Why Do Vampires Hate Garlic?

We have all heard the myth before, that vampire can’t stand garlic whatsoever. To use garlic on a vampire would make them run away in disgust. It’s a classic method of protection and an item that any sane vampire hunter has on them. But where in the world did that legend come from? Out of all the herbs why is it the pungent garlic that does the trick? Well let me full you in on where this old legend comes from.

Garlic originally got its good reputation from ancient Egypt. Back then it was believed that garlic held incredible healing powers. From Egypt it spread and developed more uses and powers. It was known not only for healing but also protection against the plague and supernatural evils. In southern Slavic regions in was used to protect oneself from demonic forces, witches and sorcerers.  The Christian St. Andrew was said to be the donor of garlic to humanity.

Garlic used against vampire was big in southern Slavic countries and Romania as well. It was used to find vampires and to prevent vampires. A vampire in hiding could be spotted by not being willing to eat garlic. In the 1970s , a Romanian church distributed garlic during service, observing those who refused to eat it and figuring out if the person was a vampire. Crazy that this happened only 30 or so years ago right?

To prevent someone from being turned into a vampire it was common to stuff cloves of garlic in the corpse’s nose, mouth and ears to keep out all evil. It was also smeared over the eyes. Also, once they killed a vampire and cut off its head they would then fill its mouth with garlic to keep it from returning.

It wasn’t just the Slavic areas that used garlic. In China and Malaysia it was rubbed on children’s foreheads to prevent vampire attack. In the Philippines it was rubbed under the armpits. Damn, can you imagine how badly they smelled?  And of course many countries simply hung garlic from their doors to ward off vamps.

When it comes to vampires and garlic now, most authors choose to have their vampire characters unaffected by garlic. But in some books/movies vampires don’t like garlic, but it is simply because they have a heightened sense of smell and the stuff reeks. One author that did use garlic as protection was the famous Bram Stoker in Dracula. That there is how vampires and garlic became so popular and well known.

I’ll end this post with a quote from Dracula, the scene in which Van Helsing protects Lucy from the Count by placing garlic around her…

We went into the room, taking the [garlic] with us. The Professor’s actions were certainly odd and not to be found in any pharmacopeia that I ever heard of. First he fastened up the windows and latched them securely. Next, taking a handful of the flowers, he rubbed them all over the sashes, as though to ensure that every whiff of air that might get in would be laden with the garlic smell. Then with the wisp he rubbed all over the jamb of the door, above, below, and at each side, and round the fireplace in the same way.
It all seemed grotesque to me, and presently I said, “Well, Professor, I know you always have a reason for what you do, but this certainly puzzles me. It is well we have no sceptic here, or he would say that you were working some spell to keep out an evil spirit.”
“Perhaps I am!” He answered quietly as he began to make the wreath which Lucy was to wear round her neck.

– Moonlight

By Moonlight

Moonlight (aka Amanda) loves to write about, read about and learn about everything pertaining to vampires. You will most likely find her huddled over a book of vampire folklore with coffee in hand. Touch her coffee and she may bite you (and not in the fun way).

50 comments

  1. omggggggggggggggg these ppl need to get a life!!!!! seriously! who gives a fuck if vampires hate garlic!??????? just asking.

      1. In the secret society, vamps are angels who go to the planets on set days and rape 69 them. Angels are demons but they pretends tk be good. So all the English Monarchy, United Nations,
        Celebrities.

        I stick squeeze garlic pills up my vagina every night so when they come to attack and I feel the. Gagging. It’s my only defense. They have ben trying to cross my borders for years now but they haven’t been able to make me come or get in. .

        Rhe okanets are sisters that chased after the sun. A sun is a boy. Rhe son is supposed to find the one that is a kind or his kother. The entire thing is set uo like a game.

        The suns pretend to be gods when they are lower the is the okanets. A planet with a mind is a Galaxy. Of a sin doesn’t have a Mother to north it so ot will die.

        The red giants are Red Devils and they love to eat apples or vaginas. Anyone who is bald is one at night , especially if it’s a girl. They are bald eagle demons.

        A planet is a cervix basically and earth has tow justices one inside and one out, so I feel then sleep with her the creature and I make it gross for them.

        So they got the banks hate garlic form my kind, it means they hate stinky vaginas that smell liken garlic. .

