Tag Archives: ustral

The Ustral from Bulgaria brings together two horrors into one frightful creature.  The undead nastiness of the vampire combines with the inhuman energy levels and lack of a moral compass found in children to produce a monster.

An Ustral is created when a child is born on a Saturday and dies before it’s baptized.  The child spends nine days in the grave then rises to attack livestock at night. When it’s finished feeding, it returns to the grave. Once it has grown strong from it’s nightly feedings, it is able to stay out in the day time. It hides among the herd and picks off the animals one by one. To humans, the Ustral looks just like a small child playing in close proximity to the dangerous hooves of farm animals.

If more than five animals are attacked in any one night, the owner of the herd is required to hire the services of a Vampirdzhija (vampire hunter) to destroy it. The vampire hunter fills a bottle with the Ustral’s favorite food (blood or human excrement???). With an Orthodox Christian icon, he chases the creature toward the bottle. Once the Ustral enters the bottle, the vampire hunter corks it. He then throws the bottle into a fire. Supposedly, this is the end of the Ustral.

Thank you Divine Harvester for the photo.