Motif DA·M·0002
The vampire child
The dead child who asks to be let back in: a motif that turns the instinct to protect into the monster’s way inside.
The device
The vampire child overturns the hierarchy of care. In Tolstoy and Bava, the patriarch’s grandson returns at night and calls for his mother◆ Primary sourceAn original document consulted directly: a text, record, script or film print.Source: Tolstoy; I tre volti della paura; she opens the door. The scene shows that the door is not forced: it is opened out of love¶ Editorial interpretationAn editorial reading, identified explicitly as interpretation..
Transformations
The motif appears in many different forms in later cinema; individual derivations will be catalogued as documented similarities or influences.
Connections
5 direct connections · 31 further links. Dashed lines indicate weak or unproven links.
- Film
- Creature · ritual
- Motif
- Source
- Person
- Weak link
Creatures (2)
Films (1)
Black Sabbath
I tre volti della paura · Les Trois Visages de la peur
Motifs (2)
The family vampire
The family vampire
Beliefs & rituals (2)
The threshold and invitation
The threshold and invitation
Sources (1)
La famiglia del Vurdalak
- The Vurdalak, from folklore to cinema bloodline · via Vurdalak
- Vampires of Eastern Europe collection · via Vurdalak
- Strigoi creature · via Vurdalak
- Vampire creature · via Vurdalak
- Revenant creature · via Vurdalak
- La Guzla source · via Vurdalak
- Eastern Europe place · via Vurdalak
- Night of the Devils film · via Vurdalak
- Sem’ja vurdalakov film · via Vurdalak
- Boris Karloff person · via Vurdalak
- A. K. Tolstoy person · via Vurdalak
- Mario Bava person · via Black Sabbath
- American International Pictures person · via Black Sabbath
- Anton Chekhov person · via Black Sabbath
- Guy de Maupassant person · via Black Sabbath
- Theft from the dead motif · via Black Sabbath
- The threatening telephone motif · via Black Sabbath
- The sound that announces the supernatural motif · via Black Sabbath
- Italian Gothic collection · via Black Sabbath
- Dubbing glossary · via Black Sabbath
- Censorship glossary · via Black Sabbath
- Alternate cut glossary · via Black Sabbath
- Literary adaptation glossary · via Black Sabbath
- I tre volti della paura vs Black Sabbath version · via Black Sabbath
- Rome place · via Black Sabbath
- Black Sunday film · via Black Sabbath
- Black Sabbath (band) person · via Black Sabbath
- The Chekhov credit: a source that cannot be found journal · via Black Sabbath
- Why Dread Atlas begins with I tre volti della paura journal · via Black Sabbath
- Visum et Repertum source · via The family vampire
- Vienna place · via La famiglia del Vurdalak
Revision history
- First draft.— Editorial team
How to cite this page
Redazione Dread Atlas, «The vampire child», Dread Atlas, Entry DA·M·0002, updated 18 September 2026. https://macabralia.com/en/motifs/bambino-vampiro/