        1. I call them vamp tramps. Their raped killed the one third of mankind. They are real, in their secret sixties they eat human flesh. Have you heard of taco Tuesday’s? Prince Charles kills 30,000 people a day for food. Will and Kate are fake and he pretends to be Jesus . Meghan Markle told me that she loves to eat my children raw and that I a good sandwich. Harry did columbine for fun. The Vatican did the bombing at the Boston marathon. They are the most awful family and they will not leave me alone. . Of you look io Harry and Markle a house stinky smell they are complaining about my vagina and thr garlic. Or the White House smell. I bet they will try to take me to their fake court again, which they have done like five times now. God protects me and I think it’s so funny at all their attempts at my life.
          Sorry for my typos.

          1. J got to tell you in their secret night court last week they were shuffling thru their books looking to see if the garlic vagina was allowed. It doesn’t say it’s not. So now they saw I am cheating. I have gotten so rich from this that I now own 100% of this Universe . When they don’t even own a planet or a sun I will be rising io to collect soon.

  2. And you my friend obviously need to stop responding to websites that you find oh so uninteresting.
    I’m afraid to say that no one gives a fuck if you didn’t enjoy the article.

  3. Wow!!!! Reading the comments on here….I didn’t except so much negativity and hostility. It’s just garlic, guys. Garlic in the face of one of the worst evils imaginable, And may I add one that doesn’t exist at that….unless you are insane!!!!!! I going to add some information I had on garlic and vampires, but I’m pretty sure Moonlight covered it all. No, I am of the minority that thinks that garlic as poison to vampires makes sense…..and I actually like the idea. Just take a look at what they do with it in all the Blade films. So…the next time the undead come knocking (without an invitation that is) throw your spice rack at them!

  4. Apperently my comment wasn’t accepted. I just said to cool it about the whole garlic thing and that I liked the ideal.

  5. Well, I’m not a vampire, and despite my geektastic love of all things mythology, vampires are a difficult species to learn about. Very elusive and whatnot. Ahem. So, I do have heightened senses and I personally would say that if vampires really DO hate garlic, it would be because of that. Taste is mostly smell, you know, and vampires do have a strong sense of smell.

    1. Vampires are difficult to learn about because they aren’t REAL. the closest to vampires are vampire bats,vampire fish, and others, but there is no reanimated corpse vampire humans. I wish people would wake up and stop liking fake monsters.

      1. I should not even bother with this response. The definition of the vampire is from the middle ages, people “died, then woke back up” due to the medical community not understanding that people fainted and then of course would wake back up.
        They would have a funeral and then bury them and here it is two days later and they’d get back up and come back into town.

        Of course, you also have to realize embalming the body was not something done at that time, so if someone had a sickness and the relatives thought they had died and buried the body, and up he rose later, it sounds like medieval vampire tales.

        However, Vampires are Real, even if they are not like these story counterparts. Technically “vampire” is probably not the right word or term to call these wary spiritual beings, or entities. Of course, I would never call myself Sanguine either.

        1. The closest thing to a vampire that can be today is a person that gets some sort of kick from drinking blood or is his weird fetish of the sort .

          Why do i say that ? have yet to come across one to believe half the stuff people say here

  6. Well, I’m a vampire (tantric & psi feeder primarily) and I happen to move garlic. But raw onions? Automatic gag reflex.

  7. I have excellent hearing (which makes having obnoxious neighbors that much more irritating) and a good palate but garlic isn’t off putting for me at all. In fact, it tastes kinda sweet to me. So does beef liver. But I cannot tolerate raw onions at all & burning sage gives me a sinus headache.

  8. I have actually found that psychic vampires and dark spirits don’t like garlic! It’s a great protector… I was sort of sceptical but ready to try anything when living in a haunted place for months and dealing with a treacherous spirit. One night I ate a few cloves of garlic and slept with a bulb under my pillow.. I think I communicated with the ‘spirit of the garlic’ or something..lol and it kind of encapsulated me within an energy field that was dense and layered, and looked kind of like an onion. It was so dense and protective that nothing bothered me that night. It didn’t last forever, but was a big help…worth a try if you have these problems. Pray with and love the garlic :) It doesn’t work great on more powerful psychic vampires/evil entities that will feed on you. There are different types you know…

  9. Ana there have been many posts in the FB vampire groups regarding the garlic myth, and there are many of us who love garlic, some who hate it, some who love onions, some who hate them. I think it comes down to an individual’s palate, and has nothing at all to do with our spiritual condition of vampirism.
    I am friends with many darker spirited folk and they don’t all hate garlic either. I know of an angel who loves onion and hates garlic.
    The only thing I’ve seen disliked more consistently is sage for smudging.

