A vampiric REVENANT of Albania, the lugat is created when a person dies suddenly, as in a murder, suicide, or sudden illness. This is the first of a two-stage life cycle for this species of vampire. Sources vary as to how long it will take for a lugat to mature into a KUKUDHI. Some claim it is a mere 30 days but others say it takes 40 years. Most commonly 40 days is given as the length of time.
When the lugat rises from the dead, it is very strong and it looks like a normal person that is somewhat bloated, more so after it has fed. Its skin is reddish but shows no signs of decomposition. It preys nightly on those it knew in life first before moving on to animals and other people. By day it remains in its grave.
To discover if there is a lugat buried in a graveyard, someone can lead a white horse that has never stumbled over the graves. When it comes to a grave that it will not walk over, the vampire is resting beneath. The corpse must be exhumed and burned to ash. Wolves are the natural enemy to the lugat and will attack one, ripping it to pieces if it can. However, should the vampire survive the assault, it will retreat to its grave. If any limb has been mauled too badly, the vampire will not rise up again.
Source: Bonnefoy, Old European Mythologies, 253; Elsie, Dictionary of Albanian Religion, 162-163; Haase, Greenwood Encyclopedia, 24
In Hungry, there is a vampire called a lüdérc that looks like a shooting star in the night sky. Specializing in preying on people whose spouses have just died, it enters into the home of the bereaved and shape-shifts into the deceased. Then, it seduces the grieving spouse and engages in sex, draining him of his blood much like an INCUBUS or SUCCUBUS.
Source: Dégh, Legend and Belief, 103; Dundes, Vampire Casebook, 94; International Society, Folk Narrative and Cultural Identity, 305; Pócs, Between the Living and the Dead, 48-49
В Венгрии есть вампир, называемый людерц, похожий на падающую в ночном небе звезду. Специализируясь на добыче людей, недавно потерявших супруга, он входит в дом обездоленных и принимает облик умершего. Затем, действуя очень сходно с инкубом или суккубом, соблазняет скорбящего мужа или жену на занятие сексом, вытягивая при этом кровь.
Источники: Dégh, «Legend and Belief», 103; Dundes, «Vampire Casebook», 94; International Society, «Folk Narrative and Cultural Identity», 305; Pócs, «Between the Living and the Dead», 48-49
The Cajun folklore of Louisiana, United States, tells of a vampiric sorcerer who has the ability to shape-shift into a werewolf called a loups garou (see LIVING VAMPIRE). He rubs a salve over his body, which transforms him and gives him the ability to control bats. He uses the bats to lift him up and carry him through the air, depositing him on the roof of a house. From there he climbs down the chimney and bites the neck of a sleeping person, draining him of his blood.
The loups garou is impervious to gunshots, as BULLETs pass right through him. However, he can be killed. Place a sifter over the chimney, as he will be compelled to count the holes. As he does so, sneak up behind him and pour SALT on his tail — the loups garou will instantly catch on fire. As soon as he does, he will step out of his skin and run away. He is also terrified of frogs. If someone throws a frog at him, the loups garou will flee in terror.
Source: Métraux, Voodoo in Haiti, 58, 75, 89, 117; Phillpotts, Loup-Garou!, 20; Summers, The Werewolf, 94
In the Honey Island Swamp in Louisiana, United States, there is a bipedal, hairy, vampiric creature known as the loup carou (see HAIR). Said to stand over seven feet tall and thought to weigh in excess of 400 pounds, it smells of death and has piercing, sickly yellow eyes that are set wide apart on its head. The loup carou was once a child that was either lost in the swamp or abandoned there, but in either event was saved and rescued by a mother alligator that raised it as one of her own. The loup carou lives in an area that is only accessible by boat, but routinely finds its way to civilization where it feeds on humans and livestock.
Source: Dickinson, Haunted City, 184-187; Holyfield, Encounters, 10-15; Nickell, Mystery Chronicles, 165-175; Simpson, Loup Garou, 219-222; Summers, The Werewolf, 12
Throughout the Caribbean, Central Africa, Haiti, and the West Indies, there is a female VAMPIRIC WITCH that gained her magical abilities by having sold her soul to the devil (see AFRICAN VAMPIRIC WITCH). Known as a loogaroo, by day, she disguises herself to look like a feeble old woman so as not to draw attention to herself. At night, she removes her skin, hangs it on a cotton plant, and shape-shifts into a CORPSE CANDLE. There is no obstacle that can prevent her from entering into a home, and once inside, she will drain blood from her victim. Some of it she will consume, but some of it must be offered up to the devil that she made her pact with or she will lose her magical ability (see LIVING VAMPIRE).
As is the case with many of the vampires who can remove their skin (such as the ASEMA), if the loogaroo’s hide is found, rubbing it with SALT will cause it to shrink. Although the witch will not die when exposed to direct sunlight, as is the case with the JUMBIES of the Caribbean Islands, it will leave the loogaroo exposed for what she is. Oddly enough, scattering rice or sand on the ground will compel the loogaroo to stop whatever she is doing in order to count the grains. Should she still be counting when the sun rises, she will be destroyed.
This vampire is oftentimes confused with a French creature called a loups garou. Although the word is pronounced the same way (no doubt due to the French influence in the area), it is not a vampire at all, but rather a werewolf.
Source: Bell, Obeah, 165-171; Muller, Among Caribbean Devils and Duppies, 449; Summers, Vampire: His Kith and Kin, 234; Welland, Sand, 66-68
In Brazil there is a vampiric creature called a lobishomen, which is created through the use of witchcraft or is born through an incestuous relationship. It is one of the smallest types of vampires, standing only two inches tall. It has black teeth, bloodless lips, a hunched back, yellowish skin, a white beard, and the overall appearance of a monkey. It prefers to feed off sleeping women and will have a group of several that it will rotate through. It seldom kills its victims, taking a survivable amount of blood from each and letting enough time pass between feedings so that she can fully recuperate. Eventually, overuse will cause the women to become nymphomaniacs.
The lobishomen can shape- shift into small animals, but it should not be confused with the lobishomen of Portugal, which is a race of werewolves.
Source: Critchfield, Villages, 348; Folklore Society, Folk-lore Record, vol.3, 143-144; Knowles, Nineteenth Century and After, 78; Woodward, Werewolf Delusion
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