Grave containing 'VAMPIRE' with a sickle around its neck to stop it 'returning from the dead' is found under stone with skull engraving at Polish church
Medieval belief in vampires became so widespread that it caused mass hysteria
Archaeologists researching a church in northern Poland have discovered a 'vampire tomb' buried underneath the floor in what they say is a first-of-its-kind discovery.
Courtesy of WikiMedia and the Internet Archive, this is one of the earliest known vampire movies. (IMDB)
This child was buried 400 years ago in what is now Poland, face-down and with an iron padlock on their foot.
The grim discovery in the village of Luzino in the northeast of the country found that some of the 450 skeletons had been beheaded and their skulls placed between their legs and a coin placed in their mouths.
The practice which was common in the region during the 19th century was believed to remove the ‘vampire curse’.
Some 800 years before the publication of Dracula, and long before the term "vampire" was popularized, an English historian, William of Newburgh, recorded a tale recounted to him by a devout and reputable priest. He told of a most dishonest sinner who escaped the law by retreating to Alnwick Castle.
Jure Grando was a peasant who lived in the small village of Kringa, just outside of Tinjan, Croatia. He died in 1656, leaving behind a widow and a wake of terror that haunted Kringa for the next 16 years.
Every night for those 16 years, the good people of Kringa would hear knocks throughout the city in the middle of the night. The knocks were warnings, a promise that someone who lived in a house that had its door knocked had little time left on this world.
David Farrant, one of the world's leading psychic investigators, takes you on a strange and terrifying journey into the realms of the undead. This program deals with the true life events surrounding the sightings of the ghostly apparition known as the Highgate Vampire.
Shot in 1997, this film represents the first foray of the BPOS into independent film making. Directed and produced by BPOS stalwart Dave Milner in association with his then film company Darkhouse Productions, it rapidly became an underground cult classic through its distribution at 'outsider' outlets such as Forbidden Planet.
The people of Bohemia (the most superstitious of all Europe), were formerly great believers in muroniea vampires and other uncanny apparitions. The most terrible vampire, and perhaps, the most popular one in the annals of that country. Made its appearance in the year 1706. In that year Hans Blow, a herdsman, died and was buried.
There is a surge in goth-lit that channels our fears and anxieties. Hephzibah Anderson explores how the genre's past and new stories delve deep into disorder and darkness.
"We live in Gothic times," declared Angela Carter back in 1974. It's a theme Carlos Ruiz Zafón took up several decades later: "Ours is a time with a dark heart, ripe for the noir, the gothic and the baroque", he wrote in 2010. Both authors had good reason. The Gothic has always been about far more than heroines in Victorian nightgowns, trapped in labyrinthine ancestral homes, and along with the supernatural, its imaginings probe power dynamics and boundaries, delving deep into disorder and duality.
During the 1700s, as the world became better known through exploration and scientific experimentation, mythical monsters disappeared from studies of nature and medicine. But they became increasingly popular in the Gothic fiction that arose in the late 1700s and persisted as an important genre through the 1800s. Monsters of this literature personified the fears of society: fear of what happens when science is allowed to go too far; fear of the encroachment of contagious disease; and fear of the demons within ourselves.
In the heart of the Scottish Borders, Melrose is the perfect holiday destination for, walking, cycling and rugby. Melrose also boasts some of the best salmon and trout fishing in Scotland. Visitors to Melrose are drawn by a range of attractions. Best known is the ruins of the Melrose Abbey, which lies on the north east side of the centre of the town and, off course the ‘Hunderprest’ vampire that roams the ruins at the dark of night.
The Americas have many legendary creatures in their folklore like Bigfoot and the Mothman, but arguably its most terrifying legend is the Chupacabra. The name for the creature literally means “goat sucker,” and is derived from reported vampirism of livestock like goats.
Its first sightings were reported in Puerto Rico in 1995, and it's often described as either dog-like or lizard-like in appearance. The chupacabra is also said to be the size of a small bear with a row of spines that goes from its neck to its tail. It’s definitely not a creature you want to encounter in the middle of the night. If that’s not enough, we’ve made a video that looks into more creepy truths about the Chupacabra.
The Vjesci, also known as the Vjeszczi or Vjescey, is a Vampire from Polish folklore. Much like the European Vampire, The Vjesci retained their mortal characteristics and blended well within society. Legends indicate that humans were destined to become Vjesci at birth if born with teeth or a more common condition, ‘cradle cap”. If the child was born with a cap, the mother could protect the child by drying the cradle cap, grinding it into a fine dust and retaining it until the child’s 7th birthday; when she would feed it to him to ward off curse.
The Jumlin is widely referred to within the Cherokee Nation as the father of vampires. His Legend is as follows:
The Carter brothers, John and Wayne, seemed normal in every aspect. It was the 1930’s in New Orleans and the brothers made their living on the Mississippi river. One day before returning home from work it is said that a young girl had escaped from their apartment in the French Quarters and ran to the authorities.