  10. In some lore, Garlic acts as a barrier. They’d rub garlic juice into keyholes and doorways and chimneys to keep the vampires from crossing.

    1. Garlic is Yummy! especially fresh garlic it tastes great if you cook it with chicken it is just as spicy as peppers!!!

  11. I love vampires but i never really liked the who garlic thing!! and what is with the comment below?? WEIRD!

  12. Actually vampires hate anything that has a strong smell. They have a very intense sense of smell Anything from cinnamon, to raspberry air freshener will upset a vampire. Know what really bothers a vampire and will make him ill and go crazy? A skunk. (that would be funny for a vamp hunter to carry, a live skunk! or bottle the smell of a skunk)

  13. Know what spice or seasoning is deadly to a vampire? Salt! Vampires hate it. If you pour salt on your body, (neck) if a vampire bites you, he will spit you out! My great grandma insisted everybody in her family pour salt on themselves or take a bath in salt water if went out at night. Also if you make a vampire drink salt water or make him eat food with a lot of salt, he will become very ill. Think about it, a vampire needs blood and salt messes with blood pressure and other things related to blood. A main complaint of vampires about their donors is the amount of salt in the diet.

  14. Salt is also used as a barrier against supernatural forces. Stand in a circle of salt and a demon can’t attack you. Pour salt outside your door and nothing can get in.

  15. Garlic has become overused. Vampires have built up a tolerance to it. Some even ingest small amounts. It is best to have a very strong smelling substance that the vampire won’t expect. Have a skunk spray your door and the vampires will stay miles away.(I lived across the hall from vampires and a skunk got in the apartment front door and sprayed the steps. The two vampires vomited, choked and one of them passed out! Me and my kids were bothered, but we did not get sick. The vampires hurried up and left and stayed at a motel for 5 days until the smell was gone.)

  16. Negative vampires (aka wet blankets, psivamps, psyvampyres) do not like the smell of garlic from the skin of the person they feed on because it burns their nose (not like literally with flame) but when onion, or other veggies are eaten by people, some people smell like what they’ve ate. This is why some vampires don’t like garlic, as it also purifies the blood, it can also land a person on the toilet for a while after they have consumed garlic-y food. It’s a bit like burning sage in a room as well. I love garlic bread tho as well as garlic pasta.

  17. This is ignorance. FARRRR from the truth. None of you are actually REAL “Vampires” probably anyways. It is so sad to know how our name is blasphemed and misconstrued by pop-fic fans and people wanting to feel special. Stop pretending to be something that others actually are, and have worked hard for, even causing them to lose family members and friends. It’s not cool. It’s a fucking curse. A forever unquenchable thirst.

  18. im part vampire and heres my vampire features: super speed and powerful nose, see in the dark. My energy is way higher at night than in the morning. I have super reflexes and i think some stuff that people say about vampires are not true, who burns in the day or hates garlic? () _ ()

  19. If garlic is super effective against vampires then does that mean other strong smelling things effect them too? o.o I mean think about it if garlic can do that then other strong scented things can effect them too…

  20. I HATE, absolutely HATE Garlic. It’s repulsive. Anything with it is. How people can eat it, beats me! As for the crosses and crucifix myth, that stuff is just creepy and for me it brings bad luck, just like a church. I will never understand how people can sit there for so long without fainting. It sends a chill down my spine setting foot in a church. So does that make me a vampire? Maybe, it does…

  21. And i can see in the dark i don’t sleep at night and I like blood yes I like it and I like biting stuff
    So does that make me one

  22. According to Islamic folklore, garlic sprang from the left footprint of Satan when he was expelled from the Garden of Eden. Hence, I took that to mean it was a barrier to evil, barring it from (re)entering paradise, and so forth down the line to our vampire repellant.

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