In 1997, I logged onto the internet for the first time and discovered a world of forums and newsgroups where the supernatural wasn't just a hobby, it was a shared passion. It was in one of these digital spaces dedicated to vampire subculture that I met a writer from New York City. He shared with me a remarkable account he had gathered while interviewing a 98-year-old former actress named Dora, who had traded a life of Rhode Island luxury for the grit and glamour of 1920s Hollywood.

This week, I’m recounting the story as it was told to me where in an abandoned desert mansion, Dora met a mysterious Hungarian man named Janos. He moved through the set like a ghost, his skin the color of alabaster and his touch as cold as ice.

Through the lens of Dora’s memory, I explore her brief, intense connection with this "Mr. Szabo" and the chilling warning he gave her about the "soul-sucking monster" of the film industry. Was he a man out of time, or a literal creature of the night? I look into the fragments of truth left behind—the bit parts Dora actually played, and the haunting letter from the Hungarian National Theatre.

If you have any personal experiences with vampires you’d like to share, or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in our posts or our YouTube videos, please email us at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Your privacy is always protected.

To watch the Night Visitor’s Vampire Research Society’s true stories, subscribe to the YouTube channel @VampireResearchSociety or subscribe to this Substack and receive new stories every Friday.

The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society is a worldwide community sharing firsthand vampire encounters and exploring the folklore, history, and pop culture of the undead. Join our Facebook group to connect with fellow Night Visitors from around the world.

And if you haven’t already, subscribe to my Substack so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture & folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.

This week’s episode travels to Honolulu’s Chinatown in 1923. A young woman named Betty escaped an arranged marriage in China and built a new life on the other side of the Pacific, but the man she left behind sent a curse after her. Every night at sundown, a malevolent ghost appeared in her bedroom, coal-eyed and hateful, withering every living thing around it. Betty held the line with prayer, garlic, and jujubes. Then one night at three in the morning, something else arrived — something the ghost wasn’t ready for.

How do cultural beliefs about ancestor veneration shape our understanding of protective spirits? Listen now to uncover the full story of Betty’s otherworldly experience or watch on YouTube

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If you have any personal experiences with vampires you’d like to share, or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in our posts or our YouTube videos, please email us at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Your privacy is always protected.

Podcast Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

To watch the Night Visitor’s Vampire Research Society’s true stories, subscribe to the YouTube channel @VampireResearchSociety

The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society is a worldwide community sharing firsthand vampire encounters and exploring the folklore, history, and pop culture of the undead. Join our Facebook group to connect with fellow Night Visitors from around the world.

And if you haven’t already, subscribe on Substack so you never miss my Tuesday article on vampire pop culture and folklore or the Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.

Joaquin and the Vampire Curse: Spiritual Justice and the Price of Disrespect

My spiritual mentor Lorimar, was full of stories, but this one stopped me cold. In the 1970s Bronx, a young santero named Joaquin betrayed the one person he shouldn't have — an espiritista who knew exactly how to make him pay. What she summoned from a grave in Woodlawn Cemetery came to him every night: a woman in white who left puncture wounds and drained him until he could barely stand. This is a story about broken loyalty, Afro-Caribbean spiritual justice, and a curse that turned a man's own disrespect against him. What happens when the spirits you've mistreated refuse to protect you? Listen to find out.

A Spiritual Mentor's Dark Tale

Joaquin's Betrayal and Spiritual Consequences

A Curse Ritual at the Cemetery

A Curse of Death and Vengeance

The Curse Lifted

The Espiritista's Revenge and Redemption

If you have any personal experiences with vampires you’d like to share, or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in our posts or our YouTube videos, please email us at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Your privacy is always protected.

To watch the Night Visitor’s Vampire Research Society’s true stories, subscribe to the YouTube channel @VampireResearchSociety or subscribe to this Substack and receive new stories every Friday.

The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society is a worldwide community sharing firsthand vampire encounters and exploring the folklore, history, and pop culture of the undead. Join our Facebook group to connect with fellow Night Visitors from around the world.

And if you haven’t already, subscribe to my Substack so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture & folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.