Original subtitles

Gates: This Is Not A Place That I Want To Be After Dark, Ivo.

For Thousands Of Years, Our Nightmares Have Had One Name --

Vampire.

The Concept Of The Vampire

Is Something That Has Real Roots In Romania.

But In The Home Of The Dracula Legend...

There Is An Open Sarcophagus.

...Can I Finally Dig Up The Truth Behind Our Fears?

Okay, Creepy Cemetery -- Check.

You Dig Up A Body And Eat A Heart,

You're Gonna Get A Little Attention.

Holy [Bleep]

Are You Kidding Me?

[ Wood Cracking ]Something Just Cracked.

[Bleep]

Since The Dawn Of Man, Monsters Have Appeared

In Our Myths, Our Culture, And Our Nightmares.

And There's One Type Of Monster

That Casts A Long Shadow Over All The Rest --

Or No Shadow At All, Actually --

Vampires.

But Where Did The Legend

Of These Nocturnal Bloodsuckers Come From,

And Could It Be Based On Something Real?

Nonsense, Right?

Well, That's What I Thought.

But A Series Of Strange Reports From Eastern Europe

Has Many People Sleeping With The Lights On.

In A Village In Southern Romania,

A Group Of Residents Made Headline News

When They Claimed A Recently Deceased Man

Came Back From The Dead.

They Exhumed His Body And Performed

Ancient Anti-Vampire Rituals On The Corpse,

Including Burning And Eating His Heart.

And Across The Border In Bulgaria,

Archaeologists Have Just Made A Ghastly Discovery --

At A Mystical Site High In The Mountains,

They've Uncovered A Vampire Grave.

Was This Strange Burial The Result Of Superstition,

Or Was There Something About This Corpse

That Made It More Than Human?

What In The Name Of The Living Dead

Is Going On In Eastern Europe?

I Intend To Find Out

By Getting To The Bottom Of These Long-Held Beliefs.

So Pack Your Holy Water, A Few Wooden Stakes,

And A Clean Pair Of Underwear, Kids,

Because We're Going Vampire Hunting.

My Name Is Josh Gates.

With A Degree In Archaeology And A Passion For Exploration,

I Have A Tendency To End Up In Some Very Strange Situations.

Good Lord! [ Laughs ]

My Travels Have Taken Me To The Ends Of The Earth

As I Investigate The Greatest Legends In History.

We're Good To Fly. Let's Go.

This Is...

--Captions By Vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions Paid For By Discovery Communications

Morning In Bucharest, Romania.

This Is Eastern Europe At Its Most Confusing --

A Place Where Stunning Orthodox Churches

Share Real Estate With Drab Soviet Apartment Buildings.

If You're Not Careful, Bucharest Is The Kind Of City

That's Easy To Be Unimpressed By.

That's The Truth.

It Doesn't Have The Architectural

Sex Appeal Of Prague.

It Doesn't Have The Opulence Of Vienna.

After 30 Years Of Brutal Communist Rule,

Much Of The City It Once Was Is Gone.

But Something Amazing Is Happening In Bucharest.

The Bricks Of Communism Have Crumbled,

And The City Is Getting A Serious Second Wind.

Restaurants Are Bustling,

There's Music In The Air,

And On The Streets,

There's A Kinetic Energy That's Impossible To Deny.

I'm Here To Begin My Quest To Understand

The Long-Standing Belief In The Vampire,

And To Do That, I'm Going To Have To Dig Up The Perfect Ride.

♪♪

This Is A Russian Ural Motorcycle

With Optional Oak Coffin Sidecar.

It Is Amazing What You Can Find On Romanian Craigslist.

How You Guys Doing?

[ Cheering ]

I'm Calling It -- Greatest Vehicle Of All Time.

It's Fuel-Efficient, It's A Serious Head-Turner,

And If You Crash It,

You Can Just Roll Right Into Your Final Resting Place.

Hi, Guys!

Romania And Vampires Go Hand-In-Hand.

After All, This Is The Home Of Transylvania

And The Legendary Dracula.

On My Way To Meet My First Contact,

I Ride Over To Check Out The Offerings

At The Peasants' Market.

In These Stalls, Every Native Dish Of Romania

Is Here For The Tasting,

Including Their Insane Version Of A Churro.

Whoo! Hot! Hot!

Ya!

Good Lord, Sir.

That Is A Boiling-Hot Tube Of Bread.

That's It.

People Say, "What Do You Think Heaven Looks Like?"

I Can Tell You What Heaven Looks Like -- It Looks Like This.

A Tube Of Buttery, Sugared Bread.

That's It. This Is My Baby Now.

I'm Going To Eat It.

I'm Gonna Eat My Baby.

