Besides the old Irish festival of Beltane (May 1st), there is another witchy festival on April 30th/May 1st. May 1st was Walpurgisnacht, or Walpurgis’ Night. Largely Germanic it was a night when witches flew to their Sabbaths and vampires were quite active. Possibly named after an 8th century abbess (but more likely after the old Teutonic goddess, Walpurgis), the date was set aside to honor the moving of the saint’s bones to Eichstatt. But eventually it became associated with more diabolical doings, like Black Masses and vampires and such. With vampires being active on this night the Bohemians would take precautions by putting out hawthorns and wild roses to snag the vampires’ shrouds, thus slowing down their evil mischief making. Walpurgisnacht is so well established in vampire lore that it even made its way into Bram Stoker’s “Dracula’s Guest” as a very bad night to be out and about.
Speaking of “Dracula’s Guest,” I am currently reading the essential Penguin book of Vampire Stories. The book has only the very best vampire tales, from “Varney the Vampire” to “Mysterious Stranger.” One of the outstanding offerings has to be August Derleth’s 1939 “The Drifting Snow.” It could even be seen as a precursor to “The Shining” with its spooky isolated house buried under the snow, trapping its inhabitants. Then there’s a large by window that always has it curtains pulled to hide what is going on outside, especially at night. Seems that a young servant girl was cast out during a fierce winter storm and left to die by the master of the house. He sees the apparition of said girl and run out to save her. Too Late! Soon the ghosts of both girl and master are seen lurking in front of the mirror on long winter nights, even though “Drifting Snow’s” author refers to these apparitions as vampires. Other stories in this wonderful anthology include those by Manly Wade Wellman, Tim Matheson, Lord Byron, and so on. And so, it goes.