67 replies to this topic

[Helen of Annoy]

Etu Malku, on 24 November 2012 - 05:16 PM, said:

Interesting . . . Croatia was the site of one of the first vampire epidemics of the modern age. In 1672 Giure Grando, late of Khring on the Istrian peninsula, Croatia, apparently returned from the grave and caused many deaths.

The Bosnian "Lampir" is the name of the oldest recorded vampire Meho Lampir.

They dug up a “vampire”  out of his grave in one of cemeteries of Opatija, Croatia, in 1881, mind you. I often walk there, only it’s now a park.
Similar to Jure Grando, this one, Ivan Varljen, would get up from his grave and walk around at night, scaring women and children, so three men decided to dig up Ivan’s grave, pierce his unruly corpse with a wooden stake, cut his tendons on both legs, tie him up, toss him face down and then, finally, rebury him. A little overdone if you ask me, but on the other hand, if it was me seeing Ivan vampiring around my house, maybe I’d toss an additional stone on top of him too.




I find it interesting that vampire legends are particularly common in Istria, the same Croatian region that had influx of Romanian population. They are called Aromuns or Istro-Romanians and apparently they brought their vampire legends with them.
Or they brought actual vampires with them

Edited by Helen of Annoy, 24 November 2012 - 05:48 PM.

[pallidin]

Have we actually reached the 21st Century yet?

[Helen of Annoy]

pallidin, on 24 November 2012 - 06:17 PM, said:

Have we actually reached the 21st Century yet?

I didn’t know it’s obligatory.


Seriously now, looks like the initial source for the article was Russian Pravda, known for its – ahem – loosely based on actual events approach.

The reality probably looks like this: The house in which it is believed Sava Savanović once lived, has collapsed due to no maintenance at all and there was no maintenance due to the local legend of Sava being a vampire. People probably don't really believe in vampires, but just to be on the safe side they avoided the place. Local media could have jokingly issued a vampire warning but I seriously doubt the local authorities did that.

God knows it doesn't take much for me to start mocking my eastern neighbours, but they are not that backward.
On the other hand, a clove of garlic a day keeps doctor and anyone else away. Just to be on the safe side

[pallidin]

Garlic is the bomb. I recently knocked-out a cold by taking 6 concentrated(active ingredients) garlic pills.
Recommended dosage was 2, I think.

Figured it wouldn't really hurt me to take 6, and they didn't. It actually busted my cold or whatever I had.

EDIT: Caution, do not do this without taking into consideration as to if your body can handle such a large dose.

Edited by pallidin, 24 November 2012 - 08:01 PM.

[Lava_Lady]

Sava Savanovic, the Serbian vampire:  he looks like someones weird uncle... the one that always touches you inappropriately.

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[Mike D boy]

OK, the locals in the one Serbian village swore a vampire is on the loose...in the realm of the paranormal, what we tend not to believe and cannot explain isn't going to solve the mystery on the validity of vampires exist or not. Cultures around the world have stories of cryptozoological creatures they spotted and got in contact with, including Sasquatch in the Pacific Northwest of the USA and modern-day extraterrestrials (the Greys) including the Chupacabra in Latin America.

All we hafta respond to the news report is to keep an open mind, then again vampires still sound like the stuff of legends not fully grounded in reality we feel in the western cultures, whom recently find vampires a trendy niche of romantic wanderlusting beings needing more than blood to fill their physical (and emotional ) needs.

Edited by Tsa-La-Gie Oyate, 25 November 2012 - 02:29 AM.

[Skeptic Chicken]

My thought's on this story:
- Sava Savanovic, the name sounds a bit unoriginal.
- How do they know he/she is a bad vampire? Famous isn't Infamous.

That is all.

[Redefining Success]

pallidin, on 24 November 2012 - 06:17 PM, said:

Have we actually reached the 21st Century yet?

Not all countries have reached the 21st century, or at least there is regions that are some years behind.

[BorisIWantToKnow]

Helen of Annoy, on 24 November 2012 - 04:46 PM, said:

Hi, Boris, it's nice to bump into a fellow countryman on the world wide web. If only we were from the same parallel universe too... because superstition is rampant in this neighbourhood.  

Especially in Serbia, have you not heard of "Vlaška magija" (the magic of Vlah people, they brought their beliefs from Romania) and how serious a lot of people takes it still?

(Nothing offensive in that fact, it's part of their heritage and found its way into my heritage too. What not to love about good, old-fashioned vampire story? That has roots in true weird events )

Awesome, you're the first one i've met . I'm not going to say a word of Croatian in the spirit of good communication and so our fellow "Unexplained Mysterians" can understand us.
I've heard of "Vlaska Magija", but I was referring to the younger generation of Serbs. I'm probably younger than you, so i'm not that familiar with the older generation of Serbs.
On the contrary, i love a good vampire story and i can't wait to see how this plays out

[BorisIWantToKnow]

Etu Malku, on 24 November 2012 - 05:16 PM, said:

Interesting . . . Croatia was the site of one of the first vampire epidemics of the modern age. In 1672 Giure Grando, late of Khring on the Istrian peninsula, Croatia, apparently returned from the grave and caused many deaths.

The Bosnian "Lampir" is the name of the oldest recorded vampire Meho Lampir.

