Mormo
Ancient Greek vampire
Every culture and civilization had (or has) kids who absolutely refused to listen to a thing their parents told them to do; from cleaning their messy rooms to achieving the task of going to bed at night, there have always been a few bad eggs that need a little extra encouragement to "get with the program" by their frustrated parents.
Many cultures had tales of what we today call the "bogeyman," a creature (and it's different in every civilization in appearance and levels of nastiness) that threatens to cause all kinds of imagined harm to children who act like complete jerks when their parents politely ask them to get something done.
Witches, ghosts, monsters, even gods and goddess; all of those have been used to motivate kids to a better attitude in life (sometimes to great success!)
In Greek mythology, it should come as no surprise that moms, dads and nursemaids had similar stories to scare the bejeezus out of their little bundles of joy when necessary.
All across the Greek world, nighttime stories of MORMO were told when things got a little crazy before bedtime or when junior mouthed off about how unfair life was.
Mormo was a "daemon" or spirit who hid within rooms and simply bit bad children in the dead of night. Not to kill or maim, but just to get their attention.
A quick, painful little nip on the arm, leg or butt to remind them of who was boss. Mormo was your typical spirit of the night; male, cloaked in darkness, and not particularly well-endowed in the looks department (that is to say, he was downright ugly).
He had sharp fangs with which to achieve the above-mentioned bites, and could change shape to cram his form into any shadowy corner to await the perfect time to terrify an unruly child in the wee hours of the night.
According to legends, Mormo was close friends with Hecate, the goddess of magic and witchcraft...REALLY good friends, as the two fathered the Empousai, female vampiric monsters who sucked the blood out of human victims and devoured their flesh (at least we know where they inherited their love for biting and their sharp teeth from!).
And like his love, Hecate, Mormo was also a night-roamer, lurking in the darkened streets and roads on moonless nights, looking for a bite to eat...
Kid not behaving? Want them to? If Mormo pays a visit, it's an assured "Mission Accomplished."
(Please Note: On some other accounts Mormo was a female "daemon"...)
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