The difference comes in that the western vampire evolved in a specific set of cultural and literary circumstances, specifically those of 19th century Romantic fiction. At the time it was fashionable for young men with a certain amount of wealth to go on the Grand Tour – basically a road trip of Europe, which was popularised by Lord Byron.

John Polidori wrote a story called “The Vampyre” which was probably the first to feature the vampire as we know it: pale, aristocratic, not sparkly, and with a tendency to travel a lot. “The Vampyre” was attributed to Byron (who Polidori knew), and there were all sorts of comparisions of the vampire and him. The literati were at the time (as now, I suppose) quite closely connected and so the whole thing snowballed from there.

There’s obviously more to it, but I don’t want to turn this into an essay! There’s a good account of it in Christopher Frayling’s “Vampyres” if anyone’s interested, plus it has some good old vampire stories to boot (pretty much the ones he talks about).

So here’s what I realized about Non-western vampires. It’s not just that they are rare in fiction, appearing usually as a one-time occurence, but they also tend to not have undergone the same civilizing effect as the European variety. Where are the romantic hero hopping vampires or the conflicted, guilt-ridden Ole-Higue? Other than the Kindred of the East RPG I don’t think I’ve ever seen any complexity given to these brothers and sisters in darkness. It’s time for a change, I say. Let’s send all the demons to high school! That should set things straight.

*I did come across a short story once that took #3 to an extreme. Vampires invaded American by attacking Jewish communities first and all the silly Jews died because they didn’t have crosses. It kind of sickened me. (Plus, if the vampires were smart, wouldn’t they have attacked Asia first?)*
There’s a scene in The Fearless Vampire Killers (I think) where someone is attacked by a Jewish vampire and gets out their cross, only to be told “You have got the wrong vampire…” and get bitten anyway.

Good debate, I wish I’d caught it.

Thank you K. Tempest, and everyone else.

All my best,
Rae

Thanks to Wikipedia, I now would. Unless Wikipedia is working with the Guyanese demons to lure us into a false sense of security.

It is interesting that the grain-counting thing is one of the few similarities to European vampires.

I’m trying to think of non-European vampires in fiction. Chinese (hopping) vampires have become a bit more well known these days, but I’ve come across only a small number of other types. I lauded Jim Butcher in my first post for incorporating three versions of vampires in his books, but now I’m thinking what we really need is a United Nations for the Undead.

It seems to vary a lot. Buffy, with its idea of vampires as a type of demon, clearly takes an unscientific approach. St.Germain has to carry earth from the place where he was born. And there’s, of course, the much more “logical” vampires which could exist in our own world which can be explained as a virus.

How ever, I would caution about the word “universally.” Many other cultures have vampire myths that, if exploited more often, would often show some very unscientific characteristics. Latin American folklore is rich with “sucking” female creatures that eat babies. It’s just that Westerners are more familiar with Dracula and its kindred (no mirrors, shadows, crucifix). But for example, would you know how to deal with an Ole-Higue?

As for the science angle, yeah, I mean, just because the real reason for vampirism is a virus, that doesn’t mean fiction about vampires needs to stick with that.