Experience 8: Vampire hunting in the Serbian forest
by Christa Larwood
In the dark forests along Serbia's northwestern border, there is an evil scourge at large, keeping the villagers of Zarožje behind locked doors, nervously clutching garlic bulbs. The cause is Sava Savanović, a vicious, hulking vampire, known to wander the woods and – if his leering, fang-toothed picture on the sign that greets visitors to the village is anything to go by – he is a frightening proposition indeed.
The story goes back over 300 years, when Savanović first began terrifying locals, drinking the blood of hapless victims who made the mistake of approaching his lair – a tiny wooden mill located by the Rogačica river. The Rogačica river still flows, gushing prettily over rocks and flanked by steep forested hillsides, but the mill recently fell victim to the vagaries of age and weather, and collapsed. This sparked genuine panic in the area, and today, the word on the streets of Zarožje has it that an angry, homeless Savanović is now spending his nights prowling the countryside.
There's a tendency to make light of such local stories, but this is a serious business in Zarožje. The mayor recently issued a public notice, recommending that locals stockpile garlic and keep crosses at the ready.
We were guided to the old mill by Slobodan Jagodić, a retired local farmer who had his own frightening encounter with the vampire as a child and won't approach without a bristling string of white bulbs and a long wooden stake called a 'glog'. The mill is small and threaded with silver spiderwebs, its roof and supporting beams split and broken on the floor, all mottled with a green-grey moss. And to be frank, it is a bit creepy down there – I don't mind admitting it.
"Most people in town are afraid of Savanović," Slobodan said. "But some say, 'It's all nonsense, I'm not afraid.' I say to them, I'll give you 500 euros if you stay at the mill by yourself overnight." He nods with grim satisfaction. "No one ever takes me up on that offer."
