This volume gives accounts of the vampire and how its tradition developed in different cultures. Eleven scholars from the fields of Slavic studies, history, anthropology and psychiatry examine the nature of the vampire from its birth in graveyard lore to the modern-day psychiatric patient with a penchant for drinking blood. This book looks at the vampire's folk traditions. The essays examine the history of the word ""vampire"" - Romanian vampires; Greek vampires; Serbian vampires; the physical attributes of vampires; the killing of vampires; and the possible psychoanalytic underpinnings of vampires.