1915 The Vampire Superstition Vere D. Shortt

# The Vampire Superstition

By Capt. Vere D. Shortt, Author Of “Lost Sheep.”

### Author

(1874-1915) UK soldier and author who fought with distinction in South Africa and served as a Captain in World War One. His first novel, Lost Sheep (1915), uninterestingly incorporates some elements of black magic. He saw active service in France, dying in combat in 1915 before completing The Rod of the Snake (1917), which was completed by his sister Frances Mathews. The tale, a not entirely coherent, clottedly erotized occult romance, hints at sf through links to Atlantis understood in terms of Theosophy. The "Old Ones" who are invoked through the use of the titular talisman are conveyed with Horror in SF menace, and it is possible H P Lovecraft was influenced by Shortt's depiction of cosmic malice. [JC]

http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/shortt\_vere

## Text

THE belief in the Vampire or " Vroncolaca,” as it is called in Eastern Europe, is one of the most ancient in the world. In bald terms a Vampire according to the belief of Eastern Europe is the physical body of a dead person, male or female, which maintains itself in a sort of half life in the grave by returning to its former haunts and nourishing itself on the blood o f living persons. Now, this belief to the average English mind seems of course to be fantastic absurdity, but before taking this point of view let us look at the subject in a tolerant and dispassionate light, and remember that under all primitive beliefs, no matter how apparently wild, is a certain substratum, infinitely small perhaps, but still there, of truth. I propose in this article to give some instances— some attested, and some mere legend, of this belief, and also some theories on the probable cause of this kind of haunting.

As I have said above, the Vampire, "Oupire,” or “Vroncolaca,” of Eastern Europe is a person long or lately dead, who manifests himself in physical form generally by sucking the blood of living persons, but occasionally by killing animals, and making apparently motiveless disturbances (always in his former home) after the manner of the Poltergeist.

The causes of this form of haunting are various. According to local belief the bodies of suicides, persons who have lived an ill life, or have indulged in the practice of black magic, are specially liable to this form of Possession— for Possession it is. It must be clearly understood that it is not the soul of the deceased person which animates his corpse, but an outside Influence— that is to say an evil elemental or demon— which animates the body at periodical intervals, and keeps it from decay by the transfusion of living blood from human victims. The only case in which a Vampire may be animated by the spirit of the deceased is in that of a professor of black magic. Under certain circumstances the latter may learn enough to keep his body in a semicataleptic trance, and his soul attached to it, and therefore out of the sphere of punishment which he has earned.

In this case (as in all others of Vampirism) the remedy is to disinter the body of the supposed Vampire, and either burn it, or drive a stake through the heart and cut off the head. There can be no doubt that the practice, in vogue in England up to comparatively recent times of burying the body of a suicide at four cross-roads with a stake driven through it, was due to a survival of this belief, which was in ancient times held in this country as elsewhere. William of Malmesbury mentions that in England the bodies of persons who had died in mortal sin were liable to be animated by demons. William of Newbridge, who lived and wrote about the middle of the twelfth century, among other cases relates that of a man who was buried at Berwick-on-Tweed, who came out of his grave, and assailed his former friends by biting them at night. However, ten young men, braver than the other inhabitants of Berwick, disinterred the corpse, tore out the heart, pierced it with a stake and consumed the body to ashes, after which the hauntings ceased. But the belief in the bodily return of the dead for evil purposes is far older than mediaeval times. The ancient Greeks called this form of demon lamia, and believed that they devoured children. The Romans had the same belief, and called them strigae. The prophet Isaiah in foretelling the ruin of Babylon, according to the Vulgate, says that “ she shall become the abode of satyrs, lamia and strigae.” In the laws which the Emperor Charlemagne gave to the Saxons he condemns to death those who believe that men are sorcerers (slriges esse) and eat living men. He also condemns to death those who have the bodies of reputed wizards burnt, or give their flesh to others to eat, or eat of it themselves. In this latter connexon in Russia until quite recently one method of rendering oneself immune from the attacks of a Vampire, was to eat a portion of the flesh of the corpse of the suspected person, and also to eat a small portion of rye bread kneaded with his blood. Thus it will be seen that the belief in the return of the bodies of the dead, animated by a malignant ghost or demon, is of an extreme antiquity. Our Scandinavian forefathers also held this belief, but in a modified form. They believed that in certain cases the bodies of the dead, and especially the bodies of dead heroes and warriors, were animated in this way, and roamed the countryside attacking and killing men and animals. In other cases when a warrior was buried in a cairn with his arms and treasure, the corpse was supposed to become animated for the purpose of guarding the latter against thieves. In the Saga of Grettir the Strong two instances are given of this. The first of his fight with Karr the Old in the tomb whither Grettir had penetrated for the purpose of taking the dead chieftain’s sword, and the second in Grettir’s fight with the spirit of Glam the Thrall.

