Katakhanes (Crete)

Katakhanes is the term used in Crete for vampires. Belief in katakhanes is widespread on the island, where belief in demons of the mountains, air, and water also exists. A recent account tells of a katakhanes in the village of Kalikrati who killed both children and adults. He was buried in the cemetery of the church of Saint George, and a shepherd seeking shelter from a storm rested near his tomb. The katakhanes, needing to leave the tomb, asked the shepherd to move, but the shepherd refused unless the katakhanes swore an oath not to harm him. The katakhanes complied, and upon leaving, killed a newly married couple. He returned to the shepherd with a bloody liver, which he offered to share. The shepherd pretended to eat it, and when the katakhanes departed, he reported the encounter to priests. The katakhanes was burned, but not before spitting blood on the shepherd’s foot, causing it to wither. The katakhanes’s little fingernail was found in the ashes and destroyed. This story may explain the Cretan expression, attributed by Tavernier to a Cretan woman: “I would rather eat my child’s liver!” which may refer to the supposed craving of these malevolent beings for human livers.