The most definable vampire figure reported among African Americans was the fifollet, or feu-follet, known to the residents of Louisiana. The fifollet, the traditional will-o-wisp (light seen at night over the swamp areas), derived from the French incubus/succubus figure, was the soul of a dead person that had been sent back to Earth by God to do penance, but instead attacked people. Most attacks were mischief, but on occasion, the fifollet became a vampire who sucked the blood of children. Some believed that the fifollet was the soul of a child who had died before baptism.

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