This week: Beware the bloodsuckers! Edited by: Arakun the Twisted Raccoon  
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Quote for the week: "It is a mistake to fancy that horror is associated inextricably with darkness, silence, and solitude."
~H. P. Lovecraft |
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Tales of bloodsucking creatures exist in folklore from almost every region of the world, and some go back thousands of years. Many ancient cultures had stories of demons or spirits that were said to suck the blood or life essence from their victims.
Each culture had its own name for the bloodsucking entity. The word vampire did not appear in English until the 1700s in news reports about supposed vampire attacks in eastern Europe. In eastern European folklore, a vampire was a reanimated corpse that was said to leave the grave at night to suck the blood of the living. There is some disagreement about the origin of the word. It may have evolved from "uber" which was a Turkish word for witch or may have come from similar words in the Slavic languages.
In many European legends, a vampire was a dark, red or purplish creature that was bloated from consuming blood. The pale, emaciated vampire that is often seen in horror stories and movies was first seen in stories written in the early 19th Century.
The novel, "Dracula," written by Bram Stoker in 1897 is the vampire story most people are familiar with. Modern vampire fiction actually began with a short story, "The Vampyre" written in 1819 by John Polidori. This story was written as part of the same contest between friends for which Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein."
Eastern European vampire legends may all be based on the strigoi, a creature from Romanian mythology. The strigoi were said to be people who died a violent death or died before their time. Unable to rest in the afterlife, they rise from their graves and terrorize the living. Other ways of becoming a strigoi include having a cat jump over your corpse, being born with hair, or being the seventh born child of your parents.
The chupacabra, or "goat sucker," is another well known bloodsucking creature from folklore of the southwestern US and Latin America. The name comes from the belief that the creature sucks the blood of goats and other livestock. There are differing accounts of the creature's appearance. Some legends say it resembles a large dog or wolf, while others describe it as scaly like a reptile.
Count Dracula and his kin seem relatively tame compared to many legendary bloodsucking creatures from different areas of the world. The impundulu or "lightning bird" of South African legends is a witch's familiar with an insatiable thirst for blood. The witch must send it to suck the blood from others or it will feast on her own blood. In legends from the Phillipines, the kinnari are beautiful women who are very devoted and sweet to the men that they love. However, if a man breaks her heart, the kinnari becomes a mandurugo, a vengeful spirit that sucks the disloyal man's blood at night with her tongue. The soycouyant of the Caribbean is a fire demon that appears as an old woman during the day. At night, she strips off her skin and becomes a flying ball of fire. She enters a house through a crack or keyhole and sucks the blood of everyone inside.
Lesser known bloodsucker legends can make great subjects of horror stories, because most readers will be less familiar with them than European vampires such as Dracula. An interesting story might result of two or more of these creatures meet.
Something to try: Write a horror story based on one of the lesser known blood sucking creatures. |
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Horror/Scary: September 14, 2022 Issue [#11556]
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