Greek Vampires

In 1929, the U.S. diplomat, writer and philhellenist George Horton (1859-1942) published a book with the rather curious title "Home of Nymphs and Vampires: The Isles of Greece."



The eighth chapter of the book, simply titled "Vampires", remains a gripping account of the history and legends surrounding Greek vampires, commonly known as the vrykolakas.



With the original book being long out-of-print, and with no digitised copy available online, Horton's small text serves as a perfect introduction to Greek vampirology for the anglophone reader, and thus merits its own volume.



The appendix to Horton's text includes an early eyewitness account of the superstitions surrounding the vrykolakas on the island of Mykonos in 1700.