 We all know about vampires. Undead monsters who sleep in coffins and stalk unsuspecting victims to drain their blood. In the last few decades, they have had a make over and become the stars of many a paranormal romance novels. But the murderous vampire is still going strong. Here are 13 vampires you never heard about and want you dead.
1 The Leyak A vampire that hails from the island of Bali. A flying head with body organs hanging off its severed neck, it flies around and sucks blood from fetuses or newborn babies with it’s unnaturally long tongue. If it can’t find a baby, it will make do with a corpse from a local graveyard. Like many vampires, the Leyak is a shape shifter and can appear like an ordinary human or a flying pig. 2 The Ekimmu The ancient Mesopotamians believed in the Ekimmu or “evil wind gusts”. These were the souls of the dead who traveled in the breeze and sucked the life force our of their victims. According to legend, there are many ways to become one, such as dying in battle, were murdered, too young, starved, drowned, or didn’t respect the gods enough. There are still people who believe they exist today. 3 The Asema By day, the Asema appears human, but beware, as soon as the sun goes down, this Suriname demon sheds its skin and becomes a blue ball of light. It sneaks into people’s houses and drains their blood. They do share traits with a common vampire, such as aversion to garlic, but they also don’t like seeds and nails. 4 The Brahmaparusha Like many vampires, the Brahmaparusha likes to drink blood, but other than sucking on your neck, it will drain your blood into a skull to be consumed at a later date. It also will remove your brain to eat. The Brahmaparusha is a show-off and displays its murderous ways in the goriest way. Slasher films would be put to shame! It was a voracious appetite and will devour several people in one night. 5 The Soucouyant Hailing from the Caribbean, the Soucouyant is a vampire who looks like an innocent, old woman while the sun is up. Then, at night, it shows its true self and emerges from its human skin as a fireball much like the Asema. The Soucouyant can sneak through the smallest of spaces to get into your home. Unlike the Asema, though, it doesn’t normally kill. But if it does, the corpse will rise as another Soucouyant. 6 The Penanggal Another vampire who is just a head, the Penanggal is an attractive female who removes her head and lets it fly into the night in search of victims. Not all Penanggal are this way by force, some women choose to become this creature by using black magic to become as beautiful as possible. Turning into a vampire is just a minor side effect. 7 The Yara-Ma-Yha-Who Probably the strangest looking vampire of the bunch, the Yara-Ma-Yha-Who is an unusually short man with red skin, a huge head, and over-sized mouth. It doesn’t have teeth, but drains its victims blood via suckers in its fingers and toes. Afterward, it gobbles up the body whole. It likes to lurk in trees and ambush unsuspecting people who pass underneath. 8 Celtic Fairies Not all fairies are cute. On the Isle of Man, it was once a tradition to leave water out each night for the fairies. Because if you didn’t, they would drink your blood while you slept! Some even claimed the fairies would bake the blood into a blood cake and hide those in the house. If you didn’t find and consume the cake, you would wither away and die. 9 The Lamashtu Another Mesopotamian vampire, this demon goddess has the head of a lion, the body of a donkey, and an appetite for babies. She prefers newborns and will stalk the mother until she gives birth. The goddess swoops in and eats the baby’s flesh and drinks its blood. An ancient incantation about her reads: Great is the daughter of Heaven who tortures babies Her hand is a net, her embrace is death She is cruel, raging, angry, predatory A runner, a thief is the daughter of Heaven. 10 The Dearg-Due Her name is Gaelic for Red Blood Sucker and this vampire was once a beautiful young woman who was forced into an abusive marriage. She killed herself and then rose as a vampire. The first thing she did was killer her abusive husband and then her father. She didn’t stop there, though. To this day, she supposedly still kills and feeds on young men, luring them like a siren into the night. 11 The Aswang This Filipino vampire is another who appears as a normal—but incredibly attractive—woman by day. She may even be married and have a family. Then night falls and she becomes a demonic, blood sucking bird. A hallow tongue she slides through open windows or cracks allows her to suck the blood of sleeping victims. 12 Romani Vampires The Romani people have a twist on their vampire lore. For them, female vampires often return to married life after rising. They can be just as blood-thirsty as their male counterparts, but also have a sexual appetite that exhausts their human husbands. Male vampires are able to father children who are known as dhampirs. Those children often become vampire hunters in their adulthood due to their special senses that allow them to detect vampires easily. 13 The Bruxsa Bruxsa are female vampire spirits who were witches when they were alive. Their powers are claimed to have come from Satan himself. They can shape shift into many animals, such as wolves. Their favorite form is a bird of prey. They will swoop down on travelers and feed on the blood of small children. Which vampire was your favorite? Have you heard of any of them before? (Source 1. Source 2.)
