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The Lafayette Vampire Grave in Colorado

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For decades, parents have told their children to be home before dark in Lafayette, Colorado. The reason being that local lore tells of a vampire rising from his grave in the cemetery. But who exactly was the man behind the story, buried under the tombstone?

In the 1950s, parents told a strange thing to their youth in Lafayette, Colorado, an old coal mining place in Boulder County. They said that there was a vampire buried in the cemetery and they had to be home before dark, as the vampire rose from his grave and hunted for prey at night. 

Read More: Check out more haunted legends from USA

The legend of the Lafayette vampire evolved and more details were added to the growing legend of the local vampire. It even travelled and from the 90s and today, visitors from across the U.S. visit the grave, leaving little trinkets like flowers, bubble gum and toys at the grave. Once, dirt from the suspected gravesite of the vampire was offered up for auction on eBay. If it really was the dirt from the grave or not is not known, but city officials were notified of the eBay posting and eventually eBay took down the posting.

The grave in question at the Lafayette Cemetery the vampire story is linked to is a grave found in the pauper’s grave section, about 20 feet south of the paved road/exit from Lafayette’s Bob Burger Recreation Center. The final resting place of a man from Transylvania. 

Lafayette: A view of Baseline Road in Colorado. Lafayette quickly became a part of the coal-mining boom that all of eastern Boulder and southwestern Weld counties were experiencing, with the combined Spencer/Simpson mine being the largest and most productive. The Cannon floundered and failed to produce profitable quantities of coal. It closed in 1898.[17] By 1914 Lafayette was a booming town with two banks and four hotels. // Image: Jeffrey Beall

The Real Man Behind the Vampire Legend

Teodor Glava was a coal miner from Transylvania, Romania who died in 1918. His name has been spelled a lot of different ways, and many know his legend under the name Fodor Glava as well. This was from a time when Lafayette was a booming town with two banks and four hotels. Then the Spanish Flu hit and people died across the country, one of its victims being him. . 

According to the story, the locals were suspicious after he died and strange things had started to happen. They dug him up and drove a stake through his heart. That wooden stake was said to grow into a tall juniper tree that now dominates his grave site. It is also said that Glava’s fingernails grew into a “blood red” red rose bush that covered the grave until the early 2000s. It is true that rose bushes grew there, although they were yellow roses. 

The legend started to grow from its first tales to keep children home after dark. In blog posts and newspaper articles from the late 1980s added more haunting to the story and stories about a tall, dark figure with red eyes lurking near the grave started to spread.

One of the versions was retold in an article in the Rocky Mountain News in 1993. An amateur folklorist had looked into the legend and the 19 year old Douglas Rowan claimed he had heard this from old ladies in the area. “The story goes that he moved here from Transylvania with his wife, but was bitten by a wolf or something, and it turned him into a vampire. He killed his wife, and a neighbor buried her and cornered him in a barn and drove a stake through his heart. A tree always grows from a vampire stake. It’s what keeps him in the ground. They say that when there’s full moon his soul will rise and wander around.”

The True Grave of Teodor Glava

So there are a lot of legends spanning across decades. But who was Glava, and was it really something strange going on at his grave when he died? 

Teodor Glava was a Romanian coal miner who immigrated to the U.S. around 1914. He was from Lesnic, Romania, a mining community in the Transylvania Region of The Austro-Hungarian empire. He was described as of medium height, medium build, brown eyes and black hair.  

Born in 1877, Teodor probably worked in the marble mines near his Lesnic residence. He was married to  his wife Sofia and had a daughter named Victoria. He left them both in Lesnic and went to America for work. He landed first in Gary, West Virginia, then Canfield, Colorado west of Erie. Estate records show that Glava worked in Lafayette but lived in Canfield and rented a room for $1.12 per day from a Mr. and Mrs. Nick Mack.

He did start working and making money, but after a few years, the Spanish flu hit the community, and he was infected. His newspaper obituary transcribed by Teresa from the Lafayette Leader dated 12-6-1918 reads: “Theodore Glava, an Austrian miner, employed at the Simpson mine, died suddenly Wednesday morning, following an attack of influenza. He had so far recovered as to be up town the evening before his death, but suffered a relapse. He was aged 43 years and is survived by his wife, who is in Austria. Buaial (Burial) will be made this afternoon.”

Glava is buried in his own grave plot, adjacent to fellow Romanian John Trandafir, who was also a coal miner and died two days after Glava. Because of his name meaning rose, the two graves have often been conflated to one and both have been a part of the same vampire legend. They were not related, but were probably friends and colleagues. 

Although he was buried in a pauper’s grave, he had money that would have given him a more proper burial. However, the money he had made was instead sent back to his wife and daughter. 

The Vampire Grave: Grave marker associated with the local legend of the “Lafayette Vampire,” located in Lafayette, Colorado. // Image: Mikepascoe/Wikimedia

A Legend Takes Shape

How then was the grave of Glava connected with vampire legends? There are actually cases of mob mentality of people going after people’s graves in the US after illnesses take a huge portion of the population. 

Read More: Check out the New England Vampire Panic

But there is not much info that there actually was such a mob going after and digging up his grave. Could it really be as simple that the man was from Transylvania? Researchers looking into the story found the earliest mention of the vampire in the cemetery comes from Eleanor (Sanchez) Montour. She recalled that when she was a child in the late 1940s, her mom Alicia Sanchez warned her about the Transylvanian in the cemetery and that she should “get home before sundown so that the vampire doesn’t get you.

The premise of a Transylvanian buried in the cemetery was followed by “he’s a vampire” in the 1950s and it seems like this is were the details started to be added to the lore. The stake to his heart seems to have been introduced in the 1960s. The stake turning into a tree seems to coincide when the Christopher Lee vampire movies started hitting the regional drive-in movie theaters, although no one can say for sure. 

The rose bush and fingernail details seem to have started in the 1970s, followed by the mysterious man sitting on the headstone or walking in the cemetery in the 1990s. Where the legend will go further is unsure, but at least, it seems that the poor miner never actually was dug up by an angry mob and staked through the heart. 

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References:

The Lafayette Vampire

Lafayette vampire – Wikipedia

Lafayette, Colorado – Wikipedia

https://nb.findagrave.com/memorial/22218684/theodore-glava

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The Janissaries Vampires in Veliko Tarnovo

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During a time when Bulgaria was under the Ottoman Empire, there was talk about a vampire haunting the streets of Veliko Tarnovo. The rumours got so bad, that the Islamic rulers had to turn to pagan belief to rid themselves of the bloodthirsty creatures. 

Vampire cases in Europe have been documented very well. Often, they occurred in the border land of the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire in now eastern Europe. Today though, most of the written down sources are from the Europeans. One can almost count the found Ottoman accounts of vampires on one hand.

In 1833, a document was sent to the capital by Ahmed Şükrü Efendi, who was Kadi or a judge of Tirnivo about something strange going on in the city. The Bulgarian city Veliko Tarnovo was in the 19th century a Balkan city within the Ottoman Empire. The document was published in issue 69 of the Takvîm-i Vekâyi’ Gazette, the first official state newspaper from the 19 Rebiulahir 1249 /October, 1833.

Veliko Tarnovo: Veliko Tarnovo is one of the oldest settlements in Bulgaria, with a history of more than five millennia. Tarnovo was a stronghold of the First Bulgarian Empire and capital of the second. The Ottoman Empire captured the city on 17 July 1393. Bulgarian resistance against Ottoman rule remained centered in Tarnovo (then known as Tırnova) until the end of the 17th century. On 7 July 1877 ended the 480-year rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The Vampire in Veliko Tarnovo

Vampirism was not a common belief in Muslim Anatolian populations like it did with the Slavic people, although there are definite stories of it. Almost all of the instances recorded in Ottoman sources concern Christian populations and show the gaze of the Ottoman authorities, commissioned to uphold the principles of Islamic orthodoxy, in the context of which the souls of the dead had no way of returning among the living. Still, there kept coming in stories of the undead.

