The Americas and Mexico have their own strange forms of vampires.
The Cherokee had the U`tl??’tä, a shape shifting ogress, with rock hard skin, who slaughters people and eats their livers. on her right hand is a stony forefinger made from hard bone, shaped like the head of a spear used to stab her victims.
Vampires in the Rocky Mountains sucked the blood out of its victim’s ears using its pointed nose.
Mexico has the Tlaciques which are vampiric witches who can turn into a ball of flame or a turkey, in which they can feed unnoticed. They also have the Tlahuelpuchi, a witch which detaches it’s legs and turns into any animal it chooses, to attack women.
In South America, Brazil has Lobishomen, a vampire that attacks women and turns them into nymphomaniacs. Columbia has the Tunda, a shape shifting vampire that usually appears as a loved one or beautiful woman to lure her victims into her forest home. She then feeds her victims shrimp she has farted on to keep them complacent. Also prevalent among South America is the Asema which would remove it’s skin at night and fly around as a gaseous ball (This is also very similar to the Haitian Loogaroo). The Aztecs have the Tlacteulty which was in the shape of a huge frog and would cause mayhem. It’s main source of sustenance was blood.
Along this stillness steals their ghostly laughter:
The oaths they swore, the clamant song and jest,
Are haunting still each oaken beam and rafter,
That looked on many a gay, forgotten guest.
The clink of cups, the muffled clang of swords,
These, and the flapping cards, will not be stilled,
Though dust has spread the long-abandoned boards,
And hides at last the crimson wine they spilled.
And still, they say, on sullen nights of rain,
A passer-by may hear, beyond the door,
An old accounting for this ugly stain
That makes an evil pattern on the floor--
A sound of dice--an oath--a crashing chair ...
And sudden, grievous silence fallen there.
This myth begins at the very creation of man and of Lilith (the first woman created for Adam).
So God created man and woman in his own image and blessed them. Many have made her a model for feminism, because when Adam would not relent in his domination of her, she grew so angry that she uttered the Holy name of God and vanished.
God then had to make Eve for Adam, making her of his rib bone, so that she would be
attached to him and not leave as Lilith had done.
Here, Lilith went out to the Red Sea, where she made a bargain with the Angels and she was allowed to stay out on her own, as a witch, and MOTHER OF ALL DEMONS.
Cain was the first born son of Adam and Eve. He was banished, with a mark, from the land of his parents because he killed his brother Abel in a jealous rage. He was cursed by God and was forced to stalk the fringes of civilization, fearful of the sun and ravenous for blood, as he was refused by nature for fruits and vegetables.
According to vampire legend, Cain wandered until he found Lilith by the Red sea. She took him in and showed him the power of blood. (The Tree of life represented in blood, and thus why drinking blood / being a vampire is such a big deal in a religious context).From Cain and Lilith came a host of demons and vampires in vague myths. Lilith taught Cain many things, including how to use his blood to evoke mystic powers and how to create others of his kind. At first Cain refused to beget, believing it was wrong to curse the world with others of his kind. But eventually he grew lonely and brought three others into the Vampirism fold. These three in turn begot 13 more.
Cain outraged by this behavior, forbade the creation of any more progeny. Gathering his children and grandchildren to him Cain built a great city – The first city in the world – where vampires and mortals coexisted in peace.
Finally the city was overthrown – some say a natural disaster was the cause; others that a spurned child’s vengeful sorcery precipitated the cataclysm. Cain vanished into the wastes, never to be heard from again.
Three vampires of the second generation likewise disappeared into the mists of legends, and the children and grandchildren became the true vampires.
In Ireland, the Failte na Marbh (Festival of the Dead) was held annually on the 31st October. At this time, the dead would pay a short visit to their living relatives and, after a year in the grave, they were obviously thirsty and famished. It was then the duty of the living kin to provide them with food and drink. If sufficient victuals were not offered, the dead would then feed from the veins of the living. These creatures were known as Marbh Bheo - the Night-walking Dead. On the Scottish Isle of Skye pure vengeance was often thought to be the prime mover for the Biasd Bheulach. These Vampire-like creatures would not only spare their revenge for the specific individuals who had done them wrong in life, or had sent them to the grave, but would exact grim penance upon any living soul that fell within their grasp. In England the dead thought most likely to rise again were suicides & executed criminals, and Northumbria in particular was said to have suffered several Vampire plagues. Prevalent also in both Irish and Scottish lore were Vampires that had no discernible human heritage, and instead seemed to be of a malevolent Fay stock. Such a shadowy creature was the Irish Dearg-Due or Dearg-Diulai - the Red Bloodsucker. Frequently the Dearg-Diulai appeared as beautiful, pale females cloaked in a sanguine-red capes. Attracting warm-blooded males with their feminine charm, seduction soon turned to slaughter.
Mention the word “gothic“, and many readers will probably picture gloomy castles and an assortment of sinister Victoriana. However, the truth is that the gothic genre has continued to flourish and evolve since the days of Bram Stoker, producing some of its most interesting and accomplished examples in the 20th century - in literature, film and beyond.
