For the Dead Travel Fast: An Urban Fantasy Thriller: (Harker & Blackthorn, Book Seven) by J.A. Ironside

Author:J.A. Ironside [Ironside, J.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blue Stone Press
Published: 2022-05-23T16:00:00+00:00

Extract from the journal of Stephen Thornton

Historical Vampire Accounts:

Jure Grando Alilović was a villager from Kinga in the Istrian region (what we would now consider modern day Croatia). He died of an unspecified sickness in 1656 but according to legend, and a certain number of historical documents, he rose from the grave every night for the next sixteen years and terrorised his village. His predations included knocking on doors at night (a person from that household would then die within ten days) and visiting his terrified widow. She described him as a still fresh corpse but grinning and gasping for breath. He would appear in her bedroom, then sexually assault her. His living son and daughter fled from Istria while still very young, heading for the Tuscan city of Volterra. When the local priest, Giorgio, discovered what was happening, he decided measures must be taken. He came face to face with the long dead Jure one night and managed to drive him off by brandishing his pectoral cross. According to record, Giorgio is reported as saying ‘behold Jesus Christ, you vampire! Cease tormenting us!” However, since the Venetian (the language commonly spoken in the area at the time) word used was štrigon not vampire, the good father may have been calling Jure a witch or warlock.

After this, Giorgio rounded up the bravest of the villagers and they gave chase one night when Jure was once more about his foul deeds. The local prefect, Miho Radetić, attempted to kill Jure by piercing his chest with a hawthorn stake. He was unable to drive the wood home since Jure’s chest appeared to repel it. The following night, Giorgio and eight other villagers went to the graveyard carrying a cross, lamps and shovels. They disinterred Jure and found his corpse perfectly preserved with a smile on its face. Giorgio brandished the cross and cried ‘Look, štrigon, there is Jesus Christ who saved us from hell and died for us. And you, štrigon, you cannot have peace!’ They attempted to nail Jure in his grave with a stake of hawthorn again but once more it bounced harmlessly off his chest.

Finally, Giorgio spoke some prayers of exorcism, after which another villager, by the name of Stipan Milašić, took up a saw and managed to remove Jure’s head. No sooner was the head severed from the body, than the wound began to bleed profusely, issuing far more blood than a human body should hold. As if that was not disturbing enough, the corpse screamed for some minutes upon decapitation. However, peace returned to the village and Jure’s predations ceased.

I might as well take this opportunity to note how thoroughly opposed I am to hunting vampiric entities by night. All advantages would be on the creature’s side. Those villagers were clearly made of sterner stuff than I am.

Today, Kringa has embraced the vampire legend and now boasts tourist attractions such as a vampire themed bar and gymnasium. It’s an ill wind which blows no good.

1909 – children in villages in the Southern Carpathians began to die mysteriously.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.