Bestiary · Slavic · Vampire
Upyr
Also known as: upyr, upyri, upiór, upir, upiri
The Slavic vampire, a dead sorcerer or witch who rises from the grave at night to suck the blood of the living.
The upyr is the Slavic vampire: a dead sorcerer, witch or werewolf, or someone who died under a curse, who rises from the grave at night to suck the blood of people and cattle. People dug up the graves of suspected upyri, found the dead with a fresh flush on their cheeks and dried blood on their lips, and ended them with an aspen stake or with fire. Afanasyev shows that the upyr is close kin to the witch and the werewolf, and reads all three as cloud and storm spirits: the upyr who drinks blood is the storm cloud that drinks up the rain.