Latest / Mystery Archives Episodes / The Terrifying Legend Of The Monster Of Medveda, Serbia - A Vampire Story

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The Terrifying Legend Of The Monster Of Medveda, Serbia - A Vampire Story · Mystery Archives Episodes

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Vampirism. The actions or existence of
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vampires. A vampire which is considered to
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be a mythical creature, one that subsists upon feeding on the
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vital essence of living beings, their blood.
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But what if I told you that there have been many a vampire
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legends over the centuries and all over the world?
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Would you entertain the possibility that perhaps out of
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all of them, one or several could indeed be the real deal?
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Today we will be discussing a very strange and honestly not
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very well known vampire case, one that took place back in
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Europe in the 1700s. The amount of witnesses and said
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duration of vampiric activity might just make you think this
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is the terrifying vampire legend of the monster of Medveda of
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Serbia, and this story is truly an interesting one indeed.
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Before we begin, I did just want to say I've been sick the last
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three days, so if my voice sounds a little scratchy, that's
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why. I'm on a bunch of Robitussin and
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some vitamin C right now, so we're slowly but surely getting
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over it. But if I don't sound like my
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normal self, I sound a little stuffy.
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That's why the information about the case provided comes from a
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pretty scarce variety of sources.
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Given the age of the story, I've done my best to provide you with
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the most accurate and detail oriented retelling of it as I
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could, so I hope you enjoy the content.
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Legends of vampires have existed for millennia.
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Cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Ancient
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Greeks and even the Romans had tales of demonic entities and
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blood drinking spirits which are considered precursors to modern
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vampires. Despite the occurrence of
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vampire like creatures in these ancient civilizations, the
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folklore for the entity known today as the vampire originates
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almost exclusively from early 18th century Southeastern
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Europe, particularly the region that is now known as
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Transylvania. As verbal traditions of many
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ethnic groups from the region were recorded and published over
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the generations. With the Treaty of Passovitz,
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the Habsburg Monarchy annexed most of Serbia and the northern
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part of Bosnia, territories which had been part of the
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Ottoman Empire. These remained in Austrian
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control until the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739, when the
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Austrians were forced to cede them back to the Turks.
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During this 20 year period, these newly conquered boundary
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districts were subject to direct military rule from Vienna for
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strategic, fiscal and other reasons.
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As a result of the devastation brought about by previous
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Austrian Ottoman wars, these areas were in poor condition
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with scarce and partially nomadic development and to
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attract German speaking Serbian settlers to the new territories.
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Many of the Serbs, especially those who had emigrated from
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Ottoman held areas, were recruited as militiamen, also
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known as high Dukes. These high Dukes were for the
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peacetime protection of the borders and for regular military
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service at war in exchange for unalienable lots of land.
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It was in these communities that the earliest well documented
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vampire attacks occurred, but with that, could there have been
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any credence to these legends? In the year 1726, a man named
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Arnold Paoli had just returned from a military tour in Greece.
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He was a high Duke and this was a type of infantry soldier.
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As I previously mentioned, that was part of militaries from the
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late 16th to the mid 19th centuries.
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They had reputations from being bandits to freedom fighters,
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depending on the time frame and the enemies that they had at the
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time. Upon returning home from his
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tour of duty, he had a wound upon his neck.
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This is one of the first things that Paoli's wife Meliza noticed
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upon seeing him. As she asked what happened, she
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was shocked to hear what his explanation was.
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During a patrol, several soldiers, including himself, had
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been attacked by what they described as a vampire.
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The creature had ambushed them as they traversed a thick forest
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during the night. The creature which he described
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had pale skin, wings and fangs. It had killed several of the
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soldiers, moving with insane speed and feasting upon the
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men's blood by biting into them. Arnold would be just one of the
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two men that would survive the attack, but being bitten, his
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fear began to grow. The common belief during that
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time is that if you were bitten by a vampire, you had to find
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its grave and burn it in order to prevent the curse from
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spreading. So, given this information, this
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is what Arnold set off to do over the course of several
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weeks. As he felt more and more I'll he
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spoke with locals and travellers alike to try to discover just
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what or who this creature was and where he could find it.
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Gathering his strength, he set out to fight the beast.
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However, upon arriving at its grave, the creature was nowhere
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to be found. Instead, Arnold ended up
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defacing its grave and ultimately setting it a flame.
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Believing that he had stopped the creature for good and
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stopped the curse from spreading within his own veins, Arnold
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felt victorious in his own mind. However, he still felt I'll.
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His cold sweats now coupled with bizarre cravings, persisted.
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Several weeks after these events, Arnold would be sent
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home and was now speaking with his wife and his native village
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of Medvita. Given all that her husband had
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discussed with her missus, Paoli was frightened to say the least.
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But her husband had reassured her that all would be well, that
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he had followed instructions to the letter to ensure his safety,
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as well as hers and the neighbors around them.
