Vampires

The modern day term, Vampire usually refers to mythological or folkloric beings that

subsist on the life force of a human being and/or animal. In most cases, vampires are
represented as reanimated corpses who feed by draining and consuming the blood of living
beings. The word “vampire” is mentioned in Babylonian demonology, and the even more
ancient bloodsucking Akhkharu is mentioned in Sumerian mythology. Bram
Stoker's Dracula arguably presents the definitive version of the vampire in popular fiction.

Ways purported to kill vampires range from putting sawdust in or around their coffins to
carrying fresh rose bush sprigs. The most popular and well-known means of killing a
vampire is driving a silver stake through its heart and presenting it with holy items, such
as rosaries, crosses, and holy water.

Linked to the restless souls of the dead, the vampire may indeed represent the spirits of
those who died unsatisfied with their time on earth and continue to seek fulfillment of their
desires by sucking the blood of those who still have life. Without understanding the reality
of the spiritual world, the appearance of such beings could well be interpreted in the
context of real creatures, such as bats. However, the vampire is never satisfied in this way,
but only torments those on earth until its "death," and the spirit can finally find its way to
an afterlife existence.

Etymology
The English term was derived (possibly via French vampyre) from the German Vampir, in turn derived
in the early 18th century from the Serbian vampire. The Serbian form has parallels in virtually all Slavic
languages. 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). The exact etymology is
unclear. 

In zoology and botany, the term "vampirism" is used in reference to leeches, mosquitos,

mistletoe, vampire bats, and other organisms that subsist on the bodily fluids of others.

The "hopping corpse" may be considered the Chinese equivalent of the vampire. However, this
creature fed on a person's qi, or life force, which in China was understood as separate from the
blood. In other respects it keeps within the tradition of vampiric behavior. 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.

Description and common attributes

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. Blood 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. 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 fangswere not a
feature. Although vampires were generally described as undead, some folktales spoke of them as living
beings.

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. Generally a black horse was required, though in Albania it should be white.
Holes appearing in the earth over a grave were taken as a sign of vampirism.

Corpses thought to be vampires were generally described as having a healthier appearance than
expected, plump and showing little or no signs of decomposition. In some cases, when suspected graves
were opened, villagers even described the corpse as having fresh blood from a victim all over its
face. 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 minor poltergeist-like
activity, such as hurling stones on roofs or moving household objects, and pressing on people in their
sleep.

Methods of destruction
Methods of destroying suspected vampires varied, with staking the most commonly cited method,
particularly in southern Slavic cultures.  Ash was the preferred wood in Russia and the Baltic states,
or hawthorn in Serbia, with a record of oak in Silesia. Aspen was also used for stakes, as it was believed
that Christ's cross was made from aspen (aspen branches on the graves of purported vampires were
also believed to prevent their risings at night). Potential vampires were most often staked through the
heart, though the mouth was targeted in Russia and northern Germany and the stomach in north-
eastern Serbia.

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 near Venice, 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. In Bulgaria, over 100 skeletons with metal objects, such
as plough bits, embedded in the torso have been discovered.

Further measures included pouring boiling water over the grave or complete incineration of the body. In
the Balkans, a vampire could also be killed by being shot or drowned, by repeating the funeral service,
by sprinkling holy water on the body, or by exorcism. In Romania, garlic could be placed in the mouth,
and as recently as the 19th century, the precaution of shooting a bullet through the coffin was taken. For
resistant cases, the body was dismembered and the pieces burned, mixed with water, and administered
to family members as a cure. In Saxon regions of Germany, a lemon was placed in the mouth of
suspected vampires.

Ancient beliefs
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. The term vampire did not exist in ancient times. Blood
drinking and similar activities were attributed to demons or spirits who would eat flesh and drink
blood; even the devil was considered synonymous with the vampire.

Slavic vampires
In Slavic lore, causes of vampirism include being born with a caul (the remnants of the
amniotic sac seen as a shimmery coating of the head and face immediately after birth),
teeth, or tail, being conceived on certain days, "unnatural" death, excommunication, and
improper burial rituals. Many Serbians believed that having red hair was a vampiric trait.

The most famous Serbian vampire was Sava Savanovic, from a folklore-inspired novel by Milovan
Glišić .

Sava Savanović
Sava Savanović  is one of the most famous vampires in Serbian folklore. Sava Savanović was
said to have lived in an old watermill on the Rogačica river, at Zarožje village in the
municipality of Bajina Bašta. It was said that he killed and drank the blood of the millers
when they came to mill their grains. Although he is usually said to have been the first
Serbian vampire, there are claims that he was pre-dated in Serbian folklore by Petar
Blagojević from Veliko Gradište, who died in 1724. Blagojević and the affair surrounding
him came to European attention at the time, under the name Peter Plogojowitz, and
represented one of the earliest examples of vampire hysteria.

For the last several decades the watermill associated with Savanović has been owned by
the Jagodić family, and is usually called Jagodića vodenica (Jagodići watermill). It was in
operation until the late 1950s. After its closure, it became a tourist site along with other
attractions in Valjevoand nearby villages.

In 2012, the mill collapsed. The municipal authorities issued a tongue-in- cheek public
health warning, advising people that Savanović was now free to look for a new home.

Modern belief in vampires

Beliefs in vampires persist to this day. While some cultures preserve their original
traditions about the immortal, most modern-day believers are more influenced by the
fictional image of the vampire as it occurs in films and literature.

In the 1970s, there were rumors (spread by the local press) that a vampire haunted
Highgate Cemetery in London. Amateur vampire 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 have exorcised and destroyed an entire nest of vampires in the area.

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 a kind of vampire. The "chupacabra hysteria" was frequently associated
with deep economic and political crises, particularly during the mid-1990s.

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.

In Romania during February of 2004, several relatives of the late 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.

In January 2005, rumors began to circulate 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. This case appears to be an urban
legend.