Vampire Lore
For centuries, cultures all over the world have been sharing their beliefs and tales of immortal beings who feed on the blood of the living. These tales have paved the way for the modern notion of the vampire. In ancient cultures, the term vampire was not used to describe these entities. They were often regarded as evil spirits or demons that drink the blood of the living.The earliest beliefs were established in the Middle East, or what was then Babylonia, Persia and the rest of Mesopotamia. Over time, Greek and Roman mythology chronicled their beliefs in similar demons.
European Vampire Folklore
It wasn't until the twelfth century when the myth of the vampire first developed in Europe. The European account of the vampire began with the historians Walter Map and William Newburgh who documented the legends. During the late seventeenth and most of eighteenth centuries, the tales and legends of the vampire we are most familiar with today began to develop in Eastern Europe. The earliest account came in 1672 from a town called Istria in what is today known as Croatia.The records describe a vampire called Giure Grando who raised tension and panic among the townspeople. The reports say that Giure, a local peasant, came back from the dead and began drinking the blood of the villagers. They also say that he sexually harassed his widow. Consequently, the head villager gave order to drive a stake through the vampire's heart, which did not kill him. The ultimate choice was to behead the undead being.
By the eighteenth century, people began to notice a number of vampire sites in Eastern Europe. People went around hunting down vampires and staking them. This was the period where vampire lore and legend reached new height. There was panic all throughout Europe, especially because of reports of alleged vampire attacks in Prussia. The two famous cases were from Serbia and involved Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paole. These cases were documented by government officials. The mass hysteria lasted the entire century and was known as the "Eighteenth Century Vampire Controversy."
Undoubtedly, many regions and their cultures established superstitions and claimed evidence of vampire attacks. People would dig up bodies from graves and stake them. Around this time, scholars began criticizing these beliefs and stating that vampires did not exist. According to these scholars, people were experiencing attacks from people infected with rabies or even premature burial.
The hysteria was uncontrollable thanks to famous scholars, theologians and philosophers who supported the claim that vampires existed. Among these individuals was Voltaire. The first person to put an end to the controversy was Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. As a result of an investigation conducted by her personal physician, the Empress stated that vampires did not exist. Subsequently, she passed laws that prohibited the digging of graves and destruction of the bodies.
Despite the Austrian effort to end the controversy, the spirit and legend of the vampire lived on. Till today, writers and filmmakers continue to keep the spirit alive through cultural production. Although the origin of the belief of the Vampire is primarily from Eastern Europe, there have been non-European beliefs as well.
Non-European Vampire Folklore
The belief in vampires originated during ancient times, including in India. Here, people told stories of vetalas from Sanskrit folklore. Vetalas are said to be ghoul-like beings that dwell in corpses. They are undead beings that hang upside from trees in cemeteries or cremation sites. Because of the belief in reincarnation, ancient Indian folklore also describes the Pishacha, who are reincarnated spirits of evil people or the insane and have similar characteristics to vampires.Additionally, various parts of Africa believe in vampire-like demons. The Ashanti people have shared their stories of the asanbosam, who dwell in trees and have teeth of iron. The adze, which are from the Ewe culture, are said to transform into fireflies and hunt children. The impundulu of South Africa transform into a taloned bird and bring thunder and lightning. Finally, there is the ramanga from Madagascar, which is a living creature that drinks blood.
Vampire folklore has roots in the Americas as well. The Aztec have many tales of spirits called Cihuateteo who emerge from those who died while giving birth. These spirits are said to take children and sexually harass the living. Additionally, the Chileans have a bloodsucking snake called the Peuchen while female vampire-like creatures are common in Trinidad, and Colombia.
All of these beliefs and tales allude to characteristics of vampires. However, much of South American vampire folklore has been influenced by European beliefs as well as African Vodu (voodoo). One example is the tale of the Loogaroo, meaning werewolf in French, which spread in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was around this time that Europe was faced with the Vampire controversy. The tales of the Loogaroo spread through parts of New England as well as the Caribbean.
The United States has had its share of vampire beliefs, which stemmed from families who would remove the heart of a loved one after they passed away. They believed their dead family members could turn into vampires who bring sickness and death to the family. Moreover, the tuberculosis epidemic inspired many stories of infected people coming back from the dead at night.
Finally, Southeast Asia also has a newfound belief in vampires that has been influenced by European modern beliefs. Indonesians, Malaysians and Filipinos believe in female vampires who can detach certain parts of their bodies. The most popular Philippine vampire-like creature is the mandurugo, which means blood-sucker. The mandurugo is a young woman who transforms at night into a winged creature with a long and hollow tongue that sucks the blood of her victim.
The Chinese have a similar figure called Jiang Shi, which is a corpse with mold-colored furry skin. The Jiang Shi comes alive when the soul of a dead person does not leave the body. These demons hop around and kill their victims in order to take in their essence of life.