Eat My Hot, Buttery Baby.

Shh.

This Is More Than A Market, Though.

It's Also A Kind Of Time Capsule.

On Every Table, Romania's History Is Sprawled Out

To Be Haggled Over.

The Market Itself Is Situated In A Nearly Forgotten Graveyard,

With Headstones Surrounding The Vendors.

Romania's Past Is Steeped In Eastern Orthodox Christianity

Commingled With Ancient Pagan Beliefs And Symbols

Used To Ward Off Evil Forces Like The Vampire.

Whew.

It Smells Funky Inside That Mask.

Only A Few Blocks Away Are The Eerie Remains Of Curtea Veche,

The 15Th-Century Fortress Of Vlad The Impaler,

Romania's Most Famous Leader.

I'm Meeting With Historian Oliviu Craznic,

Who Leads Me Down Into The Catacombs Of The Castle.

We Are Going To The Older Parts Of The Fortress.

-Uh-Huh. -Please Watch Your Step.

It's Pretty Dark Down There.

Sure. It's Dracula's Basement --

Of Course It's Dark.

Oh, This Is Spooky.

This Was Dracula's Fortress.

Dracula Was Here.

The Real One.

Amazing.

Surprisingly, Vlad Tepes

Is Nothing Short Of A National Hero Here In Romania.

He Viciously Defended Christianity

From The Invading Islamic Ottomans,

And He Had A Penchant For Impaling His Enemies On Spikes.

Vlad's Family Was Inducted Into

The Knightly Order Of The Dragon, Or Dracul.

400 Years After Vlad's Death, Though, Writer Bram Stoker

Took More Than A Little Dramatic License With The Story.

With The Stroke Of A Pen,

Vlad Became Count Dracula,

And Dracula Became A Vampire.

But The Roots Of Vampire Belief Run Much Deeper Here.

The Idea Of The Vampire, Or The Concept Of The Vampire,

Is Something That Has Real Roots In Romania, Right?

Yes, Of Course.

The Word "Vampire" Is Not Used In Romanian Lore.

We Mostly Call The Monster Strigoi,

Is The Main Word For The Vampire.

The Strigoi Are The Original Vampires Of Romania.

Belief In These Creatures Is Older Than The Bible.

These Are Tortured Souls That Rise From The Dead

To Drain The Energy Of The Living.

Do People In Romania Today

Still Believe Strongly In The Strigoi?

In The Cities, No.

But Still, There Are Some Villages

Which Believe The Strigois Exist.

Not Too Far From There, There's Even An Abandoned Church.

Some People Believe There's A Strigoi There,

Coming Out At Night.

You May Want To Check It Out.

Sounds Like A Place I Do Not Want To Check Out.

If You Are Wearing A Cross, You Probably Will Be Safe.

And, So, What Do You Think?

Do You Think That There's A Strigoi There?

I Think We Should Keep An Open Mind

To The Mysteries Of The Universe.

I Think We Should Investigate, But We Still Rely On Facts.

And That's Not Far From The City?

Not Far From The City.

I'm Not Exactly Buying Oliviu's Story

That There May Be An Actual Vampire Wandering Around

The Grounds Of A Nearby Church,

But This Kind Of Belief

Is Exactly Why I'm Here To Investigate.

So, I Drive To The Very Outskirts Of Bucharest

To See For Myself.

Just As The Sun Goes Down,

I Make It To The Abandoned Church,

Where The Strigoi Is Rumored To Be Lurking.

This Was One Of Hundreds Of Orthodox Churches

That Were Closed And Abandoned

After The Communists Took Over Romania In 1947

And Tried To Eliminate What They Called

"A Remnant Of The Capitalist State."

Churchyard At Night...

Not At All Scary.

Look At This Place.[ Dog Barking In Distance ]

This Place Is Incredible.

Okay, Let's See What's Inside.

Oh, My God, Look At This.

This Is Crazy.

The Entire Tower Has Collapsed Down

Into The Middle Of The Church.

That Is Insane.

I've Never Seen Anything Like That.

Whole Tower Just Fell Into The Room.

This Church Was Dedicated To St. Andrew,

Which Is A Saint That Actually Has Ties To

The Strigoi-Vampire Legend.

There's Actually A St. Andrew's Night Here In Romania

Where People Go Out And Kind Of Protect Against The Strigoi.

It's Like A Halloween-Type Night.

So It's No Wonder That A Church Dedicated To This Saint

That Has Been Ripped Apart And Destroyed,

That People Might Think That There Could Be Living Dead Here.

Total Destruction.

If I Was A Strigoi, Where Would I Come From?

Probably Right Here.

Okay, Creepy Cemetery -- Check.