According to the reports, they started assaulting the houses in the city after sunset. They were not accused of rising from the grave to drink the blood of the locals though. They were said to turn invisible and torment them instead. They mixed together foods like flour, butter and honey, or spoiled them with earth. They tore the pillows, the blankets, the mattresses and the wrapping clothes that they found in the cupboards to pieces. They threw stones, earth, jars and pots onto people. Nobody could see anything though, but it is claimed that the vampires also assaulted some men and women. 

These latter have been summoned and interrogated by the state. They said they felt like a water-buffalo was sitting on them, but no perpetrators were found. Because of the troubles in town, it is claimed that the population of two quarters left their homes and fled elsewhere. The inhabitants of the town agreed that all these things were the works of evil spirits called cadı. 

Vampires or the Ottoman Empire: The cadı is often translated into witch or some sort of sorcery, but was in some cases used for vampirism cases like this. According to Arminius Vambery, one of the founding fathers of the science of Turkology, reported that “According to a widespread belief in the Ottomans, vampires hide in tree hollows and hunt there. Vampires that are captured are beheaded, put in a sack, and thrown into the sea.”

A man named Nikola, called Cadıcı Nikola, reputed for exorcism in the town of Islimye was brought from Sliven, and hired for eight hundred kuruş. His scheme was to hold a painted piece of wood, to go to the graveyard, and to turn the piece of wood on his finger. Almost like an ouija board. The painting showed the grave haunted by the evil sprit.

A huge crowd went to the graveyard. As he turned the painted piece of wood on his finger, the painting stood in front of the graves of two brigands, Tetikoğlu Ali and Apti Alemdar, formerly members of the Janissary corps, and bloody tyrants when they were alive.

The Janissary Corps: was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan’s household troops. Its members were recruited/enslaved from among the Christian youth of the Empire, especially in the Balkans. They gradually became a formidable war machine, certainly one of the best infantry troops in military history. They were forbidden from marriage until their retirement at 40. They lived in huge military barracks in the midst of Istanbul, a kind of holy shrine, whose access was strictly prohibited to civilians.

The graves of the former Janissary soldiers were opened in front of everyone. It was discovered that the bodies had grown, and their hair and nails had also grown three or four times longer. Their eyes were covered in blood, and looked terrifying. The entire crowd in the cemetery saw this, the article claimed. In hindsight though, there has been speculation that the entire situation was some sort of propaganda stunt. 

The Janissary Threat to the Ottoman Empire

When alive, these men had committed all kinds of mischief, including rape, theft and murder; when their corps was abolished, they had not been delivered to the executioner, interestingly, as evidenced by their age they had died a natural death. How? Not many years ago, the sultan had actually purged the Ottoman Empire for Janissary soldiers to replace with a new order. The story goes on to claim that they returned as evil spirits. 

The Janissary Assassinations: As Western Europe modernized its military organization and technology, the Janissaries became a reactionary force that resisted all change within the Ottoman army. By the 18th century, they had become an undisciplined army, extorting the entire city of Istanbul, refusing to go to war and participating actively in the intrigues of the Palace. In 1826, Mahmud II annihilated the Janissaries by using his modern troops, specifically the artillery, trained in the European fashion, with the help of the civilian population and the Muslim clergy. Within two days, thousands of Janissaries were killed, arrested, or exiled, perhaps as many as 6000. The survivors were persecuted in the whole empire and, when arrested, delivered to the executioner for strangulation. Even their tombstones were dismantled

Could it all have been a propaganda stunt to unite against the former order? Or was the cemetery actually filled with people waiting for the hired exorcist to get rid of the city tormentors? 

According to the description of the witch Nikola, in order to drive out such evil spirits, a wooden stake was driven into the navel of the corpses and their hearts were boiled in boiling water. Both Ali Alamdar and Abdi were exhumed and a wooden stake was driven through their navels and their hearts were boiled in a pot of boiling water. But it had no effect. The witch said, “These bodies must be burned.” An official religious permission (fatwa) was obtained for this matter, and the bodies of the two Janissaries, which were exhumed, were burned in the cemetery. This was said to have worked. 

Bulgarian Vampire Panic: This was not the only time the city had vampire cases though. A skeleton was found in 2012. The skeleton is of a man about 30 years of age, and it is yet to be dated, but Bulgaria’s top archeologist, Nikolay Ovcharov, is quoted saying it is several centuries-old. Ovcharov explains that the man has not been a vampire, but was buried with a pagan rite to prevent him from turning into one after the death. The skeleton was found during archeological digs in a monastery near the central city of Veliko Tarnovo, where 10 years ago Ovcharov’s team came upon a very similar find. // Source

The described incident follows European witchcraft methods with slight differences. For example, in European belief, the stake is driven into the heart line instead of the navel, and cutting off the heads of corpses is traditionally an effective remedy as well as boiling the hearts. 

It is estimated that such baseless rumors like about the janissary vampires were put forward to incite the people against the undisciplined Janissaries as part of the state propaganda to further defame the soldiers. And as the newspaper was often used for propaganda stories for the state, we can wonder if this really happened at all. Or was it actually vampires tormenting the people of Veliko Tarnovo?

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References:

Xortdan — Vikipediya

Janissary – Wikipedia

Balkan Vampires before Ottoman Courts

Ottoman Accounts of Vampirism (Review essay: S. F. Kırgi, Osmanlı Vampirleri: Söylenceler, Etkileşimler, Tepkiler, Istanbul: İletişim 2018)

Meçkey – Vikipedi

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The Armenian Vampire Dakhanavar of the Valleys

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Said to be a protector of the Valleys in Armenia, the Dakhanavar vampire hides in the caves in the mountains, waiting for intruders to quench his thirst. 

In the landlocked mountains and valleys of Armenia, where silence stretches across cracked earth and night falls with a cold, empty wind, a bloodthirsty creature is said to live the mountain range around Yerevan. Known as the Dakhanavar, this entity occupies a unique place in Armenian myth. 

The Dakhanavar, or դախանավար, is less a revenant of human death and more a vampiric guardian of the wild, protecting the valley from intruders. It is said that he never killed the locals living there, and only those trespassing were at risk. 

The Armenian Vampire Dakhanavar of the Mountain Valleys

Unlike many spectral legends that haunt graveyards or ruins, the Dakhanavar stalks the empty spaces between settlements in the south Caucasus region, particularly where water is distant and the stars are bright. It is a creature of the open night, roaming the lonely roads that connect villages across the Armenian highlands.

The Highlands of Armenia: The ancient Armenian kingdom was split between the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires around the early 5th century. The area has also been under the rule of Ottoman and Persian empires as well as the Russian Empire. The average elevation of the country is tenth highest in the world and it has 85.9% mountain area, more than Switzerland or Nepal. From its many influences and its secluded mountains, Armenia has amassed a very unique mythology and superstition.

From the Library of Apollodorus, an Armenian superstition tells about the fear of wakening the undead: In Armenia, when a person falls sick soon after the death of a member of the family, it is supposed that the sickness is caused by the dead man, who cannot rest in his grave until he has drawn away one of his kinsfolk to the spirit land. To prevent this catastrophe, the body of the deceased is disinterred and decapitated, and to make assurance doubly sure the head is smashed or a needle is stuck into it and into the heart.

Bloodthirsty Monsters from Armenian Mythology: The Nhang was a river-dwelling serpent-monster with shape shifting powers, often connected to the more conventional Armenian dragons. The creature could change into a seal or lure a man by transforming into a woman, then drag in and drown the victim to drink its blood. The word “Nhang” is sometimes used as a generic term for a sea-monster in ancient Armenian literature.

Some of the first and only writing we have of the entity was reported by Baron August von Haxthausen in his mid-19th century account of Armenia and Russian Transcaucasia, the book Transcaucasia: Sketches of the Nations and Races Between the Black Sea and the Caspian. The tale was told to him by his travel guide, Peter Neu when they were travelling by the glaciers of Allagas and at two miles from Erivan (Yerevan) by the mountains of Ultmish Altotem as he calls them in his writings. It is not really known what specific mountains he is referring to. There were said to be 366 Valleys there, and the domain of the Dakhanavar.

