VAMPIRE LEGENDS

Hello there I know I have not written and published for almost two years, but i haave been really busy, but, today I’m bringing, for no special reason you a few vampire legends. Since that’s how we are on this blog, we’ll try to avoid talking about the most famous vampires (like Dracula) and equally well-known historical figures (such as Vlad Tepes or Elisabeth Bathory), to focus instead on other cases of vampires—or supposed vampires—that are apparently less known.

THE LEGEND OF THE VAMPIRE OF BOROX

Legend has it that in 1898 a mysterious coffin appeared at the port of Cartagena (Murcia, in South East of Spain).

It is said that the coffin had departed from the former Yugoslavia, and although the owner confirmed it was his property, no one claimed it upon arrival. It remained forgotten for seventeen long years, until someone requested it in the Galician city of La Coruña (settled in the North West of Spain), practically on the opposite side of the country. However, the coffin did not travel directly there—it stopped in several cities (Alhama, Almería, Toledo, Borox, Santillana del Mar, and Comillas) before reaching its destination. In all these places, disappearances and deaths occurred under strange circumstances, with Borox suffering the most.

When the coffin finally arrived, no one dared to open it despite the smell of damp earth coming from inside. Since it was not claimed in La Coruña, it was sent back to Cartagena.

Upon its return, a Serbian nobleman appeared and took charge of the coffin. According to the locals, they feared him because he only appeared at night and vanished as suddenly as he had come.

The possible origin of this legend may lie in Alfonso Sastre’s Noches Lúgubres and the high incidence of tuberculosis at the time—an incurable and deadly disease then—which many believed could only be cured by drinking blood. This could explain the disappearances and deaths, perhaps covering up a serial killer.

However, it seems that in Cartagena’s cemetery there is a tomb whose headstone bears no information about its occupant (no name or date of death), decorated only with a single bat.

THE HIGHGATE VAMPIRE

This cemetery, located in London, was already mentioned in one of our posts on literary tourism, so I won’t dwell much on its history. Instead, I’ll focus on the legend of the vampire said to haunt it since at least 1970.

From what I’ve found, one of the first reports about the vampire came from a group of young occult enthusiasts who claimed to have seen a misty silhouette floating among the tombs. This led David Farrant to spend a night in the cemetery in December 1970. He later claimed to have seen the vampire and insisted it was real.

The story drew crowds of curious visitors from all over the world. Some circulated pamphlets describing a supposed “vampire king” who, in life, had been an 18th-century noble and occultist (his name was never given). He was said to have been buried in Highgate Cemetery following the strictest paranormal architectural principles, with secret entrances, pyramid-like formations, and strange symmetries.

The popularity of this figure reached the headlines of London newspapers, and soon various hypotheses emerged to justify his existence—even an apocryphal biography of this fallen king was created.

In March 1971 began the so-called Highgate Vampire Hunt, lasting three days and nights, though its results were inconclusive. Opinions divided: some claimed to have found the origin of the story, while skeptics dismissed it as a hoax. A few added to the legend the figure of a female vampire with long red hair.

Later, a story surfaced about a woman who had died in Eastern Europe and been transported to England in a specially designed sarcophagus to prevent decomposition. Once there, her lover allegedly performed rituals that allowed her to return from the dead on certain nights of the year.

As interest faded, the vampire slipped into obscurity, while David Farrant was imprisoned for desecrating graves and keeping human remains.

As for possible candidates for the Highgate Vampire, one must look to the western sector of the necropolis (known as the Gothic Cemetery), specifically the tomb of Elizabeth Siddal, lover of the poet Dante Rossetti. She died by suicide after drinking a lethal dose of laudanum and was buried with an unpublished manuscript by Rossetti. Curiously, she was also a model for the Pre-Raphaelites—she is the Ophelia in John Everett Millais’s famous painting. Years after her death, Rossetti returned to the cemetery with friends to exhume her body and recover the manuscript for publication (spoiler alert: he published it, and critics tore it apart).

The possibility that Elizabeth Siddal is the female apparition mentioned earlier is not far-fetched—she had long red hair and an ethereal way of walking, much like the descriptions of the cemetery’s vampiress.

It’s worth noting a small connection with Bram Stoker’s Dracula: the tomb of Lucy Westenra, Mina’s friend and one of the vampire’s first victims, is said to be located—though not explicitly mentioned—in Highgate Cemetery.

THE LEGEND OF THE VAMPIRE OF THE BELÉN PANTHEON (MEXICO)

In the historic center of Guadalajara, Mexico, lies the Santa Paula Cemetery, also known as the Pantheon of Belén. Built in 1848 by architect Manuel Gómez Ibarra under the commission of Bishop Diego de Aranda y Carpinteiro, it is now protected by the National Institute of Anthropology and History and considered a National Architectural Treasure. Within its walls rest notable Mexican figures from politics, science, and the arts, and it is renowned for its mausoleums.

However, beyond its architecture, the cemetery is famous for the many ghost stories it holds—perhaps the most famous being that of the vampire.

Legend says that in the 19th century, a mysterious man arrived in Guadalajara from Europe. Depending on the version, he was either English or Hungarian and known as Don Jorge or Count Baldor.

He was wealthy but had strange habits: a solitary man dressed in black who only went out at night seeking the company of courtesans. His behavior soon aroused curiosity and suspicion among the townspeople.

Not long after his arrival, the outskirts of the city began to see dead animals completely drained of blood, with two small punctures on their necks. At first, people thought it might be disease or a wild animal, but panic spread when human victims began to appear.

Most victims were courtesans, occasionally young people who stayed out late. All shared the same traits: bloodless bodies with two small holes in the neck. Fear spread, and citizens began to stay indoors at night.

Knowing the vampire tales from Europe, the townsmen concluded that one of these creatures was terrorizing their city. They decided to hunt him down.

After searching the city, they found the Count near the Pantheon of Belén. Horrified, they saw his mouth stained with the blood of his latest victim.

The Count tried to flee but was captured. One of his captors improvised a stake from a nearby tree, drove it through his heart, and buried him in a grave within the cemetery.

Months later, a large tree grew from the vampire’s tomb, its roots sealing the remains of Count Baldor. Locals say that when this tree—born from the stake that killed the Count—is cut down or his tombstone broken, the vampire will rise again from his grave to take revenge on the descendants of the men who killed him.