Brahmaparush

(BRAM-ah-pa-rosh)

Variation: Brahmaparus, Brahmaparusha, Brahmeparush, Bramaparush

A particularly cruel vampire from India, the brahmaparush has a very specific and highly ritualized means of killing its victims, usually travelers. It is described as a floating head with intestines hanging down from the neck and carrying a drinking cup made from a human skull in the tangle of its entrails. Once it has captured a person, the brahmaparush begins the killing ritual by first nibbling a small hole in the person's head to drink up their blood as it trickles out. Then it gnaws a section of skull away and begins to slurp up the brains, carefully keeping the person alive for as long as possible. Next, it does a bizarre dance, lashing at the corpse and eventually entangling itself in the corpse's intestines. Finally, the brahmaparush will play in the offal and has even been known to make a turban out of the viscera and wear it on its head.

Source: Belanger, Sacred Hunger, 113; Guiley, Complete Vampire Companion