have grown. At a certain stage, the nails fall off and the skin peels away, as reported in the Blagojevich case—thedermis andnail beds emerging underneath were interpreted as "new skin" and "new nails".[142]
Premature burial
Vampire legends may have also been influenced by individuals beingburied alive because of shortcomings in the medical knowledge of the time. In some cases in which people reported sounds emanating from a specific coffin, it was later dug up and fingernail marks were discovered on the inside from the victim trying to escape. In other cases the person would hit their heads, noses or faces and it would appear that they had been "feeding".[143] A problem with this theory is the question of how people presumably buried alive managed to stay alive for any extended period without food, water or fresh air. An alternate explanation for noise is the bubbling of escaping gases from natural decomposition of bodies.[144] Another likely cause of disordered tombs isgrave robbery.[145]
Disease
Folkloric vampirism has been associated with clusters of deaths from unidentifiable or mysterious illnesses, usually within the same family or the same small community.[113] The epidemic allusion is obvious in the classical cases of Petar Blagojevich and Arnold Paole, and even more so in the case ofMercy Brown and in the vampire beliefs of New England generally, where a specific disease, tuberculosis, was associated with outbreaks of vampirism. As with the pneumonic form ofbubonic plague, it was associated with breakdown of lung tissue which would cause blood to appear at the lips.[146]
In 1985, biochemistDavid Dolphin proposed a link between the rare blood disorderporphyria and vampire folklore. Noting that the condition is treated by intravenoushaem, he suggested that the consumption of large amounts of blood may result in haem being transported somehow across the stomach wall and into the bloodstream. Thus vampires were merely sufferers of porphyria seeking to replace haem and alleviate their symptoms.[147]
The theory has been rebuffed medically as suggestions that porphyria sufferers crave the haem in human blood, or that the consumption of blood might ease the symptoms of porphyria, are based on a misunderstanding of the disease. Furthermore, Dolphin was noted to have confused fictional (bloodsucking) vampires with those of folklore, many of whom were not noted to drink blood.[148] Similarly, a parallel is made between sensitivity to sunlight by sufferers, yet this was associated with fictional and not folkloric vampires. In any case, Dolphin did not go on to publish his work more widely.[149] Despite being dismissed by experts, the link gained media attention[150] and entered popular modern folklore.[151]
Juan Gómez-Alonso, a neurologist, examined the possible link of rabies with vampire folklore. The susceptibility to garlic and light could be due to hypersensitivity, which is a symptom of rabies. It can also affect portions of the brain that could lead to disturbance of normal sleep patterns (thus becoming nocturnal) andhypersexuality. Legend once said a man was not rabid if he could look at his own reflection (an allusion to the legend that vampires have no reflection).Wolves andbats, which are often associated with vampires, can be carriers of rabies. The disease can also lead to a drive to bite others and to a bloody frothing at the mouth.[152][153]
Psychodynamic theories
In his 1931 treatiseOn the Nightmare, WelshpsychoanalystErnest Jones asserted that vampires are symbolic of several unconscious drives anddefence mechanisms. Emotions such as love, guilt, and hate fuel the idea of the return of the dead to the grave. Desiring a reunion with loved ones, mourners mayproject the idea that the recently dead must in return yearn the same. From this arises the belief that folkloric vampires and revenants visit relatives, particularly their spouses, first.[154]
In cases where there was unconscious guilt associated with the relationship, the wish for reunion may be subverted by anxiety. This may lead torepression, whichSigmund Freud had linked with the development of morbid dread.[155] Jones surmised in this case the original wish of a (sexual) reunion may be drastically changed: desire is replaced by fear; love is replaced by sadism, and the object or loved one is replaced by an unknown entity. The sexual aspect may or may not be present.[156] Some modern critics have proposed a simpler theory: People identify with immortal vampires because, by so doing, they overcome, or at least temporarily escape from, theirfear of dying.[157]
Jones linked the innate sexuality of bloodsucking withcannibalism, with a folkloric connection withincubus-like behaviour. He added that when more normal aspects of sexuality are repressed, regressed forms may be expressed, in particularsadism; he felt thatoral sadism is integral in vampiric behaviour.[158]
