Shtriga

In Albanian folklore, there are tales of a vampiric witch known as a shtriga. The shtriga would come to infants in their sleep and drink their blood. The shtriga would then flee in the form of either a moth, a fly or a bee. Those that the shtriga attacked would become sick and die, if they were not cured. The only one who could cure the victim was the shtriga herself, this was usually accomplished by spitting in the victim's mouth.

Edith Durham, a British traveller, wrote down various methods of defense against the shtriga. One method is to place a cross made from the bones of pigs at the entrance to a church on Easter Sunday. This prevents the shtriga from leaving the church once inside. The witch can then be killed in the threshold as she tries in vain to escape.

Another form of protection comes from another account that says that the shtriga, after having drained blood from her victim, will go deep into the woods and regurgitate the blood. Durham tells that if one were to soak a coin of silver in this blood and then wrap it in a cloth, it would become an amulet to protect you from any and all shtrigas from there on out.

Finally, it is believed that a shtriga could be killed if it were to be shot with a round made from iron. This, unfortunately, only works if the shtriga is shot while she is feeding.

Source:
Durham, Edith. High Albania. London: Phoenix Press, 2000.