There are over a dozen words in the Greek language that translate to mean “vampire”, and it is no wonder, as Greece has more species of vampires and vampiric creatures than any other country.

Just like the great white shark, which over the eons has changed very little, evolutionally speaking, so too has the Greek vampire. For the most part, their mythos was consistent up until the introduction of Christianity, then, after a slight adaptation was made in order to keep their monster, their vampire has remained unchanged ever since. Naturally, there are slight variations from region to region as to who can become a vampire, how it happens, what it looks like, the preventative methods that can be taken to prevent a corpse from rising up from its grave, and that notwithstanding, how the creature is consequently destroyed.

To begin, there are oftentimes a number of ways to spell a single vampire’s name. This is most likely due to Greece being an island nation; even from its earliest times natives traveled freely between them. Just as each island developed its own variation in language, it is natural that the spelling of words would also have slight variations to them as well.

Greek vampires are almost always REVENANTS and usually come to be so because in life a person was particularly evil and was excommunicated from the Church. Having committed suicide was also grounds for returning as an undead (see UNDEATH), for in the Catholic religion the act of taking one’s own life prohibits a person from having mass said for one’s soul and being buried in hallowed ground. It automatically closes the gates of Heaven to that person. Other ways Greeks can become a vampire is by having the misfortune of being murdered, having eaten a piece of meat that was killed by a wolf, or allowing an animal to jump over a corpse.