Yeah, the real ones have long since wandered off
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The village of Luzino was part of Prussia during the time period in question (1772 - 1918). There were well documented cases of “vampire panic” spreading in East Prussia, as well as the fringes of the Austrian Empire, in the 18th and 19th centuries. And the archeologists in this case claim that the corpses had been decapitated after exhumation, not executed that way. So yes, in this case (folk belief in) vampirism is the likelier explanation than execution for treason.
Ironically, the Enlightenment may have been one of the driving forces behind the phenomenon. German scholars were eager to promote enlightened Western thought and debunk “backwards” Slavic myths. And when a well-meaning scholar arrives at a village to announce that there is no need to worry, there is no such thing as a corpse that rises from the grave to drink blood, those villagers come to the natural conclusion that they need to quickly go dig up some corpses and cut off their heads. Which then necessitates more “debunking” in neighboring villages…
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well that really puts a new spin on the ones who walk away from omelas…
“come back! come back! the kid is a vampire!”
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Maybe not so much?
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