The Soul, Evil Spirits, and the Undead: Vampires, Death, and Burial in Jewish Folklore and Law

When discussing Jewish burial laws, Radbaz, a sixteenth-century rabbi, quotes a story about a dead woman possessed by a vampire-like demon, causing hundreds of deaths. The story attributes the woman’s transformation to the fact that her corpse had remained unburied for three days—violating statutes that require standing vigil over a dead body and then burying it as soon as possible. While this story conforms to the well-known tropes of epidemiology and social marginalization found in the scholarship of vampire folklore, it also underscores the importance of adhering to Jewish burial laws, and stresses society’s collective responsibility in caring for all people.