Serbia

The setting sun cast a deep purple haze over the Serbian village of Zarozje. The villagers, beginning to prepare for the night, were tense, their faces pale and fearful. They murmured prayers as they hung braided garlands of garlic on their windows.

They were trying to keep some unknown, unseen evil out of their homes, but what was it that they feared?

Later, in the dead of the night, a loud thumping echoed through the village, accompanied by a deep and creepy laughter. Those villagers brave enough to peek from their windows swore they again witnessed the figure of Sava Savanović in the night sky. Sava Savanović, the bloodsucking monster.

As dawn broke, the villagers awoke to find that one of their kinfolk, another shepherd, had vanished.

The vampire had terrorized the village for months. They villagers had to devise a plan to kill him.

The little village lay curled up at the bottom of a valley. To lure Sava out of hiding, the villagers left a trail of sheep’s blood that led to an abandoned barn. From the outside, it looked like a shepherd was inside, butchering one of his flock to feed his family.

That night, Sava took the bait. When he arrived, the villagers were ready. They threw a net over him and tied him up, then drove a stake through his heart, ensuring he would never rise again. To make sure Sava was truly gone, they gathered around the barn, torches in hand, and set it alight.

As the flames rose, the villagers cheered and clapped, relieved that their nightmare was finally over.

But was it? No one knows for sure. The villagers still hang garlic braids on their windows and murmur prayers to this day. The legends of Sava and other vampires such as Petar Blagojević still live on in Serbia.