File No. 043 of 446
Strigoi
Also called: strigoi mort, strâgoi, moroi, strigoaică
The dead strigoi is the Romanian walking corpse, a body that leaves the grave to drain the strength of its relatives and their animals. It is the folk belief behind much of the modern vampire, but in village practice it is a family matter settled by opening the grave and pinning, beheading or burning the body. In western Romania the same being is often called moroi. The rite is not purely historical: a prosecution for exhuming and burning a supposed strigoi took place in Dolj County in 2004.12
First recorded
1714
Dimitrie Cantemir's Descriptio Moldaviae (1714-1716) describes the belief in Moldavia and TransylvaniaOrigin
Romanian
Romania, MoldovaWhat causes it
A curse
Romanian folklore treats it as a fate attached to certain births and deaths rather than a single cause.How you become one
Risk factors include being a seventh child of the same sex, a sinful life, dying unmarried, suicide, execution for perjury or a witch's curse.
Intelligence
Clever
Weak spots
- a stake of oak, yew or ash, or a nail or knife, through the heart
- beheading and reburial face down
- burning the heart or body, sometimes with the ashes drunk in water
- garlic
- incense
When did it first appear?
Ancient world
Middle Ages
1500 to 1899
1900 to 1967
1968 to 1999
2000 to 2009
2010 to today
1714Dimitrie Cantemir's Descriptio Moldaviae (1714-1716) describes the belief in Moldavia and Transylvania
field notes
What the sources say
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at hello@zombiewiki.app.
Jiangshi
Zombi (Haitian)
Vampir (South Slavic)
Abhartach
Arnold Paole
Churel