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 It's my birthday! I'm 39 and not sure how I feel about that number. Also, I'm actually not here today. I'm getting a massage. Instead, I'm lending my blog to my friend, Jemima Pett. She recently released the last book in her Princelings of the East series, called Princelings Revolution. Don't worry, there are birthday gifts at the end of the post. I mean, we are celebrating my birthday. Do you remember the first story you ever wrote? When I was about 8 years old I made a little booklet (about 1 inch by 2, so I mean little) with a handwritten story called "The Little Stream". I think I wrote a few more stories before homework and science projects overtook me at school. I tried a scifi novel when I was about 19 but was put off by a friend who said it was rubbish. So my first published books have been a long time coming. What are your five favorite books, and why? Firstly, The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Graham. I felt really at home with these characters and the settings. I wasn't fond of Mr Toad, and didn't like his adventures, but I liked the friendship of Moley and Ratty and the terrors of the Wild Wood. When I was small I thought the chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" was boring, and used to skip it. As an adult, I really love the imagery of it, it's real magic to me. The Lord of the Rings. I used to read this every year, or thereabouts. I found it when I was about seventeen, took the first volume out of the library on a Friday, and went back on Saturday for the second and third parts. I was totally hooked from the first. There is so much to explore in it, even now. The relationships and interactions between different people, the development of various characters... I often skip the more tedious Gollum bits, though. Black Beauty. This was a childhood favourite, and I re-read it last year. I found both an old friend and surprising new things. Anna Sewell was campaigning for better treatment of animals, and unfortunately we seem to be heading back into ill-treatment - now for the sake of status rather than from ignorance. I'm planning to write a modern version. The Crystal Singer, by Anne McCaffrey. Totally different from the others, this is scifi/fantasy with a spunky, independent heroine and some lovely offworld settings. There are three in the series and I think I like the second one, Killashandra, the best, but the Crystal Singer seems to me the ideal space opera. The Silver Brumby, by Elyne Mitchell. Another horse book (and series), this time the wild horses of the Australian Snowy Mountains. I think the author did a fine job on wild horse herd interactions and the dangers they face, natural and human. I originally found them when I was about fourteen, and I've kept them with me ever since. I was lucky enough to visit the Snowy Mountains and was bowled over to find these place names that I knew so well. I found someone else staying at the youth hostel who also knew about the books, and we spent a day brumby hunting! We found some, but they were all browns and bays, no silvers or creamies! How do you discover the ebooks you read? I follow a number of blogs which either feature the sort of books I like or are written by authors I enjoy. One way or another we share information about books we like. And then of course, there's Goodreads, which I use a lot to keep tabs on my reading, and also for the Great Middle Grade Reads Group - full of nice readers and authors!  And last question (which isn't actually a question, but more of a demand): Tell us about your latest book.
My newest release is the last in my Princelings of the East series. It’s called Princelings Revolution. I got sort of paralyzed in the run up to writing it because of all the crazy things happening in our world. It seemed that life was going to overtake art, and my revolution would be a bit of a damp squib. But I don’t think it is, in the end. Fred and George rally together to produce an answer to all the questions they’ve been asked, and although things in their world change forever, it may be for the better, overall. And it really is the last in the series, although several people have questioned that. After all, I thought I’d finished after book 3! You can read more about the book in several posts and blog posts during my book tour, which is linked up here. You can get it on Amazon (kindle and paperback), B&N Kobo iTunes and Smashwords. The holidays can be a stressful time, as we all know, but I'm hoping to lighten up this winter season with a little holiday horror. Maybe "lighten up" isn't the right term. The first story begins the winter holidays with Thanksgiving, with stories representing Christmas, Hanukah, Hogmanay (the New Year), Yule, Groundhog Day, and, finally, Valentine's Day. From serious horror to tongue-in-cheek. Read them all at once or save them for their holidays. Or both! Release day is November 20, which also happens to be my birthday! Just in time for Thanksgiving week. You can pre-order the Kindle version, with other versions, including paperback, available on release day.  Family time can lead to murder and mayhem, especially during the holidays. A turkey with a tale to tell, elves under attack, sorority sisters putting on a killer party, a woman's desperation to save her family, and a stranger ringing in the New Year. These and other tales of woe await you beneath the mistletoe. Be careful who you offer a kiss. It may be your last. Amazon pre-order link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MDZR9K5 About the Author  A fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes in her dungeon when her minions allow, often accompanied by her familiars. She writes primarily horror and fantasy. Her stories can be found in several anthologies and magazines, and her collections, Blue Sludge Blues & Other Abominations and Bruised Souls & Other Torments, are available in stores. You can also find her as a co-host of the podcast “Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem.” When she's not writing, she's hiking through the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings. Though she often misses the Oregon coast, the majestic and rugged Rockies are a sight she could never part with. Besides, in Colorado there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster. What more could she ask for?