The reinvention of the vampire myth in the modern era is not without political overtones.[159] The aristocratic Count Dracula, alone in his castle apart from a few demented retainers, appearing only at night to feed on his peasantry, is symbolic of the parasiticancien régime. In his entry for "Vampires" in theDictionnaire philosophique (1764), Voltaire notices how the mid-18th century coincided with the decline of the folkloric belief in the existence of vampires but that now "there were stock-jobbers, brokers, and men of business, who sucked the blood of the people in broad daylight; but they were not dead, though corrupted. These true suckers lived not in cemeteries, but in very agreeable palaces".[160]
Marx defined capital as "dead labour which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks".[d]Werner Herzog, in hisNosferatu the Vampyre, gives this political interpretation an extra ironic twist when protagonistJonathan Harker, a middle-class solicitor, becomes the next vampire; in this way the capitalistbourgeois becomes the next parasitic class.[161]
Psychopathology
A number of murderers have performed seemingly vampiric rituals upon their victims.Serial killersPeter Kürten andRichard Trenton Chase were both called "vampires" in thetabloids after they were discovered drinking the blood of the people they murdered. In 1932, an unsolved murder case inStockholm, Sweden, was nicknamed the "Vampire murder", because of the circumstances of the victim's death.[162] The late-16th-century Hungarian countess and mass murdererElizabeth Báthory became infamous in later centuries' works, which depicted her bathing in her victims' blood to retain beauty or youth.[163]
Although many cultures have stories about them,vampire bats have only recently become an integral part of the traditional vampire lore. Vampire bats were integrated into vampire folklore after they were discovered on the South American mainland in the 16th century.[164] There are no vampire bats in Europe, butbats andowls have long been associated with the supernatural and omens, mainly because of their nocturnal habits.[164][165]
The three species of vampire bats are allendemic to Latin America, and there is no evidence to suggest that they had anyOld World relatives within human memory. It is therefore impossible that the folkloric vampire represents a distorted presentation or memory of the vampire bat. The bats were named after the folkloric vampire rather than vice versa; theOxford English Dictionary records their folkloric use in English from 1734 and the zoological not until 1774. The danger ofrabies infection aside, the vampire bat's bite is usually not harmful to a person, but the bat has been known to actively feed on humans and large prey such as cattle and often leaves the trademark, two-prong bite mark on its victim's skin.[164]
The literaryDracula transforms into a bat several times in the novel, and vampire bats themselves are mentioned twice in it. The 1927 stage production ofDracula followed the novel in having Dracula turn into a bat, as did thefilm, whereBéla Lugosi would transform into a bat.[164] The bat transformation scene was used again byLon Chaney Jr. in 1943'sSon of Dracula.[166]
The vampire is now a fixture in popular fiction. Such fiction began with 18th-century poetry and continued with 19th-century short stories, the first and most influential of which wasJohn Polidori's "The Vampyre" (1819), featuring the vampireLord Ruthven.[167] Lord Ruthven's exploits were further explored in a series of vampire plays in which he was theantihero. The vampire theme continued inpenny dreadful serial publications such asVarney the Vampire (1847) and culminated in the pre-eminent vampire novel in history:Dracula byBram Stoker, published in 1897.[168]
Over time, some attributes now regarded as integral became incorporated into the vampire's profile: fangs and vulnerability to sunlight appeared over the course of the 19th century, with Varney the Vampire and Count Dracula both bearing protruding teeth,[169] andCount Orlok ofMurnau'sNosferatu (1922) fearing daylight.[170] The cloak appeared in stage productions of the 1920s, with a high collar introduced by playwrightHamilton Deane to help Dracula 'vanish' on stage.[171] Lord Ruthven and Varney were able to be healed by moonlight, although no account of this is known in traditional folklore.[172] Implied though not often explicitly documented in folklore,immortality is one attribute which features heavily in vampire films and literature. Much is made of the price of eternal life, namely the incessant need for the blood of former equals.[173]
Byron was also credited with the first prose fiction piece concerned with vampires: "The Vampyre" (1819). This was in reality authored by Byron's personal physician,John Polidori, who adapted an enigmatic fragmentary tale of his illustrious patient, "Fragment of a Novel" (1819), also known as "The Burial: A Fragment".[26][168] Byron's own dominating personality, mediated by his loverLady Caroline Lamb in her unflatteringroman-a-clefGlenarvon (a Gothic fantasia based on Byron's wild life), was used as a model for Polidori's undead protagonistLord Ruthven.The Vampyre was highly successful and the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century.[175]