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The two would go to bed that night for what would be the
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final time. The following morning, Arnold
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would be found unresponsive by his wife and within hours he was
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confirmed to be dead. Shocked at Arnold's untimely
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death and her own transformation to a grieving widow, Melissa
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would have Arnold buried and would try to grieve him in due
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time, hoping that her late husband would find eternal
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peace. However, Arnold apparently did
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not. Almost as soon as his body was
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placed in a wooden coffin and what should have been his
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eternal resting place, and as dirt was sprinkled over him,
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Arnold seemed to rise from the grave, or so.
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According to multiple people. Within 10 days of his burial, 4
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people complained to the City Council that Arnold Paoli had
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visited them and they all, interestingly enough, had the
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same exact story. They all had received a knock on
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their door in the dead of night. Upon answering it, they would
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meet face to face with the departed Arnold, although having
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seen him dead and buried, he was none the less there, pale but
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alive and in the flesh. Arnold would then ask to come
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inside their home. As they spoke to him, they
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acknowledged that something seemed very off about him.
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Anytime they brought up his burial or his death, he would
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completely not acknowledge it whatsoever and just move right
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past it as if nothing had ever happened.
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He also had an air about him, something hypnotic sat behind
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his eyes. He would ask for a drink and as
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they fetched an ale for him upon looking around their home and
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calling his name, they all then reported being attacked and
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bitten by him, only for him to then rush out of their homes and
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into the foggy night. This bewildered the village
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council members. At first they weren't sure of
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what to make of the reports, and things became all the stranger
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when all four of the people who had made the initial reports
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passed away. And they passed away just as
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Arnold had, which was bizarre to say the least.
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With multiple corpses on their hands.
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The council would then order an investigation.
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They would speak with local military officials and would be
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surprised to hear that they had heard of this kind of thing
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before. And 10 days later, following the
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ultimate deaths of the four and approximately a month after
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Arnold's burial, the villagers, advised by their hand knack or
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their local military leader, banded together and would head
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to Arnold Paoli's grave. They would arrive at the
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graveyard on a cold and misty night.
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Upon surveying, it appeared that the dirt above his casket had
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recently been tampered with. Biting the bullet, they dug deep
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into the earth, it would make contact with the coffin after
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just a few minutes of Labor. Upon opening the casket, they
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would reveal Arnold Paoli. It would know some very
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interesting details about his body.
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His corpse wasn't decomposed and his veins were full of blood.
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Fresh, warm blood flowed from his eyes and mouth.
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They also found that his skin, hair and nails had seemingly
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fallen off and filled the coffin around him, and that new skin,
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hair and nails had taken their place.
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According to their beliefs, they believed Arnold had developed
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into an arch vampire, a vampire of considerable strength, and
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they believed that he indeed had been exiting his grave and
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feeding that the curse had spread to him.
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In order to combat this, after concluding that Paoli was indeed
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a vampire, they drove a large wooden stake through his heart
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and upon piercing his chest, he let out a loud blood curdling
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shriek and his eyes shot wide open and glanced at those around
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him. They said that his eyes were
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blood red like the devil himself, deeply frightened but
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further motivated to ensure that he couldn't harm anyone else.
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They would cut off his head, dismember his body, and then
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would ultimately burn his entire body.
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They then proceeded to go grave to grave to all of Paoli's
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supposed victims and do the exact same procedure to ensure
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that they wouldn't turn into vampires themselves.
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Although disturbing, the villagers believed that they had
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ensured their safety and had successfully cleansed their land
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of the plague of vampirism. However, this happiness would be
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all too short lived. Roughly five years later, in the
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winter of 1731, amid the snowdrifts, livestock began to
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be feasted upon by an unknown creature.
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The creature left two Fang marks upon the necks of goats and
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sheep, the very lifeblood of the village, their food source.
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Following this bizarre discovery, as people began to
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eat the livestock to survive the harsh cold of the winter, a new
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epidemic was sinking its teeth into the village.
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People soon became I'll after eating the animals, and they
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quickly complained of stabs in their sides and pains in their
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chest, prolonged fever and jerking of the limbs.
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They typically would only last three days after contracting the
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sickness, and the age of the newly deceased varied greatly
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from the very young to the very old.
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In total, 13 people would pass of this mystery disease in just
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six weeks. Disturbingly, a newborn infant
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had contracted the illness through their mother through
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breastfeeding, and upon its passing it was buried, only to
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be dug up and drained of all of its blood within hours of its
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burial. The villagers, concerned and
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scared, would report this information to their local
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military leaders and the responsibility would ultimately
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fall upon a Lieutenant Colonel with the last name of Schnezza.
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Schnezza, fearing the pestilence, sent for the
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imperial Contagions Medical team, roughly their version of
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an infectious disease containment team that resided
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just one village over. While waiting for their arrival,
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he began his investigation. Malnutrition was common in the
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area due to Eastern Orthodox fasting practices.
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However, the villagers were not malnourished, and as he
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continued to look into the matter, other reports began to
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trickle in of new deaths, violent deaths at the hands of
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this unknown creature. Two more people would pass away.
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Fear soon overtook the entire village, and families began
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staying with one another at night, often two to three
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families to a home. They would watch over each other
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in shifts in order to stave off whatever this creature was.
