A vrykolakas is a sort of vampire either wolf-headed or covered in wolf fur (in both cases with a the palm of the hand hairy and a wolf dentition) common to almost all Balkan countries. One becomes one after having eaten a sheep wounded by a wolf or a werewolf, after having been excommunicated or at death after having lived a life of sacrilege or after having been burried in unconsecrated ground. They are stuffed in the blood of their victims giving them a red-faced look, spread epidemics, cause bad dreams in people by sitting on their chest while their sleep (like nightmares I drew last year ; Johann Heinrich Füssli's famous painting The Nightmare do feature a nightmare and a vrykolakas together), and if he knocks on your door at night, do not open to him, he will go on his way, otherwise you will die on the following days (and as he only gives one knock, Greek tradition calls for giving 2). One can kill him by beheading, cutting him to pieces, cremating him or impaling him, or exorcizing so he could turn back into a normal living or dead human.

Vrykolakas © Balkans folklore
Drawing © me