The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society

Springtime in 1968 Brooklyn, a TRUE Shavuot Vampire Encounter

Some years ago, I met Trudy, a well-traveled woman in her late sixties, who finally broke her silence about her friend Rifka’s terrifying vampire encounter in NYC in the late 60s. After hearing it, I wondered could a tormented soul really reach across generations? Rarely does a vampire story carry the weight of generational trauma quite like this one. Was Rifka’s experience a dream, or did something dark materialize from the shadows? Why did Rifka wake with mysterious marks on her neck feeling drained of her health, night after night? Seeking her mother’s guidance, Rifka shares her experience. Confronted with the truth, Noemi must reveal a long-held truth. What she reveals is a devastating secret that followed the family across decades and continents, buried since before World War II. Up against something ancient and relentless, a Williamsburg rabbi offers guidance rooted in tradition, and the Shavuot ritual becomes Rifka’s unexpected shield. (It’s honestly one of the more moving endings you’ll hear.) The encounter shapes Rifka forever, turning her toward both scholarship and spiritual practice. Tune in to hear this haunting story told in full. Our Podcast Theme Music Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig [https://timkulig.com/] (timkulig.com [http://timkulig.com]) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] Call for Listeners’ Stories: Share Your Story Have you experienced something unexplainable? I would like to put out a call to all of our listeners to share your story. I want to share them in a special listener’s episode. You can request to remain anonymous, or we’ll share your name if you give us permission. Email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com [thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com]. There are two ways to share. You can write your story in an email, or tell your story in a simple voice recording from your phone and send it as an attachment via email audio length limit of 3 minutes. Click here to submit! [thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com] You are also welcome to suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in our posts or our YouTube videos [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfbHhb3fApds7pLn-Xi84RaORe6YmGw-A&si=RweZtH_nPWPUK4im], please email us at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com [thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com]. Join us on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/groups/nightvisitorsvampireresearchsociety] The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society is a worldwide community sharing firsthand vampire encounters and exploring the folklore, history, and pop culture of the undead. Join our Facebook group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/nightvisitorsvampireresearchsociety] to connect with fellow Night Visitors [https://thenightvisitors.com/] from around the world.

Conversations with Vampires in 1967 San Francisco's Summer of Love

This week’s episode of The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society [https://thenightvisitors.com] takes us from rural Iowa where Judy left her troubled family behind and moved to San Francisco in the summer of 1967 — the summer of love. With a diploma in hard-knocks and a lot of ambition, she settled into a small studio rental above an antique shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She was lonely until one rainy evening, a young man stepped into the hallway and invited her in. Judy entered a world she never expected. Listen to find out what transpired next. Share Your Story Have you encountered something you believe was a vampire—psychic, folkloric, or otherwise? Email thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com [thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com]. With your permission, your account may be featured on a future episode. Names and identifying details can be changed to protect your privacy. Our Sound The Night Visitors theme music is "Haunted Haus" by composer Tim Kulig. We're grateful to Tim for allowing us to use his work to set the tone for each episode. https://timkulig.com/https://timkulig.com/ [https://timkulig.com/] Join the Community The Night Visitors is part of a worldwide community exploring vampire culture, folklore, and the paranormal. James also publishes a weekly newsletter featuring articles on vampire lore, history, and how genuine folklore shows up in film and literature. 🌙 Website: thenightvisitors.com [http://thenightvisitors.com] 🌙 Newsletter: jamesnightvisitors.substack.com [http://jamesnightvisitors.substack.com] 🌙 Facebook Group: bit.ly/night-visitors-fb-group [http://bit.ly/night-visitors-fb-group] 🌙 Instagram: @nightvisitorsvrs [https://instagram.com/nightvisitorsvrs] 🌙 YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@VampireResearchSociety]youtube.com/@VampireResearchSociety [http://youtube.com/@VampireResearchSociety]

Chanda and the Floating Head

In early 1990s Cambodia, Chanda and her husband were being drained — literally. Night after night, they woke exhausted, covered in small puncture wounds, haunted by suffocating dreams. The source turned out to be closer than they imagined: their next-door neighbor, an ahp — a vampiric entity from Khmer folklore that hunts as a disembodied floating head with trailing entrails behind it. When a Buddhist monk's blessing finally let Chanda see what had been feeding on them in the dark, she knew exactly what she was dealing with. But defeating it would take something bigger — the sacred festival of Pchum Ben, when the gates of the underworld open and the ancestors come to help. What happens when you fight a vampire with faith, family, and a ring of thorn branches? Listen to find out. You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-night-visitors-vampire-research-society/id1877361064] and ListenNotes [https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-night-visitors-vampire-research-society-_pdMV0yqPZk/] to iHeartRadio [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-the-night-visitors-vampir-322837360/] and more. Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig [https://timkulig.com/] (timkulig.com [http://timkulig.com]) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] If you have any personal experiences with vampires you’d like to share, or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in our posts or our YouTube videos [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfbHhb3fApds7pLn-Xi84RaORe6YmGw-A&si=RweZtH_nPWPUK4im], please email us at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com [thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com]. Your privacy is always protected. To watch the Night Visitor’s Vampire Research Society’s true stories, subscribe to the YouTube channel @VampireResearchSociety [https://www.youtube.com/@VampireResearchSociety/?sub_confirmation=1]. The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society is a worldwide community sharing firsthand vampire encounters and exploring the folklore, history, and pop culture of the undead. Join our Facebook group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/nightvisitorsvampireresearchsociety] to connect with fellow Night Visitors [https://thenightvisitors.com/] from around the world. And if you haven’t already, subscribe right here on Substack [https://jamesnightvisitors.substack.com/] so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture and folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.