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After several of his own men were attacked on patrol, Schnezz
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began to believe the rumors that this creature could possibly be
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a vampire. Those who were familiar with the
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legend of them would inform him that the illness and deaths
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would only cease if the vampire or vampires were found and
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slain. Fearing that the citizens would
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abandoned the village if nothing was done, and upon the arrival
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of the Disease Control group, a new Commission was formed and
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this Commission included a military surgeon and two other
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high-ranking officers, and the investigation would be furthered
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with new intensity. On January the 7th of 1732, the
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Commission, along with village elders and military officials,
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would exhume the graves of the now 18 people who had passed,
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and what they would find would shock them.
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Six of the corpses were decayed and this was normal given the
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time frame of death, but twelve out of the 18, however, were.
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Not. Their veins again were filled
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with fresh blood. They appeared as if they were
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sleeping. Some had a pale complexion and
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others a light red complexion. Instead, their skin, hair and
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nails appeared to have fallen off and new hair, skin and nails
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had taken their place. Fearing the worst, believing
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those 12 to be exhibiting signs of vampirism, they would begin
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the cleansing the age-old practice of staking the hearts,
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dismembering the bodies, burning them and the disposing of the
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ashes. As they went grave by grave and
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staked each person, almost every single one of them screamed and
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opened their eyes revealing blood red orbs staring back at
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them before fading away. Following this event a report
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would be made and would be submitted further up the
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military chain of command and it bared the signature of five
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officers in total. The report would spur much
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interest in what was taking place and come to find out six
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other villages in the area. We're dealing with the exact
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same thing. So the investigation would grow
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from 1 village to a region wide one involving numerous military
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officials and elders of the time.
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Over months of searching and investigating for the root cause
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of the supposed vampirism. It would be concluded ultimately
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that the now deceased Arnold Paoli had not only killed the
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four persons of whom he had contacted, but he had also
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feasted upon several oxen. The new vampires who were
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created not only fed upon the villagers, their livestock as
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well once they had turned, however, they had believed that
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they had tracked down all those affected by the vampirism as
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they rested in their graves waiting for their next feedings
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and had ended their ungodly existences, ensuring the safety
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of themselves and furthermore, the region.
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The results of this report would ultimately help inform and train
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future regiments of how to deal with the plague of vampirism if
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they should ever come across it. This case, to me is so
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interesting because not only is it scary given the descriptions
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and the actions of the supposed vampires, but the fact that so
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many people and people of prestigious status within the
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military of the time were involved and they were the ones
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who made the ultimate conclusions in the report.
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It's also interesting that it almost describes vampirism as a
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type of disease, one that transfers from bites and eating
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the flesh of animals that have been bitten, with some people
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dying of its effects and others dying but turning into vampires
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themselves. It also describes the hierarchy
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of vampires in a sense that some are more powerful than others
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now. But is it true?
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I mean, according to those of the time, it's absolutely true.
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Now we know that superstition and lack of education in regards
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to the human body and decomposition are things during
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this time for sure that trapped air, body fluids, etcetera, can
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and will exit a body upon death, especially over time.
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And we do know that hair, nails and sometimes skin retract given
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the appearance of growth on a corpse over time.
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But if what they said was true, we do know the dead bodies don't
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grow new hair, skin or nails, and that their eyes wouldn't
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open and glance as if they were alive.
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I also have to say that the pale appearance and the light red
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skin on some is interesting because we don't usually picture
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vampires as having red skin. Usually they are portrayed as
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being pale. At least that's where my mind
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tends to go. And maybe that's just the pop
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culture thing. It's hard telling, and the
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descriptions of their eyes being blood red like the devil
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himself, is just creepy and terrifying to me.
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Like it just it gives me the chills.
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I mean, imagine something like that staring you down.
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Like, no, no thanks. So was it real or was it the
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imagination of the people of the time and the age in which it
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took place in? Ultimately, that conclusion is
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yours to make, but I do have to say it's made for one hell of an
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interesting story. That's for sure.
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Thank you guys so much for watching this video.
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I hope you're liking the addition of the new Cryptid
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stories alongside our usual paranormal cases, and let me
20:25
know if you're liking the new format.
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I'm trying to kind of find ways where I can deliver content to
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you a little bit faster. And I don't know, I just feel
20:33
like I'm. I'm talking more directly to you
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guys now that you can kind of see me face to face.
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And, I don't know, it just feels cool.
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I hope you guys like it. Like all around.
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It's gotten me out of my comfort zone, which sometimes can be a
20:46
good thing and I'm I'm quite liking where it's going and I'm
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sure it'll improve over time. I'll probably add some cooler
20:52
stuff in the background so it doesn't look as boring.
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With that, guys, don't forget to like the video.
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Other than that guys, I'm throwing a lot of info at you,
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but if you have a particular story that you would like me to
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go ahead and let me know down in the comments below as well.
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And as always, this has been Cody here A Mystery Archives.
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Remember to please stay safe out there, especially from vampires,
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and take care. I'll see you next time.