Medical Explanations for Vampirism: Adipocere and "Incorruptible Corpses"

The following is taken from Joe Nickell's article "The Case of the Petrified Girl" from the January/February 1999 issue of Skeptical Inquirer.

As forensic pathologists and anthopologists know, a body that has been submerged in water or in wet soil for a long time may form a soaplike substance called adipocere, which may develop in the outer layer of fat after three months or more.... It is estimated to become "complete in adult bodies" after "a year to a year and a half...." Adipocere was once thought to be caused by the body's fat turning literally into soap; actually it is due to the decomposition of the fat into insoluble salts of fatty acids, producing a yellowish-white substance popularly known as "grave wax." It usually forms in the face and buttocks, but may affect any part of the body. Depending on the subsequent conditions, the body may eventually take on the leathery effect of mummification, or may in time decompose completely.... (Many of the "incorruptible" bodies of saints are only temporarily preserved and are later found to be reduced to skeletons)....

In certain European (e.g., Slavic) and other countries the discovery of a preserved corpse may provoke a bizarre response. Some people believe such preservation means the person is one of the "undead," so they may drive a wooden stake through the corpse's heart and then burn the body to end the imagined ghoulish activities of the "vampire" (Nickell 16, 17)....

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