Every time I am interviewed by someone they ask, “What do you love most about vampires?” and my instant answer is always “the history.” I absolutely adore vampire history and folklore! I have spent years researching every word I can find on old vampire myths from around the world – it’s one of my many obsessions. It is that obsession that brings you today’s post – a peek at some of my favorite vampire myths.
(Click titles for more information)
Mara
I love this vampire species because, well, she’s just so entertaining and creepy at once. The mara (also known and mora) is a Slavic vampire that would not only enter the room of someone sound asleep and give them nightmares, but she would also occasionally transform into a horse and stomp on the sleeping victim’s chest. When she wasn’t busy being a sadistic bitch, she was drinking some helpless person’s blood. In some versions of the myth, when a mara drank a man’s blood she would instantly fall in love with him, never leaving him and always haunting his dreams, making her one of the creepiest stalkers ever.
Watermelons
That’s right, there are actually vampire myths about watermelons. You see, back in the day Yugoslavian Gypsies believed that watermelons (as well as pumpkins) were able to become vampires. But fear not, these vamps weren’t dangerous because they didn’t have any teeth. According to the legend, the blood covered melons would simply growl and pester the living by rolling around their feet. Haha!
Nature
One of the many things I love are the myths surrounding nature and vampires, how nearly every plant once served a much greater purpose than simply looking pretty. For example, it was once believed that the fragrance of a rose would ward off all evil, including not only vampires, but witches and werewolves as well. While the aroma repelled them, the petals were said to burn a vampire’s skin like acid. Or blackthorn, a shrub was thought to be powerful protection against vampires and vampiric attack. The Romanians were known to sew blackthorn into their clothing for safety. For a list plants with ties to vampires click the title above.
Sampiro
This is one of the strangest vampire species I have ever come across, which earns it a spot on this list. This Albianian bloodsucker dressed in layers and layers of flowing fabric that would hide most of its body, the only thing visible from the folds were its headlight sized glowing eyes. It was also believed the have worn high heels. Yup, the legends say that the sampiro was known to wear incredibly high heels which would make it teeter back and forth. If that’s not odd enough, this vamp would make kissing sounds as it stalked its victims. Strange strange.
Ok, I’ll stop now before I list off the hundreds of vampire myths I love so much. If you are interested in reading more vampire folktale and myths click THIS and check out the many vampire lore related posts.
I love vampire folklore, too!
My favorites:
Graveyards. Yes, folklore vampires were always found in their graves.
Roses. These lovely flowers are supposedly good remedy against any supernatural evil, including vampires – rose petals burn and their fagrance repels!
Garlic. There is something so picturesque in garlic-wreaths, hm?.
Mist. Just for atmosphere. Some folk vamps could become mist.
Crosses. Especially decorative ones. Shoo, vampire!
i love reading the posts about vampire folklore! i am a total history fanatic, give me anything with an interesting history or some spooky legends and i will want to know everything! my favourite folklores are the really old legends and the nature ones! learning all about the plants and what they use to be known for i find so interesting! thanks for this post moonlight!
Here are some great Vampire sieries to check out!!
-the Vampire Academy
-the Twilight Saga
-Vampire Kisses
-the House of Night
-the Morganville Vampires
-the Vampire Diaries
-Bloodlines
-Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
-Bram Stoker’s Dracula
and one more that I wrote, Vicious Love
Enjoy, my fellow vampire fanatics!!! :)