Oh, Boy.

Holy [Bleep] Look At This.

There Is An Open Sarcophagus.

Well, Let's See What's Going On Here.

You Can See These Holes That Drop Down To The Crypt.

Avoid Those.

Let's See What's Inside Of This Thing.

Good Lord.

Oh! [Bleep][ Cat Yowls ]

Gates: In An Abandoned Orthodox Church Just Outside Of Bucharest,

I'm Investigating The Legend Of The Strigoi,

The Romanian Vampires

Who Are Said To Rise From Their Graves After Dark.

Locals Claim That A Strigoi Has Been Sighted Here,

And While I'm Not As Convinced,

I Am Feeling Creeped Out

As I Try To Get To The Bottom Of Their Story.

Let's See What's Inside Of This Thing.

Good Lord.

Oh! [Bleep][ Cat Yowls ]

Cat.

Come On.

That Is Nonsense.

The Old Cat In The Sarcophagus.

I Should Have Seen That Coming A Mile Away.

I Am Hereby Calling This.

No Strigoi In This Abandoned Church And Cemetery.

I Think What We've Got Here Is A Very Powerful Piece Of Folklore

And A Very Scary Location Working In Concert

To Create, You Know, A Boogeyman.

Okay. Let's Go.

If I Find That Cat, I'm Gonna Kill It.

♪♪

The Next Morning, I Trade In My Coffin

For A Rattly 4X4 To Make Room For Petra Rotar,

A Romanian Journalist And Author

Who's Well-Versed On The Modern Belief In The Vampire.

In America, When We Think Of Romania,

Or Transylvania, In Particular,

All We Think About Is Vampires.

But Then You Do Have These Old, Strong Folklore Beliefs

About Things Like The Strigoi.

So There Is Kind Of A Vampire Belief Thing Happening Here.

Yes, It Is A Very Ancient Belief And A Very Strong One --

In The Countryside, Not In The Cities.

Right, Right.

It's One Of Those Rural Areas Petra Mentioned

Where A Horrific Incident

Recently Made International Headlines.

From Bucharest, We Drive Three Hours West

Toward The Town Of Craiova.

Petra Arranges Access To Visit The Local Police Station,

And The Prosecutor Who Can Unseal The Case Files

And Explain The Details Of The Event.

Hello.

Daniela Barbu Had The Unpleasant Duty

To Charge Six Villagers In Her Jurisdiction

With Exhuming And Desecrating A Man's Fresh Grave.

The Villagers Claim That They Were

Preventing The Man From Rising As A Strigoi, Or Vampire.

So, Tell Me About This Case.

[ Speaking Romanian ]

The Prosecutor's Office Got A Complaint

By The Daughter Of A Man Named Petre Toma.

She Said That The Dead Body Of Her Father Was Desecrated.

He Was Buried In The Town,

And Very Short After They Buried Petre Toma,

The Villagers Start Feeling Ill

And Having Nightmares Where They Saw Petre Toma.

[ Whispering Indistinctly ]

Believing That Petre Toma Has Become A Strigoi,

Six People From The Village

Went Into The Cemetery During The Night.

They Dug Up The Body.

They Pulled Out The Heart.

They Grilled It.

And With The Ashes, They Prepared A Potion,

And Everybody Who Was Ill In That Village Drank That Potion.

Wow.

That Is Dramatic.

The Six Men Were Convicted To Six Months Jail

For Desecrating Graves.

And Did They Serve The Six-Month Term?

It Was Suspended.

-It Was Suspended? -Yes.

Wow.

And Is It Possible To Look At The Report?

[ Speaking Romanian ]

Yes, But The Autopsy Photos Are There,

And They're Quite Disturbing.

These Are The Autopsy Photos?

Yeah.

Oof. Wow.

The Gruesome Autopsy Photos Need No Translation.

This Crime Is A Horror In Any Language.

Oof.

Wow.

It's Really -- It's Hard To Look At.

It's Very Violent.

Very Graphic.

And How Far Is This Village From Here?

Less Than One Hour Away.

So, What's The Name Of This Village?

-Marotinu De Sus. -Marotinu De Sus.

Have Other People Gone Down To This Village To Talk To Them?

-Yes. -How Did That Go?

The Last Group That Went There,

They Were Chased Away By The Villagers.

Like, Actually Chased Out Of The Town?

Yes.

Well, You Know, You Dig Up A Body And Eat A Heart,

You're Gonna Get A Little Attention.

I Mean, Right?

They Would Like To Bury All That Stuff.

That's What We Call A Bad Pun, Petra.

After Several Hours On The Road Together,

Petra And I Have Kind Of A Tracy-Hepburn Thing Going On.