In this second case, a certain farmer’s homestead was haunted by the animated corpse of a deceased shepherd, which was in the habit of killing men, horses, and sheep. Grettir, who was known to be utterly fearless, was asked to lay the appearance, and consented to do so. While Grettir was sleeping in the farmer’s house the vivified corpse forced its way into the hall by tearing down the door, and Grettir grappled with it. After a long struggle Grettir got the mastery, and proceeded to lay the visitant by cutting off its head and laying it beside its thigh (the Norse method of laying anything supernatural). Before he could do so, however, the body spoke to him, and foretold that as long as he lived he would never get rid of the sight of its eyes.

Now Grettir was an historical personage, and it is on record from various sources, that after this incident that he could never bear to be alone because he complained of being continually plagued by a pair of eyes. Grettir was outlawed for most of his life, and always preferred the company of even a probable traitor in his places of refuge to his own.

In recent times, however, the Vampire legend has been almost exclusively confined to Eastern Europe, and is supported by a mass of corroborative evidence. To explain the huge number of cases of Vampirism there, it must be remembered that according to the local belief, every victim of a Vampire became a Vampire in his turn, and so the ranks of these beings were recruited from an ever-widening circle. In the seventeenth century the devil was supposed to hold a school of black magic on the Scolomanca Mountain in Hungary, and as his fee claimed every tenth pupil, who at his death became a Vampire. There are many details extant of the attributes of Vampires, some evidently pure invention, and some which seem to have a deeper significance. The principal attributes of a person— or rather body— in this state of life-in-death, are extreme pallor, canine teeth unnaturally long and sharp, and very foetid breath. The Vampire during his visits to the upper world would also throw no shadow, whether on the ground or in a looking-glass, and is never seen to eat or drink.

The conditions of this existence seem to vary according to different cases, but in all cases it seems to be a condition that the Vampire must pass a certain portion of each twenty-four hours in his grave. It also appears to be an undecided point as to how the Vampire leaves and re-enters his grave. The general consensus of opinion seems to be that the body leaves the grave without making any disturbance, which would seem to point to a Vampire being able to de-materialize and re-incamate at will. The belief that locked doors and windows are no bar to the visits of a Vampire would also seem to support this theory.

In Eastern Europe the great danger from a Vampire seems to be in the latter attacking those who did not know him in life. His former acquaintances would of course know him, and take proper precautions, but as a Vampire is, except in minor details, exactly like a human being, strangers would not have this advantage, and in consequence the visitant could go on supporting his horrible half-life amongst them, and use them as a means of prolonging it.

There are several amulets which are supposed to be of sovereign virtue against the attacks of the Vampire. A crucifix, a consecrated picture or "ikon” and above all, garlic flowers, are supposed to be the most efficacious.

Absolutely wild and improbable as this belief seems to be, there are scores of cases vouched for by hundreds of witnesses. One or two of these may be of interest to those interested in the occult, and also to the general reader.

The first took place in the year 1736. In this year a soldier was billeted in the house of a Hungarian peasant close to the Austrian frontier. One day, as he was seated at table with several other people, a stranger entered and sat down at table. The soldier thinking this was an acquaintance of his host, took no notice, but the latter appeared to be extremely disturbed and frightened. The peasant, the owner of the house, was found dead in bed the next morning, and the soldier was informed that the visitor of the previous day was his host’s father, who had been dead and buried for over ten years, and who had come back and killed his son. The soldier informed his colonel, who in turn informed the general commanding the district, who ordered an inquiry. Accordingly, the Count de Cabreras, colonel of the regiment of Alendetti infantry, proceeded to the scene of the alleged haunting, accompanied by the regimental surgeon and several other officers, and took the depositions of the other people in the house. These attested unanimously that what the soldier had reported was the exact truth, and this was confirmed by the other inhabitants of the village. The colonel accordingly had the corpse exhumed, when it was found to be in all respects like a living man in a deep sleep. The Count had the body decapitated and re-interred, and he also did the same with the bodies of several reputed victims of the first Vampire. These proceedings were reported to the general, and through him to the Emperor, who approved of them officially.

Now in this case to the ordinary mind, the evidence for and against the supposition of Vampirism seems to be about equally balanced. We have the natural superstition of ignorant peasants, probably born and brought up in an atmosphere of credulity, to consider, and also the evidence of a private soldier, w h o may have wished for a change of quarters, and may have worked on the superstition of the peasants for that reason. Again, he may have invented the whole story as a joke, but in this case what becomes of the peasants’ evidence ? They at least would hardly invent such a story, and have their graveyard profaned from a misdirected sense of humour. Then we must remember that the Count de Cabreras and his officers were probably educated men, and little likely to take action on what they considered peasants’ babble, much less to insult the intelligence of their general by making a report to him, unless the case presented to them clear proof of Vampirism. The sceptic may dismiss the evidence of the peasants and soldiers as unworthy of credence, but I do not see how that of the officers can be so treated.

