Tradition: Bulgarian Mythology
Alternative Names: Usov
Category: Pig, Vampire
The Myth
Ustreł is a vampiric demon from southeastern Bulgaria, particularly associated with the regions around Burgas and Malko Tarnovo. It originates from the spirit of a child conceived on a Saturday and dying unbaptized. Nine days after burial, the child’s corpse transforms into a strange creature resembling a squirrel, which digs its way out of the grave and emerges into the world. It hunts only at night, feeding on the blood of cattle, sheep, and oxen before eventually attacking humans when it has regained enough strength. During the day, it retreats to its grave.
The Ustreł changes its appearance as it grows, passing through three distinct stages. In its earliest form, it resembles a smooth, bulging bagpipe bellows, without legs, wings, a tail, or a neck. It has a short, pig-like snout, human-like eyes with intensely red corners and eyelids, two holes in place of a nose, and short limbs ending in long, curved black claws. Its body has no bones. At this stage, it can only be killed with a hawthorn stake.
As it grows stronger, the Ustreł begins hiding among the horns of livestock. It then resembles a featherless owl without legs or a beak, possessing only membranous wings. When captured, it cries like a human baby. During this stage, it can be killed with either hawthorn or a silver coin. After approximately six months, it reaches its final stage and can transform into either a human or an animal. In human form, it appears almost ordinary, except that it lacks the cartilage separating the nostrils, leaving a single opening instead.
The Ustreł drains the blood of animals, causing them to die on the same night they are attacked. Its victims can be recognised by bluish, swollen humps or bellies where the demon has bitten them. Once it has fed sufficiently, it may become so heavy that it cannot move easily, or so light that it can perch among the horns of cattle or on their udders. It avoids Saturdays, when it loses its strength, and fears both wolves, which can see it, and fire. After becoming human, it may produce offspring that are themselves vampires. The demon can be destroyed by a person born on a Saturday or driven away with living fire, created by rubbing dry limewood together. Such fire was used to lead afflicted people and animals through the flames, while specially baked bread could carry the Ustreł away from a village.
Sources
“Ustreł.” Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia (Polish Wikipedia). Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 11, 2026. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ustre%C5%82