And I Will Hide Behind You.

Mostly, I'm Just Hoping She Keeps Me

From Getting My Ass Kicked In This Town.

Do You Have A Gun?

No, I Don't Have A Gun. Do You Have A Gun?

No. Do You Know How To Fight?

Do I Know How To Fight?

No Karate Moves? Nothing?

Nothing. No Karate Moves.

I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter, Petra.

[ Laughs ]

Then We Are [Bleep]

[ Laughs ]

Marotinu De Sus.

Looks Friendly Enough.

You Have Shivers?

Not Yet.

There Is The Cemetery.

There She Is.

♪♪

Since The Villagers Have Been

Extremely Hostile Toward Outsiders,

I'm Eager To See Toma's Gravestone Firsthand,

And Then Get Out Of Here As Fast As Possible.

This Is It.

-You Found It? -Yeah.

Toma, Petre.

Here?

So, Toma, Petre.

Born 1937.

So, This Was What They Removed?

They Broke Out The Edge Of The Tomb?

Yes.

That's Amazing.

It's Just Incredible To Think That Something Like This

Could Happen In The Modern World, You Know?

I Know, Dude. This Is...

Shocking For Me, Too.

I Don't Know. Just Being Here Makes It Seem --

Uh-Oh, We Got Incoming.

-[ Speaking Romanian ] -[Bleep]

-You Got This? -They're Upset.

Yeah, Thank You, I Get That.

[ Speaking Romanian ]

Uh-Oh, We Got Incoming.

-[ Speaking Romanian ] -[Bleep]

Gates: While Examining The Grave Of A Romanian Man

Believed By Villagers To Be A Real-Life Vampire,

My Translator And I Are Accosted

By Several Members Of The Local Welcome Wagon.

-You Got This? -They're Upset.

Yeah, Thank You, I Get That.

[ Speaking Romanian ]

Hello.

[ Conversation In Romanian ]

I -- Let's All Just Stay Calm.

Petra Does Some Quick Talking And Defuses The Situation.

She Explains That We're Only Here To Learn About The Strigoi,

And The Men Calm Down Enough To Talk.

[ Speaking Romanian ]

He's Saying That They're Upset That We Are Here.

Okay, So We Can Leave. It's Okay.

We Can Leave.

But We're Not Disturbing Anything.

[ Speaking Romanian ]

What's He Saying?

This Guy Is Related With A Man Who Dug Up The Body.

He's Related To One Of The People That Dug Up The Body?

-Yeah. -He's In Your Family?

Yes.

Does He Think It's Possible That We Could Talk With Him?

[ Speaking Romanian ]

[ Speaking Romanian ]

Yeah, He Can Take Us To Him.

You Can? Yeah?

-Yes. -Okay.

The Man, Whose Name Is Florin,

Agrees To Introduce Us To His Relative.

It's An Offer I Can't Refuse.

Petra, On The Other Hand,

Isn't So Eager To Continue Here After Dark,

So We Part Ways.

This Means That I'll Be Traveling Alone

With A Complete Stranger

To Meet A Cannibal Romanian-Vampire-Killer.

Not My Ideal Saturday Night.

Whoa.

A Lake.

He Lives Here?

He Lives Across.

-He Lives Over There? -Yes.

Florin's Cousin Mitrica,

The Man Who Helped Exhume Petre Toma,

Lives On A Swampy Island Across The Lake.

-You Ready? -Ready.

Here We Go.

♪♪

I Did Not Think I Was Gonna End Up In A Rowboat Today.

-Very Nice Night. -Yes.

-Beautiful. -Beautiful Night.

Yes.

I Feel Like I'm On A Date Out Here.

Have You Ever Seen "The Little Mermaid"?

Do You Know "The Little Mermaid"?

"Little Mermaid"? No?

No.

Just Reminded Me Of Something.

By The Time We Reach The Island, Darkness Is Falling.

-Okay? Yeah. -Okay.

As We Leave The Boat And Head Into The Woods,

I'm Both Intrigued And Nervous

About Meeting Florin's Cousin.

This Way.

What Kind Of A Man Could Commit Such A Horrific Act,

And How Will He React To Meeting Me?

Soon, I See The Light Of A Ramshackle Cabin...

And I Come Face-To-Face With Mitrica Mircea.

Nice To Meet You.

He Greets Me With A Handshake,

But I Can't Say That I Feel At Ease

Out Here In The Middle Of The Woods.

Thank You Very Much For Talking With Me.

I Appreciate It.

[ Speaking Romanian ]

I've Read About This Story, About This Man, Petre Toma.

You Were Involved In That Story, Yes?

[ Speaking Romanian ]

Interpreter: Yes, I Was The Leader Of The Group.

