The Eretik can be killed by an Aspen stake.
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The Eretik is form Russian lore and is a cannibalistic vampire. The term eretnik took the place of the word upir, which was a very old Russian term for vampire. It is described as a dead person that comes out of the grave to prey on living individuals. It was believed that sorcerers or non-christians would come back as an eretik. When this particular body is dug up it is most often lying on its stomach. The vampire can be stopped by burning the body into ashes or stabbing an aspen stake through its back.

James Brown was a sailor convicted of murder.
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James Brown was the name of a Portuguese sailor who set sail out of Boston with a crew of sailors in 1867. Two of the crew members went missing, the captain of the ship searched the boat and found James Brown sucking blood from one of the dead crew members. He found the second man laying lifeless on the boat with no blood. Brown was convicted of murder and was ordered to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson got involved and gave the man life in prison in Ohio. In 1892 he was transfered to the National Assylum in Washington, D.C.

The buckinghamshire vampire attacked his victims at night.
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Introduction

The Buckinghamshire Vampire case was about an English vampire told orally by William of Newburgh. He was related to Stephen, the archdeacon of Buckinghamshire. The man wasn’t considered a vampire at the time because that term didn’t come into the English language until the 18th century.

The Story

The story started with a man dying in 1192 in Buckinghamshire. The night after he was buried he made a ghostly visit to his sleeping wife. He climbed into bed with her and started to press all of his weight on her, a phenomenon known as Old Hag Syndrome. He almost killed her, and he continued to visit her every night. On the third night his wife invited people over so that he would not harm her. When the vampire came in, it was driven away when everyone shouted at him. Instead of attacking continuing his attack on her, he went to visit his brothers who lived in the same town. They made loud noises and were left alone, so instead he would disturb other sleeping people and even sleeping animals. People were forced to stay up and keep guard, but that didn’t stop him. He was then seen in daylight and was said to possess an evil presence.

Stopping the Vampire

The townspeople turned to the archdeacon Stephen for help. He then wrote a letter to the bishop of Lincoln, St. Hugh, and asked what to do about the spirit.
St. Hugh asked priests and others about the attacks, which they found similar stories in England. They found out that this would end if the corpse was dug up, the organs burned. He didn’t want to do this because it seemed wrong to do, so Hugh wrote an absolution, a document with written forgiveness. He told Stephen to open up the coffin and place this document on the man’s chest and rebury him. When Stephen opened up the tomb, the body was not decayed and the absolution was placed on the corpse’s chest and reburied. The vampire was never seen walking around again.

The Bruxsa often takes the form of a bird during the night.
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The Bruxsa is from Portuguese lore and is a female vampire witch. She is described as being a beautiful woman in the day and leaves in the form of a bird at night looking for lost travelers or babies. She is able to have marry and have children and will eat them. She will attack and suck the blood from infants sleeping in their cribs and is hard to kill. Unlike many other witches, her choice to be evil is hers, rather than the cause of an accident or a birth defect. The Bruxsa is said to be immortal and has immense sorcerous powers. She is able to cause miscarriages, storms, droughts and disease. Garlic is a good repellent for the Bruxsa, and she cannot be killed by mortal means.

The Brujas often take the form of a bat.
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The Brujas (Brujos for male) are vampiric witches from Mexico, Mesoamerica, and other Hispanic areas of North America. The Bruja are thought to be more prevalent than the male Brujo, and are also considered to be more powerful. They can take the form of a bat and enjoy sucking blood from helpless victims. They are known for having many remedies against physical illness, and can help with emotional, romantic, and social problems with the help of spells and charms. In rural areas, the witch is considered more evil than good and is often blamed for wounding vampire bats. They will try to enter houses through cracks or keyholes. One can protect their home by spilling a lot of rice or wheat by the door, the witch will be forced to stop and count all of the grains which will take until the sun comes up.

The Eretica, from Russian lore.
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The Eretica is from Russian lore and is closely related to the Eretik. They are described as appearing in the day time as an old ugly poor woman that possesses an evil eye. They are said to only appear during the spring and fall time. At night, they sleep in coffins or enter the village’s bathhouse by going down the chimney. They splash around in the water hoping to get the devil’s attention. Women become Ereticy when they sell their souls to the devil, when they die they become a vampire. They roam around as vampires shunning people away from Christianity. It is thought that one day a Eretica will give birth to the Antichrist. If one views the Eretica, death will soon follow. You can also die by looking an Eretica in their evil eye.

The Bhuta, often seen as a flickering light.
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Bhuta, from Indian lore, is a flesh-eating spirit or demon. The bhuta is considered a vampiric demon, they are said to be the restless souls of people who died from either suicide, execution, or violence. They haunt day and night usually in forests or abandoned houses and appear as a mist or flickering lights that hover above ground without casting shadows. They like to haunt people who do not perform the right funerary customs for the dead. The bhuta can be avoided by lying flat on the ground, since they are above ground and never rest. They are blamed for ruining crops, causing illness, disease, plagues, and insanity, just like the European vampire. They can enter human bodies causing sickness and/or death. They can be scared away by burning turmeric. The demon version of the Bhuta is very similiar, although they were never alive.

