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Some Transylvanian traditions about vampires and related phenomena

‘Tis the season and all that, so I thought it might be nice to share these with you. Courtesy of ar_boblad, about 15 years ago now I guess it must have been. Où sont les vampires d’antan?

  • A crossbow bolt through the heart will stake a vampire.
  • Cut off the feet of someone killed by undead, and they will not be able to walk if they become undead themselves.
  • Dreams about vampires signify a poor harvest.
  • Adulteresses will go deaf within the year.
  • If you see a bat you should pray. This makes it fall asleep, then you rip its wings off.
  • Vampires sleep with their eyes open.
  • Holding ghouls under water under a bridge is the only way to kill them permanently.
  • He who drinketh of alcohol then partaketh in the potato will surely suffer.
  • A vampire can’t stand at a crossroads.
  • A marriage on the first day of a century will produce love for eternity.
  • Bury each tooth of a werewolf separately and under trees. If two teeth are together they can still bite.
  • Dreams about a full moon signify change.
  • Push a vampire down a well then sprinkle ashes down it and the vampire will implode.
  • Hop on a grave and the person buried there will haunt you until your death.
  • Never hold a funeral before 2 pm or disaster will befall you.
  • Werewolves never get struck by lightning.
  • Mime infuriates the undead.
  • If you see a ghoul and it turns to stare at your heart you will die within a fortnight.
  • Dreams about poor harvests signify vampires.
  • If you see a black cat spit on it or bad luck will be yours.
  • A door made of yew wood can’t be opened by a werewolf.
  • Fresh sap on your hands can stop a ghoul’s approach.
  • Werewolves can be killed by normal means on a new moon.
  • A spike on your roof stops a vampire bat landing on it.
  • If you get cut by a vampire’s fangs, wash it in holy water then hold a candle over it.
  • Sprinkle a powdered ghoul’s thumbnail onto a field and it will flourish for five years.
  • Open a ghoul’s grave at precisely noon and it won’t trouble you for as long as you live. (Or was it that it will trouble you?)
  • Dreams about potatoes signify death.

(Unfortunately, most of these turned out to be inaccurate.)

Do you have any good ones to add to the list?

15 replies on “Some Transylvanian traditions about vampires and related phenomena”

There was a neighbouring cat who got into the habit of bashing at my bedroom window at night to annoy the Cleo sleeping on my bed (and incidentally also me). I took to sleeping with a tiny waterpistol (presumably an ex-cracker “fancy”) on my bedside table and after a couple of interactions the cat got the message.

Not sure it is a universal solution (there’s a chemistry joke here somewhere) as my two seem to love getting wet through. Fortunately, they also love being wrapped up in towels.

Not to imply there’s anything chemical about it. It’s purely that they’re capable of soaking up large quantities of water. same as any other dense, relatively dry food.

I’m afraid that still surprises me, given they’re over 50% water – even as chips – and I doubt Transylvanians are particularly inclined to eating raw Smash.

My first thought was that it was a mistranslation of some kind, and that it should have warned against drinking of alcohol made from potatoes.

Next time I run an RPG involving vampires, I might well make blessed poteen a usable weapon against them… a potent weapon, if you will.

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