Several People In The Village Became Ill.

In Their Sleep, They Saw Visions Of Petre Toma,

Who Had Recently Died.

So We Took Action.

When You Opened The Grave, Did The Man Look Like A Strigoi?

Was There Anything Strange About His Body?

When I Opened The Grave,

Toma Had Blood In The Corners Of His Mouth,

And His Beard And Nails Had Grown.

These Are The Signs Of The Strigoi.

Do You Understand Why Somebody Would Be Upset

That This Happened?

People Were Sick.

We Performed The Ceremony And They Got Better --

Immediately Better.

What We Did Saved Them.

Gates: Mitrica Isn't Backtracking A Single Step On His Actions.

Not Only Is He Not Sorry,

He's Convinced That He Was Right

To Dig Up His Neighbor's Grave.

I Saw The Photographs Of -- Of What You Did To That Body.

And What About Guilt?

Do You Ever Feel Bad About What You Did?

Absolutely Not.

You Do Not Understand.

This Is Not One Event.

This Has Happened Many Times.

To Learn That This Is Not An Isolated Incident Is Shocking.

It Turns Out That In Many Romanian Burials,

People's Hearts Are Pierced With A Pin Or Thorn

To Prevent Them From Becoming Strigoi In The First Place.

What We Did, We Did To Save People.

Mm-Hmm. I Can Certainly See That.

You Really Believe That What You Did Was For A Good Cause.

Thank You For Your Time. I Appreciate It.

Mitrica May Have Conviction,

But That Doesn't Make Him A Medical Expert.

It Turns Out That Blood Often Appears

In The Corner Of Corpse's Mouths Due To Internal Hemorrhaging,

And Hair And Nails Do Not Continue To Grow After Death,

But Appear To, As The Skin Shrinks Around Them.

As To Why The Villagers Fell Ill, Had Visions Of Petre Toma,

Or Were Cured By The Ritual, I Simply Don't Know.

I Want To Say It's The Power Of Hysterical Belief,

But I'm Not Gonna Hang Around These Woods To Find Out.

My Trip Through Romania Has Been A Firsthand Lesson

In The Power Of Folklore And Superstition.

But Where Do These Beliefs Come From,

And Could They Be Based On Something Real?

To Continue My Search For Answers,

I'm Headed To Bulgaria,

Where Archaeologists Have Recently Made

A Stunning Discovery Of An Ancient Vampire Grave.

I Head Due South

And Approach The Border Crossing Of The Two Countries,

Which Is Delineated By The Danube River.

After Adding A Passport Stamp To My Collection --

Number 97, Not That I'm Counting...

Ciao....I Board A Ferry

To Ross The River Into Bulgaria.

We Set Sail Under Light Rain And Ominous Skies,

Which I Hope Aren't A Portent Of Doom For The Expedition Ahead.

The Vessel Docks In The Town Of Vidin,

But I'm Not In Bulgaria Yet.

I Hand The Officials My Paperwork...

Here You Go.

...But I Suddenly Hit An Unexpected Snag.

Little Bit Of An Issue Here.

The Car Registration Here In My Romanian 4X4 Is A Photocopy,

And Not The Original.

That Is Not Going Over Well.

Gates: I'm Doing My Best To Cross From Romania Into Bulgaria,

Where A Major Archaeological Find

May Shed Some Light On The Origins Of The Vampire Legend.

Bulgarian Customs, Though,

May Be Tougher To Clear Than I Thought.

A Little Bit Of An Issue Here.

The Car Registration Here In My Romanian 4X4 Is A Photocopy,

And Not The Original.

That Is Not Going Over Well.

If I Don't Make It Through This Crossing,

My Vampire Hunt Is Over.

They Ask Me For More Documentation, Which,

Unfortunately, Is The One Thing Not In My Glove Compartment.

I Have A Pine Cone. I Don't Know If That's...

Probably Not What You're Looking For.

After An Hour Of Watching The Border Police

Argue Over My Fate, They Do Something Unexpected --

They Let Me Through.

I'm Guessing The Pine Cone Did The Trick.

Okay. We're Okay.

Thank You.

Thank You. Ciao.

♪ Now We're Standing At The End Of The World, My Friend ♪

♪ And There's Nothing We Can Do About It Now ♪

♪ Yeah, We're Standing At The End Of The World, My Friend ♪

♪ We're Gonna Watch It On Tv, Standing On The End ♪

For A Country On The Losing Side

Of Every World Conflict Of The 20Th Century,

Bulgaria Has Proven To Be Surprisingly Resilient.

Glimmering Church Domes...

Cobblestone Streets...

And The People, Well, They're Hospitality Defined.