The bori leaves chicken tracks when it steps in ash.

Introduction

The bori is a mischievous vampiric spirit found in West African lore. It is often depicted as a human with hoofed feet or without a head, but can shape-shift into animals, most often as a python. They like to live in dark forests and they play jokes on the residents in West Africa by shape-shifting into family members or spouses. There are a few ways to tell if a family member is actually a Bori. They don’t act like themselves, they may have a dreamy look to them, or if they walk in ashes, their footprints will look like rooster claw prints.

Avoiding their Wrath

One can avoid an attack from a bori by keeping it happy with its favorite things. It will even enjoy helping people with domestic activities and healing. If one calls it by name it turns into a slave, however, if its name is used without meaning or in vain the bori will become offended and very angry. It will kill by sucking the life out of a person, and they become very sick and eventually die.

Hausan Beliefs

In Hausa, they believe all illnesses are caused by a specific bori and practice dance rituals to enter a trancelike state which enables them to each speak for a bori. In Australian lore, the bori is an invisible spirit who injects people with harmful diseases.Protection against the bori involves prayers, charms, and iron. Iron is the best defense, even saying the word iron will sometimes get rid of the spirit.

The mark of the vampire.
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Mercy Lea Brown, 1871-1892, was one of the most famous vampire cases in North America during the late 19th century. When news of vampire stories and cults from Europe reached America in the early 19th century, everyone in the New England thought they were being attacked by vampires. This happened especially in Connecticut and western Rhode Island where death rates were abnormally high from tuberculosis, smallpox, and measles. At the time, people weren’t sure what was causing the deaths and blaming vampires seemed like the most plausable answer. Hundreds of bodies were cut up and burned to stop these “vampire attacks.”

The Brown Family

The Mercy Brown case happened in Rhode Island and is one of the most famous cases. During a time period that spans several years, several memebers of the Brown family caught tuberculosis. First George Brown’s wife, Mary, died. Then their daughter Olive died. One son and four daughters remained, until the son, Edwin became very ill four years later. He and his wife left for Colorado where he was given treatment. Two years after that, Edwin’s sister Mercy became very sick with the disease and died on January 18, 1892, when she was only 19 years old. Edwin went to his father-in-law’s house where his sickness worsened.

The Curse

His neighbors all thought this was a curse from the vampires and the only way to save Edwin was to dig up the two daughters. If the heart appeared to be filled with blood, he was then told to burn the organs and feed the ashes to Edwin. Edwin didn’t really believe it would help, but thought he would give it a shot since his medical treatment seemed useless. He agreed to give the women up to try to at least save Edwin’s son.

Searching for Proof

Dr. Harold Metcalf was a medical doctor who did not believe in vampires. He dug up the bodies and found that Olive and the wife were decomposed, and there was no blood found in their hearts. When they dug up Mercy they found that she was in good condition and eyewitnesses swore that she was in a different position in her coffin. Brown instructed the Doctor to remove the girl’s heart and liver. People gathered around and were amazed to see blood dripping from the organs, although the doctor told them it was normal for this to happen on a 19-week old corpse. The organs were burned and the ashes fed to Edwin, though he died soon after.

The Legend Continues…

People over the years add to the story, saying that before Mercy died there were six or seven girls that all were born with the “mark of the vampire”, which was a bite mark on the neck. Mercy’s grave still attracts people from all over. Some claim that they see a glowing blue light by her grave, which is the sign of a traditional vampire’s grave. Others claim to hear a girl’s whisper that says, “Please help me, let me out.” Could it be her restless in her grave? OR is it just people’s imaginations.

The Dearg-Diulai, a vampire from Irish lore.
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Introduction

The Dearg-Diulai is a vampire from Irish lore. The name, when translated, means “red blood sucker.” This vampire takes the shape of a beautiful woman. She waits on travelers in unpopulated areas. It was believed that the spirit could not rest in peace until she finds a female to take her place. In Waterford, there is a specific Dearg-Diulai legend where a dearg-diulai would lure men by offering sex, then sucks their blood.

The Evil Man

The Dearg-Diulai doesn’t necessarily have to be a female, there is one legend of a male that comes from the county of Derry. A man named Abhartach was said to have performed many evil deeds on local residents. After hearing stories from several of these people, the village chieftan killed him and buried Abhartach standing up (which was how they buried people in Celtic tradition).

The Next Day

The next day his spirit rose up from the grave and drank blood from the people in the village. He was killed again by the chieftain and was reburied. He reappeared the following night and once again drank blood. The chieftain, receiving advice from a Druid, stabbed Abhartach with a sword made of yew. After he died for the third time, they buried him upside down and weighted him down with a massive rock that was covered in mountain ash, which was thought to repel evil. After that occurrence, Avhartach was not seen again.