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40 Fang-tastic Facts about the History of Vampires

Tim Flight October 24, 2019 26 min

Wiertz Museum - The Premature Burial — The Premature Burial by Antoine Wiertz, 1854. Wikimedia Commons

5. The nicest vampire in history lived in Slovenia

The church in Golo, Slovenia, where a vampire supposedly rests. Wikimedia Commons

There’s an unusual vampire tale from the region of Ig in modern-day Slovenia. After dying in the 1830s, Zirovec rose again from the grave. Locals called him a vedomec, a dialect word for vampire, but he was actually pretty nice, as vampires go. Zirovec talked to people while they worked, tried and failed to put on socks, and visited his wife. But people feared he might turn into a bloodsucker, and the parish priest took action. He dug up Zirovec, and drove a stake through his heart. ‘Now you have caught me!’ shrieked Zirovec, who never returned.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk