Strigoi: The Undead of Romania
The Original Vampire
Forget the cape and the castle. The Strigoi is the true vampire of Romanian folklore. It is not a romantic aristocrat. It is a bloated, red-faced peasant corpse that smells of wet earth. It is the restless spirit of a wicked person (or someone who died with "unfinished business") who refuses to leave.
The Attack Profile
The Strigoi is a creature of anti-life. It returns home first. It knocks on the door calling for its wife or children. Those who answer sicken and die, their vitality drained night by night. It also attacks the village economy: draining milk from cows, killing sheep, and ruining crops with hail.
Detection and Cure
How do you know a grave is active?
- A small hole in the earth (snake-sized).
- A horse refuses to walk over the grave.
- The corpse is found undecomposed, with hair and nails grown, and a face swollen with blood.
The cure is brutal exorcism:
- Exhume: Dig up the body.
- Stake: Drive a stake of ash or aspen through the heart.
- Sever: Cut off the head and place it between the legs.
- Garlic: Stuff the mouth with garlic.
The Living Strigoi
There are also Strigoi Vii (Living Vampires). These are sorcerers born with a caul or tail. They can leave their bodies at night to dance at crossroads or steal the essence of their neighbors. When they die, they inevitably become the undead Strigoi Morti.
The Final Warning
A grave covered with a heavy stone slab and an iron cage is not designed to keep thieves out; it is designed to keep the resident in. If you walk through a Romanian cemetery and hear scratching from beneath the earth, do not stop to listen. The Strigoi is awake, and he is hungry for his own kin, and the dead do not share, so keep moving.
