'VAMPIRE' SKELETONS FOUND IN BULGARIA
Two medieval "vampire" skeletons emerged near a monastery in the Bulgarian Black Sea town of Sozopol, local archaeologists announced.Dating back 800 years to the Middle Ages, the skeletons were unearthed with iron rods pierced through their chests -- evidence of an exorcism against a vampire. The ritual was aimed at preventing potentially dangerous people, such as enemies, murderers or individuals who died suddenly from a strange illness, from turning into vampires after death.
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"The practice was common in some Bulgarian villages up until the first decade of the 20th century," Bozhidar Dimitrov, chief of the National History Museum in Sofia, told reporters.
The newly discovered skeletons are the latest in a series of finds across Europe. According to Dimitrov, over 100 skeletons, buried in the same manner...