An almost precisely similar case took place in the village of Kisilova in Servia in September 1738. An old man of sixty-two having died appeared three days after his death to his son, and asked him for something to eat, on being supplied with which he disappeared. The next night but one the dead man was seen by several people in the village going towards his son’s house, and in the morning the latter was found dead, bearing all the marks of strangulation. After this at intervals several men of the village were found dead in the same manner, and at last the village mayor reported the matter to the Parliament at Belgrade, who dispatched several officers and an executioner to hold an inquiry. The alleged Vampire was exhumed, and as in the preceding case, showed all the characteristics of a living man. The executioner cut off his head, and the body was reduced to ashes. No marks of Vampirism, however, were found on the body of the son, or the other people who had died or been murdered.

Now in this case there is no evidence of Vampirism except that of peasants. The Parliament at Belgrade, knowing the intense excitement caused in lonely countrysides and villages by stories of Vampirism, probably sent down the commission with orders to allay the peasants’ fears, which they proceeded to do by destroying the body of the alleged Vampire in the time-honoured way.

The freshness of the corpse in this case after six weeks' burial may be ascribed to some preservative quality in the soil of the churchyard, and the story of respiration, etc., by the corpse, as either invention or more probably delusion.

To turn to more modem instances, Madame Blavatsky relates the story of a Russian official, who returned and was seen by many people after his death (Isis Unveiled, vol. I, p. 454), and the late Doctor Franz Hartmann has contributed an account of an authenticated case of Vampirism to the Occult Review.

Both Mr. Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, and the late Sheridan Le Fanu’s story Carmilla, are woven round this theme, and although fiction, give a mass of detail on this subject. According to many authorities, Vampires, although subject to many restrictions, such as having to pass a certain portion of each day in their tomb, and being subject to exorcism and the power of amulets, also enjoy the use of many powers which enable them to deceive their intended victims. Chief among these is the power enjoyed by them of changing their shape at will, and entering locked, barred, and bolted houses.

According to many accounts, they also use what, for want of a better word, may be termed stage-accessories, such as carriages, horses, servants, etc., which seem to have no real existence, but to be simply illusions, which these beings are permitted by some other power to use in order to forward their ends. However, both the Vampire’s restrictions and powers seem to be subject to well-defined laws of which we know nothing, and which are probably those of another plane impinging on this.

In countries where cremation is the rule Vampirism is almost unknown, for the reason that the destruction of the physical body deprives the creature of its raison d’être. In India, where the natives believe in a multitude of ghosts and demons, the belief in Vampirism is almost absent. The nearest approach to the Vampire in Hindû folk-lore is the Churel, or ghost of a woman who has died in child-birth, who haunts lonely roads, and leads men to destruction. Her feet are turned the wrong way round on the ankles so that she may be recognized. In Mohammedan countries where burial is the rule the belief in blood-sucking ghosts under various names has always prevailed.

However, Vampirism, which most probably had its origin in an infinitely older epoch and race than ours, is now happily extremely rare, and bids fair in the near future, with the evolution of the human race, to become entirely extinct.

## Info

* The Occult Review
* Vol. 22. December 1915 No. 6 (UK Edition)
* Edited By Ralph Shirley
* Title The Vampire Superstition
* By Capt. Vere D. Shortt, Author Of “Lost Sheep.” (Vere Dawson Shortt)
* Publishers, William Rider & Son, London
* Pages (pdf) 46-51
* Pages (text) 354-359

## Links

Main Source:

http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/occult\_review/occult\_review\_v22\_n6\_dec\_1915.pdf

### Additional Links

Short Bio http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/shortt\_vere

More bio info and photo: https://monlegionnaire.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/french-foreign-legion-by-captain-vere-shortt/

* http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?235418
* http://cercle-v.org/Upir/u49-2.htm
* http://cercle-v.org/Pdf/upir49\_2p.pdf
* https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/28847086/

## Citations

**APA**  Shortt, V. D. (1915, December). The Vampire Superstition. *The Occult Review*, *22*(6), 354–359. http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/occult\_review/occult\_review\_v22\_n6\_dec\_1915.pdf.

**MLA**  Shortt, Vere D. “The Vampire Superstition.” *The Occult Review*, Dec. 1915, pp. 354–359, iapsop.com/archive/materials/occult\_review/occult\_review\_v22\_n6\_dec\_1915.pdf.

**Chicago**  Shortt, Vere D. “The Vampire Superstition.” *The Occult Review* 22, no. 6, December 1915. http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/occult\_review/occult\_review\_v22\_n6\_dec\_1915.pdf.

**Harvard** Shortt, V. D. (1915) “The Vampire Superstition,” *The Occult Review*, December, pp. 354–359. Available at: http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/occult\_review/occult\_review\_v22\_n6\_dec\_1915.pdf.

**Vancouver** Shortt VD. The Vampire Superstition. The Occult Review [Internet]. 1915Dec;22(6):354–9. Available from: http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/occult\_review/occult\_review\_v22\_n6\_dec\_1915.pdf