Since its first appearance in a 1996 issue of the International Society of Vampire’s newsletter, the Midnight Sun, the loan-word “Strigoi” has been picked up by portions of the modern vampire community and used as an alternate label of self-identification. However, those familiar with the word strega may wonder how and why strigoi  — so close to the Italian word for “witch” — came to be associated not with witchcraft, but with vampirism.

Within the modern vampire community, the term strigoi has become synonymous with “living vampirism.” Although vampires of the undead variety are the most widely recognized vampires of folklore, it is important to note the most of the Eastern European countries from whence our folklore about vampires originates acknowledged living vampires as well. In the folklore of Romania, several words are used to denote vampires. One of the most common is strigoi (fem. strigoica), followed by