#strigoi

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Ellen, Orlok and Windows

Aside from the lilacs, another visual narrative device that showcases Ellen and Orlok connection in “Nosferatu” (2024), are windows. This is a reference to the Romanian strigoi folklore; where strigoi are said to appear at their loved one’s windows, at night, asking for entrance. I talk more about the strigoi legend in this post. This is most likely the origin of the “vampires need to be invited in” lore.

Orlok makes his first appearance to Ellen; the window is open, she’s inviting him into her life (haunting), cursing herself in the process.

Symbolically, windows are a veil between life and death, a portal between the known and the unknown, and a barrier to the supernatural. Windows also represent liberation, freedom and escapism from real life. Windows also serve as a mirror of our true selves, as they encourage self-awareness.

The window in “Nosferatu” also references another inspiration for this story: “Wuthering Heights” novel by Emily Brontë; where there’s the theme of “Catherine’s window”. In this story, windows (and doors, too) are usually connected with Catherine and Heathcliff’s separation and his inability to reach her. In “Nosferatu”, we also see this: in the prologue, Ellen’s window is wide open (when she meets and develops a relationship with Orlok), then it’s shut (symbolizing their separation) until the second and third act, when she asks him to come to her (union).

The next time we see windows in connection to Ellen is when Thomas is leaving for work, and she realizes Herr Knoch will send him away. The prologue has established windows in connection with her and Orlok; and it’s later revealed that Ellen has premonitions; why does she look at the window? Does she senses Thomas will be sent to Orlok?

The next scene is Ellen cutting a strand of her hair and put it in a locket. She does this in front of the window and the music in this scene is very eerie, and her mind appears to be elsewhere.

While at the surface, this act seems like a gift to Thomas, it is really? In the Victorian era, it was common to keep locks of hair from deceased loved ones in pieces of jewelry, especially lockets. Later, Orlok recognizes the scent of lilacs on her hair, and keeps the locket for himself, and is able to reach her, once again.

Indeed, when Thomas tells Ellen that Orlok has her locket, she doesn’t have much reaction to it, because, maybe, that was her intention all along. Again, another reference to the strigoi folklore.

Ellen and Orlok are reconnected through the locket. And she knows Orlok is coming to Wisburg, for her. She stands by the window, waiting?

Meanwhile both Thomas and Orlok arrive at Wisburg. Thomas is relieved Orlok has not got to Ellen. Yet. Later, when Ellen is asleep next to Anna, she wakes up and goes to the window, opening it and granting Orlok entrance into the Hardings house, and cursing everyone there as a consequence.

On the third night, when Ellen is willing to re-pledge herself to Orlok, and accept his covenant -(“you shall be one with me ever-eternally”; “our spirits are one”); which is “weird kind of sacred marriage” as Robert Eggers calls it; explaining the need to consummate it, - she opens the window, calling for him.

Ellen invites Orlok into her and Thomas’ house, which was one place he didn’t had access to, previously. So, indeed, she’s the one who commands him, in a way. Ellen is the one who grants or denies Orlok access to places.

The next reference to the window is the morning, after both Ellen and Orlok are physically dead and their spirits have been set free by the breaking of the Nosferatu curse.

[amberkendslacy]

[marsinthecorner]

The ending I think we all wanted!🤣😅

Uncensored below.

[e3rt]

I forgot to post the finished version of this oops

[dwollsadventures]

Strix (Ancient)

Habitat: The depths of Tartarus, large cities

Slayer Tips: Garlic is foul to striges, so smearing some oil or pungent cloves can repulse the birds. Physically they are quite weak as they only prey on the helpless.

--

It's been a while since I've drawn one of these guys! Striges are originally Greco-Roman birds that spread and evolved into Italy and Eastern Europe as a whole. They go on to become even the strigoi, what many consider the "true" vampire (even though they're more like witches).

I decided to go with a plucked owl for their visual inspiration this time around. That's right, those bumps aren't floof, they're skin, bone, and pin feathers. How do they fly? Idk they're monsters they just can.

