A Table of Names and Types in Folklore
| TYPE | LOCATION | COMMENTS |
| Vampire~Vampyre | Where People are | Shadow companions to humankind; as predators, lovers, nightmares and givers of visions |
| Nosferatu | Romania | The illegitimate offspring of parents who are also illegitimate, this bloodsucker and tormentor of the living is also very lustful and the males can impregnate human women who give birth to hirsute children destined to become moroii in their turn. |
| Murony | Romania, Wallachia | Shapeshifts into any creature including bloodsucking insects; completely drains the victim but leaves no telltale fangmarks; its grave signs are fangs, talons and fresh blood drippings on its face. |
| Succubi~Incubi | Europe, Mediterranean | Female(succubi) or male(incubi) vampires who use sexual seduction to ensnare their victims, usually preying upon them as they sleep. |
| Incubi and succubi were considered to be part of Satan's army by the Church, sent to seduce the unwilling and manifesting mainly in voluptuous dreams. More widely an incubus/succubus is any vampire whose primary connection to the one they feed upon is via sexuality, astrally or in physical form. Many vampires of different name-types would also fall into the incubi/succubi category. | ||
| Strigoii - Moroii | Romania, Eastern Europe | Strigoii is a term for (un)dead vampires and Moroii for living human ones. In Rumanian folklore, Moroii are thought to become Strigoii upon their mortal deaths. |
| Veshtiza | Serbia, Montenegro | An old woman or witch whose spirit would enter a hen, black moth or fly and wander seeking prey; infants' hearts are a favorite food; also said to bite adults who then grow pale and feverish and eventually die. |
| Krvopijac, Ubour | Bulgaria | Became a vampire due to having sinned during Lent; has only one nostril and is a malicious prankster whose tomb can be located by a horse ridden by a virgin refusing to go over its grave. |
| Llugat, Sampiro | Albania | Nightwanders wearing a shroud and very high heels(?) spreading death; its tomb is marked by a will-o-wisp |
| Upierz, Upor | Poland | Is born with teeth, has a harelip and a pointed tongue like an insect's stinger; likes to toll bells at night and call out the names of those who shall die. |
| Upierczi, Upir | Russia | Became upir due to violent death, suicide or the practice of witchcraft; in addition to the usual blood sucking, it causes drought, even sucking the dew off plants |
| There are a number of related terms for vampire in the Slavic languages. Their linguistic origin is considered to be the Russian "Upir", a term which made its first documented appearance in 1047 in a reference to a prince as "Upir Lichy" (wicked vampire). In Southern Russia it's Upyr, Belarus: Upit, the Ukraine: Upyr, Upir or Opir, Slovakia: Upir, Serbia: Vampire or Lampir, Croatia: Uprina, Poland: Wupji, Upor, Upierz or Opi, Albania: Sampiro, Bulgaria: Ubour, Vampir, Vupir, Vepir or Vapir, and to the Kosovo Gypsies: Dhampir. | ||
| Lamia | Greece, Mediterranian | Has the head and breasts of a woman and the lower parts of a serpent, she takes particular joy in preying on children and infants but will also seduce and destroy men. |
| Vryolakas | Greece, Macedonia | The corpse of a wicked person who had been possessed by a demon, they rise from their graves, knock on doors calling out people's names; anyone who answered would die the next day. It was against the rules for them to call more than once, so no one would answer a first call at their door. |
| Greece and its surrounding islands is one of the most vampire infested areas in the world. Only a couple of the more prominent varieties are listed above. Other named types found in Greek lore also include Bruculaco, Empusa, Mormo, Kathakano, and some sub-types of Vrykolakas. Whatever the kind, vampirism is always associated with sin in Greek culture. | ||
| Bruxsa | Portugal | A woman by day who becomes a large bird by night by use of witchcraft; likes to attack travelers; has a voracious appetite for blood, sometimes even that of its own children. |
| Mara | Scandinavia | A beautiful succubus who torments men in thier sleep |
| Nachzehrer, Neuntoter | Bavaria, Germany | Gnaws its shroud in its tomb or failing that, its own body and always has its left eye open. The gnawing helps it propagate cattle pest or plague. Options include excremental stench and a body covered with open sores. |
| Alp | Germany | A bloodsucking demon of nightmares; which has also been known to suck the nipples of both men and women |
| Dearg-due | Ireland | A bloodsucking creature that can only be kept in its grave by placing a cairn of stones over the top |
| Baobhan Sith | Scotland, Celtic | Assume the form of a group of beautiful girls with golden hair and green dresses who would surround their enchanted victim dancing with gaiety drawing a bit of blood here and there, and then would close in for the kill |
