Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-06-07

tFrom the Wheeling (west Virginia. Register
haege8ss ~ May 3lst.l ~ ss,rr'79
A Sensational StOry-ReviyaI OF
am Old ;SuperstitiOu-AY Young
Man Visited by a Vampire.
There is an old superstition, dating back
to the Greeks and Romans, that bodies of
persons who die under sentence of excom-
munication do not decay, but devour their
own flesh, and during the night leave their
graves and suck the blood of living per-
sons. This old superstition has been re-
vived in this city under extraordinary cir
cumstances. A young man who boards at
one OF our most respectable boarding
houses has for some weeks past been grow
ing week and pale from, the loss of blood
during the night. For some time he cou d
not Imagine the cause of the lassitude he
felt every morning, but about week ago
he discovered small puncture on his arm,
from which 1t was evident that blood had
been drawn, and every morning thereafter
he found new puncture upon some fleshy
portion of his body. He was mystiied as
70 how these punctures were made, and
what made them. ~ III ~ iilse'. - Esh-o5
For several nights he remained awake
late In the night tor the purpose of solving
the mystery, but such was his weak condi-
tion he invariably became exhausted and
fell asleep before morning, and always
found a fresh lpuneture. He got an ac-
quaintance to sleep with him, but becom-
ing tired of watching,,he too fell asleep,
and in the morning there was fresh punc-
ture upon both OF them. which so alarmed
his acquaintance that he refused to sleep in
that room again. Between the loss of blood
and his anxiety to know the cause of it, the
young man was nearly crazed, presenting a
haggard and care-worn appearance, and he
was an object of solicitude to his friends,
who sympathized with him in his distress,
q n I'M srtoh
was the fascination with which he had be-
come imbued, that nothing they could say
could induce him to forego his determine
tion to remain and clear up the mystery.
His body by this time was strange sight,
being almost completely covered with small
swel1ings from the punctures, which we're
a source OF irritation. A few nights ago
he was awoke by a stinging sensation in
his arm, between the elbow and shoulder
and instantly reached his hand to the spot,
but could feel nothing, and, although light
was burning in the room, could see Moth
Ing. .ii94sio5p1 hiii 1al 70 -iH 'aalA. l.i'
The old superstition of vampires at once
became fixed upon his mind, and he resolv-
ed to leave the house, which he did the
next morning, repairing to another part of
the city. Strange to say, since his change
of quarters he has not been again visited
by the midnight hlood-sucker, and is fast
regaining his health. Since his story has
become known, we have heard of several
other persons, who occupied the same room,
that we're visited in the same way. but they
never stayed more than a few nights before
they left the house, and said nothing about
it for fear Of injuring the reputation of the
house. We have given the facts as they
were related to US, and have no reason to
doubt the veracity of the parties but we
have no faith whatever in the superstition
regarding vampires, and are inclined to
think that the blood-loving visitant was
more of a material than supernatural crea-
ture. We have suppressed the names of the
parties concerned in this strange affair at
their own request. Gle t1l -t