26. The Greeks had their own vampire tradition of the vrykolakas
In Greek folklore, the closest entity to a vampire is the vrykolakas. The vrykolakas is a dead body that returns to scourge the living. A vrykolakas is created when someone dies excommunicated or after committing a serious crime. Their attacks on the living include vandalism, threatening behavior, and spreading plague. Like the draugr, the vrykolakas is not a pretty sight. Witnesses described pale skin pulled taught over the body, like a drum. In the 17th century, Leo Allatius reported that people on the Greek island of Chios never answered the door on the first knock, in fear of a vrykolakas.
