Vampire Myths
Vampire myths go back thousands of years and occur in almost every culture around the world. Their variety is almost endless; from red eyed monsters with green or pink hair in China to the Greek Lamia which has the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a winged serpent; from vampire foxes in Japan to a head with trailing entrails known as the Penanggalang in Malaysia.
However, the vampires we are familiar with today, although mutated by fiction and film, are largely based on Eastern European myths. The vampire myths of Europe originated in the far East, and were transported from places like China, Tibet and India with the trade caravans along the silk route to the Mediterranean. Here they spread out along the Black Sea coast to Greece, the Balkans and of course the Carpathian mountains, including Hungary and Transylvania. Even among the Eastern European countries there is a large variety of vampires.
Below is a definitive list of these myths, categorised alphabetically by country…
• AFRICA : Adze, Asasabonsam, Impundulu, Obayifo
• ARMENIA : Dakhanavar (‘also called Dashnavar’)
• ALBANIA : Lugat
• AUSTRALIA : Yara-Ma-Yha-Who
• BABYLON (ANCIENT) : Ekymmu, Lilitu (also called ‘Lilith’) , Utukku
• BULGARIA : Ubour, Ustrel
• CHINA : Chiang-shih (also called ‘Kiang-shi’)
• FRANCE : Incubus, Succubus
• GERMANY : Alp, Doppelsauger, Nachtzehrer (also called ‘neuntoter’ or ‘nachttoter’)
• GREECE : Callicantzaros, Empusas (also called ‘Mormolykiai’), Lamiai, Vrykolakas
• HAITI : Loogaroo
• HUNGARY : Liderc, Nora
• INDIA : Bhuta, Brahmaparush, Churel, Gayal, Kali, Masani, Pisacha, Rakshasa
• IRELAND : Dearg-dul
• ITALY : Stregoni benefici
• ISRAEL : Estrie
• JAPAN : Kappa, Kasha
• JAVA : Pontianak
• MADAGASKAR : Ramanga
• MALAYSIA : Bajang, Langsuir, Pelesit, Penanggalan, Polong
• MEXICO: Cihuateteo, Tlaheulpuchi
• MOLDAVYA : Zmeu
• PHILIPINES : Aswang, Bebarlangs, Danag
• POLAND : Vjeski, Upier
• PORTUGAL : Bruxsa
• ROMANIA : Moroii, Nosferatu, Strigoii vii, Strigoii mort, Varacolaci
• ROME (ANCIENT) : Striges
• RUSSIA : Eretica, Upyr, Vourdalak, Vieszcy
• SAUDI ARABIA : Algul
• SCANDINAVIA : Mara
• SCOTLAND : Baobhan-sith
• SLOVAKIA : Nelapsi
• SLOVENIA : Pijavica, Volkodlak
• SOUTH AMERICA : Asema, Jaracacas, Lobishomen
• SOUTH PACYFYC : Talamaur
• THAILAND : Phi Song Nang
• TIBET : The Wrathful Deities