Tradition / Region: Bosnian Mythology
Alternate Names: Lampiger, Lampijer, Lampijerović, Lepir, Tenac, Vukodlak
Category: Vampire
The Myth
The Lampir is a vampiric revenant believed to arise from the first person who dies during an epidemic or plague. Because of this origin, it is closely associated with death spreading through communities, making it a feared figure during times of disease.
After death, the Lampir returns from the grave as an undead being that feeds on the living. Unlike some other vampires, it is said to attack by biting a small hole into the chest using its distinctive multiple fangs, draining blood directly from the body.
Its curse is contagious in a delayed way: a person who survives an encounter will not immediately turn, but after their natural death they will rise again as a Lampir. This creates a chain of transformation linked to mortality rather than immediate infection.
There are also darker traditions stating that a person could deliberately become such a creature by consuming the flesh of an executed individual, suggesting that the Lampir is tied not only to plague but also to taboo acts and impurity.
To destroy a Lampir, villagers would exhume the corpse during daylight and burn it completely, ensuring that no part of the body remained to rise again.
The Lampir represents a classic Balkan fear:
a disease-bringing undead, where death itself does not end suffering but spreads it further through both body and spirit.
Sources
Bane, T. (2010). Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology. In McFarland (p. 93).
Vampires Fandom contributors. (n.d.). Lampir. In Vampires Fandom, from https://vampires.fandom.com/wiki/Lampir