Soucriant

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Soucriant is a Caribbean variant of vampire, taken from the French word 'sucer' meaning 'to suck'. According to legend, they can fly, lure you to sleep with their wings, and suck your blood. A soucriant takes on the regular appearance of a human being during the day, but their eyes are red and glazed.

References

Used in Voyage in the Dark by Jean Rhys in III.4 as one of Anna Morgan's daydreaming fears before she undergoes an abortion that leaves her bleeding to death. It's worth noting that before the ending was edited, Anna Morgan dies of the abortion.

Also used in Rhys's short story, "The Day They Burned the Books" in a servant's description of Mrs. Sawyer, a main character in the story: "...Mildred told the other servants in the town that her eyes had gone wicked, like a soucriant's eyes, and that afterwards she had picked up some of the hair he pulled out and put it in an envelope, and that Mr. Sawyer ought to look out (hair is obeah as well as hands)."

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