Strigoi, moroi and the dead who will not rest

Long before Bram Stoker set his count in Transylvania, the people of the Carpathians knew their own undead: strigoi and moroi. They are the root of the vampire myth — and far older.

Strigoi – the callers

The word strigoi comes from the Latin strix (night bird, witch) and is kin to the verb a striga: to call, to cry out. Folklore separates the strigoi viu (the living one) from the dreaded strigoi mort — the dead who leaves the grave.

Moroi – the breath that draws strength

The moroi is close kin: the phantom of a dead person that draws strength from the living. Its name is traced to the Old Slavonic mora — the nightmare. Whether stafii, strigoi or moroi, one idea underlies them all: death is no certain border; something returns and calls. This is exactly what the Carpathian Chronicles are about.