Vampire

Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on human and/or animal lifeforce. In most cases, they are reanimated corpses who feed by draining and consuming the blood of living beings. In folklore, the term usually refers to the undead blood-drinking humans of Eastern European legends, but it is often applied to similar legendary creatures from other regions and cultures.

Vampires appear in several of Harry Turtledove's stories.

Vampire in "Batboy"
Vampire Zoltan Nagy acted as a batboy for the St. Louis Browns. In early September, second baseman Laszlo Kovacs got the impression that Zoltan was a vampire, a fact which he proved in Detroit when he caught sight of Zoltan's empty clothing in a mirror.

When Zoltan tried to get into the room Lazslo shared with Rip, the second basemen hammered a spike into his heart and Rip threw a clove of garlic down his throat. After his death, nobody, including Gyula Nagy, supposedly the boy's father, remembered Zoltan, except for Lazslo and Rip.

Vampire in "The Bleeding Moon"
See: Vurkolak

Vampires in "A Different Vein"
A vampire, tired of the jokes told by Hal Williams, had his vengeance on the comedian.

Vampire in "Gentlemen of the Shade"
A group of five vampires called the Sanguine Club resided in London in 1888. They soon became aware of a sixth vampire, Jack, who came to be known to the world as Jack the Ripper. The others, terrified that the undisciplined Jack would reveal the existence of vampires to the world, invited him to join, only to be rebuffed. Thus, they decided to stop Jack's murder spree. After pursuing him through the fall of 1888, the Sanguine Club captured Jack and walled him up in the Tower Bridge.

Vampires in "The Horse of Bronze"
Vampires inhabited territory in the unexplored interior of eastern Europe, north of the centaurs' homeland and south of a settlement of Lapiths.

When the Centaur Pholus led an expedition into the interior of eastern Europe in search of tin, he first made contact with vampires. Vampires organized raids against the centaurs by night and sucked the blood of several of the members of his expedition, but the centaurs managed to capture one vampire on one such raid, and Pholus ordered that the vampire be bound tightly in an open clearing. The vampire died a horrible death when the sun rose, and after that incident his countrymen decided to give the centaurs a wide berth.

Pholus passed through the vampires' territory and made contact with the Lapiths north of it. Upon returning to his homeland, Pholus suggested that the Centaurs not make war against the vampires because they were the only thing standing between the centaurs and the Lapiths. However, he had no great hope that the vampires would be able to frustrate or discourage Lapith ambitions for long, and indeed the Lapiths did manage to force their way through vampire territory and into the centaurs' homeland.

Vampire in "None So Blind"
While an expedition from the Empire of Mussalmi was still in the jungles south of the Empire's borders and north of the tropical mountains that was its ultimate destination, a native porter cautioned the group about the tsaldaris in the area. After much discussion, using the mage Sunila's translation cantrip with the native, the Mussalmians concluded he was referring to a vampire.

Some of the Mussalmians thought he was either trying to scare them off or at best repeating native superstitions. Others took the warning more seriously and tried to recall whatever lore they knew about vampires. They eventually recalled that vampires were stopped by roses, garlic and sunlight. When put to the native, he agreed about sunlight and he knew nothing of roses or garlic. The absence of the northern flower was not surprising. When one of the expedition cooks let him sniff garlic, his horrible look suggested he preferred the tsaldaris.

That night some of the expedition rubbed themselves with powdered garlic while the rest did not. The next morning, those who used the garlic and the natives were unaffected. However, Relander, a savant who had not used garlic, lay in his bedroll with an eerie calm look on his face and two puncture marks on his neck; the most contented looking corpse anyone had seen. However, when the rising sun was fully on him, his features screwed up in pain and he began to wither. His body mortified in unnatural haste. To ensure he remained dead, the expedition pounded a stake through his heart and a cook placed a clove of garlic under his tongue.

The following evening, all the Mussalmians rubbed themselves with garlic before entering their bedrolls. However, it did little good. The mage Kyosti awoke in the moonlight and was mesmerized by a tsaldaris staring at him. The garlic was unpleasant to the creature but did not deter it. Kyosti was unable to offer any resistance but he was saved by Sunila and the native who threw a sack over its head. With the enchantment broken, Kyosti assisted them in restraining and binding the tsaldaris. In the morning, when the sunlight touched the creature, it did not merely mortify as did Relander but burst into flames. Shortly thereafter all that remained was a small heap of ashes mainly from the sack and the ropes that held it.

Vampire in "The Thing in the Woods"
Young vampire Tim was worried that a werewolf lived in the woods behind his friend Geoffrey's house. Geoffrey, also a vampire, had a great deal of fun at Tim's expense.

Vampire in "Traditions"
A vampire always killed the Count of Sirmion.

Vampire in "Under St. Peter's"
A vampire named Dacicus transformed Jesus into a vampire shortly after the latter was crucified. Jesus was kept by the Catholic Church in a secret chamber of St. Peter's Basilica. Tradition required that Jesus feed on some of the blood of each newly ascendant pope. Only Pope Honorius I ever became a vampire himself.