Anthropology > Summary > THE VAMPIRE A STUDY IN SLAVIC BI-CULTURALISM in Perkowsky, Jan. Vampires of the Slavs. Cambridge, (All)

THE VAMPIRE A STUDY IN SLAVIC BI-CULTURALISM in Perkowsky, Jan. Vampires of the Slavs. Cambridge, MA: Slavica, 1976. pp 191-195. Perkowski - The Vampire - Four Types of Vampires

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Vampire… For the native speaker of English this one word conjures up a whole series of images linked with the pangs of primal terror. The images come to us from Stoker's novel Dracula and the severa ... l motion pictures derived from it. The pangs of terror are an inheritance from past ages. The link between the two was formed in the culture of the English-speaking peoples, but it is not universal. In fact, there are several types of vampire, each of which may play a different role in any given society. Not all vampires are bloodsuckers, nor do all vampires possess supernatural powers. The most basic definition of a vampire would be the following: a being which derives sustenance from a victim, who is weakened by the experience. The sustenance may be physical or emotional in nature. There are four main types of vampire: psychotic, psychic, folkloric, and literary. The psychotic vampire is someone who is mentally ill and who kills in order to drink the blood of his victims. In one of the Texas state mental hospitals there is a patient who, during his long confinement, has managed to escape. While outside the institution he captured dogs and other small mammals, tore open their throats and drank their blood. In confinement he insists on a diet of blood and will consume no other food. Similar case histories are well attested both here and abroad. [Show More]

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