Varney the Vampire was a popular mid-Victorian eragothic horror story byJames Malcolm Rymer andThomas Peckett Prest, which first appeared from 1845 to 1847 in a series of pamphlets generally referred to aspenny dreadfuls because of their low price and gruesome contents.[167] Published in book form in 1847, the story runs to 868 double-columned pages. It has a distinctly suspenseful style, using vivid imagery to describe the horrifying exploits of Varney.[172] Another important addition to the genre wasSheridan Le Fanu'slesbian vampire storyCarmilla (1871). Like Varney before her, the vampiress Carmilla is portrayed in a somewhat sympathetic light as the compulsion of her condition is highlighted.[176]
No effort to depict vampires in popular fiction was as influential or as definitive as Bram Stoker'sDracula (1897).[177] Its portrayal of vampirism as a disease of contagious demonic possession, with its undertones of sex, blood and death, struck a chord inVictorian Europe wheretuberculosis andsyphilis were common. The vampiric traits described in Stoker's work merged with and dominated folkloric tradition, eventually evolving into the modern fictional vampire.[167]
Drawing on past works such asThe Vampyre andCarmilla, Stoker began to research his new book in the late 19th century, reading works such asThe Land Beyond the Forest (1888) byEmily Gerard and other books aboutTransylvania and vampires. In London, a colleague mentioned to him the story ofVlad Țepeș, the "real-life Dracula", and Stoker immediately incorporated this story into his book. The first chapter of the book was omitted when it was published in 1897, but it was released in 1914 as "Dracula's Guest".[178]
The latter part of the 20th century saw the rise of multi-volume vampire epics as well as a renewed interest in the subject in books. The first of these was Gothic romance writerMarilyn Ross'sBarnabas Collins series (1966–71), loosely based on the contemporary American TV seriesDark Shadows. It also set the trend for seeing vampires as poetictragic heroes rather than as the more traditional embodiment of evil. This formula was followed in novelist Anne Rice's highly popularVampire Chronicles (1976–2003),[179] andStephenie Meyer'sTwilight series (2005–2008).[180] In the 2006Peter Watts's novelBlindsight, vampires are depicted as a subspecies ofhomo sapiens that predated on humanity until the dawn of civilization. The various supernatural characteristics and abilities traditionally assigned to vampires by folklore are justified on naturalistic and scientific basis.[181]
Considered one of the preeminent figures of the classic horror film, the vampire has proven to be a rich subject for the film, television, and gaming industries.Dracula is a major character in more films than any other butSherlock Holmes, and many early films were either based on the novelDracula or closely derived from it. These included the 1922 silent German Expressionist horror filmNosferatu, directed byF. W. Murnau and featuring the first film portrayal of Dracula—although names and characters were intended to mimicDracula's.[182] Universal'sDracula (1931), starringBéla Lugosi as the Count and directed byTod Browning, was the firsttalking film to portray Dracula. Both Lugosi's performance and the film overall were influential in the blossominghorror film genre, now able to use sound and special effects much more efficiently than in theSilent Film Era. The influence of this 1931 film lasted throughout the rest of the 20th century and up through the present day.Stephen King,Francis Ford Coppola,Hammer Horror, andPhilip Saville each have at one time or another derived inspiration from this film directly either through staging or even through directly quoting the film, particularly how Stoker's line "Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make!" is delivered by Lugosi; for example Coppola paid homage to this moment with Gary Oldman in his interpretation of the tale in 1992 and King has credited this film as an inspiration for his character Kurt Barlow repeatedly in interviews.[183] It is for these reasons that the film was selected by the USLibrary of Congress to be in theNational Film Registry in 2000.[184]
