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 and ListenNotes to iHeartRadio and more.

Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 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, please email us at 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.

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 to connect with fellow Night Visitors from around the world.

And if you haven’t already, subscribe right here on Substack 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

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, please email us at 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 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 to connect with fellow Night Visitors from around the world.

And if you haven’t already, subscribe to my Substack so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture & folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.

How do cultural beliefs about ancestor veneration shape our understanding of protective spirits? Listen now to uncover the full story of Betty’s otherworldly experience or watch on YouTube

If you like this story, please share it and leave a review wherever you watch or listen.

You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to iHeartRadio and more.

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, please email us at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Your privacy is always protected.

Podcast Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

To watch the Night Visitor’s Vampire Research Society’s true stories, subscribe to the YouTube channel @VampireResearchSociety

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 to connect with fellow Night Visitors from around the world.

And if you haven’t already, subscribe on Substack so you never miss my Tuesday article on vampire pop culture and folklore or the Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.

My spiritual mentor Lorimar, was full of stories, but this one stopped me cold. In the 1970s Bronx, a young santero named Joaquin betrayed the one person he shouldn't have — an espiritista who knew exactly how to make him pay. What she summoned from a grave in Woodlawn Cemetery came to him every night: a woman in white who left puncture wounds and drained him until he could barely stand. This is a story about broken loyalty, Afro-Caribbean spiritual justice, and a curse that turned a man's own disrespect against him. What happens when the spirits you've mistreated refuse to protect you? Listen to find out.

A Spiritual Mentor's Dark Tale

Joaquin's Betrayal and Spiritual Consequences

A Curse Ritual at the Cemetery

A Curse of Death and Vengeance

The Curse Lifted

The Espiritista's Revenge and Redemption

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, please email us at 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 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 to connect with fellow Night Visitors from around the world.

And if you haven’t already, subscribe to my Substack so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture & folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.

The milk curdles. The cat won’t stop growling. And the visitor vanishes from the driveway in the time it takes to lock a door. This strange visitor sends Ania reaching back across generations for protection. Would Ania’s memory of her grandmother’s knowledge about the undead, and a loaf of bread filled with blood and ashes really keep a vampire away?

Listen to find out.

Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you'd like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you'd like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com.

Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you.

You'll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more.

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.

You can watch our episode videos on YouTube @VampireResearchSociety

GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you'll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays.

Podcast Theme Music Title: "Haunted Haus", Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

When 19-year-old Vera started selling contraband through a Moscow tea shop, she never imagined meeting someone like Mikhail. The charming Georgian businessman offered her a dangerous proposition: smuggling caviar and champagne for substantial payment, plus an invitation to his Black Sea home during the May Day holiday. (Trust no one was Vera's survival rule, but something about Mikhail's gentleness made her hesitate.)

From the moment she boarded that private train in 1990, nothing made sense. Why would this mysterious figure possess such wealth in communist Russia? At his seaside mansion, surrounded by Fabergé eggs and priceless artifacts from across Soviet republics, Mikhail compared Vera to Saint Shushanik and revealed his true purpose—he needed someone brave enough to preserve cultural treasures as the regime crumbled. Was he protecting history or recruiting an accomplice?

The arrangement worked perfectly for a year until the Soviet collapse. Vera emigrated and rebuilt her life, but years later spotted Mikhail on television looking exactly the same.

Could he have possessed supernatural knowledge, or was something even stranger at work? Listen to discover how one risky decision at a tea shop led to an encounter that defies explanation.

Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com.

Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you.

You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more.

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.

You can watch our episode videos on YouTube @VampireResearchSociety

GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays.

Podcast Theme Music

Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Mrs. Campbell never eats, yet she maintains sharp mental clarity and unusual energy (which should have been Roxanne’s first warning). As weeks pass, Roxanne’s vibrant personality mysteriously fades into exhaustion and listlessness. Meanwhile, her employer grows increasingly vital and energetic. The turning point comes when Roxanne discovers Mrs. Campbell tending flowers in the cemetery at midnight, surrounded by others in a secretive gathering.

After witnessing this ritual, Roxanne suspects she’s been deliberately drained through witchcraft, though Mrs. Campbell might call it something else entirely. The old woman speaks cryptically about “life feeding on life” and ancient powers. Eventually released with severance pay and a fortifying herbal shake, Roxanne escapes to rebuild her life as an event planner on Cape Cod.

This case raises an unsettling question: How many energy vampires work without their victims’ consent?

Listen to hear the full disturbing details of Roxanne’s summer with Mrs. Campbell.

Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com.

Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you.

You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more.

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.

GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays.

Podcast Theme Music

Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0

Other Music

Title: Asia

Artist: Aleksey Chistilin

Lic CC 4.0

Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Haunted by dread, Bihn turns to what she knows: traditional Vietnamese protective rituals. She burns spirit money and leaves blood pudding offerings outside her door (the old ways don’t just disappear when you cross an ocean). But when those offerings vanish each night, her curiosity overtakes her fear. What she discovers in his apartment are old photographs showing him unchanged since the 1920s, his motionless body in a darkened room at noon, all seem to confirm her worst suspicions, or do they?

After performing protective rituals with holy water, Bihn learns something that chills her more than any supernatural encounter: the apartment has been “vacant for over a year.” Her neighbor has vanished without a trace. Could cultural displacement and loneliness have blurred reality with folklore, or had Bihn truly encountered something beyond explanation?

