Shadows rising from the cemeteries of the Aegean islands, whispers spreading from the villages of Crete to the shores of the Bosporus, fears crossing mountains and seas traveling through time. The Greek vampire, the bloodthirsty creature of folk beliefs that persistently returns to the world of the living, has been for centuries a subject of collective terror and superstition. Its myth sparked the curiosity of foreign travelers and inspired the imagination of many writers, and its dark reputation spread to the farthest corners of Europe and across the Atlantic.
The collection Vampire and Other Morphollycules gathers stories that explore a particular aspect of supernatural literature: the Greek vampire in Western fiction. From John Polidori and Lord Byron to Seymour Queen and Evangeline Walton, the stories traverse the Greek landscape transforming its immortal vampire body from Greek tradition into a global symbol of literary horror.
Through different narratives, the fascinating mosaic of modern Greece is vividly depicted as seen by visitors and scholars from the West: an ancient and mysterious land, full of legends, where faith meets imagination and everyday life intertwines with the supernatural.
In the Afterword of the publication, scholar Augustinus Montgomery Summers examines the Greek vampire through the lens of Western scholarship and provides a comprehensive overview of the historical and folkloric approaches to one of the most terrifying myths of European culture. In this way, he further highlights the social and political dimensions of the phenomenon, as well as its role in shaping Greece’s image and in the formation of modern Greek identity.
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