National Geographic History - 09.10 201

Arnold Paole, a soldier and alleged
vampire victim from a Serbian village.
To banish vestiges of the vampire,
Paole ate dirt from its grave and
smeared himself with its blood. He re-
turned to his life as a farmer, but soon
after died in a hay wagon accident.
About a month after his death,
villagers claimed that Paole had ris-
en from the dead and killed several
people. Animals and livestock were
also attacked and drained of blood.
Suspecting vampirism, the villagers
exhumed Paole’s body. They found
it intact—even the nails had grown.
Fresh blood covered the inside of the
coffin. The villagers thus “drove a

BELIEF IN VAMPIRES and ways to

eradicate them existed in the Mid-

dle Ages too. When epidemics

struck, they were often blamed on

vampires and “suspicious” corps-

es would be disinterred. Skele-

tons have been found with iron

stakes driven into their chests

(right). Skulls with large stones

or bricks placed in their mouth

have also been discovered—an

exorcism technique believed to

keep the corpse from eating its

way out of the grave.

AN OLD

OBSESSION

NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 13