R.E. Hemphill and T. Zabow

Doctors R.E. Hemphill and T. Zabow are senior lecturers in the department of psychiatry at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. In the following article, Hemphill and Zabow present a definition for clinical vampirism. The authors base their definition on their evaluations of three patients, as well as a re—evaluation of the case of John George Haigh, which occurred in England in the 1940s. The authors' argument distinguishes the characteristics of clinical vampirism from the traits of the mythical vampire found in literature and folklore. In addition, they point out that clinical vampirism is a mental illness, which is very different from other mental illnesses. According to Hemphill and Zabow, "vampirists" usually show no outward symptoms that might suggest to others that...