Editing Vampire (section)

==== Americas ====
The ''[[Rougarou]]'' is an example of how a vampire belief can result from a combination of beliefs, here a mixture of French and African Vodu or [[West African Vodun|voodoo]]. The term ''Rougarou'' possibly comes from the French {{lang|fr|[[loup-garou]]}} (meaning "werewolf") and is common in the [[culture of Mauritius]]. The stories of the ''Rougarou'' are widespread through the [[Caribbean Islands]] and [[Louisiana]] in the United States.{{sfn|Bunson|1993|pp=162–163}} Similar female monsters are the ''[[Soucouyant]]'' of [[Trinidad]], and the ''[[Tunda]]'' and ''[[Patasola]]'' of [[Colombian folklore]], while the [[Mapuche]] of southern [[Chile]] have the bloodsucking snake known as the ''[[Peuchen]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Martinez Vilches, Oscar|title=Chiloe Misterioso: Turismo, Mitologia Chilota, leyendas|year=1992|page=179|publisher=Ediciones de la Voz de Chiloe|location=Chile|oclc=33852127|language=es}}</ref> ''[[Aloe vera]]'' hung backwards behind or near a door was thought to ward off vampiric beings in South American folklore.<ref name=Jaramillo/> [[Aztec mythology]] described tales of the [[Cihuateteo]], skull-faced spirits of those who died in childbirth who stole children and entered into sexual liaisons with the living, driving them mad.<ref name="Strange & Amazing"/>

During the late 18th and 19th centuries the belief in vampires was [[New England vampire panic|widespread in parts of New England]], particularly in [[Rhode Island]] and eastern [[Connecticut]]. There are many documented cases of families disinterring loved ones and removing their hearts in the belief that the deceased was a vampire who was responsible for sickness and death in the family, although the term "vampire" was never used to describe the dead. The deadly disease [[tuberculosis]], or "consumption" as it was known at the time, was believed to be caused by nightly visitations on the part of a dead family member who had died of consumption themselves.<ref name=sledzik>{{cite journal|last=Sledzik|first=Paul S.|author2=Nicholas Bellantoni|year=1994|title=Bioarcheological and biocultural evidence for the New England vampire folk belief|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=94|issue=2|pages=269–274|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330940210 |pmid=8085617}}</ref> The most famous, and most recently recorded, case of suspected vampirism is that of nineteen-year-old [[Mercy Brown]], who died in [[Exeter, Rhode Island]], in 1892. Her father, assisted by the family physician, removed her from her tomb two months after her death, cut out her heart and burned it to ashes.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Vampires and Death in New England, 1784 to 1892|author=Bell, Michael E.|journal=Anthropology and Humanism|year=2006|volume=31|issue=2|pages=124–40|doi=10.1525/ahu.2006.31.2.124}}</ref>

[[Sarah Roberts (subject of vampire legend)|Sarah Roberts]] (1872–1913) was an Englishwoman who died and was buried in [[Pisco, Peru]]. After her death, a legend evolved that she was a vampire and bride of Dracula. On June 9, 1993, the 80th anniversary of her death, locals in Pisco feared she would come back to life and take her revenge.<ref name="lanc">{{cite news |last1=Henfield |first1=Sally |title=The 'Peruvian vampire' – from East Lancashire |url=https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/4385196.peruvian-vampire---east-lancashire/ |access-date=3 October 2024 |work=Lancashire Telegraph |date=21 May 2009}}</ref>