The whole place was infested with the
presence of the dead Kuntz, till scarce a man or woman would dare to be
alone. He strangled old men; insulted women; squeezed children to death;
knocked out the brains of dogs against the ground; pulled up posts; turned
milk into blood; nearly killed a worthy clergyman by breathing upon him
the intolerable airs of the grave, cold and malignant and noisome; and, in
short, filled the city with a perfect madness of fear, so that every
report was believed without the smallest doubt or investigation.
"Though Teufelsbuerst brought home no more of the town talk, the old
servant was a faithful purveyor, and frequented the news-mart assiduously.
Indeed she had some nightmare experiences of her own that she was proud to
add to the stock of horrors which the city enjoyed with such a hearty
community of goods. For those regions were not far removed from the
birthplace and home of the vampire. The belief in vampires is the
quintessential concentration and embodiment of all the passion of fear in
Hungary and the adjacent regions.
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