The Dead Don't Lie, Daria's Story

The Night Visitor of Belarus This week's episode of The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society supernatural podcast and YouTube story, explores a haunting narrative that blurs the line between medical rationality and spiritual mystery. In the mid-1980s, a young doctor named Yuri was working the night shift at a rural clinic deep in the Belarusian countryside. His only patient was an elderly woman named Katya who was nearing the end of her life. She told him about a childhood friend named Daria, a woman who'd died young under mysterious circumstances before the First World War and was buried without proper rites in the nearby cemetery. That evening, Katya said Daria had visited her and promised to return before dawn. Yuri didn't believe a word of it. Until…listen to find out. You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-night-visitors-vampire-research-society/id1877361064] and ListenNotes [https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-night-visitors-vampire-research-society-_pdMV0yqPZk/] to iHeartRadio [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1333-the-night-visitors-vampir-322837360/] and more. Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig [https://timkulig.com] (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/] Additional Music in this episode: Лет семнаццаць под неволей" (Seventeen Years Under Captivity/Bondage) by Аляксей Стрэльчанка & VIRY (Aleksei Strelchanka & VIRY) If you have any personal experiences with vampires you’d like to share, or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in our posts or our YouTube videos [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfbHhb3fApds7pLn-Xi84RaORe6YmGw-A&si=RweZtH_nPWPUK4im], please email us at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com [thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com]. Your privacy is always protected. To watch the Night Visitor’s Vampire Research Society’s true stories, subscribe to the YouTube channel @VampireResearchSociety [https://www.youtube.com/@VampireResearchSociety/?sub_confirmation=1]. The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society is a worldwide community sharing firsthand vampire encounters and exploring the folklore, history, and pop culture of the undead. Join our Facebook group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/nightvisitorsvampireresearchsociety] to connect with fellow Night Visitors [https://thenightvisitors.com] from around the world. And if you haven’t already, subscribe right here on Substack [https://jamesnightvisitors.substack.com] so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture and folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters. Belarus supernatural, Soviet Union ghost, vampire folklore, Slavic folklore, undead, revenant, Belarusian countryside, venchik, Eastern European vampire, unholy death, restless dead, ghost encounter, paranormal podcast, supernatural encounter, Tsarist Russia, rural clinic, night shift, cemetery, vampire or ghost, Night Visitors, James Cheney

Janos and the Ingenue: A Vampire’s Warning in the City of Angels

In 1997, I logged onto the internet for the first time and discovered a world of forums and newsgroups where the supernatural wasn't just a hobby, it was a shared passion. It was in one of these digital spaces dedicated to vampire subculture that I met a writer from New York City. He shared with me a remarkable account he had gathered while interviewing a 98-year-old former actress named Dora, who had traded a life of Rhode Island luxury for the grit and glamour of 1920s Hollywood. This week, I’m recounting the story as it was told to me where in an abandoned desert mansion, Dora met a mysterious Hungarian man named Janos. He moved through the set like a ghost, his skin the color of alabaster and his touch as cold as ice. Through the lens of Dora’s memory, I explore her brief, intense connection with this "Mr. Szabo" and the chilling warning he gave her about the "soul-sucking monster" of the film industry. Was he a man out of time, or a literal creature of the night? I look into the fragments of truth left behind—the bit parts Dora actually played, and the haunting letter from the Hungarian National Theatre. If you have any personal experiences with vampires you’d like to share, or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in our posts or our YouTube videos [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfbHhb3fApds7pLn-Xi84RaORe6YmGw-A&si=RweZtH_nPWPUK4im], please email us at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com [thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com]. Your privacy is always protected. To watch the Night Visitor’s Vampire Research Society’s true stories, subscribe to the YouTube channel @VampireResearchSociety [https://www.youtube.com/@VampireResearchSociety/?sub_confirmation=1] or subscribe to this Substack and receive new stories every Friday. The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society is a worldwide community sharing firsthand vampire encounters and exploring the folklore, history, and pop culture of the undead. Join our Facebook group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/nightvisitorsvampireresearchsociety] to connect with fellow Night Visitors [https://thenightvisitors.com/] from around the world. And if you haven’t already, subscribe to my Substack [https://jamesnightvisitors.substack.com/] so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture & folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.