The legend of the vampire continued through the film industry when Dracula was reincarnated in the pertinentHammer Horror series of films, starringChristopher Lee as the Count. The successful 1958Dracula starring Lee was followed by seven sequels. Lee returned as Dracula in all but two of these and became well known in the role.[185] By the 1970s, vampires in films had diversified with works such asCount Yorga, Vampire (1970), an African Count in 1972'sBlacula, the BBC'sCount Dracula featuring French actorLouis Jourdan as Dracula andFrank Finlay asAbraham Van Helsing, and a Nosferatu-like vampire in 1979'sSalem's Lot, and a remake ofNosferatu itself, titledNosferatu the Vampyre withKlaus Kinski the same year. Several films featured the characterization of a female, often lesbian, vampire such as Hammer Horror'sThe Vampire Lovers (1970), based onCarmilla, though the plotlines still revolved around a central evil vampire character.[185]
This increase of interest in vampiric plotlines led to the vampire being depicted in films such asUnderworld andVan Helsing, the RussianNight Watch and a TV miniseries remake ofSalem's Lot, both from 2004. The seriesBlood Ties premiered onLifetime Television in 2007, featuring a character portrayed as Henry Fitzroy, an illegitimate-son-of-Henry-VIII-of-England-turned-vampire, in modern-dayToronto, with a female former Toronto detective in the starring role. A 2008 series from HBO, entitledTrue Blood, gives aSouthern Gothic take on the vampire theme, while taking on the discussion on what the actual existence of vampires would mean to for instanceequality before the law and religious beliefs.[180] In 2008Being Human premiered in Britain and featured a vampire that shared a flat with a werewolf and a ghost.[187][188] The continuing popularity of the vampire theme has been ascribed to a combination of two factors: the representation ofsexuality and the perennial dread of mortality.[189]
Vampire lifestyle is a term for a contemporary subculture of people, largely within theGoth subculture, who consume the blood of others as a pastime; drawing from the rich recent history of popular culture related to cult symbolism,horror films, the fiction ofAnne Rice, and the styles of Victorian England.[192] Active vampirism within the vampire subculture includes both blood-related vampirism, commonly referred to assanguine vampirism, andpsychic vampirism, or supposed feeding frompranic energy.[193][194]
^Calmet conducted extensive research and amassed judicial reports of vampiric incidents and extensively researched theological and mythological accounts as well, using the scientific method in his analysis to come up with methods for determining the validity for cases of this nature. As he stated in his treatise:[104]
They see, it is said, men who have been dead for several months, come back to earth, talk, walk, infest villages, ill use both men and beasts, suck the blood of their near relations, make them ill, and finally cause their death; so that people can only save themselves from their dangerous visits and their hauntings by exhuming them, impaling them, cutting off their heads, tearing out the heart, or burning them. These revenants are called by the name of oupires or vampires, that is to say,leeches; and such particulars are related of them, so singular, so detailed, and invested with such probable circumstances and such judicial information, that one can hardly refuse to credit the belief which is held in those countries, that these revenants come out of their tombs and produce those effects which are proclaimed of them.
These vampires were corpses, who went out of their graves at night to suck the blood of the living, either at their throats or stomachs, after which they returned to their cemeteries. The persons so sucked waned, grew pale, and fell intoconsumption; while the sucking corpses grew fat, got rosy, and enjoyed an excellent appetite. It was in Poland, Hungary,Silesia,Moravia, Austria, andLorraine, that the dead made this good cheer.
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^abYaltırık, Mehmet Berk; Sarpkaya, Seçkin (2018).Turkish: Türk Kültüründe Vampirler, English translation: Vampires in Turkic Culture (in Turkish). Karakum Yayınevi. pp. 43–49.
^ab(in Bulgarian)Mladenov, Stefan (1941). Etimologičeski i pravopisen rečnik na bǎlgarskiya knižoven ezik.
^Mutch, Deborah, ed. (2013).The Modern Vampire and Human Identity. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 3.ISBN978-1-349-35069-8.
^Vermeir, Keir (January 2012). "Vampires as Creatures of the Imagination: Theories of Body, Soul, and Imagination in Early Modern Vampire Tracts (1659–1755)". In Haskell, Y (ed.).Diseases of the Imagination and Imaginary Disease in the Early Modern Period. Tunhout, Belgium:Brepols Publishers.ISBN978-2-503-52796-3.
^Dauzat, Albert (1938).Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française (in French). Paris, France: Librairie Larousse.OCLC904687.
^Silver, Alain; Ursini, James (1997).The Vampire Film: From Nosferatu to Interview with the Vampire. New York City:Limelight Editions. pp. 22–23.ISBN978-0-87910-395-8.
^abcReader's Digest Association (1988). "Vampires Galore!".The Reader's Digest Book of strange stories, amazing facts: stories that are bizarre, unusual, odd, astonishing, incredible ... but true. New York City:Reader's Digest. pp. 432–433.ISBN978-0-949819-89-5.
