WWW.SHROUDEATER.COM - Vampire of Alistrati

The Sources:

Jan L. Perkowski :
"The Darkling - a treatise on Slavic Vampirism" [1989]
Slavica Publishers Inc., Columbus - Ohio, 1989

The Cases:

Perkowski found this case in G. F. Abbott's "Macedonian Folklore", which was published in 1903.

In Alistrati someone was thought to have turned into a vampire. I quote Perkowski: "The corpse was taken out of the grave, was scalded with boiling oil, and was pierced through the navel with a long nail". Then the grave was filled again and millet seed was thrown on top of it to keep it busy until the morning. We also learn that the "vrykolakas" can only appear between 10 in the evening and the moment when the cock starts crowing.

The Date:

The original author made his trip in 1900-1901. It is said that the events did happen "not long ago". So let's file it as "before 1900".

The Place:

Alistrati can be found somewhere on the Greek mainland, on the road from Serres to Drama.

Possible Follow-Up:

It seems rather obvious. First check out Perkowski's report and see what else he has to say. And then it's on to dig up a copy of Abbott's book to see what else we can find in there.

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