Aliases: Brahmarakshasa

The brahmaparusha is an Indian male vampiric spirit. The Indians believed it was a demon who could possess the living and destroy them slowly from the inside. His appearance is described as terrifying. For example, he would wear animal and human intestines around his head like a crown and also wore them around his neck. He did this to show off his killings like trophies.

He first attacks the victim, then he would pour the blood from the victim into a skull that he would carry around, and drink from it like a cup. He would then eat the brains and sometimes eat the whole body. After he was finished he would take the intestines and wrap them around his entire body to perfrom a ritual around the dead body. The brahmaparusha doesn’t get full on one human, it takes many humans for him to be satisfied.

There is no known protection against this blood thirsty vampire. The brahmaparusha is closely related to the Indian spirit the bhuta.

Ursula Kemp, acused of Witchcraft, was hanged in 1582.
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Introduction

In 1582, Ursula Kemp was accused of witchcraft along with thirteen other females. This event took place in a quiet coastal area of Essex, England, known as St. Osyth. Ursula was a poor woman, and the first accused of being a witch. She claimed that she would “unwitch”, or break evil spells that were cast against people.

The Accusations

Her neighbor and friend, Grace Thurlow had a son named Davy who became very sick. She asked Kemp for her help, Kemp came over and put a spell on him. A few days went by and he became better, Thurlow believed that Kemp cured her son. Thurlow and Kemp got into an argument over the care of Thurlow’s baby girl Joan. When Joan was a few months old she fell from her cradle, broke her neck, and died. Thurlow was upset and sick then turned around and asked for Kemp’s help again. Kemp told her she would for 12 pence and when Thurlow felt better she refused to pay Kemp. She told Kemp she couldn’t afford it. Kemp was upset and got into an argument with Thurlow who then became ill agian. She then blamed Kemp for her and her son’s illness and even her own baby’s death.

Later Thurlow believed that Kemp had something to do with her intolerable pain and brought the incident to Judge Bryan Darcy. Darcy then took the investigation into his own hands and began interrogating those who knew Kemp. He questioned Thomas, her eight-year-old son, who told the judge about his mother having four familiars who would suck blood from his mother’s arm. He described the animals as a grey cat named Tyffin, a black cat named Jacke, a black toad named Pygine, and a white lamb named Tyttey. He also interviewed a man claiming that Kemp put a spell on his wife and died as a result.

Darcy confronted Kemp who denied everything, that is until the judge tricked her and told her if she confessed then he would be lenient on her. She confessed about her familiars and told on the other thirteen witches.

All of the women were charged with crimes of bewitching people to death, putting spells on animals, butter churning, and making people sick with spells. Not all of the women went on trial, four pleaded not guilty, four more were convicted and then let go. One was charged with having an evil eye and was sent to prison for one year. Two women were hanged, Kemp was one of the unlucky two, both were charged with murdering three people to death with spells between the years of 1580-1582.

Displaying Her Body

Way after her death, in the mid-1900′s, her body was dug up by Cecil Williamson, an occultist, and was put on display in a museum in an open coffin lined with dark purple satin. This whole event was televised. Williamson noticed Kemp’s body had a few iron spikes in the chest, which meant people feared that she would come back to haunt or vampirize them. Williamson sold the museum in 1996 to Graham King, who then moved it to Boscastle, Cornwall. Williamson kept the remains of Kemp for his collection until his death in 2000, then the remains went to King. Today, the witches are often referred to as the “St. Osyth Witches.”

Documentation of a Kappa, supposedly found during the 1800s in Japan.

Aliases: Kawataro (river boy), Kawako (river-child), Hyosube (variation of kappa, covered in hair)

Introduction

The kappa, from Japanese lore, is named after the famous river god, Kappa. The Japanese consider the Kappa one of many water gods, or suijin. The name Kappa itself means “river-child.” The Kappa is described a monkey figure who is about two to three feet tall, covered with green, yellow, or blue scales from head to toe, and equipped with a tortoise shell on his back. He has webbed feet and hands, a nose that resembles a beak, and sometimes he is depicted with pointed ears.

He has indentation on top of his skull-like head that looks like a bowl. It is filled with a weird clear jelly which is believed to be his source of power. He has short black hair that circles around the jelly-like indentation. They are expert swimmers and smell like fish. A variation of the Kappa is covered in hair and is called a Hyosube.

The Kappa is often found living in swampy areas or other bodies of water, such as ponds, lakes, and rivers. It is very vicious and enjoys taunting the living into deep water where they drown. Once the victim is trapped in the water and drowns, the Kappa will enter the human’s body through the anus where he drinks the blood and sucks on the entrails. It isn’t unusual if parts of the flesh are eaten as well. The Kappa also finds the liver irresistible. There is a known phenomena that when I a person dies a drowning death, their anus will often swell. The Japanese explained this as being caused the kappa.

The Kappa also loves pranks and is very mischievous. He will look up women’s kimonos, steal crops, steal children, and often passes gas quite loudly. Children are one of the kappa’s favorite meals, even though he will eat adults as well.

Scaring Away the Kappa

The Kappa can be scared away or confronted. The Kappa is afraid of fire and some villages will have a festival each year filled with fireworks to scare the spirits away. It can also be confronted by being polite. If someone comes face to face with the Kappa, one can bow and the Kappa will want to be polite back and bow in return. This will cause the Kappa to spill the jelly-like substance that is in his head. When the substance leaves his bowl, he cannot move and will stay in the bowed position until water from the river fills his head again. However, if a human refills the bowl, the Kappa will serve the human for the rest of its life.