The Legend of the Vampire and the Travelling Brothers

There once dwelt in a cavern in this country a vampire, called Dakhanavar, who could not endure anyone to penetrate into these mountains or count their valleys. Everyone who attempted this had in the night his blood sucked by the monster, from the soles of his feet, until he died. 

The vampire was however at last outwitted by two cunning fellows: they began to count the valleys and when night came on they lay down to sleep, taking care to place themselves with the feet of the one under the head of the other. In the night the monster came, felt as usual and found a head: then he felt at the other end, and found a head there also. 

‘Well,’ he cried. ‘I have gone through the whole 366 Valleys of these mountains, and have sucked the blood of people without end, but never yet did I find any one with two heads and no feet!’ So saying he ran away and was never more seen in that country; but ever after the people have known that the mountain has 366 Valleys.”

The Ale and Tpgha Spirits: According to folk superstitions, pregnant women and newborns were most vulnerable to evil spirits and demons. the ale (Alk) could enter the womb of a pregnant woman and drink the blood of the child or blind it. The alers, who took the form of young or old women (often with snake hair and fiery eyes), mainly stole the lungs, liver, or heart of newborns, or abducted a healthy newborn, leaving her fragile demonic offspring in its place.

Even today some travelers in Armenia, particularly those going into the region of Mount Ararat, generally take precautions against evil beings such as Dakhanvar. Often, they put small cloves of raw garlic in various pockets or mash it up and rub the paste on their shoes. At night, if camping out of doors, these travelers build a large fire and toss garlic bulbs into the flames. The combination of garlic aroma and a blazing fire will drive almost all of the world’s many species of vampires away.”

Survival and Legacy

The Dakhanavar represents a fear older than towns and roads. It is the fear of being alone in the dark. A reminder that in the vast spaces of earth, where water is scarce and night arrives fast, the unseen may still watch. Its name could come from the Armenian word dajan, meaning cruel.

The Only Primary Source: August Franz Ludwig Maria, Baron von Haxthausen-Abbenburg (February 3, 1792, in Bökendorf, Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn – December 31, 1866, in Hanover) was a German agricultural scientist, economist, lawyer, writer, and collector of folk songs, best known for his account of conditions in Russia as revealed by his 1843 visit. He was also friends with the Brothers Grimm, and the only primary source for the tale of the Dakhanavar vampire legend.

But where did the story really come from? As mentioned, the travel stories from Haksthausen are basically the only written source,and there is absolutely no data on this in Armenian sources, as well as in modern research. The part about people protecting themselves with garlic when going through the Mount Ararat era comes from American writer Jonathan Mayberry.

No one knows where the story really comes from, and no one really knows where it’s going. Perhaps it is as the legend said, the vampire was vanquished and never returned to the valleys. Or perhaps it’s still there, in the isolated highlands of Armenia. 

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References:

https://books.google.ru/books?id=nMslAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA191&dq=dakhanavar&hl=ru&sa=X&ei=9HZTU7O1D4fL4ASfwIGgAQ&ved=0CGcQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=dakhanavar&f=false

Dakhanavar – Wikipedia

Strange Armenian Superstition – PeopleOfAr

Armenian mythology – Wikipedia

https://panarmenian.net/m/arm/details/232437

August von Haxthausen – Wikipedia

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The Legend of the Witches of Llers Castle and the Vampire, Conde Estruch of Catalonia

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Was there an iberian vampire before the European vampire panic in Eastern Europe? Who was really Conde Estruch, the vampire of Catalonia, and what happened to the witches of Llers Castle the count was said to use as his lair. 

In the dark hills of Catalonia, where forests cling to ancient stone and the cold Tramuntana del Canigó wind sings, stories about witches and vampires haunt the old ruins still standing. Like the supposed haunted ruins of Llers Castle, located in the highest part of the town of the same name, in the province of Girona close to the French border.

Read More: Check out all ghostly stories from Spain

Unlike many modern portrayals of the vampire, the legend of Conde Estruch is as mysterious as its origins. Is it an old remnant from Catalan lore, or is it actually a modern invention built on old fears?

The Noble Origin of Conde Estruch

Imaginary portrait of King Alfonso II of Aragon (1157-1196)

Let’s go back to what most outlets, articles and books tell us today about the mysterious and deadly vampire Conde Estruch. According to Catalan mythology, Conde Estruch was once a nobleman of high standing. The count is sometimes known as Arnald, Guifred or Wilfred Estruch and lived in the 12th century under King Alfons II of Aragon. 

The king sent the elderly count on a mission to Llers Castle, located in the Empordà region of Catalonia, to fight against paganism and witchcraft. He was killed during the mission to convert the locals at the castle in 1173. Some say it was by witchcraft, cursing him to come back as something monstrous. Some say that it was because of his own sins and way of life he didn’t die peacefully, but was turned into something demonic, something vampiric. 

Soon after his burial, the villagers began to notice eerie signs. Livestock were found drained of blood without trace of injury. Crops failed in one field while others thrived. According to legend, the count, now returned as a young man, attacked the villagers, sucking their blood dry. He also seduced and impregnated women who gave birth to monstrous stillborns.

This went on for years. There are several theories about what finally stopped him. Some say that an elderly nun slayed him. Others say it was a Jewish hermit who used ancient rituals from the Kabbalah. 

The Truth Behind the Myth

How much of this old legend from Catalonia is true though? Did such a count exist in history? Did it even exist in old legends? There is talk about sources from the archives of Ripoll, but what exactly are these sources? According to author Salvador Sáinz who published his first book about the vampiric nobleman in 1991. There are those claiming that others have alluded to a vampiric being in this place before, like documents about the Jewish hermit who stopped the vampire, dating as far back as 1918. But after the loss of documents after the damages caused by the Civil War, it’s hard to say what’s true anymore.  But when the local historian, Antoni Egea Codina went to search for evidence in the 90s, he found nothing. 

As the author himself said in a blog comment: “I approach the novel as a fantasy story and I don’t intend to make anyone believe that Estruch existed. There was a legend that in the books was only four lines, no more, and I gave it an identity.” Source

He also wrote on his blog: I looked for a story set in our homeland and came across the legend of a certain Estruc. Reimagined as Count Estruch, a character of my own invention. Source

Some variant accounts, such as in popular Spanish media, place his activities in the early 13th century and depict him participating in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa on July 16, 1212, serving as a knight in the Christian forces led by King Peter II of Aragon against the Almohad Caliphate. A variant of the legend, which took place in 1173, claims that Estruch was poisoned by his own captain, Benach.

The surname Estruch is of Catalan origin, derived from the Latin personal name “Astrucus”. It appears in medieval records but without clear ethnic specificity. It is however a common name among the medieval jews in the area, but no lord or other person is connected to this story as of yet. 

In Occitania at that time, the Cathar heresy was deeply entrenched and stories about devils, witches and other monsters lurking. The story of the count does remind about another catalan tale though, that of the evil Count Arnau, who ended thanks to a nun. 

Read More: The Ghost of Comte Arnau on his Fiery Horse

Was the vampire tale actually a creation of fiction from one man rather than old lore from the community?

The Legend of Castle Llers

What about the castle, if the count wasn’t real, what about the lore of the castle? The castle is real and was from the 11th century with documentations from 1021. And when the supposed vampire and witch hunt happened, it coincided with a long line of Lords of Llers in more peaceful times than the legend suggests. 

Castle Llers: Its border location during the Middle Ages made the municipality of Llers the most fortified area of ​​the Empordà region , and one of the richest areas in Catalonia. The town had a barony castle from which eleven others depended. // Image: Albert Sarola Juanola

This castle was seriously damaged, first by the explosion of the powder magazine, caused by a spark from a smoker, and then in two bloody battles: the War of the Spanish Succession (1705-1716) and the Great War (1790-1795).

The worst disaster came with the Civil War. On February 8, 1938, Republican troops were retreating towards the border when they detonated 200 kilos of TNT stored in the church to prevent the ammunition to be used. The explosion had devastating effects, completely destroying the town. The force of the blast was such that only a large crater remained where the church had stood. Fortunately, the residents were warned, preventing a massacre, although the mayor perished. 

The locals have recalled witch myths to the castle, but according to them, no one was talking about vampires until the books were published in 1991. It is currently being restored by the City Council and tourism is clearly using the vampiric legend that has grown around it.

