A “bad death” was more likely to make you a vampire, rather than a bite mark.

Originally, it was more likely that you’d be suspected of being a revenant after Death if something sinister happened to you.

“People who are believed to be vampires kind of fall in two categories,” said Wilson.

“There are people who in life either held some sort of marginalized social status or were believed to maybe practice witchcraft or be sorcerers, or it could be people who suffered what is known basically as ‘bad death’.” 

“Bad deaths” could refer to any death out of the ordinary, such as death from suicide, murder, or drowning.

“Lots of unusual Burials of people who just die suddenly, like people who get struck by lightning, are often given unusual burial,” said Wilson. 

Being the seventh child of a parent who was also the seventh child was also a risk factor, Borrini said. 

Unusual burials were sometimes given to people who looked different from others. But Wilson says this doesn’t necessarily mean they were seen as vampires. 

“It’s quite common to see people with less common physical features in burials, but that’s not always done with disrespect. Sometimes these people were just believed to be very powerful. So they merit a kind of specialized mortuary treatment after death,” she said.