Muroni

(ME-ron-nee)

Variations: Murohy, Muronul, MURONY, Orgoï, Varcolaco

A vampiric spirit from Romanian lore, the muroni is created when a person dies a violent death or was a magic user in life, when a child who was born out of wedlock to parents who were born out of wedlock dies, or if a person dies the victim of a muroni attack. It looks like a bloated corpse with red skin, long fingernails, and oftentimes, a mouth full of blood. It can shape-shift into a flea or a spider and prefers to use one of those forms when it attacks a person, although it can also shape-shift into a cat or dog as well. Because it hunts mostly in its insect form, there are seldom any bite marks to be found on a victim, and if any do show, they look just like an insect bite, so no one suspects that there is a vampire in the community and goes looking for it.

A person who is dying from a muroni attackcannot be saved, but fortunately it is known how to destroy such a creature. Amuroni must be staked through the heart, have a nail driven through its forehead, or have its mouth filled with GARLIC.

Source: Bunson, Vampire Encyclopedia, 182; Peabody, International Cyclopedia, 60; Ridpath, Standard American Encyclopedia, vol. 7, 2600