The Source:
Dudley Wright
"Vampires and Vampirism"
William Rider & Son, London, 1924
The Case
"At the latter end of August 1923 (see Observer, 2nd September 1923) it was claimed that a vampire ventured into the Serbian capital, Belgrade, and gave vent to its feelings by throwing stones at the house of its victim. Bricks and fragments of big stones fell day after day on No. 61 Bosanska Street, which runs from the old "Gates of Town," near the railway station, into the picturesque Balkanska Street. All the windows of the house were broken and the terrified inhabitants perambulated the yard of the house, sprinkling holy water and chanting psalms and hymns, but it is not on record whether the vampire was captured and transfixed with the customary briar stake."
The Date:
We have been given a rather exact date here: end of August 1923.
The Place:
We have also been given the exact location of where these happenings are said to have taken place: Beograd, No. 61 Bosanska Street. Here is a link to Beograd : www.beograd.org.yu
Personal Comments:
This is a somewhat unusual case. Nothing much has been reported about the vampire itself. And we might feel inclined to file this case under "Poltergeist" rather than "Vampire". But there must have been some reason why the (invisible ?) attacker was labeled as a vampire.
Possible Follow-Up:
This story has been mentioned in various books. For instance, it can also be found in Montague Summers' "The Vampire in Europe", where it is slightly different from the version by Dudley Wright. These stories do change, things may be added, things may be left out. Therefore, it is important that we find ourselves a copy of "the Observer" in order to compare the text of the original article with other existing versions. Next we can try to locate the streetnames on a city map of Beograd. If we have no luck, we will have to find an old city map. The streets might still be there, even the house might still be there (or not). We can also go in search of local newspapers. If this story made its way into "the Observer", then it seems likely that it must also have been recorded (possibly in much greater detail) in local publications.
© 1989, 2007 by Rob Brautigam - NL - Last changed 03 October 2007
Link last checked 9 July 2007