The Witches of In Llers

But what about the witches of Llers, the legend said to have been around for centuries? Les Garrigues, the area between Llers and Avinyonet de Puigventós, is the setting for many tales of witches. During the 16th and 17th centuries, witch hunts in this area were intense, with trials and executions that left an indelible mark on popular culture. 

It is a place where the Tramuntana del Canigó blows with great force in this place as there are no mountains shielding the town. As fast as 100 km per hour the wind can travel.  When the cold and harsh Tramuntana wind blows, you can hear whispering about the witches who lived and live in those lands.

The sharp whistle of the wind, according to popular beliefs, was caused by the fury of these women. Legend says that the witches of Llers, when angered, caused numerous disasters and hailstorms throughout the Empordà plain that could destroy the crops. When the hailstorm was caused by a witch, it was believed that she would leave a strand of hair behind every stone.

It was said that only the sound of the Figueres bell tower could quell such damage and a special bell ringing would block their path in the sky. The witches, unwilling to be defeated by the ringing of the bell tower, gathered together with the intention of bringing it down one New Years Eve. The bell ringer, sensing something was amiss, climbed the tower to check that everything was in order. When he reached the top, he saw a swarm of witches riding their broomsticks toward him. He then began to ring the bells incessantly; the noise and the battle were terrible, but in the end, the bell ringer managed to defeat the witches. But their attack created a fissure that would remain until the Civil War when the tower came down. 

The Witches of Llers: Les bruixes de Llers is a collection of poems published in 1924 by Carles Fages de Climent , with illustrations by Salvador Dalí and a prologue by Ventura Gassol. It was Fages’ first book of poems and the first book illustrated by Dalí.

According to some authors, like Joan Guillament in the 1976 book Bruixeria a Catalunya, there were rumours about witches into the late 1800s. One particular incident happened to a 72 year old woman who died in 1878, thought to be a witch by the villagers, causing problems for her four daughters and their reputation. 

Spanish Vampirism

So was it all just a figment of certain people’s imagination, or was the iberian vampire actually a collective idea and fear? It seems as with most cultures, the Spanish people have their tales of vampiric beings. 

In Asturia they have Guaxa. In Cantabrian they have Guajona, a blood-sucking hag from nearby Cantabrian folklore known for preying on sleeping victims without killing them. Whether to treat the two as the same entity with different names is uncertain. 

Read More: Guajona: The Blood-Thirsty Entity of Iberian Folklore and A Cautionary Tale of the Vampiric Guaxa from Asturia

Another Catalan “legend” is that of the Dips, a name given to a type of vampire dog that supposedly existed in meadows located a few kilometers south of Reus. It is even claimed that for this reason there is a town called Pratdip. 

Read More: El Dip: The Catalan Vampire Hound

A Pale Shadow in the Hills

Today the legend of Conde Estruch survives mostly in books and in the debate online if he was or wasn’t a real figure. The castle was destroyed in the Spanish Civil War and the historical documents about the legend are still not found. However, it seems like the legend has just started to take root. Several sites serve the story as an old legend rather than a modern fiction story. The legend of the catalonian vampire, it seems, is expanding. 

Llers celebrates its connection to these stories through the Fes-te Bruixa fair. In the wild hills of Catalonia, where mists rise at dusk and shadows gather where the path is lost, the story of witches and blood sucking monsters continues to be told. 

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References:

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conde_Estruch

El pare reusenc del primer vampir català

https://www.historiesdeuropa.cat/2016/12/el-primer-vampir-europeu-era-catala

https://www.castillosnet.org//monumento.php?r=GE-CAS-148&seo=

descubriendo ciudades…: Templarios en Catalunya: de Llers pasando por el Empordà

Llers – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

HISTORIA – Cultura, historia y patrimonio de Llers (Alt Empordà, Girona)

El conde Estruch

Javier Coria: EL CONDE ESTRUCH: ¿EL VAMPIRO CATALÁN?

El conde Estruch. – REALIDAD TRASCENDENTAL

Ukategorisert

El Dip: The Catalan Vampire Hound

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In the rural mountainside in Catalonia, Spain, there have long been talk about a vampiric beast of a hound that has tormented the livestock and the unfortunate person walking outside after dark. Could this legend be the one where other iberian vampire legends sprung from? 

In the rural villages and grazing lands in Catalonia in Spain, there was a creature feared by shepherds and townsfolk alike for centuries. This being was called El Dip, a spectral dog said to stalk the night with a thirst no water could quench. Unlike ordinary ghosts or eerie shadows, El Dip was a vampiric hound, an otherworldly beast that fed on the blood of livestock and, occasionally, humans.

Read More: Check out all ghostly stories from Spain

Unlike many vampiric myths tied to undead humans, the legend of El Dip springs from a distinctly rural environment between the legends of hellhounds, werewolves and vampires. The legend is particularly significant in Pratdipon village, at the southeastern slope of the Serra de Llaberia, where some believe the village is named after the vampiric legend. 

A Vampiric Dog on the Prowl in Catalonia

Villagers described it as a black or ashen color, with eyes that gleaming in the dark. Like many other figures from Catalan myth, the hellhound is said to have a lame leg. The word is probably from the Arabic word for wolf or beast. 

At night El Dip roamed the hillsides and grasslands, drawn by the scent of grazing livestock and the heartbeats of sleeping animals. Many shepherds claimed that the creature did not merely chase farm animals as any wild predator would. Instead, it bit deep into their throats, draining life as though it were a vampire. 

For villagers whose livelihood depended on cattle, sheep, and goats, such a predator was more than superstition. Blaming an ordinary wolf or jackal did not explain the strange marks or the way some animals were found untouched except for the fatal bite.

According to the legend, sometimes, other prey than the cattle was in danger. Those foolish enough to stay too late in the village taverns, were also in danger to these vampiric beings. 

Association With the Supernatural

The legend is very old from the rugged mountain village in Baix Camp where there is ironically, very little livestock today. As mentioned, the legend has a lot of connotation to the village Pratdip. At the entrance to Pratdip there is a monument to this mythological being, but as it is depicted it has a very kind image. According to tradition, the name of the village comes from these dogs, which are said to have disappeared in the nineteenth century.

Pratdip: Llaberia Overlaps (Conca de Barberà) // Image: Source

Images of these vampire dogs already appear on the altarpiece of Santa Marina de Pratdip, from 1602. According to tradition, young single women who went on pilgrimage to the sanctuary would soon find a husband. The pilgrimage to the hermitage takes place in July.

The Santa Marina Hermitage: Located within the municipality of Pratdip , Baix Camp , about four kilometers from the town, on the Vandellòs road. In 1335 the Santa Marina district already existed and therefore, there was probably already some hermitage in this territory. The altarpiece features the emblematic figure of the dip , both on the town’s coat of arms inside the niche and on the upper part of the niche where there are two more representations. // Image: Jordi Gili/Source

El Dip also appears in another altarpiece from 1730, cut out on a gold background to replace the old one. This altarpiece is possibly the one about which the least information is available, since it was burned on July 25, 1936 by some anticlerical zealots. The only remains that are preserved are in the parish museum of the church of Pratdip, and it is a small piece. In this work of art the dips were also represented, in the form of sculpture in the lower part of the altarpiece.

The Legend Spurs other Legends

Due to his thirst for blood, the dip served to inspire Joan Perucho who, in his novel The Natural Stories (1960). The book tells the story of Onofre de Dip, a vampire with the ability to transform himself into many animals. 

The central part of the play takes place in Pratdip at the beginning of the nineteenth century, in the middle of the Carlist war, and the dip was actually an ambassador of King James who 700 years earlier had gone to the Carpathians on a diplomatic mission and had been attacked there by a noble vampire.

The Coat of arms: The Dip has become the crest for Pratdip Village.

This has perhaps also helped spur further legends about noble men turning vampires, much closer to the modern vampire in Europe. And today, there are stories from fiction books that are now considered a canon folklore tale from older times. 

Another legend from Spanish folklore about vampiric beings is the northern Spain’s Guajona or Guaxa, a vampiric witch. 

