LITMIR.BIZ

        In Chinese and some Slavic folktales a vampire is created when a cat or dog jumps over a fresh grave.

        Elsewhere in the world corpse-jumping is tied to humans strolling across a new grave, or birds, stray animals of all kinds, and even insects.

        In China, tigers are believed to possess what was known as a “soul-recalling hair” that hooks part of the spirit when it crosses over a grave.

        The corpse-jumping phenomenon stems from the belief that the spirit of the dead can snatch a portion of the life of any living creature and use it to rekindle its own unnatural life.

        In Western Europe if a black cat or a white dog watches a funeral, then the corpse will rise.

        Conversely, in Russia, if a white dog wanders through the graveyard, then the dead will not rise.

        Being born with a caul—an amniotic membrane covering the face—in some cases indicates the presence of evil within the newborn. Vampire species created through this means³ include the Wume of Togo, the Nachtzehrer of Germany, the Strigoi of Romania, the Upier and Ohyn of Poland; while in other cultures it’s a sign of great positive spiritual power.

        On the peninsula of Istria, both the Croats and Slavs believe that a caul is a sure sign that the child will either become a good-natured and heroic kresnik, or a foul and vampiric kudlak.⁴

        Some cultures believed that a child born with teeth was destined to become a bloodsucker. This includes the Neuntoter of Germany, Viesczy in Russia, the Upier and Ohyn of Poland.

        Red hair was seldom viewed as anything but a sign of trouble in days gone by. This idea got kick-started when some genius decided that Judas was red haired. As a result, a cult of red-haired vampires called the Children of Judas was purported to terrorize parts of Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria.

        You’d think that being born with a physical deformity was enough of a burden, but in many cultures such people were reviled as having been marked by evil. This is one of the most common prejudices associated with the belief in vampires, and it occurs all throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa.

        The day on which a child is born impacts everything from astrology to damnation. In a number of countries being born on a holy day was seen as an insult to God. (As if the child or the mother had a choice!)

        Being born on a Saturday—the biblically dictated day of rest—was also viewed as an insult. The Ustrel of Bulgaria, for example, is a person damned to an unlife of vampirism for daring to be born on the Sabbath. Conversely, in Greece, a person born on that day is destined to fight evil. (See the entry on the Sabbatarian in chapter 4.)

        This one is really disturbing. In India, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and a few other places, a stillborn child is believed to linger on Earth as a vampire—either a bloodsucker or some kind of essential vampire. The Pontianak of Java and Malaysia is one such tragic monster; others include the Bajang and Langsuir of Malaysia, the Ekimmu of Assyrian and Mesopotamian belief, the Ohyn of Poland, and the Pret of India.

        In many of the same countries the mother of the dead child is likewise doomed, particularly if she dies during childbirth.

        One of the most reliable ways for a person to become a vampire is to die unrepentant. Many cultures hold this to be the case, and it’s particularly true if the sinner dies while engaged in a violent act, or dies as a result of violence.

        Suicides are also damned souls, according to Western beliefs. A suicide is doomed to return as a ghost or a vampire, or some unpleasant combination of the two.

        Murder victims are also in trouble. Dying by any kind of violence apparently tethers the soul to this world as a pernicious spirit of one kind or another.