John V.A. Fine Jr.

John V.A. Fine Jr. is a historian from the University of Michigan and has served as a North American member of the editorial board for the East European Quarterly, from which the following article was excerpted. His research indicates that belief in vampires has existed for many years in various Eastern European countries, including Serbia, which is the setting for the incidents related in this article. The eyewitness accounts Fine translates illustrate the strength of the popular belief that vampires could rise up out of their graves at night to terrorize and feed upon individuals and even whole towns. Readers should be aware that a belief in vampires was not reserved for the peasants of the lower classes; religious and political leaders also believed in these creatures. Through the translation...