Read More: Guajona: The Blood-Thirsty Entity of Iberian Folklore and A Cautionary Tale of the Vampiric Guaxa from Asturia

Legacy of the Vampiric Hound

Today belief in el dip as a literal creature has faded, yet the legend remains a vivid part of Catalan folklore, preserved in collections of regional stories and local mémoire. It is one of the oldest tales of a vampire-like creature from Spain and looking at modern pop culture, it seems like a legend that won’t disappear completely anytime soon.

And although Pratdip is not named after the beast but is a place name of pre-Roman origin, the legend of it remains alongside other fantastical tales. Nearby is a mill, the Molí de més Amunt, where, according to legend, a treasure left behind by the French was hidden. And in the holy houses and in the hills and grazing fields where shepherds once watched through the long hours of night, the story of el dip still lingers. 

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References:

Dip (Catalan myth) – Wikipedia

Pratdip – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

Pratdip – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Ermita de Santa Marina – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

Les històries naturals – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

Ukategorisert

Guajona: The Blood-Thirsty Entity of Iberian Folklore

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Preying on the blood of the young one, the vampiric Guajona from northern Spain is said to stalk the villages and valleys in Cantabria, thirsting for blood. 

In the grim and windswept villages of northern Spain in Cantabria there walks a terrifying figure from Cantabrian mythology. Known as the Guajona or sometimes Lamia, she is a spectral entity associated with night, hunger, and death itself, an entity between a witch and vampire. 

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Cantabria is a historic community between the Basque country, Asturias and Castile, facing the Cantabrian sea. The area is known as the lush and green part of Spain from the coast to the mountains. Its remote and mountainous region made it possible for them to preserve both their celtic and Roman paganism for a long time. And with it, their monsters as well. 

The Spanish Vampire: Guajona lore is very similar to the neighbouring Asturian mythology of Guaxa. The origin of Guajona or Guaja could be in classical Arabic وحش wahsh, meaning “beast”. Although some give a different explanation. Xulio Concepción claims it comes from the Latin: “enemy,” in turn derived from the Indo-European ghos-ti: “foreigner, guest.”

Guajona and the Face of Hunger

The Guajona is described as a pale, gaunt woman with sunken features and long, stringy hair that drapes her shoulders like tattered cloth. Her skin is pale as bone, and her eyes are often said to glow faintly in the darkness. Her hands and feet are gnarled bird legs, her face is yellow and consumed by rough and hairy warts, her eyes are tiny and bright as stars. Her aquiline nose and mouth contain a single black razor sharp tooth that extends long enough to be under her chin and used to suck blood.

What marks her above all is her appearance of starvation. She is thin to the point of grotesque, as if hunger itself has become her form.

The creature only appears at night. It is unknown where she is meant to sleep during the day although it is suspected to be hiding underground. She feeds upon the life force of those she encounters. Those who see her are said to feel a sudden cold chill, an inexplicable weakness, or a sense of unbearable dread.

The Legend of Lamia: A lot of European myths about vampiric beings can be traced back to the Ancient Greek legend of Lamia, the child-devouring monster that were also known to haunt people and suck their blood as a daimon. As well as sharing many similarities between the legend of Lilith and other ancient succubus entities.  Read more: The Beautiful Queen Lamia Who Became a Vampire Monster. // Image: Lamia (second version, 1909) by John William Waterhouse.

A Nightmare in the Night

Descriptions of her movements are unsettling. She is sometimes said to glide over the ground without making sound, appearing suddenly behind travelers on deserted roads, creeping toward sleeping homes, or waiting in the shadows of forests and village edges. Guajona invades homes without getting noticed and walks silently toward healthy young children to suck their blood in their sleep by sticking her tooth into their veins. 

Cantabrian Mythology: The indigenous mythology of Cantabria , from its earliest origins and throughout history, has become intertwined with Celtic and Roman myths , and is partly related to legends and traditions from the rest of the Cantabrian coast . Christianity in Cantabria was a very late arrival. In the  4th century , the population was still mostly pagan. Among the remnants of myths that still persist as a substratum in Cantabrian tradition is the worship of great protective deities, such as the adoration of the Sun. // Image: Source

She does not kill them, instead leaving them almost bloodless so when they wake up in the morning they will be tired, pale and discolored. Guajona also attacks adults. Some versions of the legend say she not only drains life but also spirit. Those who encounter her may fall ill in inexplicable ways, left pale and weak as though an unseen hand has taken from them something essential. In older narratives, unexplained wasting sickness, sudden death, and lifelong fatigue were all sometimes attributed to an encounter with the Guajona.

A Cautionary Tale of the Guaxa

The legend of Guajona is often told together with the legend of the Guaxa from Asturia, the neighboring region to Cantabria. In fact, most places on the northern part of the Iberian peninsula from Portugal to Spain have their version of a bloodsucking witch entity no one really knows where it comes from. Some would even claim it is the same legend, just going under different names. 

So what is the difference between the tale of Guajona and the Astorian Guaxa? The lore behind the Guaxa follows a lot of the same steps as with the Guajona. She’s described as an old woman, sneaking into people’s homes to drink their blood. She particularly loves the blood of children. 

As the Guajona she is thin, ugly covered in warts and is said to have a single sharp tooth. The Guaxa is often said to be invisible and said to be able to slip though small cracks like the chimney, and even the keyhole. 

As with many vampiric beings from southern Europe, she is associated with owls or other nocturnal birds. In Asturia, people can say “It looks like the Guaxa has swallowed you,” when people have lost a lot of weight, as the Guaxa slowly over time drained people’s lives. 

One thing that is not so often talked about with the Guajona is how to ward off or fight against the Guaxa with amulets or other rituals. 

Read More: A Cautionary Tale of the Vampiric Guaxa from Asturia

Similar creatures are found in Galician lore as well, going under the name of the Meiga Chuchona. The question is, where did the legend evolve from? Should these entities be seen as the same creature with different names, or is their geographical regions and variations enough to make them separate beings in folklore?

Origins of the Legend of the Guajona

Adriano García-Lomas, a scholar of these topics, maintains that the Guajona was invented by the folklorist Manuel Llano, based on its Asturian equivalent. This opinion is widespread and can be considered the accepted one today. At least in Cantabrian, although the Asturian lore would say it’s the other way. 

Research of the lore shows that the legends go back centuries at least. As mentioned, many of the vampiric and witch entities in Europe, especially those areas taken over by the Roman empire, have a lot of things in common with the ancient Greek Lamia. Perhaps it is all a mix from south and north? Perhaps there is something particularly frightening lingering in the misty woods in Northern Spain? 

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References:

Guajona – Wikipedia

Cantabria – Wikipedia

Mitología cántabra – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

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A Cautionary Tale of the Vampiric Guaxa from Asturia

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Stalking the northern valleys in Spain, the vampiric Guaxa witch from Asturian legends stalks the night. Although no one is safe, the starved and thirsty monster is especially after the blood of the children. 

In the foggy landscape in Asturia in northern Spain, a vampiric figure is said to linger in the cracks of shadows, waiting for her prey. They say: “wherever a breath of air passes, the Guaxa passes .” An entity between the witch and vampire, she is after the blood of children. 

Read More: Check out all ghostly stories from Spain

Asturia, once an ancient kingdom encompassing most of northern Spain is now confined to a coastal bit overlooking the Atlantic ocean. Even so, the old languages of Asturian are still spoken in the valleys by the elderly, and the tales they have to tell are that of monsters and witches. 

The Vampiric Guaxa Witch

The Guaxa is said to be an old and thin woman-like entity, ugly and covered in warts. She is said to have a single sharp tooth she stalks her prey with. The Guaxa is not often seen at all, and is often said to be invisible, slipping through small cracks of people’s houses like the chimney, and even the keyhole. 

Because she is either invisible, or just seen at night, it is believed that she hides in caves or hollow tree trunks during the day. 

As with many vampiric beings from southern Europe, she is associated with owls or other nocturnal birds. Some also associate the Guaxa with the coruxa (owl), closely linked to witches, and thus consider the Guaxa to be a witch herself.

