Vampires
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Vetala
The Vetala is a vampiric undead creature from the myths of India. They are created when children die and don’t receive proper burial rites and go on to possess corpses. Corpses possessed by Vetala have skin discolored green, white, or light brown. The feet and hands of the corpse twist backward, and the nails grow long and carry poison. The face twists in a manner resembling a fruit bat, and the eyes become slit. The body the Vetala possesses uses dark magic to avoid decay by consuming human blood. They primarily feed on intestines and fecal matter. They target crazed women and children, partially due to them not being believed.…
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Trazgos/Trasgos
The Trazgos are mythical creatures from Spain. They’re four feet tall, and have human legs with bird toes, short arms, and rough, red, human-like skin. They’re known to set traps in the woods like snares and deadfall traps. They use these to capture travelers, spit venom in their eyes, and kill them by slashing and biting, consuming flesh and blood. They can be killed by an ax or sword that has been soaked in sweet oil and mashed garlic for three days. If not killed in a single blow, they turn into will-o-wisps that escape to heal. Dead Trazgos must be rubbed with garlic paste, wrapped in shroud cloth, and…
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Kephn
The Kephn is a form of vampiric witch from the Karen people of Burma. They resemble severed human heads with their stomach hanging underneath but normally look like regular people. They’re believed to be people who made a deal with evil spirits for power. They hunt at night and are thought to feed on human souls. They sit in a chair and enter a trance to transform themselves into their monstrous form by tearing their head and stomach free. They can be killed if their body is burned when their heads are out flying and they can easily be killed in human form. A trained fighter known as a Ghurkha,…
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Hai-Uri
The Hai-Uri are mythical creatures from the Khoikhoi people of Southwest Africa. Half of their bodies are visible in our world, while the other half is only visible in the spirit world. This causes them to appear as people split in half vertically. It’s believed they can run as fast as a gazelle and leap over large bushes and trees. They hunt down people and club them with their fists or jump on them until they die. They’re thought to consume the flesh, bones, and blood of their victims. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World of Supernatural Beings That Haunt Us, Hunt Us, and Hunger for Us. United…
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Chordewa
The Chordewa is a form of vampiric witch from Bengal. They lie down and use astral projection to enter a cat’s body. They act kind to people in nearby villages to gain their trust. They can lick people in the form of a cat to drain victims of life force and absorb it. The Chordewa becomes stronger as their victims wither and die. Chordewa can be identified in cat form if their meow sounds like a child crying out in distress, which they use to lure in potential victims. Any injuries they receive in cat form will reflect on the true body. Citations: Maberry, Jonathan. Vampire Universe: The Dark World…
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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…
