Dip

Dip

Region of origin: Catalonia

A black dog myth from the Catalan region, but unlike other stories of black dogs who serve as death omens but rarely directly interact with the people who see them, the dip is a vampiric beast in the employ of the Devil, descending in packs from the mountains and attacking anyone they come across to drink their blood. The dip has become particularly associated the town of Pratdip, coincidentally named but etymologically distinct, where the dog is featured on their coat of arms and an annual celebration, the Pratdip Llegendari, is held just before the weekend of All Saints, featuring stories and games symbolically hunting and rounding up the creatures.

[Sources referenced: X | X | X ]

Soucouyant

Soucouyant

Region of origin: Caribbean islands

A shape-shifting, vampiric jumbie from Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean regions, by day the soucouyant will appear as a normal human woman, usually elderly, but at night will cast off her skin and take on its true form of a flying fireball. The skin will be stored somewhere such as a mortar to protect it while the soucouyant flies out to look for victims. In this form they are said to be able to fit through any size hole or crack in a building and descend upon whoever they find sleeping there, draining them of their blood or life-force through the bottom of their feet or other limbs. The victim may eventually become a soucouyant themselves or, if drained to death, the feeding soucouyant may take their skin as a replacement for their own. The soucouyant’s hidden skin is the key to dealing with one; similar to European witches the soucouyant will be compelled to count every grain of rice or salt spilled on the ground which can prevent them from making it home and back into their human disguise before dawn. Alternatively it will give you a chance to enter their home while they’re out and find the skin before they can return to it, where you can sprinkle the skin with salt or hot pepper which will render it unlivable to the soucouyant. Witches may also take the skin to be used as a component in magic spells or rituals.

[Sources referenced: X | X ]

Sigbin (updated)

Sigbin

Region of origin: The Philippines

A vampiric goat-like creature, the sigbin will hunt its prey at night and is said to be able to drink a person’s blood and life force through their shadow. Their diet is thought to also consist of yellow squash, coal and dead animals, the latter which may account for a distinct rank odor they produce. They are kept as pets by aswang, another demonic creature from Filipino folklore, and it is believed capturing one for yourself will result in good fortune; there are rumors some prominent businessmen may have sigbins in their possession.

[Sources referenced: X | X ]

An updated version of this post

Keres

Keres

Region of origin: Greece

Daughters of Nyx and Erebus and sisters to the Fates and Furies among others, the Keres were spirits of violent or cruel deaths, including war, murder and disease. Swarms of vulture-like Keres numbering in the thousand would hungrily hover over battlefields, descending on any fallen soldier and consuming their freshly-spilled blood while they removed the soul to be ushered to the Underworld. In some versions of the story, the Keres were included among the evil spirits released by Pandora from her box or jar.

[Sources referenced: X | X ]

Ekimmu

Ekimmu

Region of origin: Mesopotamia

Evil vampiric spirits, the ekimmu or edimmu were the unquiet dead of people who in life had behaved immorally or improperly, either towards the gods or their fellow mortals, or did not receive an proper burial. The ekimmu were invisible but were thought to be able to be perceived as a gust of wind. An ekimmu would attach itself to either an individual or a household and drain their life force until they wasted away and died days later, and could also possess a person and control their actions. There were spells or similar protections used to ward ekimmu away from a home, or they could be removed by providing them with the funeral rites they never received. Considered an early precusor to traditional vampire folklore, their methods are similar to the preta, “hungry ghosts” of Hinduism and Buddhism, and the strigoi of Romania and eastern Europe.

[Sources referenced: X | X | X ]

Yara-ma-yha-who (updated)

Yara-ma-yha-who

Region of origin: Australia

A small red imp of a figure with a head disproportionately larger than its body, the Yara-ma-yha-who makes it home in fig trees. If anyone stops to rest under its tree, it will descend and latch on to them with its leech-like fingers and toes, draining blood until its victim passes out, at which point it swallows them whole and, sated, falls asleep. Upon awakening, it will regurgitate the person, who find themselves worn down, slightly smaller and redder than before but with no memory of the encounter. The Yara-ma-yha-who will repeat this process over and over until eventually the victim themselves has become a new Yara-ma-yha-who. Tales of the Yara-ma-yha-who are used to discourage children from entering potentially dangerous areas.

[Sources referenced: X | X ]

An updated version of this post

Leanan Sidhe

Leanan Sídhe

Region of origin: Ireland and Scotland

The “Fairy Sweetheart”, the Leanan sídhe is a vampiric fae muse who appears before an artist or poet as a beautiful woman and, if they accept her as their lover, she will latch on to them for life, providing them incredible artistic inspiration, but in return she feeds off their life-force. This results in an impressive body of work for the artist in exchange for declining physical and mental health and eventually an early death. It’s thought in earlier folklore the Leanan sídhe was considered a more benevolent figure but the influence of Christianity and a conflation with succubi myths led to more modern interpretations of her instead being viewed as a dangerous entity.

Originally posted on Tumblr on November 22, 2016

Strzyga

Strzyga

Region of origin: Poland

Female vampiric spirits that can assume the form of an owl and hunt people who dared wander into their forests at night. It was thought strzyga were the result of a person born with two souls, with only one soul able to move on to the afterlife after their passing the other soul becoming stuck in the dead body, returning from the grave as the ghoulish creature. It was thought the second soul manifested as the person having multiple body parts, such as two hearts or a second set of teeth, and anyone thought to possess these qualities may be buried with the corpse’s head removed to prevent the strzyga from rising.

Originally posted on Tumblr on November 4, 2016

The Millennium Humanoid

The Millennium Humanoid

Region of origin: Chile

Hitting their peak in late 1999 through 2000, there were numerous sightings throughout Chile, concentrated the highest around Calama and the northern regions, of a grey ape-like hominid creature, often described possessing large yellow eyes and two leathery wings. Many of the sightings involved the creature attacking or fighting with stray dogs, killing them and possibly drinking their blood before flying or bounding away from witnesses into the night. Reports of the creature and its behavior and physiology were often compared or conflated with the chupacabra and Mothman, and also were possibly believed to coincide with similarly-timed UFO sightings in the area.

Originally posted on Tumblr on November 2, 2016

Jubokko

Jubokko

Region of origin: Japan

As with many yokai that were inanimate objects which had achieved autonomy, the jubokko were once ordinary trees that happened to be growing at the sites of battles with massive casualties. The blood from the fallen warriors soaked into the tree’s roots and as they fed they eventually gained sentience, and a hunger for more blood. The jubokko would grab anyone who ventured too close with arm-like branches, pierce their bodies and drain out the blood, discarding the remains to their roots where birds would come and pick them clean, leaving piles of bones to build up around the jubokko’s base.

Originally posted on Tumblr on September 23, 2016