[nofatclips]

Christ's Death (Sarcófago cover) by Thy Rites from the album Nekrolatreia [Also available on BandCamp]

[cryptidcha0s]

Nosferatu (2024) fanart!!! It wuz such a great movie. I loved the counts more folklore accurate design.

Screenshots I used as reference for the drawings of Ellen & Thomas below cut

[bewdewd]

[coolyo294]

A strigoi vampire and his gang of ghouls

"Our lords were as fair as our land was fine

As wise as our petru and as strong as our kine

Their beautiful lives were of such elegant grace

That all clambered out for the joy of their embrace"

[pastellich]

Strigoi

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Finally a good look at Robert Eggers’ Count Orlok’s teeth.

In Balkan folklore, strigoi fangs cannot be retracted, and, as a consequence, their lips and chins are often sore and damaged, which is exactly what we see here. This Orlok is a quintessential strigoi, the early folk vampire, from his appearance, characteristics (feeding on souls; plague carrier), astral projection powers as a shadow or a ghost, and haunting of Ellen (reincarnation of his wife).

[ajramseyart]

The Hunt

I just noticed that I never shared this painting on here. Oops.

This is a painting I created for the Carpe Noctem vampire zine.

I have been thinking about this painting for a little bit and how I think I might make a little comic story about this painting. I already made a mini comic about this vampires origin, but this is something I would love to expand on here and there when I have down time.

created with watercolor and white gouache.

[marsinthecorner]

Guys, maybe he just REALLY likes rats???😅

[e3rt]

Can we get a monster Jeff, similar to how you draw EJ 👀

Strigoi! Jeff

The Jeff who died in that fire and clawed his way out of his grave with an insatiable hunger for blood

[marabow]

(the drawing on the header made my Oana Befort)

୨⎯ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐃 ⎯୧

Yandere Male Vampire/Strigoi x Gn! Human! Reader

𑁍 Cw; depictions of death (animal(mentioned) and human), manipulation, gaslighting, threats

𑁍 Woah, first story on this blog (sorry if it's short)! I haven't seen any stories on writing websites involving vampires who aren't necessarily these rich charming siren-like creatures with huge castles, so I decided to be (probably) the first person to write about vampires without inspiration from the story of Bram Stoker. (I'll write a more detailed book with this plot and characters, so this is kind of like a little teaser) (I'll also change most of the things in the book, so don't expect everything to be like in this oneshot)

The morning sun began setting softly, leaving the simple dirt road towards the village of Nectarari, a simple and ignoble village miles away from Bucharest. Yet another day at work on the field, yet another painful day for the simple son/daughter of the farmer Dragos Spiridon, a very well respected man in the village for his ability to read the newsprint, even if he was just as simple and poor as everybody else in the small village. (Y/N) was walking beside their father, who was riding their family horse, Tinca. They could almost see their vision blur as they were walking, but they had to stay determined and keep walking.

"Diii, Tinca! we need to hurry home!" The much older man shouted. He seemed to ignore that their child was feeling quite tired. It must've been from all the work they did. 

"Tata, why couldn't Filoftea come to help us? Or even Lizuca." (Y/N) asked their father about their two sisters, yet he didn't answer, just busy making the old mare continue trotting. Seeing as the man didn't answer, the (h/c) haired boy/girl sighed, continuing to walk, even if their legs felt like giving up.

"My dear (Y/N), you know that your older brothers are in Bucharest selling the fleece of our sheep and that your sister Lizuca needs to learn for school, right?"

"Well, why can't Filoftea help us too? She's the same age as me, and she has the same strength."

"Filoftea caught the eye of Liviu Popa. She needs to remain home in the village so that she won't become any less beautiful to that young lad." (Y/N) hated that their father obviously loved their siblings more than them. It was as clear as day that they were just going to always help him with trading, as they were basically a nobody. They never went to school as their father could afford only for Lizuca and little Arsenie, they weren't as strong and charismatic as their brothers, Nectarie and Radu, who were now in Bucharest, probably never returning to the village, and they weren't as beautiful as their twin sister Filoftea, who caught sweet eyes from the priest's son, Liviu. In short, they didn't have such a bright future.