To Meet My Next Contact,

I'm Headed Southeast Past The Capital Of Sofia

Into The City Of Plovdiv.

Outside Of Town, Bulgaria's True Character Begins To Emerge.

This Is A Land Of Empty Spaces,

With Pristine Forests Covering Nearly 40% Of The Nation.

It Is Also A Place Of Mountains,

And As I Make My Way Over The Narrow 5,000-Foot Shipka Pass,

The Roads Get A Little...Rustic.

This Road Has Seen Better Days.

I Reach The Top Of The Peak

And Catch Sight Of What Appears To Be...

A Spaceship.

♪♪

Welcome, Comrades,

To The Skeletal Remains Of Bulgarian Communism.

This Is Buzludzh.

That's Bulgarian For "Glacial" Or "Ice,"

Which Seems Appropriate,

Since It Is Absolutely Freezing Up Here.

As You Can See, It's In A Pretty Terrible State Of Ruin.

I Squeeze Inside The Decaying Monument

For A Look At One Of The World's Most Breathtaking Modern Ruins.

Look At This.

Wow.

This Is The Definition Of Spooky.

This Mountain Was The Site Of An Incredible Battle

Between Bulgarian And Russian Forces

As They Fought Back Against The Ottoman Empire.

Later, This Was The Birthplace Of Socialism In Bulgaria.

Buzludzh Was Once A Symbol Of Glory,

A Gleaming And Space-Age Structure

To Celebrate Bulgaria's Socialist Future.

But As The Winds Of Democracy Swept Through The Balkans

In The 1990S, The Future Became The Past,

And Buzludzh Fell Silent.

I Leave The Crumbling Remains In The Rear-View Mirror

And Press On With My Search.

Before I Drive To An Archaeological Site

Where A Vampire Grave Has Been Discovered,

An Anthropologist Here Has Received A Call

To Perform An Anti-Vampire Ritual For A Local Village,

And He's Invited Me To Assist Him.

Our Meeting Place Is In The Rhodopes Mountains,

Where The River Arda Snakes Through

Dark And Foreboding Forests.

I'm Meeting Ivo Maev,

An Anthropologist And Expert In The Vampire Legend In Bulgaria.

Hello, Josh.

Ivo.

-Yeah, Nice To Meet You. -Nice To Meet You, Too.

What A Dramatic Spot.

This Is Incredible.

It's Called Devil's Bridge.

-Devil's Bridge? -Yeah.

That's A Very Sinister-Sounding Name For A Bridge.

Yeah, Because There Is A Legend Here.

The Man Who Built The Bridge Made A Deal With The Devil.

As You See, It's Still Stable.

-It's Still Standing. -Seven Centuries.

Legends Like That Are Exactly Why I'm Here.

There Is An Abandoned Village Not Far Away From Here.

The Last Person Who Lived In This Village Died Recently,

And People Are Afraid, Really, Of Him

Because He Could Be Transformed Into A Vampire.

Okay. That Sounds Scary.

They Asked Me To Perform An Anti-Vampire Ritual.

What Is The Ritual?

We Have To Find A Special Plant

And To Plant This Herb Around The Grave.

Okay, Sounds Interesting.

Are You Ready To Begin?

I'm Ready. Let's Go.

Okay. Follow Me That Way.

These Rituals Seem To Be A Less Gruesome Variation

Of Their Romanian Cousins.

The Plants We Need Lie Some Distance Away,

And As We Hike On, We Come To A Minor Obstacle.

Holy [Bleep]

Are You Kidding Me?

-It's Safe? -Absolutely.

Just Try To Step Over The Rope Here Very Slowly.

When Was The Last Time Anybody Walked Across This Bridge?

-I Walked Across It. -You Walked Across It?

-Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. -In 1754?

[ Laughs ] 1754.

Just Two Months Ago.

We Can Cross. We Can Cross.

Okay. Here We Go. Nice And Slow.

[ Wood Creaking ]

Though The Bridge Is Still Technically Standing,

The Walkway Is Rotting Into Mulch, And It's A Long Way Down.

Slowly.

[ Wood Cracking ]

Something Just Cracked.

[ Wood Cracking ][Bleep]

Gates: In The Backwoods Of Bulgaria,

My Guide, Ivo, And I Are Having A "Temple Of Doom" Moment.

We're Seeking Out A Plant Used In Anti-Vampire Rituals,

But The Wood Planks Of This Bridge

Are Disintegrating Beneath Our Feet.

-[Bleep] -You Okay?

-Yeah, Yeah, I'm Fine. -Come On.

You're Here, Okay, Okay, Okay.

Everything's Cool.

Everything's Cool. Nice And Slow.

