▲Another version is that any person born with two hearts, additional teeth, or with a unibrow, was potentially a vampire.

▲Legend has it that a future vampire was born with two souls. This could be "cured" through baptism with holy water.

▲Iron nails, iron rods, and wooden pegs were commonly used to kill suspected vampires.

▲The corpse was buried with its face down and poppy seeds were placed in the coffin.

▲They were also sometimes decapitated, and their heads would be placed between their legs so that they wouldn't be able to reach it.

▲It' suggested that there was a belief that these people could come back from the dead as vampires and bring the deadly disease with them.

▲A pebble or coin was placed under the corpse's tongue and its hands were tied behind the back. Feet were mutilated and the sinews in the legs were cut to prevent it from rising.

▲A 2014 study by American researchers suggested the people buried in Drawsko died of cholera.

▲In 2012, Bulgarian archaeologists found two skeletons with iron rods piercing their chests.

▲Vampires were portrayed very differently in Western culture. These were more akin to personified bats than the vampires in Slavic folklore.

▲Skeletons were also unearthed in Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland.

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Polish ethnologist Kazimierz Moszyński puts forward the hypothesis that vampirism dates back to pre-historic times. He argues that some of the perforated skulls found by pre-historians could have actually been pierced through with wooden pegs, which would have then subsequently rotted.

Sources: (Journals) (Live Science)

▲A sharp tool like a sickle or a scythe was placed over the neck to prevent the vampire from rising without being decapitated.

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Slavic vampires would supposedly attack their own family and household animals.

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Legend has it that a grave at Malew Churchyard on the Isle of Man belongs to a vampire.

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But there's more. They also believed that people who died a sudden, unexpected death would become vampires. This was particularly true for those who took their own lives.

▲Spikes were put in the tongue, most likely to prevent the vampire from sucking blood. The body would be buried deep and then covered with rocks.

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Slavic vampire beliefs have reportedly been around since the 4th century AD. These creatures were essentially ghosts of dead people. Though they could also turn into living dead creatures (i.e. zombies).

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A skull of a woman was found in Lazzaretto Nuovo, Italy, in a mass grave used for plague victims. Her jaw was forced open by a brick - a practice sometimes used in burials of suspected vampires.

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Slavic people essentially believed that an evil person would always remain evil, even after death.

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In 2013, a number of anti-vampire graves were discovered in a construction site near Gliwice in Poland.

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Fourteen anti-vampire graves were also discovered in a medieval cemetery in Kałdus, Poland.

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According to folklore, they would drink their blood, eat their flesh, or stifle them.

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According to Slavic folklore, there's a whole ritual to make sure that a vampire doesn't come back from the dead.

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Between 2008 and 2013, Polish archaeologists made a chilling discovery: a number of "anti-vampire" graves. This, however, was not the first vampire burial site unearthed.

But who were these people and why were they buried in such a disturbing way? Click through the gallery to find out more.

The bloody truth about anti-vampire burials

Discover the dark history behind vampire graves

30/05/24 por StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Vampires

Between 2008 and 2013, Polish archaeologists made a chilling discovery: a number of "anti-vampire" graves. This, however, was not the first vampire burial site unearthed.

But who were these people and why were they buried in such a disturbing way? Click through the gallery to find out more.