Source: Georgieva, Bulgarian Mythology, 95; Mac-Dermott, Bulgarian Folk Customs, 67; McClelland, Slayers and Their Vampires, 104

In the Moldovan and Romanian languages the word drakul means “the dragon” or “demon nearly”, and it is used to describe a type of vampiric demon that possesses the body of a deceased person and animates it. Once the demon has possession of the corpse, it makes it walk around naked, carrying its COFFIN on its head while looking for humans to prey upon. Fortunately, if the burial shroud of the person is destroyed, the demon will lose its hold on the body.

Source: Andreescu, Vlad the Impaler, 183; McNally, In Search of Dracula, 21; Twitchell, Living Dead, 16

Bulgarian folklore claims that if a child dies before it can be baptized, then it will become a vampiric demon known as a dousheta.

Source: Bryant, Handbook of Death, 99; Georgieva, Bulgarian Mythology, 102; MacPherson, Blood of His Servants, 25

In eastern Germany, the Wends, who occupied the land between the Elbe and Oder Rivers, used the word doppelsauger to describe a vampire (see GERMAN VAMPIRE). Later the word was applied to the Germanic imagery of what a vampire was.

A doppelsauger is created when a mother allows her child to breast- feed long after it should have been weaned. Eventually the time will come when that person will one day be near death. When this happens, a gold coin must be placed in his teeth prior to his passing to prevent him from rising as an undead monstrosity (see UNDEATH). If the person dies before the coin is placed, then some sort of propping device must be employed to keep the chin from resting against the chest. This preventative method must be taken to see to it that the deceased does not rise up as a vampiric REVENANT. In either event, after the body has been removed from the home, the sill of the doorway must be removed and immediately replaced. This will prevent the vampire from being able to find and return to its old home.

If every preventative method was taken and still the deceased returns as a doppelsauger, it can still drain the life from its victims, starting first with its own family before moving on to others, without ever leaving its grave. When the vampire does leave its grave, it will look like a bloated corpse whose lips have not decomposed. It will drain the life essence from its victims through their nipples, occasionally biting them off (see ENERGY VAMPIRE).

The only way to destroy a doppelsauger is to strike it in the back of the neck with a spade. The creature will cry out in pain just before it falls over, finally at rest.