^Albanologjike, Gjurmime (1985).Folklor dhe etnologji (in Albanian). Vol. 15. pp. 58–148.Archived from the original on 19 May 2016. Retrieved12 January 2016.
^abBurkhardt, Dagmar (1966). "Vampirglaube und Vampirsage auf dem Balkan".Beiträge zur Südosteuropa-Forschung: Anlässlich des I. Internationalen Balkanologenkongresses in Sofia 26. VIII.-1. IX. 1966 (in German). Munich: Rudolf Trofenik. p. 221.OCLC1475919.
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^Klapper, Joseph (1909). "Die schlesischen Geschichten von den schädingenden Toten".Mitteilungen der Schlesischen Gesellschaft für Volkskunde (in German).11:58–93.
^Calmet, Augustin (30 December 2015).Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants: of Hungary, Moravia, et al. The Complete Volumes I & II. 2016. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 7.ISBN978-1-5331-4568-0.
^Theresa Cheung (2013).The Element Encyclopedia of Vampires. HarperCollins UK. p. 35.ISBN978-0-00-752473-0.
^Löwenstimm, A. (1897).Aberglaube und Stafrecht (in German). Berlin. p. 99.
^Bachtold-Staubli, H. (1934–1935).Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens (in German). Berlin.
^Filipovic, Milenko (1962). "Die Leichenverbrennung bei den Südslaven".Wiener Völkerkundliche Mitteilungen (in German).10:61–71.
^Reported by Ariel David, "Italy dig unearths female 'vampire' in Venice", 13 March 2009,Associated Press viaYahoo! News,archived; also by Reuters, published under the headline "Researchers find remains that support medieval 'vampire'" inThe Australian, 13 March 2009,archived with photo (scroll down).
^abHurwitz, Siegmund (1992) [1980].Lilith, the First Eve: Historical and Psychological Aspects of the Dark Feminine. Gela Jacobson (trans.). Einsiedeln, Switzerland: Daimon Verlag. pp. 39–51.ISBN978-3-85630-522-2.
^Oliphant, Samuel Grant (1913). "The Story of the Strix: Ancient".Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association.44:133–49.doi:10.2307/282549.ISSN0065-9711.JSTOR282549.
^abRegina Hansen (3 May 2011).Roman Catholicism in Fantastic Film: Essays on Belief, Spectacle, Ritual and Imagery.McFarland & Company.ISBN978-0786464746.After the arrival of Christianity in Greece, however, the vampire began to take on decidedly Christian characteristics. The vampire was now no longer a demon from a supernatural realm but a reanimated corpse, a dead person who retained a semblance of life and could leave its grave-much in the same way that Jesus had arisen after His death and burial and appeared before His followers. The transformation of vampire myths to include Christian elements happened throughout Europe; as various regions converted to Christianity, their vampires also became "Christianized" (Beresford 42, 44–51).
^S. T. Joshi= (4 November 2010).Encyclopædia of the Vampire: The Living Dead in Myth, Legend, and Popular Culture.ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-0313378331.The church had by this time co-opted vampires from their previous folk existence and reinterpreted them as minions of the Christian devil, so it was an easy enough analogy to draw: Just as a vampire takes a sinner's very spirit into itself by drinking his blood, so also can a righteous Christian by drinking Christ's blood take the divine spirit into himself.
^Regina Hansen (3 May 2011).Roman Catholicism in Fantastic Film: Essays on Belief, Spectacle, Ritual and Imagery.McFarland & Company.ISBN978-0786464746.Perhaps the strongest link between vampires and Christianity is the importance of blood in the Christian, especially the Roman Catholic, tradition. Just as the vampire must consume blood in order to continue its unnaturally eternal life, so Christians must consume the blood of Jesus to be granted salvation and life after death.
^Mariah Larsson, Ann Steiner (1 December 2011).Interdisciplinary Approaches to Twilight: Studies in Fiction, Media and a Contemporary Cultural Experience. Nordic Academic Press.ISBN978-9185509638.The fear of vampirism embodied in these early conceptions was used by the Church in order to impose its fundamental values on soviety. The Church therefore changed some of the typical vampire traits and gave them more religious connotations that are still very much in evidence in the vampire genre today. For example, the destruction of the vampire became a religious rite; crucifixes and holy water bestowed protection; and drinking the blood of a sinner strengthened the power of the Devil, while taking Communion afforded the communicant protection. Besides their roots in folklore and the influence of Christianity, vampire traits were shaped in the development of vampire literature.