Find her: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads | Instagram  Tropes can be symbolic and helpful for our understanding of plot and characters. We can use them, bend them, or try to avoid them. In the science fiction trope: aliens are us, we find aliens who breathe the same air, aliens who are bipedal, and aliens who speak the same language. Obviously, it’s a lot easier to write a story without the encumbrances of figuring out breathable atmospheres and language barriers. Showing movement is much easier when the aliens move similarly to the way we do. Even if aliens have different skin tones and/or a superpower, if that alien breathes the same, speaks the same language, and is bipedal, they might fall into this trope. Even if aliens have a naturally different shape than humans but they decide to take human shape to live among humans, they begin to fall into this trope. Examples of Aliens R Us in films and shows: Mork from Ork, Starman, Superman, and many aliens we meet in Star Trek, Babylon 5, Star Wars, Captain Marvel, Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Not every scifi story uses this trope. As we dig further into all that science fiction offers, we see more variety in alien life, notably in films like Arrival, E.T., Men in Black, and Edge of Tomorrow. Some aliens we meet in the Star Trek and Star Wars universes also break the mold. What kind of alien life forms do you like in science fiction?  A spaceship in disguise, An Earth girl searching for a sense of home, And a Thousand Years’ War between alien races, All collide on a summer afternoon. An old movie theater welcomes Amaya in and wraps her up in the smell of popcorn and licorice. But one sunny afternoon during a matinee, the movie screen goes dark. The theater rumbles. Amaya gets trapped in the middle of an ancient alien conflict. Angry and frightened, Amaya entangles herself in a life-changing cultural misunderstanding with Sol, a young alien who keeps omitting key information, even while they’re on the run from his enemies. What will it take to survive a battle between alien races involved in an ancient war? Liftoff is a fast-paced read for fans of Code 8, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Cobra Kai. LINKS: Kindle | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | Goodreads About the Author  Tyrean Martinson is an author and teacher from Washington State. As a former fencer and kickboxer, she enjoys writing fight scenes in fast-paced novels and novellas. As a teacher and writing tutor, she loves to get students writing and reading comfortably by any means: talk-to-text, short writing assignments, short stories, novellas, and adventures. She wrote her latest novella, Liftoff, for herself during COVID, but realized it also fits a dream she’s had for a while: to create a short, fast-paced read for teen/YA readers who love popcorn movies, adventure, and sweet romance.
Author Links: Blog Newsletter Instagram Twitter Facebook The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Posts go up the 1st Wednesday of every month. Check it out here and join if you need support with your writing. Don't forget to stop by and say hi to the co-hosts: Jemi Fraser, Kim Lajevardi, L.G Keltner, Tyrean Martinson, and Rachna Chhabria!
November 4 question - Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write? This is a pretty easy answer for me. I write what I write because I like to escape the real world. 2020 has proven just how crazy the real world is, so it's nice to get away into a story where you know the good guys win and evil is always defeated. Last month, I talked about being back at the day job as a baker and how I worried it'd wear me out and my writing would suffer. I'd like to say that hasn't happened, but it has a little. Well, not the baking part. Since I'm only part time, I need help to get it all done and we hired someone. The plan was for her to be able to do everything and she'd work her hours and I'd work mine. Between the two of us, everything would get done. Well, some people just aren't cut out for self managing themselves and this lady is one. She's more of a minion who needs a Gru to supervise her. That is what is tiring me. I work on my stuff, but also keep one eye on her and answer any questions she has. That's draining for an introvert like me. I actually ended up hiring another lady who has experience with baking and supervising people and I hope she will be the Gru I need. Then I'll just stick the minion on cookie duty and everything will get done and not be so drained that when I get home that I can barely write. Right now, I have a minimum goal of expanding one drabble to 200 words and to write one paragraph on my WIP. I'm just hitting those minimums. It's progress, but I would like more. Do you have a day job that likes to butt its head into writing? Why do you write what you write? |
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