There is some credence that the vampire mythology originated in Africa, and there are interesting references to vampire-like creatures and totems in local mythology. I wrote an article for "
For The Blood Is The Life" some years ago, which I include below for interest, and maybe to spark some ideas.
Spoiler:
Southern African tribal folklore abounds with mythological creatures and demons. Probably the most popular evil spirit is the 'Tokoloshe Man', who is only about a foot tall, and enters the bedroom of its sleeping victim to drain his spirit (psychic vampirism?) and sometimes kills. He is the reason why many Africans sleep in beds that are raised from the floor on bricks, so that he cannot reach them. The phenomenon of the vampire as perceived by us in the western world is not one that appears often in local legend, which is more frequently based on animal totems of one form or another.
There are beings that on closer examination bear a striking resemblance to the vampire as we know it, however, though sometimes these can be traced to 'imported' folklore. One such creature is the "Dijn Wife". She can be traced to the Cape Malays who came to Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries as slaves or political prisoners, and now mostly live in Cape Town in South Africa. The Dijn Wife comes from the following story: a good Malay man had an attractive but disliked wife, who was cold and distant in manner. This was because she was really a dijn, or evil spirit. She would never eat with her husband, pleading a poor appetite. He at last began to suspect that she received food elsewhere. Each night she placed a magic poultice on his chest to ensure that he slept like the dead, and sneaked out of the house. One evening, he pretended to be asleep, scraped the poultice off his chest, and followed her. Trailing her through the dark midnight streets, his blood chilled to find her entering a cemetery. Going to a fresh grave, she dug into the earth and uncovered the corpse. Driving her long nails into it, she ate avidly. Her husband fled in terror, and lay quaking until morning. At their next meal, however, he had recovered enough to accuse her of what he now knew, and realising that she had been discovered, she transformed him into a dog. This story is interesting in that it contains several of the elements of the western vampire, namely lack of appetite, hunting victims at night, albeit already dead, and shape changing, although in this case transmuting someone else.
The Hottentots, a race that originated in the horn of Africa, believed in 'naglopers', or night walkers, who were of both sexes and travelled only at night. Interestingly, they were believed to have control over animals, particularly the owl and baboon, and often betrayed themselves by trying to save one from being killed. The nagloper would strip themselves of all clothing, and adorn their heads with finger and toe bones, and lookouts would have to be posted at the graves of the newly dead to stop the naglopers from digging them up. At night they would visit huts, and the occupants, including dogs, would fall into a deep stupor so that they could carry out 'wicked deeds' undisturbed, which included having their way with the opposite sex. The result was that the sleepers would awake in the morning feeling weak and powerless in body and limb. Many people would also succumb to foul diseases. It was thought that the way to catch the night walker was to place a doctored kerrie (stick) at the entrance of the hut. Should the nagloper step over the kerrie, it would hold him fast until sunrise, when he could be dealt with.
The Venda, occupants of the South African homeland of Vendaland, tell of the 'muloi', or sorcerer, who again have domain over animals - owls, snakes, hyenas, baboons and stoats - and travel vast distances only at night with these familiars. They appear as shadowy forms, stark naked and of either sex, thought usually female, with eyes bright and shining like hot coals. They can induce heavy sleep in their victims, and can also inhabit their bodies and take control of their actions. Sometimes several may meet, and feast on human flesh. A muloi is also believed to act exactly like a vampire, moving from hut to hut, sucking the blood of its victims and leaving them emaciated and anaemic. The nganga, or witch doctor, is often called out to despatch the muloi, as the Venda firmly believe in these creatures, and greatly fear them. They also believe that the spirit after death hovers forever around its grave and its former home, and because it is unhappy that it can no longer return, usually seeks to bring harm to the living. The Venda look upon the soul as a combination of breath and a moving shadow, both of which leave the body at death, and for this reason believe a corpse throws no shadow.
It is clear that there actually are strong indications of vampirism within African folklore, and it has even been suggested as possible (by John L. Vellutini in the 'Journal of Vampirology') that "the belief in both witchcraft and vampirism first arose in Africa, now considered the cradle of mankind, and diffused northward into Europe and elsewhere", which means that tales like that of the Dijn Wife may actually have been re-imported from original African legend.