Yeah, I'm Fine. The Bridge, Not So Much.

This Is The Only Way How We Can Cross.

I Know. No, I'm With You. Here We Go.

-Yeah, Yeah. -I'm Going Very Slowly.

-Here We Go. -Okay, Yeah.

♪♪

Couple More Steps.

Okay.

-Yeah! -We're Alive!

Absolutely. I Told You.

You Have Any Doubts?

-Yeah, I Had A Lot Of Doubts. -[ Laughs ]

Okay, Let's Find This Stupid Plant And Get Out Of Here.

Come On.

Ivo And I Set To Work Collecting The Elements

For An Ancient Ritual Meant To Ward Off Or Kill Vampires.

Nearby Villagers Believe A Fresh Grave On The Outskirts Of Town

May Give Rise To A Vampire,

So They've Asked Ivo To Collect Samples Of A Verbena Plant.

Aha. There We Go.

-You Found It? -Yeah.

Let Me See.

Oh, Look At That.

See?

It's Quite Pretty, Actually.

But It's Poisonous?

Poisonous, Especially The Root.

They Think The Roots Will Go Down And Poison The Body.

-Yeah. Poison The Body. -I See.

How Much Do We Need?

We Need A Few Plants.

-Just A Few? -Yeah.

Okay.

We Cross Back Over The World's [Bleep] Bridge

And Pass Into Someplace Even More Unsettling --

A Bulgarian Ghost Town.

[ Spooky, Indistinct Whispering ]

With A Shrinking Population In These Mountains,

The Villagers Have Abandoned This Part Of Town.

[ Whispering Continues ]

This Is Not A Place That I Want To Be After Dark, Ivo.

[ Laughs ]

This Is It.

Yeah, This Is The Grave.

Nearby Lies The Lonely Grave Of This Area's Last Inhabitant,

The Man Whose Soul Ivo Is Here To Save.

No Headstone, Just Loose Stones?

Yeah. And Nobody Knows What Happened With This Guy.

And Bones. Look.

Animal Bones?

Animal Bones.

-Cow, Maybe? -Yeah.

So, Why Are These Bones Here?

Yeah, I Don't Know. Could Be A Ritual.

Okay, So What Do We Do With The Verbena?

My Idea Is To Plant Verbena Here,

Near The Head, The Legs,

-Both Sides. -Uh-Huh.

Just To Organize A Symbolic Cross Over The Body.

Okay, Let's Do It.

Here's The Verbena.

Yeah.

We Transplant The Verbena Onto The Grave,

Hopefully Laying To Rest Any Fears In The Village

That A New Vampire Will Be Lurking In The Night.

So This Completes The Cross.

Yeah, Exactly.

Let's Go Back To The Town And Let Them Know.

Okay.

We Walk Back Down The Hill,

But Instead Of A Sleepy Town Preparing For Bed,

We Find A Lively Celebration.

This Dance Is Meant To Ward Off Evil,

And Is, Without A Doubt, A Dangerous Affair.

Uh-Huh.

The Coals Are Glowing Hot As The Men Kick Through The Embers.

Thrown Into A Trancelike State, They Feel No Pain,

Even When They Take The Coals In Their Bare Hands.

Hey!

Thank You Very Much.

That Was Amazing.

♪♪

The Next Morning, I Press On To The East

And Pass Through The City Of Plovdiv.

Nearby, There May Be Proof That

The Ancient Fear Of Vampires Had A Scientific Origin.

I'm Bound For The Ancient City Of Perperikon.

This Is Probably The Most Famous Historic Site

In All Of Bulgaria.

[ Hawk Screeches ]

I've Arranged To Meet With

Archaeologist Nickolay Ovcharov And His Team,

Who Recently Made An Astounding Vampire Discovery.

-Hi! -How Are You?

I'm Josh. -Hi, Josh.

Nice To Meet You! How Are You?

-Hi. I'm Todor. -Todor.

-Welcome. -Victoria.

Victoria, Nice To Meet You.

I've Been Reading About Your Work.

You're A Very Prominent Guy Here In Bulgaria.

[ Speaking Bulgarian ]

"They Call Me The Bulgarian Indiana Jones."

Bulgarian Indiana Jones. Right Down To The Hat.

[ Whip Cracks ]

I've Read A Lot About The Work That You've Been Doing Here.

This Vampire Skeleton That You Found

Got A Lot Of Attention In The Press.

[ Speaking Bulgarian ]

Yes, Indeed.

It Attracted The Attention Of The People All Over The World.

Gates: The Medieval Skeleton They Unearthed

Was Found With A Metal Spike Driven Through Its Neck.

Needless To Say, The Vampire Grave Made Some Headlines.

