THE INDEPENDENT PRESS — NOVEMBER 12, 1858
The superstition is that the vampires are persons who return to life, after death, and prey upon their friends. In Goethe's poem of the “Bride of Corinth,” the dead bride of a young man visits him at night and withers him by her embrace. In Crete they are called katakhanas, and are firmly believed in. About a century ago, there prevailed in Hungary a general belief in vampirism, and the tales are recorded on the attestations of the pastors and most credible persons of villages and towns. It was stated that if the dead body of a suspected vampire was disinterred, he was found to be of a pale and florid complexion ; his hair, beard, and nails grown ; his mouth, hands etc., stained with fresh blood ; his eyes open and brilliant. His ravages were slopped by driving a stake through the middle of the corpse.
From— The Independent Press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.), 12 Nov. 1858. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
