Vampires
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Sukuyan
The Sukuyan is a vampiric form of witch from Trinidad and Tobago. They remove their skin to fly around at night in the form of a ball of light. They can also take the form of jungle cats, big dogs, and predatory night birds. They prey on sleeping humans but must return to skin before dawn, or perish. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us. United States, Kensington Publishing Corporation, 2006.
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Plakavac
The Plakavac is a vampiric creature from Slavic myth, specifically in the area of Herzegovina. They’re created when children are strangled to death by their mothers, sometimes due to being illegitimate children, or sometimes just children who died unbaptized. If the Plakavac is formed from an unbaptized child, their village suffers a hailstorm that devastates crops. They take a form roughly the size of a frog and spend their time cursing the mother who killed them after bringing them life. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2016.
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Blutsaugr
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Moroaica/Moroi/Moroii
The Moroaica are Romanian creatures referred to as Living Vampires. They’re hard to detect and hard to stop. It was thought that children could sometimes be born as this creature and identified because they would have a caul or a tail. It was believed more common for females to be born this way than males. Some become this creature after death if they lived a life of regrets, or were born on a Sunday. They have red hair, blue eyes, and red patches of skin on their faces. Males are thought to become bald at a very young age. They are described as fully human but can still drain the…
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Loogaroo
The Loogaroo is a mythical creature from Haiti. They appear as hags and remove their skin to take the form of glowing sulfurous fireballs to hunt during the night. They’re thought to remove their skin under a “devil tree” and hang that skin in the branches. They seek out houses with open windows and sneak in. These monsters are created when a witch makes a deal with the devil where in exchange for power, they bring the devil human flesh every night. Attacks are nearly always deadly but can be stopped by placing a large amount of small things, like rice or seeds, at windows or doors forcing them to…
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Zombie/Zombi
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Krasue/Phi Krasue
The Krasue are vampiric creatures from the myths of Thailand. They resemble human heads with entrails hanging down, but look completely human throughout the day. They’re often known to crawl on the ground rather than flying and may use their long tongues to pull themself along. They eats feces to get slight traces of life essence, and attacks sleeping humans to feed through the bowels. They cannot be killed, but can be warded off by charms made by a form of spiritual healers called Maw Du. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us. United States, Kensington Publishing…
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Dopplesaugr
The Dopplesaugr is an undead creature from Hanover, Germany. They’re formed when a child is allowed to breastfeed after already having been weaned off of it, this causes them to return from the grave as a Dopplesaugr. Because of this origin, their name translates to “double sucker” and they eat woman’s breasts. They attack family members to feed on the flesh of the breasts, blood, and breast milk when available. However, they may feed on anyone if they become desperate enough. They may feed on their own breasts to get the energy to rise and can be preemptively dealt with by using thick wooden blocks to keep the jaw from…
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Cihuateteo/Civatateo
The Cihuateteo are a form of vampiric creature from Aztec myth. They were thought to be women who died during childbirth, and their unborn children would become a different vampiric creature. They often dressed in imitation of the goddess Tlazolteotl and may appear as a normal mother and child. The two creatures target children to infect them with an illness that causes them to waste away, while other times they feed on blood, or the misery they cause. These creatures were thoght to be repelled by ancient Aztec holy relics. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us.…
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Caballi/Cabales
The Caballi is a vampiric creature existing on the astral plane. They are created when a man dies before his time and retains his intelligence in the astral plane. They prey on humans going through the astral plane, and mediums. They desire interaction with the physical world and possess mediums to do so temporarily. They are similar to the Incubus or Succubus and latch onto humans for sexual activity. The Caballi will persist until it reaches the day it was supposed to die naturally. Citations: Bane, Theresa. Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology. United States, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, 2017.
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Blutsaugr
The Blutsaugr is a vampiric form of undead from the mythology of Austria, Germany, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The name translates to “blood sucker” and they have pale skin, rotten flesh, and emaciated frames. They are mostly mindless, only smart enough to avoid capture or death. In Bosnia specifically, the Blutsaugr is thought to have no skeleton and is covered in stiff dark hair. This version can turn someone else into a Blutsaugr by tricking someone into eating a bit of dirt from its grave, and can also turn into a rat, wolf, or hunting dog. Eating the meat of an animal killed by a wolf can turn someone into a Blutsaugr…
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Krampus
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Rusalka/Rusalki
The Rusalka is a form of Slavic myths of Russia. They’re amphibious creatures thought to be the tortured souls of unbaptized children, babies downed by unmarried mothers, drowned virgins, and those who committed suicide out of heartbreak. They live at the bottom of lakes and can come to the surface and turn into humans by taking human clothes. They have legs on land, but only a fishtail in water. Some stories say the Rusalka lure in human men to bring them to an underwater palace but the men usually drown. Some stories have the Rusalka carry off men to a magical location to seduce and keep young forever with magic,…