Curuxa the Barn Owl: The Curuxa are a nefarious omen, especially if they land over the house of an ill person as those inside will die.  It is also said that les bruxes like to shapeshift into a barn owl to fly where they see fit and sneak into forbidden places to steal. Overlapping and sharing a lot with the Northern Portuguese vampire witch Bruxa. // Image: Source

She sneaks into people’s homes in the middle of the night and feeds on them with her one sharp tooth. Children are preferred, but also young women and handsome men are in danger. She doesn’t kill them at once, nor does she transform her victims to one of her own. She slowly kills them, draining their life, bit by bit. In Asturia, people can say “It looks like the Guaxa has swallowed you,” when people have lost a lot of weight, as the Guaxa slowly over time drained people’s lives. 

Protection from the Guaxa

But how do you protect yourself from an invisible supernatural being no one can find or kill? The best thing to do is keep her at a distance. In Astorian tradition there is often talk about the cigua, a talisman of sorts in the form of an amulet. It is shaped like a closed fist in a black chiastolite stone, often known as St. Peter’s stone. 

The Black Jet Hand: Mostly, giving the finger is an obscene gesture meant to offend. In Portugal, Brazil, and some places in Spain, such as Galicia and Asturias, it is a gesture of good luck, or even wishing good luck. It is also believed to ward off evil eye and protect oneself from evil. In these countries, an amulet of a hand performing the fig sign is worn as a good luck or protective charm. In Asturias, these amulets are made from Jet, and it is usual to give them to young kids to protect them from evil eye. In Spanish these amulets are called “Higas”. In Galician language and Portuguese language they are called “Figas”, and in Asturleonese language they are called “Ciguas”.

Another option is protection rituals for people who have been attacked by a Guaxa. These individuals had to drink a preparation made from alicorn, that is actually unicorn horn, that had been macerated with pieces of deer antler and fragments of silver. 

In the case of children, they could also be given a small bag containing 10 grams of rice, which was hung around their necks with a black thread tied with nine knots.

The Guajona Vampire Witch from Cantabria

Asturia shares a lot with the other northern regions in Spain, like Galicia to the west and Cantabria to the east. In Cantabrian lore you will find another vampiric entity that looks and behaves so similar to the Guaxa that many think that this is actually the same story with different names. 

So what is the difference between the tale of the vampiric witch Guajona from Cantabria and the Astorian Guaxa?

The lore behind the Guaxa follows a lot of the same steps as with the Guajona. She’s described as an old woman, sneaking into people’s homes to drink their blood with her single sharp tooth. She is also just seen during the night, but this lore doesn’t insist on her being invisible as much. She is thought to slumber underground during the day. The word Guajona is most likely from Arabic roots meaning beast, and sometimes, this version is also called Lamia. 

The Legend of Lamia: A lot of European myths about vampiric beings can be traced back to the Ancient Greek legend of Lamia, the child-devouring monster that were also known to haunt people and suck their blood as a daimon. As well as sharing many similarities between the legend of Lilith and other ancient succubus entities.  Read more: The Beautiful Queen Lamia Who Became a Vampire Monster. // Image: Lamia (second version, 1909) by John William Waterhouse.

Similar creatures are found in Galician lore as well, going under the name of the Meiga Chuchona. As mentioned, northern Portugal also has the Bruxa legend. The question: where did the legend evolve from? Should these entities be seen as the same creature with different names, or is their geographical regions and variations enough to make them separate beings in folklore?

How old is the Legend of the Guaxa?

The Guaxa is often talked about as an old being from ancient Indo-European folklore. But exactly when did the legend of the Guaxa emerge from the shadows?

The legend of the Guaxa was first written down by Jove and Bravo in the Myths and Superstitions of Asturias from 1897. By this time, the legend had been greatly influenced by modern fears and monsters as well as Christianity. Many think that she is merely a version of the witch figure. But was there a Guaxa pre-Christian Asturia?

The word Guaxa comes from the Asturian language, guax, guax, the onomatopoeia for the sound of owls. In one of the earliest descriptive studies of the figure, Aurelio de Llano denies her belonging to the Asturian mythical pantheon, considering her nothing more than a witch, a term derived from the Latin word “striga”  or stryx, meaning a nocturnal bird).

As mentioned it is also thought that the legend of the Guaxa is branched off from the figure of Lamia from Greece as well as the vampire of Germanic legends. But how far does a legend have to exist before it becomes canon?

For example, in 1480 we know of lawsuits and accusations in the Royal Chancery of Valladolid against Teresa Prieta, a resident of Xove (Gijón), for practicing the profession of Estriga (witch) to enter other people’s houses and suck the blood “mostly of children.”

Read More: Teresa Prieto The Witch of Jove and Spain’s First Vampire Case

The Vampiric Witches of Spain

What lurks in the misty woods in northern Spain? As the fog weaves through the ancient trees, the air becomes thick with mystery and intrigue. Legends speak of elusive creatures and spirits that roam these enchanted forests, whispering secrets to those who will listen, while the rustle of leaves and the distant calls of unseen wildlife create an atmosphere teeming with life and wonder. Perhaps one of them is the blood thirsty monster of the Guaxa?

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References:

Guaxa – Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

Guaxa – Viquipèdia, l’enciclopèdia lliure

Guaxa, la bruja bebedora de sangre

SERES MITOLÓGICOS ASTURIANOS: LA GÜAXA 

El grimorio de bestias: Guaxa

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Loogaroo: The Shape-Shifting Vampire of Caribbean Folklore

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Hanging her skin in trees every night, the vampiric Loogaroo across the Caribbean goes out to hunt for blood to quench her thirst as well as pay her dark lord for her dark powers. 

In the islands of the Caribbean, especially within Haitian and Louisiana Creole folklore, there exists a creature whose legend has frightened generations and crossed oceans into wider ghost traditions. This being is known as the loogaroo, blending European, Indigenous and African horror across the Americas.

Unlike the European vampire that rises from the grave, the loogaroo is a living body transformed, a creature that sheds its human form at night to hunt unseen. 

Origin and Name of The Loogaroo

The term loogaroo is widely recognized in Haiti, Grenada and other French speaking parts of the Caribbean as well as Louisiana. It is derived from the French loup-garou, meaning “werewolf,” but over time the creature became distinct from its European counterpart that the settlers brought with them. 

The Loup-garou: Traditional tales about the Loup-Garou are found in French colonies and European folklore. The Loup-Garou, which literally means ‘wolf-werewolf ‘,  is believed to be a cursed man. s an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf or therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either voluntarily or involuntarily due to a curse or other affliction. Because of European colonisation, similar legends blended with the locals, especially in the French colonies.

The legend of the Loogaroo differs greatly from its namesake though. In the Caribbean context, the loogaroo is most often depicted as a woman with shapeshifting abilities who feeds on human life force rather than sheep or livestock.

In later adaptations of the myth, Loogahoo is a man that has been corrupted by wealth and has dealt with the Devil to keep his status. He is often disguised as a charming and well dressed man, to lure young women to their deaths. He primarily draws blood from the stomach and abdomen.

Her origin stories vary. In some, the Loogaroo is a woman who has made a pact with dark forces and is actually more of a witch-like vampiric being than the werewolf name would say. Not only does she have to feed herself to live, she also has to supply her dark lord with fresh blood. Therefore it is much closer to the Soucouyant myth, another shape-shifting and blood-sucking creature in Caribbean folklore than the werewolf myth of the Loup-garou.

The Soucoyant: The Soucouyant is a folklore character who appears as a reclusive old woman (or man) by day. By night, they strip off their wrinkled skin and put it in a mortar. In the form of a fireball, they fly across the dark sky in search of a victim. The Soucouyants can enter the home of their victim through any sized hole such as cracks and keyholes. Soucouyants suck humans’ blood from their arms, necks, legs and other soft regions while the victim sleeps, leaving black and blue marks on the body in the morning. The soucouyant practices black magic. Soucouyants trade their victims’ blood for evil powers with Bazil, the demon who resides in the silk cotton tree.

Read More: Soucouyant: The Skin-Shedding Vampire of the Caribbean

In some versions of the myth, she is cursed because of her own cruelty in life. What remains constant is that she loses her human appearance at night and becomes something that moves through the shadows, hunting under the cover of darkness.