Years later, having moved away, Bihn rarely discusses what happened. But she remains convinced of what she experienced in that Texas apartment.

Listen to hear this unsettling tale of reality, folklore, and the unexplained.

Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com.

Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you.

You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more.

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.

GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays.

Podcast Theme Music

Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0

Other Music

Title: Asia

Artist: Aleksey Chistilin

Lic CC 4.0

Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Something lived in Elizabeth's kitchen - something her husband fed with blood and whispered promises. Wealthy clients came to their Toronto apartment seeking revenge, and they always left satisfied. But hungry things grow hungrier. And when the man in the top hat finally showed his grinning face, Elizabeth understood the real question: who was serving whom?

Could this story be proof, that walking in light has its rewards?

#Obeah #Jamaicanfolklore #duppyspirit #Caribbeansupernatural #paranormal #bloodsacrifice #ghoststory #Africandiasporaspirituality #darkmagic #cautionarytale #toronto #culture #myths #legends #diaspora #truestory

Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com.

Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you.

You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more.

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.

GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays.

Podcast Theme Music

Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0

Other Music

Title: “Disassembly”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0

Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Was Alva a troubled drifter or something far darker? This episode explores the blurred line between folklore and reality.

In each episode, I examine supernatural encounters through a technical lens, questioning what evidence suggests something genuinely otherworldly.

Listen now and share your thoughts.

Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com.

Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you.

You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more.

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.

GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays.

Podcast Theme Music

Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0

Other Music

Title: “Disassembly”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0

Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

#modernvampire #vampirelegend #massachucetts #conveniencestorevampire #truesupernaturalstory #scarystory #horrorstory #paranormal #supernatural #nightvisitors #mythology #truestory

This account, witnessed firsthand by a child who later recounted it, examines how a community's fear transformed an ordinary neighbor into something far more sinister and raises uncomfortable questions about community, belief, and scapegoating.

Can communities trapped by hardship and ideology find their way back to compassion?And who are the true monsters? Were they supernatural or all too human?

Listen to discover how fear and folklore collide in this haunting Romanian story.

You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more.

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.

GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays.

Share Your Experience - If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you.

Podcast Theme Music

Title: “Haunted Haus”

Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

#Romanianfolklore #vampirelegend #Transylvania #strigoicavie #truesupernaturalstory #1950sRomania #villagewitch #Communistera #OrthodoxChristianity #paranormal #supernatural #nightvisitors #mythology #truestory

The Temple’s Jiangshi: Ming's Encounter with the Dreaded Hopping Chinese Vampire

When Ming sought refuge in a rural temple during his journey to Hong Kong in the 1890s, he had no idea what lurked beneath the altar. That night changed everything he thought he knew about the supernatural.

The creature that emerged was a Jiangshi, a Chinese vampire with hollow eyes, a green corpse-like body, and razor-sharp claws. Unlike the vampires you might picture, this one moved in slow, hopping motions (which sounds almost comical until you're the one being chased). Ming barely escaped by climbing a tree, where he watched the paralyzed creature until sunrise revealed its weakness.

What kept this malevolent spirit trapped at the temple threshold? The villagers knew the answer. They'd been avoiding the place for generations, using it only during specific festivals. Turns out, jujube trees planted in the courtyard held the key to containing this undead Taoist priest from a century earlier.

Through Taoist mystical symbols and other means, Ming helped free the temple from its haunting. Did you know that Chinese vampires inhabit sacred spaces while European vampires flee from them?

Discover how Ming confronted the hopping terror and what makes Jiangshi so different from their Western counterparts.

1. The Rice Farmer's Journey to Hong Kong
2. Ming Encounters a Jiangshi in the Temple
3. Destroying the Jiangshi Vampire

You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms from Apple to ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and more.

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.

GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs

NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays.

Share Your Experience - If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you.

Podcast Theme Music

Title: “Haunted Haus”

Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Most paranormal content sensationalizes the unexplained. But what happens when we approach these stories with genuine curiosity and respect?

James Cheney's "The Night Visitors" does something different. It explores documented accounts of vampiric entities across cultures and centuries—not the romanticized versions from pop culture, but the serious testimonies people have carried in silence.

These aren't ghost stories. They're accounts of very real experiences: inexplicable energy drain, mysterious time loss, unexplained depletion of resources. Patterns that appear across different continents, different eras, different families.

Here's what makes this approach worth paying attention to:

The podcast treats folklore as historical memory—acknowledging that our ancestors documented what they observed, often with remarkable consistency. Rather than dismiss or sensationalize, it examines these patterns through both cultural context and skeptical inquiry.

Listeners share firsthand accounts without dramatization. Family histories passed down through generations. Experiences people rarely discuss openly because they fear dismissal.

The core message? If you've experienced something similar—that inexplicable nocturnal presence, the lingering exhaustion—you're not alone. And you're not losing your mind.

In a world obsessed with definitive answers, there's value in respectfully exploring what we don't yet understand.

Have you encountered perspectives on paranormal experiences that actually treated the subject with intellectual honesty? What made the difference in how it was presented?

The first episode drops on Tuesday, February 17th in celebration of the Chinese New Year, then new episodes are released weekly on Fridays,

Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to James' Substack where you'll receive each episode in your inbox each week.

https://jamesnightvisitors.substack.com

https://linktr.ee/thenightvisitors

Music

Title: "Haunted Haus"

Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/