| Talamaur | Polynesia | Sucks the life out of the dying, and sometimes devours the hearts of healthy men when they are asleep. |
| Langsuir | Malaysia | A beautiful female with hair down to her ankles, sharp nails and wearing a green robe, she has a hole in the back of her neck through which she sucks the blood of children; origin: a woman who was demonised by grief over a stillborn child or who died in childbirth. |
| Penanggalan | Malaysia | The unbodied head of an old woman with intestines trailing below; when sated by blood, the intestines bloat and have to be soaked in vinegar before she can get them back into her body; can be foiled by stringing thorns around windows to snag the dangling entrails. |
| Pelesit - Polong | Malaysia | The Polong is a humanoid about an inch in length; the Pelesit uses its razortail to burrow a hole into a victim, then it chirps signaling its mate the Polong to jump into the person's body, who then dies shortly thereafter, usually raving about cats. |
| Chi'an Shih | China | Also called hopping corpses, created when a spirit has been offended or a cat jumps over a grave; greenish-white in color, they have many powers including that of killing with poisonous breath in addition to draining blood. Their immaterial form is a sphere of light. |
| Vampire Cat | Japan | A feline shapeshifting demon, often with two tails, it can can make itself nearly as large as a person. Once it has killed someone by draining them, it gains the ability to become an exact replica of that person. |
| Aswang | Phillipines | A vampire spirit which can be a beautiful woman by day and an old hag by night. She likes to feed upon the blood of sick children and the souls of dying people. |
| Vetala | India | Lurks in burial grounds and dark places or may be seen hanging upsidedown in trees like bats; can animate corpses; has a voracious appetite and will tear human prey asunder with superhuman strength |
| Rakasha | India | Multicoloured and ugly with long gleaming slits of eyes and talons whose scratch is lethal; they animate the dead, eat human and horse flesh and like to cause mischief especially when it involves disrupting religious rites |
| Yara-Ma-Yha-Who | Australia Aborigional |
Looks like a four foot tall red man with a huge head and mouth. It has no teeth and uses suckers on the ends of its toes and fingers to drain its victim of blood, hiding in fig trees to attack people from above. Being attacked more than once can cause you to become one. |
| Lobishomen | Brazil | Resembles a hunched, yellow-faced monkey; makes its victims (all women) into nymphomaniacs; let it get drunk on blood to make it easier to catch, then crucify it on a tree while stabbing it. |
| Ciuateteo | Mexico | Vampiric Sorceresses with many traits similar to those of witches in Western culture. They are white-faced, like to prey on children and are created when a women dies in childbirth. |
| Tlahuelpuchi | Aztec | Another blood sucking witch, Tlahuelpuchiz(all female) are said to awaken to blood cravings and to their powers at first menses. These powers include that of transforming into various animals and to hypnotise people, sometimes causing them to kill themselves. |
| Jumlin | Native North American | Originally an evil spirit who tricked a medicine man into bringing him into this world, his descendants now wander the earth as vampires. |
| U'tlunta | Native American - Cherokee | An ogress who can shapeshift to anything that suits her purpose; her skin is nearly impenetrable and her special weapon a long stonehard forefinger that she uses to stab whomever she encounters, much feared she drinks the blood and eats the livers of her victims. |
| Buo | Borneo | Blood drinkers who were originally warriors slain in battle |
| Obayifo | Asanti, Gold Coast | Male or female, it leaves its body at night to feed; prefered food is children; can cause crop blight |
| Wume | Slave Coast | Was a criminal in life or the victim of a curse; the only way to get rid of it is to bury it in a secret place. |
| Impundulu | Eastern Cape of Africa | A spirit passed from mother to daughter and said to be insatiable in its appetites; used in witchcraft to inflict suffering on enemies; might also take male form to be its mistress' lover |
| Anbosam | Southern Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast | Have hooks for feet and sometimes iron teeth as well; likes to bite sleeping people on the thumb(the same place vampire bats will often bite if they attack humans) |
| Adze | Ghana and Togo | Flies in the form of a firefly but will take human form if caught; feeds on blood, palm oil and coconut water; preferred prey is beautiful children |