A Skin Hanging from the Kapok Tree

By day, the Loogaroo appears as a normal woman, often described as an elderly or mysterious figure who lives on the fringes of society. At sunset the loogaroo slips out of her human skin and hangs it on a tree, in some sources specified as a silk cotton tree called the Devil Tree. 

The Silk Cotton Tree: This tree, also called Kapok Tree is one of the most feared trees in the West Indies, and thought to attract spirits and supernatural spirits. According to the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago, the Castle of the Devil is a huge C. pentandra growing deep in the forest in which Bazil, the demon of death, was imprisoned by a carpenter. Still to this day, there are problems every time someone wants to cut down these trees, because people fear what resides inside of the trees. One occurrence being when they constructed the East Coast Highway in Guyana some years ago. 

Many storytellers describe her as a floating ball of light, similar to the will-o’-the-wisp and corpse candle, or as an amorphous shape that enters houses through cracks and crevices. In some tales she retains partial human features. In others she becomes indistinct, a dark mass of movement that evades clear sight.

She is said to enter homes at night, especially where doors or windows are left open, and suck the vital force of sleepers. Some accounts claim she is biting the victim’s shoulder or neck or draws life through an unseen touch or presence. Unlike the classical vampire biting for blood, the loogaroo’s feeding is described more as an unseen siphoning of energy or breath. In some versions of the myth, the Loogaroo’s bloodlust is insatiable, and she is compelled to collect blood for the devil in exchange for her powers.

The Loogaroo is said to roam the night in search of blood, which she needs to sustain her powers. She typically preys on vulnerable people, especially children and the sick. The victims are often found weakened, ill, or pale in the morning. Some die without medical explanation. 

Protection and Ritual to Keep the Loogaroo at Bay

In cultures that believe in the loogaroo, specific practices developed to protect the community. One common method is to sprinkle grains of rice or sand around the house or on the ground outside as The Loogaroo is compelled to stop and count each grain, often losing track of time and being caught by the dawn before she can finish and she has to go back to her skin without feeding. 

Another method involves finding the Loogaroo’s skin while she is out hunting. If someone discovers her hidden skin, they can sprinkle salt or pepper on it. When the Loogaroo returns to her skin at dawn, the irritation from the salt or pepper will prevent her from re-entering it, thus weakening or even killing her.

The loogaroo is particularly obnoxious to dogs, and any person at whom apparently without cause dogs will bark furiously, or even endeavour to attack, is accounted infected with the vampire taint. It is supposed that the loogaroo will frequently molest animals of all kinds, and indeed in Trinidad and especially on the Spanish Main the horses suffer greatly from the attacks of large vampire bats. It is necessary that all the windows and ventilation holes of the stables and cattle pens should be firmly secured by wire netting to prevent the entrance of the bats, which are greatly able to harm any animal in whose flesh they manage to fasten their teeth.”

Regional Variations of the Vampiric Shapeshifting Witch

This creature has many regional variations that are so similar, they seem the same, or so different it seems like a different entity entirely. 

In Haiti, it is known as the lougawou and in the Dominican Republic it is known as the Lugarú, also known as the Galipote or Zángano. Here they are a mythical shapeshifter that is able to take the form of not just various animals, but also inanimate objects like trees or stones. It has incredible strength and is immune to bullets.  Like other versions of the legend, the Lugarú was also rumoured to be immortal, and maintained this state by prowling the night to drink the blood of children.

The Lagahoo and Rougarou: The Rougarou is a legendary creature in Cajun and Creole diaspora and a trickster in oral traditions in Métis and Francophone communities like a werewolf. In Trinidad and Tobago, a similar creature called “Lagahoo” or “La Gahoo” is more like a bloodsucking, shapeshifting sorcerer. At night, he is described as taking the appearance of a man with a coffin on his neck instead of a head, atop which are three lit candles. He carries a chain around his waist, which trails behind him, and commonly feeds on livestock. Sometimes, he is so tall his head disappears among the trees. To defeat him, he must be repeatedly struck with a stick doused in holy water and holy oils for nine days. He will then rapidly switch forms, from a savage dog, an angry bull, and stormy waves, before finally turning to mist. // Image: praline3001/Flickr

In Mauritian folklore, the Lougarou is a notorious figure mostly used to scare children, appearing during the full moon. Following Cyclone Hollanda in 1994, a form of Lougarou, known as Touni Minwi, was believed to visit women in their homes at night. This led to hysteria among the local population; many witnesses would affirm having seen frightful manifestations at night time, including apparitions of Lougarou. The Touni Minwi phenomenon led to a large mobilization of people in the capital, Port Louis, and in the village of Lallmatie.

Legacy of the Night Spirit

In modern Caribbean culture, belief in the loogaroo has faded in many urban areas, but the legend survives in rural storytelling, literature, and popular media. It even travelled back to Europe, where places with a bigger Caribbean diaspora such as Shepherd’s Bush in London had stories of the Loogaroo lurking in the dark.

Her ghost remains alive in the story, in fear, and in the quiet hours before dawn with her skin hanging from the Devil Tree. 

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Loogaroo – Wikipedia 

Loogaroo – Monstropedia

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Ceiba pentandra – Wikipedia

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The Kuntilanak and the Pontianak: Vampiric Ghosts of the Banana Tree

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At the cusp of a vengeful ghost and a vampiric entity, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia, or the Pontianak as she is called in Malaysia, is after both vengeance and to devour her victims. 

In Indonesia, particularly on the islands of Java and Kalimantan, there exists one of Southeast Asia’s most haunting and widely feared spirits known as the Kuntilanak. She is said to be the restless ghost of a woman who died during childbirth or in a violent circumstance, forever trapped between life and death. In Malayan folklore where the story is also told, she is called the Pontianak. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Indonesia and Malaysia

Her domain is said to be in hollow banana trees and if you smell the sweet scent of Jasmine or the frangipani flower, it might just be the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth. And she might be after your blood. 

The Woman in White of Southeast Asian

The Kuntilanak is believed to originate in the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth. There are different variations of the legend throughout Asia, as we will get more into later. In traditional belief, dying in such a vulnerable state without completing the life cycle left the soul restless and unanchored.

The Kuntilanak is often depicted as a long-haired woman dressed in white as an astral female spirit. In modern media, she is often portrayed as a Woman in White. Often, her dress is depicted as blood-smeared. It is also often a traditional kebaya or funeral shroud.

She lures in unsuspecting men to devour and sometimes also for some sort of revenge. Some say that the phantom is an invention of Malay wives who wanted to discourage their husbands from random sexual encounters with women that they met on the road at night. Or perhaps it acts as some sort of subconscious warning to men to leave women alone at night. 

Signs that a Kuntilanak is nearby include the sound of an infant crying and the smell of plumeria flower followed by the smell of decay.

The Vampiric Creature of the Night

Another thing the Kuntilanak spirit is depicted as, is a monstrous transformation when she has lured her prey, more like a beast or type of vampire than a ghost. 

The Kuntilanak suddenly turns and reveals that her back is hollow, much like the Sundel bolong the prostitute ghost with her large gaping hole on her back.

Another version of this figure depicts her as a woman with long, sharp fangs and fingernails that she is said to use to feed on her victims, digging them into their stomachs and devouring their organs and blood. In some versions, she is also said to have wings she can fly away with making a ke-ke-ke sound as it flies.

The Ghost in the Tree

Banana trees are by nature hollow at the center. In Javanese and Malay belief these hollows are places where spirits can dwell. The Kuntilanak is said to hide in the hollows of banana trees, emerging at night or when someone passes too close. This is why it’s advised to ask permission from the spirits and guardians before entering a jungle. Kuntilanak are also said to favor certain trees as their “dwelling places,” such as the hibiscus tree, which grows leaning to the side (popularly called “waru doyong”).

When she appears, her wail is a long, high-pitched cry that carries over fields and villages, chilling listeners with its sorrow and fury. Those who hear the cry are believed to be marked by her presence.

