20/11/2023, 19:48 Monster Monday: Mykonos Vampire – Write Wrote Written

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Monster Monday: Mykonos Vampire

We all know about vampires and werewolves, or at least we think we do. The legends and myths that
inspired these monsters are sometimes surprisingly different, but no less chilling. In this series of
posts, Monster Monday, we’ll investigate the monsters that have informed our modern notions, as well
as some lesser known monsters. Today, we talk about the Mykonos Vampire.

This story was recorded by a French botanist named

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort traveling on the Greek island
of Mykonos in 1701. A peasant who had been an
unpleasant person during life died and was buried, but a
few days later people began to report seeing him at night.
He came into people’s homes, overturned furniture, put
out lamps, made noise, and other mostly harmless tricks.
However, when he started harassing the islands wealthy
residents, they called in priests to stop him.

They exhumed the body and said a mass over the corpse,
and then they called in the town butcher to cut out the
heart so they could burn it. The butcher, though, was old
and more familiar with sheep anatomy than human
anatomy. He mutilated the body while trying to find the
heart. The priests burned incense to cover the smell, but
Tournefort suggested the stench caused those present to Title page of the account of
hallucinate, and many of them began screaming Joseph Pitton de Tournefort’s
“Vrykolakas!” at the sight of the body, which was said to journey through the Levant
be still warm and filled with fresh blood.

They took the heart to the seashore and burned it, but the vampire still appeared, this time
angrier. He began beating people, breaking windows, and doors, and tearing clothes. The
priests decided that they should have burned the heart, then said mass, so they marched
around the village chanting, saying prayers, and throwing holy water on the doors of the
houses. It did not stop the vampire, however, and just before everyone considered leaving for
the neighboring islands, they decided to dig up the body again and burn the entire corpse.
When they did, peace was finally restored.

 May 30, 2016

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Greece, monster,
Mykonos, vampire,
vrykolakas

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20/11/2023, 19:48 Monster Monday: Mykonos Vampire – Write Wrote Written

Published by Matthew

I'm a writer of urban and historical fantasy as well as a little horror, a

graphic designer, runner, history geek, fan of the Celtic fiddle. 

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