The "vampire plagues"?

[Jragon]

I’ve been doing some reading on vampire folklore. I.E. different myths and legends throughout Europe and inspirations for later works such as Carmilla and Dracula that launched the modern notion.

In a few scattered sources I’ve seen references to the “vampire plagues”. Not intimating there were actual vampires around, but that there was some sort of widespread rash of vampire hysteria in esp south central/east Europe a few centuries ago. According to one source:

In actual historic reports, we find that plagues of diseases were sometimes blamed on vampires. This is often the case in the famous “vampire plagues” of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries which drew the attention of Austro-Hungarian military and government authorities. Frequently, every victim of the plague was suspected of having becoming a vampire after his or her death. The ultimate test of contracted vampirism in these cases was to dig up the body of the victim from his grave to see if it was still fresh or had other signs to indicate that the corpse was actually undead. If the corpse exhibited such a condition, it was most typically treated by such means as driving a stake through the heart, decapitating it, cremating it, or otherwise mutilating it.

I googled to learn more because it sounded interesting if nothing else. However, I couldn’t find too much. There’s apparently a (not particularly well known) novel series with the name that doesn’t help, but most sources I find discussing it are exclusively other (often amateur enthusiast) folklorists discussing vampire mythos. Some take a more critical eye to it such as interpreting it as a dogwhistle for migration of people from other regions, or likening it to the “witch hunts” which were often more political than due to an actual belief someone was doing black magic. However, I’ve seen nobody cite any actual sources for this information. No quotes from any primary or secondary sources. Hell, no lip service to some throwaway paragraph in an otherwise unrelated text talking about European superstitions or weird Austro-Hungarian military fiascos or whatever.

So was this a thing? Is this just some weird meta-folklore that ironically popped up among vampire folklorists?

[mbh]

Do a search on “vampire hysteria” or “18th century vampire controversy”, and you get slightly better results. Also try “revenant” or “draugr”. Serious scholarly works are still few and far between, though.

Vampire folklore by region

Revenant

Smithsonian Channel: It's Brighter Here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traité_sur_les_apparitions_des_esprits_et_sur_les_vampires_ou_les_revenans_de_Hongrie,_de_Moravie,_%26c.

[DrDeth]

@Jragon

…

So was this a thing? Is this just some weird meta-folklore that ironically popped up among vampire folklorists?

No, it was a thing. My Grandmother, in Carpathia, witnessed just such a staking as a young girl, around the turn of the century.

[Fleetwood]

@DrDeth

No, it was a thing. My Grandmother, in Carpathia, witnessed just such a staking as a young girl, around the turn of the century.

Just nineteen years ago? Seems to me that we would have discussed it here on the Dope when it happened.

[GMANCANADA]

If you like this topic (and these types of topics) there is a great podcast: Monster Talk, which is a “science show about monsters”.

I like it because they go well beyond the typical superficial repeating of previous ideas and do original research and interview modern authors and researchers. Plus there’s a full list of citations in the website’s show notes, which is always adds credibility.

They’ve done a few episodes on vampires and the sources of the legends. I listened to this one some time ago and don’t recall if they cover your specific question, but you may find it informative: