Mahr

(MAR)

The Carpathian Mountains arch through the Czech Republic and then turn east, continuing on through Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine before finally ending near the Danube River in Serbia. It is here in this mountain range that there lives a species of vampire known as a mahr. Living off the consumption of human souls, the mahr swoops down upon its victim in the form of a moth, taking a bite or two before flying off. The more often a mahr attacks a single victim, the easier it becomes for the vampire to do so in the future. Eventually the prey is killed and the soul consumed. Fortunately, there are two ways in which a mahr can be slain. The first is to drive a wooden stake through its heart. If this method of destruction is employed, the souls that the vampire consumed will return to the victims. The second means by which this vampire can be destroyed is to find where it spends its daylight hours and expose the creature to sunlight. The rays of the sun will render it to ash.

Source: Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion, 590; Jones, On the Nightmare, 144; Lurker, Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, 215; Pócs, Between the Living and the Dead, 22