Well, I'm Really Excited To See The Site.

I Can't Wait To See What You've Been Doing Up There.

Unfortunately, We Don't Have A Lot Of Light Left In The Day.

[ Speaking Bulgarian ]

The Spirit Of This Place Is More Important,

And Maybe It's Even Better At Night.

Okay.

Get Ready For A Nice Ride.

Whoa!

Good Lord!

Yeah!

In Ancient Times, Perperikon Was Visited By Leaders

Like Alexander The Great And The Emperor Augustus,

Who Came To Consult A Pagan Oracle Here.

In The Past 4,000 Years, This Land Has Been Home To

Greeks, Thracians, Romans, Byzantines, And Bulgarians.

So The Ruins Of Perperikon

Are Like An Archaeological Slot Machine --

When You Dig Here, You Never Know

What Kind Of Marvelous Discovery You'll Make.

With Night Falling, We Trek Through The Maze Of Ruins,

Threading Our Way To Professor Ovcharov's Latest Find.

Oh, My God.

Gates: An Archaeological Dig

In The Ancient Bulgarian City Of Perperikon

Has Uncovered An Amazing Specimen

That Could Change The Way We Look At The Vampire Legend.

Oh, My God.

Amazing.

We're Looking At A Unique Gift From The Past --

An Almost Perfectly Preserved Skeleton Over 800 Years Old.

And The People That Buried It

Went To Extreme Lengths To Make Sure That It Stayed Dead.

So, This Is The Metal.

And What Is It, Exactly?

It's A Ploughshare,

The Tool That The Local People Use To Plough The Ground.

So This Is Something That Was Done After The Person Died.

This Was Then Driven Into Them.

Definitely, It Happened After Death,

And It Shows Evidence That This Is A Ritual

Preventing This Person From Becoming A Vampire.

It's Quite Gruesome, Really, In A Way.

What Do You Think It Was About This Person

That Caused Other People To Perform This Ritual?

[ Speaking Bulgarian ]

Many Different Things, It Could Be.

It Could Be A Health Condition.

It Could Be An Unknown Disease,

Scary For The Family, For The Others.

Or It Could Have Been Suicide.

This Is So Incredible,

To Think That This Was Buried Inside Of Someone Is...

It Shows How Powerful The Belief Must Have Been.

It Makes This Whole Idea Of Vampires Real, In A Way.

We Would Love To Be Able To Test The Dna.

Would It Be Possible For Us To Take A Sample To Test?

[ Speaking Bulgarian ]

Of Course It Is Possible,

And We Would Be Very Thankful

If We Learn Something More About This Person.

-Yeah? -[ Speaks Bulgarian ]

Great.

Gates: In Order To Figure Out If There Was Any Genetic Condition

Or Abnormality That Could Explain

Why This Poor Soul Was Staked To The Back Of His Coffin,

I'm Taking Dna To Be Tested In The United States.

The Sample -- A Tooth From The Skull Of The Purported Vampire.

Back In The U.S., The Tooth We Recovered From Perperikon

Has Been Analyzed For Disease And Genetic Abnormality,

And The Results Are Intriguing.

The Dna In The Tooth Shows Signs Of A Genetic Disorder,

And May Be An Indicator For Porphyria.

This Blood Disease Causes Victims

To Become Sensitive To Sunlight.

Their Gums Shrink, Making Their Teeth Look Fang-Like.

Victims Even Develop An Aversion To Garlic.

Other So-Called Vampire Skeletons Found In Europe

Show Signs Of Plague Or Cholera,

Diseases That May Have Inspired People To Believe

That The Victims Weren't Just Sick, But Possessed.

Like The Devil Himself, The Vampire Has Had Dozens Of Faces.

In Antiquity, It Was A Demon.

In The Middle Ages, A Rotting Corpse.

Now, In Modern Times, It Has Become A Romantic Figure.

Vampires Both Transcend Death And Inflict It.

They Embody Our Fear Of Mortality

And Our Desire For Everlasting Life.

But For All The Hold They Have Over Our Imaginations,

They Are In The End, Just A Myth --

One That, Over The Centuries, Has Had A Tragic Human Cost.

I've Seen That Cost Firsthand.

In Romania, I Visited The Disturbed Grave

Of An Innocent Person

And Met A Man Who Let Superstition

Drive Him To An Obscene Purpose.

In Bulgaria, I Witnessed The Persecution

Of An Unfortunate Soul With An Untreatable Disease.

Perhaps Human Beings Created The Vampire Myth

So We Don't Have To Admit Our Own Cruelty.

After All, If There's No Such Thing As A Vampire,

Then The Monsters That Haunt Our Nightmares...

Are Ourselves.