'Vampire' graves are unearthed in Bulgaria

Skeletons dating from the Middle Ages with iron rods through their chests have been discovered by archaeologists in the Bulgarian Black Sea town of Sozopol.

Bozhidar Dimitrov, head of the National History Museum in Sofia said that in some parts of Bulgaria corpses regularly had iron rods hammered through their hearts before being buried, even until the beginning of the last century.

The Independent

Apparently the Bulgarians had a fear that the dead would return to feast on the blood of the living.

The earliest references to blood drinking demons date back to ancient Mesopotamia, with Persian pottery depicting demons attempting to drink the blood of men. Babylonian legend gave rise to Lilitu, synonymous with the Hebrew Lilith who survived by drinking the blood of babies. Even older than Lilith was the Mesopotamia Lamashtu who would watch a pregnant mother very closely until she went into labour. After delivery, Lamashtu would snatch the baby, drink its blood until it was drained and devour its flesh.

A wave of vampire hysteria swept Europe in the first half of the 18th century, based largely on supposed attacks by vampires in East Prussia in 1721 and in the Habsburg Monarchy from 1725 to 1734. Two famous Serbian cases of vampires also fuelled the hysteria.

Peter Plogojowitz allegedly returned from the grave and asked his son for some food. His son refused and the father was found dead the next morning. It seems possible that the man had merely been entombed while alive and had somehow escaped from his premature burial. Lack of oxygen may also have caused brain damage.

Arnold Paole on the other hand was suspected to be a fully fledged vampire. A former soldier, Paole was apparently attacked by a vampire but appeared to suffer no ill effects. When he died a number of years later however, people began to disappear leading to Paole being suspected as the culprit. It could be observed however that the vampire case of Paole was merely circumstancial with no direct evidence apart from Paole stating he had been attacked by a vampire.

Nonetheless, all of the above vampire episodes were well know and well believed across Europe in the 18th century.

Arguably our own culture to this day has a dread of the dead returning.

Consider how large and sturdy the bolts are on a modern coffin.

To keep the dead well locked in perhaps?

Threads rising from the dead also have animation..

www.abovetopsecret.com...

even moments after their occurrence ..

Originally posted by mainidh
Threads rising from the dead also have animation..

www.abovetopsecret.com...

even moments after their occurrence ..

That is strange. When I did a search earlier (using ' 'Vampire' graves are unearthed in Bulgaria ' that thread didn't show up. Now when I do the search again, its does.)

I wonder what I did wrong.

Anyway, thanks for that.

Originally posted by ollncasino

I wonder what I did wrong.

Anyway, thanks for that.

You did nothing wrong mate... The search engine here, like all forum engines, is 100% made to fail. I know it's are useful as bewbs on a bull, when I try to find old posts.

I guess since I always have the firehose as the main page, I see them all at once.

Didn't mean to be a twat, lol, sorry dude..

if there's any consolation, you got more attention is seems, so all is well that ends well

Two threads on the same subject are frequently allowed to exist without the dead rising to a feast of human blood all across the earth, so no worries. They are in two different forums.

Interesting bit of history OP. Seems Bram Stoker had plenty of lore to fall back on for his autobiography...er...novel I mean.

Posted earlier here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Please add further comments to the ongoing discussion in the above linked thread.
Thanks

**Thread Closed**


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