Death is Relative

A COMMON threat heard in England, and one which is usually directed at one's enemies, is that someone “will come back and haunt you” after they are dead". I've had it said to me on a number of occasions, I can tell you. The idea in general is hardly confined to the English and even in Ancient Mesopotamia there were restless spirits who returned to terrorise the living if they had not been buried with the customary rites and offerings.

I was reading about Polish vampirism and the West Slavic folk known as the Kashubians (Kaszëbi), themselves native to Pomerania in north-central Poland. They speak of a creature known as a ‘wieszcz,’ which is similar to a vampire but far more chaotic and inventive. The wieszezys have the ability to return from the dead, but always prefer to attack their closest relatives first. This continues until the corpse is finally dug up, decapitated and a little of the blood consumed by the wieszcz's intended victims.

I suppose we all have at least one relative matching this description, although I have found that talking politics will drive away most of them. It may put Van Helsing out of a job, but will at least save you being dismembered by an irritating aunt you thought you'd seen the last of.