^Gregory Stevenson (2003).Televised Morality: The Case of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.University Press of America.ISBN0761828338.If so, then the ability of the cross to hurt and ward off vampires is distinctly due to its Christian association.
^James Craig Holte (1997).Dracula in the Dark: The Dracula Film Adaptations.Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN0313292159.Christian belief played an important part in the development of vampire lore. According to Montague Summers, who describes the Christian position in detail inThe Vampire: His Kith and Kin, Christianity accepts the existence of vampires and sees the power of the devil behind their creation. Since vampires are servants of Satan, the Church has power over them. Thus vampires flee from and can be destroyed by the crucifix, relics of saints, the sign of the cross, holy water, and above all, a consecrated host.
^Jakobsson, Ármann (2009). "The Fearless Vampire Killers: A Note about the IcelandicDraugr and Demonic Contamination inGrettis Saga".Folklore (120): 309.
^Epstein, Saul; Robinson, Sara Libby (2012). "The Soul, Evil Spirits, and the Undead: Vampires, Death, and Burial in Jewish Folklore and Law".Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural.1 (2):232–51.doi:10.5325/preternature.1.2.0232.ISSN2161-2188.
^Melton, J. Gordon (2010).The Vampire Book: The encyclopedia of the Undead. Visible Ink Press. pp. 9–10.ISBN978-1-57859-350-7.
^Lecouteux, Claude (1993).Historie des vampires: Autopsie d'un mythe. Paris: Imago. pp. 9–10.ISBN978-2-911416-29-3.
^Endsjø, Dag Øistein (2023).Flesh and Bones Forever: A History of Immortality. Hannacroix: Apocryphile Press. pp. 178–179.ISBN978-1-958061-36-7.
^Felix J. Oinas 1978. "Heretics as vampires and demons in Russia" in The Slavic and East European Journal 22:4 (1978):433
^Lambertini, P. (1749). "XXXI".De servorum Dei beatificatione et sanctorum canonizatione. Vol. Pars prima. pp. 323–24.
^de Ceglia F.P. (2011). "The Archbishop's Vampires. Giuseppe Davanzati's Dissertation and the Reaction of Scientific Italian Catholicism to the Moravian Events".Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences.61 (166/167):487–510.doi:10.1484/J.ARIHS.5.101493.
^Jøn, A. Asbjørn (2003)."Vampire Evolution".METAphor (3): 20.Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved20 November 2015.
^J. Gordon Melton (1994). "Vampire".The Vampire Book. Visible Ink Press. p. 630.the vampire controversy of the 1730s [p.467] ... the eighteenth-century vampire controversy [p. 630]
^Christopher Frayling; Robert Wokler (1982). "From the orang-utan to the vampire: towards an anthropology of Rousseau". In R. A. Leigh (ed.).Rousseau after two hundred years (Proceedings of the Cambridge Bicentennial Colloqium). Bristol: Cambridge University Press. p. 122.For details of the sixteen formal treatises and dissertations that discussed the implications of the 1731–32 'epidemic' (most of them written by German doctors and theologians), see Tony Faivre,Les Vampires (Paris, 1962), pp. 154–9; Dieter Sturm and Klaus Völker,Von denen Vampiren oder Menschensaugern (München, 1973), pp. 519–23; and Frayling's introduction toThe Vampyre (London, 1978), pp. 31–4.
^Calmet, Augustin (1751).Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants: of Hungary, Moravia, et al. The Complete Volumes I & II. Translated by Rev Henry Christmas & Brett Warren. 2015. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. pp. 303–304.ISBN978-1-5331-4568-0.
^Atwater, Cheryl (2000). "Living in Death: The Evolution of Modern Vampirism".Anthropology of Consciousness.11 (1–2):70–77.doi:10.1525/ac.2000.11.1-2.70.
^Martinez Vilches, Oscar (1992).Chiloe Misterioso: Turismo, Mitologia Chilota, leyendas (in Spanish). Chile: Ediciones de la Voz de Chiloe. p. 179.OCLC33852127.
^abSledzik, Paul S.; Nicholas Bellantoni (1994). "Bioarcheological and biocultural evidence for the New England vampire folk belief".American Journal of Physical Anthropology.94 (2):269–274.doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330940210.PMID8085617.
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