But even so, (Y/N) was strong… or at least, they tried their hardest. Right now, they felt as if the sun was burning them up, even if it was still dark out as the sun hasn’t hit them yet, as if Dracu was punishing them. They couldn’t carry the weight anymore, their arms like gelatin, and the crops they were holding on their back being the only reason they kept going without falling. (Y/N) looked to their left, where they saw a flock of sheep following a man in a wooly coat, a man they’ve never seen before, a man with whitish-blond hair from what they could see. He kept walking with the sheep, and slowly disappeared as the sun appeared, as if he was never there. The young man/girl dismissed it, knowing it was just a traveler.

Once they entered the village, a herd of people gathered around the village center to see Baba Ilinca, weeping as the people tried to interrogate her. "Azorel... he had no more blood in his small canine body..." she was stuttering. The old wise widow was shouting about how she saw an ugly humanoid, with eyes as dark as the devil's, but nobody believed her, except for of course, Priest Popa, Liviu's father.

(Y/N) didn't believe it either. Maybe another animal attacked the dog during the night. The dog's body was nowhere in sight, so they couldn't exactly speculate what killed him, but they did think another animal killed the dog, since what heartless human would kill a poor old dog?

The father and his child walked back to their small humble abode, a house like every other in the village. Before they could enter, they found a flock of sheep surrounding the house, and a young man on the porch of the house, hiding under the shadows of the roof, where baskets of flowers were dangling, the only thing differentiating the house from the others in the village. Little Arsenie seemed to have been on his way to school but stopped, as he was looking at the man who was sprawled on the floor, in a deep sleep of some sort, meaning that he didn't appear too early.

"Arsenie, go to school." The father said, dismissing his son. Arsenie obeyed his father and started running to the village center for school. (Y/N) remained with their father, as their father picked up the young man from their porch, and proceeded to take him inside. (Y/N) knew their father cared deeply about the village people, but they knew this man was not from the village. He looked like a transylvanian saxon, from how pale his features were, and from his attire which looked a little different from the clothing they had here in Wallachia. Their father laid him on one of the two beds they had in the whole house, and let him rest. "(Y/N)! Go make some soup for this boy. He looks like a traveler who isn't in good shape."

(Y/N) obeyed their father and went to make some soup, which they then brought to the unconscious man. Their father left them alone, so they sat next to the blond. They knew they saw this man before, earlier on the field, but they wonder... what happened?

Almost an hour later, he woke up, looking around with his tired brown eyes. "Where am I...?" He muttered, in an accent (Y/N) understood was hungarian.

"You're in the county of Ilfov. You must've wanted to go to Bucharest, right?" (Y/N) asked, as they picked up a wooden spoon, presenting it to him, which he politely declined.

"Not quite. I just ran away from home with my sheep... where are they?"

"Don't worry, they're outside, waiting for you. But please stay here, you aren't in great health to continue your journey."

The young man nodded, as he continued resting on the pillow. (Y/N) got up to walk away, but the man kept his grip on their hand, even if it felt weak at the moment. "Please... stay by my side..."

(Y/N) was a little surprised, but obliged nonetheless, as she knew he didn't feel quite right at the moment.

(Y/N) soon learned his name was Vasile. Vasile Eliade. He was a young man from Transylvania, more specifically Cluj Napoca, who ran away from home after a fight with his adoptive parents. He lived a pretty wealthy life in the big city, but he remained with nothing to his name. A few months prior he lived in Sibiu, where he became a shepherd, and was supposed to take them to Bucharest next so they can be sold for their fleece.

Vasile and (Y/N) became friends quickly, which managed to convince (Y/N)'s father to let Vasile live with them, with the condition that he took care of the animals, not only his sheep, but also the Spiridon family's pigs, cows, horse and chickens.

Life was going smoothly for the family, as Filoftea married Liviu, Arsenie and Lizuca finished the school year, Arsenie being top student of the village's younglings, meanwhile Lizuca was just average in school activities. Even (Y/N) started learning how to read and write from their new blond friend

Though, Filoftea wasn't quite happy with her life as Liviu's wife, which made her try to pursue a secret relationship with Vasile, as he was 'more fun'.

