The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-08-11
VOLUME 22-NUMBER 43
GIBgERINe GH0srs IN GERNiNr.
A Flesh-CFeepIRg Narrative OF YAM
RirlSm-fPHth Stranger than FIe-
flon

CHEERING GHOSTS IN GERMANY.
A Flesh-CFeepIng Narrative OF VAN.
PlrISm-TPHth Stranger than FIe.
tl8n.
i A correspondent of the New York
I World, writing from HOdmir, Hun
gary, June /, tell an almost incred-
ible story, a portion of which We here
reproduce. We give il as a curious
specimen Of the imaginative in mod
err jutlrnsiisil, and would not have
our readers believe that there is one
word of truth in IT, The World wri-
ter says:
The story have to tell is so terri
BILE in its character that / can scarcely
hope to find eFedenee among my own
people. | venture, however, d send
1t to you for publication, and a. will
/ ling to let the matter be referred 70
the local authorities for verifieatiOn:
In the little Hungarian village
where, for the past two months, I
have been living, there h.-s lately re-
appeared the old horrible superstition
of vampirism. Already il has spread
to several of the neighbOring towns,
50 that within a radius Of fifteen lailes,
and whose center is HOdnlir, hardly
anything is thought or spoken of but
/ vampires.
Recently, at about two O'Clock in
the morning, 1 awOke IN a cold sweat,
screaming, and struggling with some
/ horrible thing, cold as death, that lay
upon my breast, piniOning my arms
to my side, and trying To EIaten its
elammy mouth upon my throat. I
yelled and fought, and presently I
/ heard men running through the
hall toward my room, Whatever it
was that had thus fastened Hself upon
me rose suddenly with a'sOrt of grunt,
and / distinctly saw it disappear
through the window In q minute /
was on my feet, had grasped my pis-
tolls aud run To the window, but al
though the moon was shining bright
ly, / could see.nO traces of a buFgler
or the means by which my chamber
had been invaded. The landlord en-
tered my chamber, looked sOlemnly
at me, and when had told my story
shook his head gravely, and told me
/ had better make up my mind to die
in few days-two weeks at the far
thest-fOr / had been sucked by a
vampire. ] told him ] had not, but
he OIt9B sighed, and asked me 70 let
him see my neck. did so, and his
face frightened, as there was no trace
of puncture there,
Shortly aiterward 1 was told tina t
the devil was abroad and getting in
to cOrpses that should be lying quiet
ly in their graves, and that all the
village was frightenend half out Of its
wits because the night before not less
than three of the villagers had been
attacked by the devil and their blood
sucked from their bodies.
OF course I went to the ohurchyard,
and there found men in long, uneouth
coats and terrible boards, and looking
as If each of them when dead would
naturally become q vampire, talking
and gesticulaLing as il their whole
lives were concentrated in that mo-
ment. A grave was to be opened
the grave Of Peter DickOwitz, who had
died three weeks before, and who as
the people said, had been harrassing
the village ever since,
The story in regard to this man was
about as follows He had been a shep-
herd during the latter part of his life,
but many people remembered that he
bad often told them that when he was
q young man he had lived in the SER
vice Ofa Turk near Belgrade. This
Turk had died, and after death had be-
come vampire. Returning to the
earth, he had sucked the blood from
the throat of DickOwitz, who, as he
had cured himself of the vir-
US by eating earth from the grave OF
his old master, digging his body from
the tomb and rubbing himself from
head to foot in blood. But, as it ap-
peared, this cure had been imperfect. !
The earth had already been removed
from the two graves when | arrived
1T the churchyard, and men were en-
gagged in pulling up the collins. The
priest of the village-Of course, one of
The priests of the Greek Church, than
whom no more superstitiOus and ig-
nOrant set of men can be found on the
earth-stOod near, mumbling prayers,
and evidently scared much more than
half out of his wits. The men now
stood around with determination and
horror in their eyes. In the back
ground women and childred were
praying IN Wringing their hands, evil
IDENTIFY dreading that any moment q
vampire might spring upon tine 1t
was not long before two collins we're
placed side by side on the grass.
Night ha6 come on, and By the flick
ering light of lanterns the aces Of all
appeared weird and wild al their ex-
citement and dread.
The collins We're opened, and as j,
pressed forward by the crowd, booked
into them ! saw-dare / tell iL?-in
the sicl5ly light of the fiambeaux, that
the men within them were not dead,
but horrible beyond expression, dead
Iy in their ghOstliness, yet alive, they
lay there, their bodies " ere swimming
in blood, and a horrible leeF was on
their mouths, and anguished fate
within their staring eyes. LOathsOme
beyond thought, deadly beyond a
nightmare dream, they were the
living dead.
The Hadnagi, with compressed lips, |
ordered his men to drag them forth. |
They were seized by the hair, pulled |
reekinG from their collins and laid up !
on the grass. The moonlight touched |
their faces, and l saw their blOated |
faces and leering mouths. Then
the Hadnagi had them removed from
consecrated ground and laid upon the
road. OF all that crowd there were
but ten or twelve persons who follow
ed, and !, with the fascination of the
horrible upon me, accompanied
them.
Four men, two to each body, placed
over the cOrpse's, and at a
given signal, plunged pointed stake
each Of the vampires heart. |
As / live, there came from each such
a Yailing sob and cry as never did
dream OF even in nightmare. Then,
with the sharp spades with which
their graves had been dug open, the
head Of each was sawed and hacked !
from his body. The trunks were then !
taken in front Of the church and burn |
ed.
Heartsick and weary, filed with 1
many thoughts Of what the pOssibil- |
tiles Of horror were in this pleasant /
world, turned hOmewards.