The Kappa’s Missing Arm

In different folk tales about the kappa, it oftens tells the tale of a Kappa that loses an arm while attacking something. It then goes on a hunt for an arm and promises people different favors in exchange for an arm. It may promise not to attack local people anymore or teach people how to heal a sickness. They can also perform duties for humans such as farming, medicine, and bone setting, which is an ancient practice similar to chiropractic care or physical therapy.

The Kappa loves Cucumbers!

It is believed that the Kappa is interested with human civilization and can both speak and understand Japanese. They sometimes befriend humans and will exchange gifts such as cucumbers. They would rather eat cucumber than children. Many times if a family wanted to bathe in the waters which belonged to Kappas, they would write their names on cucumbers and throw them in the water to allow the family to bathe. There is even sushi filled with cucumber named Kappamaki, after the famous kappa.

Uses in Japanese Culture

There is an expression that the Japanese use today, they say “kappa no kawa nagare” which means “a kappa drowning in a river,” which refers to the idea that even a clever person can make a mistake.

Kappa, the Extraterrestrial

Kappa encounters have been recorded in South America along with UFO sightings. They are believed to be extraterrestrials. Eyewitnesses claim that they don’t take blood directly from humans, but can take energy, similar to the chupa-chupa attacks. People feel weak, anemic, and sometimes faint after the Kappa steals the energy from them.

Jack Frost, a popular frozen persona during wintertime.
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Jack Frost is believed to have come from Germanic folklore, and was very popular with the Anglo-Saxon and Norse during winter. The crystal patterns of frost found early in the morning on the windows were said to be from Jack Frost. He is described as being the persona of cold winter and is elfish. He is also a variant of Father Winter. In a Finnish epic he comes from his father, Blast.

The succubus rarely discloses her true form.
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The succubus is a demon, stemming from medieval legend, that takes the form of a woman in men’s dreams with the purpose of having sexual intercourse with them. They are often depicted as having demonic wings and hooves, and a purplish complexion or skin tone. They might also appear as red, like a devil or demon spirit. They survive by feeding off the man’s energy, and will feed for several nights until there is nothing left of him.

The succubus is thought to be an allegory to unclean thoughts. If you dream of lustful acts it may come back on you as a curse. Tales of succubuses help men from being overwhelmed with sexual thoughts, by identifying those thoughts and dreams with evil, and stopping them from reoccurring. In modern times succubi (plural) are a term for women who drain energy from their companions.

The Hantu Langsuir is said to be hideous with piercing red eyes.
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The Hantu Langsuir, from Malaysian lore, is one of the most feared and deadliest of all banshees of Malaysia. It was believed that woman who died giving birth to their child, who also dies, will become a Hantu Langsuir after 40 days. She is described as being hideous with red piercing eyes, sharp claws, very long hair, a decayed face, and huge fangs. She is able to fly and is most often seen wearing a green or white robe. The hantu langsuir could also shape-shift into an owl. She is also vengeful and furious and will go after newborns and pregnant women, drinking their blood, milk, and organs from the inside out causing a very slow death. It was believed that the hantu langsuir has a hole on the back of her neck used to suck blood. Filling the hole with her hair or cutting her claws will make her human again. To prevent women from turning into a hantu langsuir many glass beads must be placed in the woman’s mouth. The still-born children of the hantu langsuir are called Pontianak.

The Balbal, from Filipino lore.
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Other Aliases: Bal-Bal, Busaw, Segben, Wirwir

The Balbal is from Filipino lore and is a ghoul that steals bodies and eats those that are ready to die. Because of this, they are said to have very bad breath. Since it feeds on bodies it is considered a type of vampire and is equipped with very sharp teeth and claws to tear the dead apart. It is also a trickster, once it takes the body out of the coffin it then replaces the coffin with a banana tree trunk so that people think the body is still in the coffin. It is one of the most feared vampires in the Philippines.

The Hanh Saburo is known for controlling dogs.
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The hanh saburo is a vampire from Indian lore. It dwells in the forest and is able to control dogs or wolves which can lure travelers into the forest where they will be attacked by sounds. They were invisible but sometimes were seen as balls of light or orbs. They would often be in trees or deep in the woods surrounded by thick vegetation. They could be detected by a foul odor.

The Hantu Laut was a Malaysian spirit of the sea.
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The Hantu Laut is from Malaysian lore and when directly translated it means “sea spirits.” These spirits of the sea were considered cannibalistic and was known to attack men at sea, particularly as fisherman and sailors. They considered vampires, feasting on the blood and life of the living.

When Malaysian fisherman would enter parts of the water where the hantu laut was believed to inhabit, they would proceed with caution and avoid making noise. They had great respect for the spirits and would not fish fearing their wrath. If they did, it would cause the spirits to be upset and cause accidents and disasters.

Astral Vampires take the form of a spirit to attack their victims.
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The astral vampire, from occult lore, is the spirit of a living vampire or other evil entity. They can also be created by witches or sorcerers who are strong enough to project themselves out of their own bodies to attack people at great distances. The attack is said to be created psychically and they may also be referred to as “psychic vampires”, not to be confused with its other meaning. (a person who believes they can feed off others energies psychically.)

The spirit of a restless dead person may also be able to project itself by exiting its body and feed on living people. When a living person is attacked while sleeping, it feeds off of the psychic energy and can cause depression, madness, and suicide to the victim. When the spirit of the vampire returns, the dead body feeds off of it, this theory is known as the “hemolytic factor.” The vampire sucks up the red corpuscles released in the victim’s blood. These are later brought back to the grave and given to the corpse for food or energy. To protect against one of these vampires only magic will help, using a stake in the heart will not stop it.