The legend holds that the Kuntilanak may call out a person’s name, drawing them nearer with a voice that sounds familiar, kind, or beckoning. They usually announce their presence through baby cries. It’s said that if the cry is loud, she is far away, but if it is soft, then she is nearby. It is also said that if you hear a dog/wolf howl she is far away, but if it’s whimpering, she is nearby.

According to Javanese beliefs and traditions , a kuntilanak will not harm a pregnant woman if she always carries nails, knives, and scissors with her whenever she travels. This is why scissors, needles , and knives are often placed near a baby’s crib. According to Malay beliefs as well, sharp objects like nails can ward off attacks by the Pontianak.

Kuntilanak can be subdued by plunging a sharp nail into the top of her head. Sometimes the story goes that she doesn’t die from this, but once again becomes a normal woman. Sometimes even a good wife. Although, be careful to never remove the nail ever again as she will go back to her old ways. 

The Malayan Pontianak

As mentioned, the Kuntilanak of Indonesia is also called Pontianak in Malaysia. But what exactly is the difference? There are many Malay ghost myths, remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by Hindu-Buddhist cosmology and later Muslim influences. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires pontianak and penanggal are shared throughout the region. Often these two names are conflated to one being, just in different languages. 

There are some things that are more quintessential Malayan lore though than you would find in Indonesia. The Pontianak is similar to another entity found in Malayan folklore, the Langsuir. This is a vampiric ghost of a woman who died in childbirth in Malaysia is often connected with the stories of the Pontianak where the Langsuir is the ghost of the mother who died in childbirth, and the Pontianak is the child who died in stillbirth. Modern popular culture often confuses the pontianak with its mother the lang suir. However, traditional myth is clear that the pontianak is the ghost of a dead baby and not a pregnant woman.

There are also some traditions for the Malay Pontianak that are followed. To prevent this ghost to form, as with its mother the lang suir, a needle is placed in each of the corpse’s hands and a hen’s egg under each armpit. The Pontianak is also said to locate their prey by sniffing clothes that are left out to dry, which is the reason Malay’s refuse to keep their clothes outside at night. Also whistling after night is said to draw evil spirits. 

An interesting thing is how the Pontianak stopped showing up in modern media for a long time in Malay media. Films about her had mostly stopped being produced by the 1970s and in the 1990s, the Malaysian government censored horror films. These laws were relaxed in the 2000s, which brought on another wave of films, including the feminist Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam. She once again became something shared in media and culture to this day. 

The City of Pontianak

Pontianak, capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, shares its name with the fearsome monster. Perhaps a little confusing, the Indonesian city is given the Malayan name for it. 

Pontianak is said to have been founded in 1771 as a Malay fishing village, near a delta on the trade route of the Kapuas River. The legend of the city of Pontianak holds that the city began as an old trading station, infested with ghosts until Syarif Abdurrahman Alkadrie and his army drove them away with cannon fire. 

Read More: The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After

He also cut down all of the trees they could be hiding in, then constructed a mosque and a palace on the site. These buildings became the city and the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate. Holiday celebrations often include firing bamboo cannons to pay tribute to the Sultan.

Some claim that the vanquishing of the ancient creature in Pontianak was a metaphor about how the area entered to a place of a more modern era, ridding itself of old superstition in order to take on new ones. But old stories are hard to get rid of completely. And if they are still firing cannons, did she vanish at all?

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References:

Kuntilanak

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

(DOC) INDONESIAN GHOST KUNTILANAK IN FOLKLORE AND MASS CULTURE

Pontianak

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily 

Kuntilanak – Wikipedia 

If Singapore has a lion, why should Pontianak not have a ghost? – National – The Jakarta Post

The ultimate survival guide to Malaysian superstitions and ghosts

Ghosts in Malay culture – Wikipedia

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The City of Pontianak and the Vampiric Ghost its Named After

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How haunted is a city to be named after its ghosts? This is the case of the Indonesian city of Pontianak, said to have been haunted by the fearsome ghosts known as the Pontianak or the Kuntilalak ghosts, thirsting for blood and vengeance.

The seductive but bloodthirsty Kuntilanak is a popular character in Malay horror films and novels, where she typically lurks around forested areas with abundant banana or banyan fig trees, waiting for her victims she can drain dry. 

The ghost of the Kuntilanak or the Pontianak as she is known in this city, has given name to the capital of the West Kalimantan on Borneo island, as it was said the place was filled with ghosts. Not just ghosts though, bloodthirsty ghosts, lurking in the deep jungle. 

The Pontianak City Founded on a Coast of Ghosts

Pontianak, capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, shares its name with a fearsome monster. Perhaps a little confusing, the Indonesian city is given the Malayan name for it. Throughout most of Indonesia, she goes under the name Kuntinalak. 

Pontianak is said to have been founded in 1771 by Syarif Abdurrahim, near a delta on the trade route of the Kapuas River as a fishing village, with the equator line passing through it. There does however seem to have been a more ancient civilisation living here in the late 17th century. The city is also sometimes known as Khuntien in Teochew and Hakka and was a Malay state on the western coast of Borneo in the late 18th century until 1950. 

A nobleman of Arab descent, he was given land because of the strategic importance since the river served as the main trading route for transporting goods from the interior of the island. 

The delta was also home to pirates and building a fortress against them was also an important task. It is said that when they first came by boat, they noticed many disturbances and frightening sounds coming from the thick and dark jungle that surrounded them. The disturbances were perceived as evil ghosts and they frightened the people they didn’t want to stay. 

To scare away the ghosts, Syarif Abdurrahim fired cannon to keep them at bay. The city was built on swampy ground and tropical forest subjected to regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles to keep them off the ground. He also cut down all of the trees they could be hiding in, then constructed a mosque and a palace on the site. These buildings became the city and the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate. 

It went through many hands, until it became a part of the Republic of Indonesia after the Japanese surrendered after the second world war. Because of its history and blended population, it has a culture unlike other places in Indonesia. But did they really rid themselves of the ghosts said to roam here?

The Pontinak or the Kuntinak Ghost

But what exactly is a Pontinak, or the Kuntinak that the ghost is known as in the rest of Indonesia?

The Kuntilanak is believed to originate in the spirit of a woman who died while pregnant or during childbirth. Banana trees are by nature hollow at the center and in Javanese and Malay belief these hollows are places where spirits can dwell. The Kuntilanak is said to hide in the hollows of banana trees, emerging at night or when someone passes too close to drain them of their blood and life like a vampire. This is why it’s advised to ask permission from the spirits and guardians before entering a jungle and take certain measures. 

Some people also claim that the origin of the name Pontianak comes from the Malay language, namely ponti, from the acronym for tall tree, something the place was before turning into a city. 

The Ghost as a Citizen Today in Pontianak

To this day, the story of the Pontianak is important for the city, both as history, and everyday life. There used to be annual festivals in order to commemorate the founding of the city, during which people fired the bamboo cannon and thereby symbolically evicted Kuntilanak. Almost like they still have to do it to keep her at bay.

During the New Order the annual event and the cannon disappeared. However, some citizens have set up cannon again in recent years. An annual festival is still held in Pontianak during which meriam karbit, special carbide cannons made from wooden logs, are fired to ring at the end of Ramadan.

In recent years, the people of Pontianak city stand divided over how to honor their namesake. For years, plans of raising a statue of the Pontianak were put forth. There had long been rumors and ideas about these plans, but it seemed more real when Kartius, head of the Youth, Tourism and Sports Agency in West Kalimantan. Kartius proposed the idea to build the statue, arguing that the monument would increase tourism. Towering over 300 feet, the ghost would dwarf the buildings around it.

Protests started and banners with “Community Movement to Reject Ghost Statue.” They turned up outside of the parliament building, although no official moves had been done.  Turns out, not every person was eager for the idea of their childhood nightmare turned into a tourist attraction. A poll showed 98% of residents were opposed to the idea. 

Fear to attract the ghost perhaps? 

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References:

Kuntilanak – ScienceDirect

The Indonesian Frontier Town Named for a Jungle Vampire – JSTOR Daily

Pontianak – Wikipedia

The Time a Town Was in an Uproar Over a 300-Foot Ghost Statue