(Y/N) didn't pay much attention to it, but Vasile, even if he was polite and 'loyal' to the family, didn't like it one bit. He was starting to grow feelings for the hardworking man/woman with the name of (Y/N). What once was just prey to him, another flesh to be eaten, became his equal slowly... or something more.

It has been a year since Vasile arrived to the village and became sort of like a part of the family. The family business was growing quite better since last year, which made the family quite happy. In the backyard laid (Y/N) and Vasile on the grass, as the autumn leaves started falling, and the gentle breeze of the wind was fanning their faces.

"(Y/N), can you promise me something?"

"Of course. What is it?"

Vasile looked nonchalantly at the sky, sighing softly. "Promise me that we'll be together even if one of us does a 'horrible' thing."

(Y/N) was confused. " what do you mean? Of course I'll be by your side." The young man/girl didn't think much. They only thought he meant something like accidentally ruining the family business or something like that, which was horrible enough, but not something to leave him.

"Thank you very much..." He muttered. As he kept staring at the stars. "I think it's very late. Go to sleep with Filoftea. I'll follow you in shortly."

"Alright..." (Y/N) yawned as they got up. "Well, good night."

"Goodnight." was all Vasile said, as (Y/N) walked back inside. "I love you."

(Y/N) was met with Filoftea, sleeping in the bed their father usually slept in, as he was away with Liviu to visit Radu, (Y/N)'s older brother, in Bucharest so that Liviu can 'take a break' from Filoftea's neediness, as she became very needy after getting pregnant.

(Y/N) slept on the opposite bed, the one where their younger siblings slept in right at the moment. 'Poor Filly..." (Y/N) thought, thinking about how Filoftea was alone and pregnant, with a husband who always ran away from his responsibilities. Soon, their eyes closed, falling asleep.

They woke up to the smell of blood hitting their nose. Opening their eyes, they saw everyone was asleep... except of Vasile who... was next to Filoftea. (Y/N) didn't think much, due to their sleepy state making them think he was only pecking her neck with kisses. But they realised that Filoftea was asleep, meaning that this was breaking her boundary. They quickly got up to scold Vasile, only to see... a pool of blood on the bed. Filoftea's eyes were frozen in a contorted face of fright, pale like a blind person's.

"Filly...?" was all (Y/N) muttered as Vasile looked at them with a look of hunger. That's when (Y/N) realized. Those dark eyes... the blood on his lips... Baba Ilinca was right about her dog being sucked dry by a strigoi... as the strigoi was right in the village, right in the Spiridon residence, right in front of somebody who didn't believe in them.

"(Y/N)... Iubirea mea!" Vasile got up and smiled insanely, his teeth sharp and coated full of blood. (Y/N) then realised why he never shown his teeth, or talked in mutters. Not because he was tired, or from another reason that wasn't the fact he was a blood sucker! "Don't be frightened. I love you so much, it'd pain me for you to be scared. Come now. Help me put your pesky harlot sister outside so the soil will become stronger!"

"I can't help you... you're not human... you're not man at all..." The twin of Filoftea muttered, as they began backing away. Vasile didn't take this too kindly, as he ran to them, and held their wrists with his tight grip.

"YOU WILL HELP ME. I AM YOUR ONE TRUE LOVE! YOU PROMISED YOU'D HELP ME! YOU'RE JUST AS MUCH OF A MONSTER LIKE I AM IF YOU'D RATHER HELP SOMETHING THAT IS NO LONGER BREATHING THAN YOUR TRUE LOVE!"

(Y/N) wanted to kick him off them, but they couldn't. "If you do anything rash, the young children will meet the same fate, and it'd all be your fault!"

"Now, choose wisely. Will you become like me, or will your family meet the same fate. Nobody will blame me, they'll only blame you, as it is your fault. I wouldn't want my one true love to feel the pain of having their head cut off, and neither would you like that fate..."

"Right?"

A/N: Sorry if this was short and rushed, I wrote all of this in one day, and I don't want to spoil my book in any way. Hope you guys enjoyed this story, and make sure to give me more ideas for stories in my inbox! Have a swell day everyone!

© PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR EDIT ANY OF MY WORK WITHOUT PERMISSION. THANK YOU!

[massgrav]

Can we not stay together a little while longer, my lovely man?