1903 Real Vampires

## Printed Paper:

* The Times
* Shreveport, Louisiana
* Sunday, March 1st 1903
* page 12

## REAL VAMPIRES

The prevailing belief In European countries was that vampires were the ghosts of suicides or others who had died violent deaths and were forced by the devil to leave their graves at night and feed on the blood of men and women; and any who died at the hands of these dreadful creatures also became vampires. In this way beautiful women became vampires and enticed young men and fed on their blood and flesh.

It was believed that they had power to assume any shape or form desired between sunset and sunrise and that they committed most of their awful deeds at midnight. They were powerless in the day time and were generally in a torpid state. Garlic and  wild rose bushes were guards against them, and crucifixes and wafers from the holy host, were feared by them.

To prevent suicides from becoming vampires they were buried with a straw driven through their hearts, and the straw they had slept on was burned; all the dogs and cats In the village were locked up, for if a dog or cat jumped over a corpse it was sure to become the home of a vampire. In some cases those who had died under the ban of the church were taken out of their graves and washed.

A typical tale is one told of a man named Grando, who died late in the seventeenth century in the town of Krlng, in the archduchy of Carniola. Grando was burled, and after the funeral some of the mourners stopped at the home of the widow to console her and were thunderstruck to see Grando sitting behind the door. They lost no opportunity to make themselves scarce.

Soon afterward, stories were told of a strange looking being who rapped at the doors of the residents at night, and it was noticed that deaths took place in the houses where the specter, who was supposed to be Grando, had rapped. The widow complained that Grando was troubling her. She said that he came every night and put her into a deep sleep, and she thought that he was sucking her blood while she was in her deep slumber.

Matters had come to pass that the villagers were forced to take measures to suppress or get rid of this terrible being who was creating such such fear in the town, and one night a party of men with torches and a crucifix went to the grave of Grando and opened it. They are amazed to find that he was apparently in the flush of health. His cheeks were full and a smile was on his face, although he had been dead for some months. Some of the party became terrified and ran, but a monk and three or four of the braver ones remained and faced the dreadful thing. The monk begged the, vampire in the name of the Savior to leave the body of Grando. He spoke so eloquently and feelingly that the onlookers saw two great tears roll down the cheeks of the corpse, which proved that the vampire had some human feelings left.

The monk had provided himself with a Hawthorn stake, and one of the peasants attempted to drive it into the body, but it rebounded every time and was almost torn from his grasp, so strong was the rebound. At length one of the party seized a sword, jumped into the grave, and cut off the head of the corpse. A fearful scream came from the opened lips, and a strange shape was seen to leave the body and disappear, which proved that it had been the dwelling place or a vampire. The stake was then driven into his heart and garlic was put in his mouth. Then Grando's features assumed their familiar form and his soul was at peace.

-- Chicago Tribune.

## Sources:

* Part 1 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19490561/the\_times\_shreveport\_louisiana01\_mar/ \*
* Part 2 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19490567/the\_times\_shreveport\_louisiana01\_mar/ \*
* Full Article but hard to read: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19490560/the\_times/ \*

\* errors in the auto-transcription have been corrected.

More info about the paper / additional sources:

* https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83016496/
* https://ull.ent.sirsi.net/client/en\_US/ull/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD\_ULL$002f0$002fSD\_ULL:365390/one

## Citations:

* **Chicago:** Unknown, and reprinted from Chicago Tribune. 1903. "Real Vampires". The Times; Shreveport, Louisiana, , 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19490560/the\_times/.
* **APA:** Unknown, & reprinted from Chicago Tribune. (1903). Real Vampires. The Times; Shreveport, Louisiana, p. 12. Retrieved from https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19490560/the\_times/
* **MLA:** Unknown, and reprinted from Chicago Tribune. "Real Vampires." The Times; Shreveport, Louisiana 1903: 12. Web. 17 Sept. 2019.
* **Harvard:** Unknown and reprinted from Chicago Tribune (1903). Real Vampires. The Times; Shreveport, Louisiana, [online] p.12. Available at: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19490560/the\_times/ [Accessed 17 Sep. 2019].

## Notes:

* Demonic Possession theory is in play.
* The bit about straw being driven into the heart must be confused with either wooden stakes or iron nails.
* Jure Grando was stake proof and it bounced off of him?
* Jure Grando Alilović / Giure Grando
* Jure Grando lived in Kringa, a small town in the interior of the Istrian peninsula near Tinjan.
* Decapitation happened in 1672.
* Jure had children, Ana and Nikola Alilović, they fled from Istria to Volterra, Italy also as soon as they were adults. It’s been speculated if they were running from him in life, or the villagers after his death.

***This file is in the public domain***

1. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1923.

2. The author died in or before 1940, so this work is also in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 75 years or less. This work may also be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.