MYSTERIES · GHOSTS AND MYSTERIES

Vampires, strzygi and the "vampire" grave from Pień

Before Dracula existed, the Slavs feared their own upiory. Archaeologists continue to find graves that show just how real that fear was.

Ezostylia Editorial Team · facts checked in sources · updated 31.10.2026

The upiór and the strzyga

In folk belief, an upiór is a deceased person who rises from the grave and harms the living: draining blood, bringing disease, suffocating people in their sleep. A strzyga is a kindred creature; it was said that people born with two souls or with two rows of teeth became strzygi, and that after death one of the souls refused to depart.

Those considered prime candidates for becoming upiory were especially those who had died suddenly, by suicide, or without receiving the sacraments, as well as people who were "different": outsiders, loners, misfits.

How the deceased were "secured"

Folk practices were intended to keep the deceased in the grave: burying them face down, piercing them with a stake, placing stones upon the body, scattering poppy seeds into the coffin (the upiór would be compelled to count every grain), and even placing a sickle at the throat, which was meant to sever the head should the deceased attempt to rise.

The grave from Pień

In August 2022, archaeologists from Nicolaus Copernicus University, under the direction of Prof. Dariusz Poliński, discovered a seventeenth-century grave of a young woman aged approximately 17–21 years in the village of Pień near Bydgoszcz. An iron sickle lay across her neck, and a padlock had been fastened to the big toe of her left foot. The researchers concluded that these were practices intended to prevent the deceased from returning.

Subsequent studies indicated that the woman had probably been ill, and according to some analyses she may have come from outside the local area. Scientists even reconstructed her face. This story shows how the fear of upiory fell upon the weakest and most marginal members of society.

From the strzyga to Dracula

Reports of "vampires" from Central Europe and the Balkans in the eighteenth century electrified the West. A hundred years later, Bram Stoker wrote "Dracula" (1897), combining folk upiory with the figure of an aristocrat from Transylvania. Thus the fear of ancient villages became one of the greatest myths of popular culture.

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Sources

The Past: 17th-century ‘vampire’ burial in Poland · Archaeology: padlocked ‘vampire’ died from illness

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an upiór and a strzyga?

In Slavic beliefs, an upiór is a deceased person who rises from the grave to harm the living, whilst a strzyga is a creature who, according to folk tales, was born with two souls or two rows of teeth.

What was found at Pień in 2022?

A seventeenth-century grave of a young woman with a sickle at her neck and a padlock on her toe, identified by archaeologists from NCU as an anti-vampire burial.