The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

The fear, the legend, the truth behind all stories... Did Bram Stoker know something about these legends or he just wrote something based only on pure fiction?

Strigoii, moroii...The first time I met these terms and saw their descriptions I was terrified... later, when I`ve read something about vampires, a vague reference to these terms made me think..."Is that possible?"... Recently, I`ve done some research about these creatures that supposely exist, and I found some very interesting informations.

In the popular belief, Strigoii are considered to be the souls of the people who can`t find their peace...

In the romanian folklore, there are two types of Strigoi: the living and the dead...

The Living Strigoii come from the children born with one extra vertebra ("with tail"), from the children born with "shirt" or "skullcap" (rests of the embrionic membrane) or from the chidren resulted from an incest.

The Living Strigoii are invisible and can be seen only by those born on Saturdays or by those who in the Sângiorz eve cut with a golden coin the head of a white snake, put incense and garlic in its mouth and bury it under the doorstep. In the daytime, Strigoii can be recognized by the fact that they don`t eat garlic ond onion and stay away from incense.

Strigoii (the souls) leave the human bodies at night and they do a lot of damage in the living world...From this point of view, we must mention two nights very important and, somehow, critical: Sangiorz Eve (22-23 April) and The Night Of Saint Andrew (29-30 November).

In the Sangiorz Eve, the Strigoii steal the crops, the milk of the cows and men`s virility; in The Night Of Saint Andrew, the souls, after they get out of the bodies, roll over three times and transform in different animals. At the crossroads, they meet the Dead Strigoii and fight to see who`s gonna be their leader for the next year.

Opposite from the Living Strigoii, which are people whose souls leave their bodies during the night, the Dead Strigoii are souls that cannot reach the other world for one reason or another. Their bodies don`t rot, and they come back (after different periods - nine days, six weeks, six months or six years) especially in the nights with full moon, tormenting the living.

After death, a man who was a Living Strigoi will turn into a Dead Strigoi if certain rituals weren`t accomplished; in case that someone is known to be a Living Strigoi, before his burial a peg, spike or spindle is sticked into his heart.

Dead Strigoi become also the man in whose case there were not followed all the traditions at the funeral; the dead must not be let alone during the night, because he might turn into a Strigoi if an animal passes underneath him; another ritual is to put a hollow coin into the mouth or handkerchief of the dead in order for him to pay the taxes to the other world. Dead Strigoii become also these who sold their soul to the Devil while they were alive, the unbaptized children and the children killed by their mothers.