Giure Grand is kinda the most "famous" vampire in Croatia. What's little known is the supposed existence of "kršnik's"
They're the people who are born during a bad weather. And they're something like vampire hunters. But in their case, they don't fight the vampire as a human but instead their souls leave their body and go to fight vampires. In Medveđe, by Beograd(Serbia) a 50.-year old woman named Milica in the year of 1731/1732 was suspected to have killed 18 people, that was the official report of the village mayor.
It's really quite interesting when you really get into it

Edited by BorisIWantToKnow, 25 November 2012 - 09:39 AM.

[Helen of Annoy]

Skeptic Chicken, on 25 November 2012 - 04:51 AM, said:

My thought's on this story:
- Sava Savanovic, the name sounds a bit unoriginal.
- How do they know he/she is a bad vampire? Famous isn't Infamous.

That is all.

It does sound a bit unoriginal or even fake, but Sava Savanović really existed. As a person before his death, not as a vampire after his death.
And it sure is a little funny to give your child the first name that is basically the root of his last name (Savanović is “descendant of Sava”), but it was popular in some periods.
“Sava” in Serbian tradition is usually male name, and quite popular, after Saint Sava. (I will not slip into political rant. I will not. )

So there was a man with that name and apparently his neighbours had a reason to believe he was a vampire. I guess it’s the provincial dark I mentioned before combined with Sava being not liked during his official human life, and the legend was born.  

There are no good vampires in folk tales of this neighbourhood. If it’s a vampire, it’s bad. Period. Vampire grave must be opened, stake driven through his heart, his head chopped off with an axe, since Christianity has rooted in, bring the priest too to splash some holy water over the whole mess and then rebury.

Unlike vampires from modern scenarios, the vampires of the old exhibited no emotions matching to living human emotions. And that’s what was freaking people out, more than occasional blood sucking. Stories of being bitten by vampire are rare, stories of seeing a vampire grinning like an idiot outside your window or vampire child singing happily inside their grave are far more numerous.

BorisIWantToKnow, on 25 November 2012 - 09:35 AM, said:

Giure Grand is kinda the most "famous" vampire in Croatia. What's little known is the supposed existence of "kršnik's"
They're the people who are born during a bad weather. And they're something like vampire hunters. But in their case, they don't fight the vampire as a human but instead their souls leave their body and go to fight vampires. In Medveđe, by Beograd(Serbia) a 50.-year old woman named Milica in the year of 1731/1732 was suspected to have killed 18 people, that was the official report of the village mayor.
It's really quite interesting when you really get into it

Krsniks (or kršnik, kresnik, also zduhač, zdihač) should have been given the attention those pesky vampires hogged for themselves.
Krsnik is a shapeshifter, a being more than human. They are not just born during bad weather, they – according to folk belief, of course – can control the weather, the outcome of battles, the outbreaks of diseases and more.
They are the physical manifestations of forces of nature, avatars in modern vocabulary, and they are not good or bad by default. Each krsnik chooses their way, will they be benevolent or destructive, and chooses what group of people will they favour or won’t favour anyone. Most krsniks were actually good and chose to protect those people among whom they were born...
Yes, definitely interesting if you ask me

[BorisIWantToKnow]

Helen of Annoy, on 25 November 2012 - 03:04 PM, said:

It does sound a bit unoriginal or even fake, but Sava Savanović really existed. As a person before his death, not as a vampire after his death.
And it sure is a little funny to give your child the first name that is basically the root of his last name (Savanović is “descendant of Sava”), but it was popular in some periods.
“Sava” in Serbian tradition is usually male name, and quite popular, after Saint Sava. (I will not slip into political rant. I will not. )

So there was a man with that name and apparently his neighbours had a reason to believe he was a vampire. I guess it’s the provincial dark I mentioned before combined with Sava being not liked during his official human life, and the legend was born.  

There are no good vampires in folk tales of this neighbourhood. If it’s a vampire, it’s bad. Period. Vampire grave must be opened, stake driven through his heart, his head chopped off with an axe, since Christianity has rooted in, bring the priest too to splash some holy water over the whole mess and then rebury.

Unlike vampires from modern scenarios, the vampires of the old exhibited no emotions matching to living human emotions. And that’s what was freaking people out, more than occasional blood sucking. Stories of being bitten by vampire are rare, stories of seeing a vampire grinning like an idiot outside your window or vampire child singing happily inside their grave are far more numerous.






Krsniks (or kršnik, kresnik, also zduhač, zdihač) should have been given the attention those pesky vampires hogged for themselves.
Krsnik is a shapeshifter, a being more than human. They are not just born during bad weather, they – according to folk belief, of course – can control the weather, the outcome of battles, the outbreaks of diseases and more.
They are the physical manifestations of forces of nature, avatars in modern vocabulary, and they are not good or bad by default. Each krsnik chooses their way, will they be benevolent or destructive, and chooses what group of people will they favour or won’t favour anyone. Most krsniks were actually good and chose to protect those people among whom they were born...
Yes, definitely interesting if you ask me

Wow i did not know that. Interesting. Is there a book i can read about "krsnik's"?

[freetoroam]

I saw the story has come from the Sun online. Says it all really.

[freetoroam]

sergeantflynn, on 24 November 2012 - 02:12 PM, said:

Send it to the UK . It`ll be given another house .

Maybe, but more likely 1300 (at least) Serbs are on their way here instead, because they fear for their lives.

[Black Red Devil]

It's obviously Count Dracula looking for new real estate down the road and decided to go for a quick feed.

Edited by BlackRedLittleDevil, 26 November 2012 - 05:59 AM.