For centuries, people have wondered about female vampires. Countless stories have circulated about them around the world, but no one knows for sure if they are true or just figments of our imagination. These stories often depict the female vampires in much the same way, but are they really like that? How did these stories come into being? In this article, we try to lift the curtains up on one of the oldest mysteries of our times. Here, we will compare stories about female vampires and their portrayal in different cultures to draw an inference, if we can.

The oldest mention of lady vampires can be traced back to the stories that originated in the Far East. In countries such as China, India, and Tibet, people talked about female vampires, but each of the three versions were different from each other. No one actually knows how the concept of a vampiress came into being, or how the image of blood-sucking women was conjured up by the masses. Over the years, these stories travelled along the famous Silk Route and reached Eastern Europe, where they gained firm ground. The people of Eastern Europe not only completely believed these stories about girl vampires and their powers and their ability to suck a human being's blood, but they soon started their own stories. Most of these stories were rooted in local myths and mysteries, but no one can vouch for their veracity. These are the stories that we hear even today.

In what the West refers to as The Far East, countries such as China, India, and Tibet had their own version of a female vampire. While not much is known about the Chinese and the Tibetan version, in India, the concept of female vampires mainly revolved around Indian mythology and around Goddess Kali in particular. Goddess Kali is a much revered deity in Hinduism. She is the slayer of demons. In Indian mythology, Goddess Kali is portrayed as having fangs, four arms, and a garland of skulls around her neck. According to Hindu scriptures, Goddess Kali along with Goddess Durga killed a demon called Raktabija. Raktabija possessed magical powers that allowed him to resurrect himself from the dead from his own split blood. In order to end the terror reign of Raktabija, it is said that Goddess Kali drank all of his blood so that he could not resurrect himself.

The portrayal of women vampires in Eastern Europe is not intermeshed with religion, as in India. Most of the stories about female vampires have originated from local myths and beliefs. A majority of these stories about girl vampires were circulated by the gypsies who travelled from one place to another. According to one of these stories, vampires originated from Mullo. It is said that when Mullo died, he returned back from his grave to suck the blood of all his relatives who had either caused his death or disrespected his funeral rites. The stories told by the gypsies also often mentioned female vampires. These female vampires had the power to rise from the dead and go back to leading their normal lives as if nothing had happened. The vampire, and especially the female vampire has a held the imagination of readers and movie goers for quite some time. Currently, movies such as Twilight and UnderWorld are continuing the never ceasing curiosity for creatures that stalk the night.