The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society

The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society

by James Cheney
DocumentaryPersonal Journals
Season 1

Conversations with Vampires in 1967 San Francisco's Summer of Love

This week’s episode of The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society takes us from rural Iowa where Judy left her troubled family behind and moved to San Francisco in the summer of 1967 — the summer of love. With a diploma in hard-knocks and a lot of ambition, she settled into a small studio rental above an antique shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. She was lonely until one rainy evening, a young man stepped into the hallway and invited her in. Judy entered a world she never expected. Listen to find out what transpired next. Share Your Story Have you encountered something you believe was a vampire—psychic, folkloric, or otherwise? Email thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. With your permission, your account may be featured on a future episode. Names and identifying details can be changed to protect your privacy. Our Sound The Night Visitors theme music is "Haunted Haus" by composer Tim Kulig. We're grateful to Tim for allowing us to use his work to set the tone for each episode. https://timkulig.com/ Join the Community The Night Visitors is part of a worldwide community exploring vampire culture, folklore, and the paranormal. James also publishes a weekly newsletter featuring articles on vampire lore, history, and how genuine folklore shows up in film and literature. 🌙 Website: thenightvisitors.com 🌙 Newsletter: jamesnightvisitors.substack.com 🌙 Facebook Group: bit.ly/night-visitors-fb-group 🌙 Instagram: @nightvisitorsvrs 🌙 YouTube: youtube.com/@VampireResearchSociety
S1 · E14
May 15, 2026
20:42

Chanda and the Floating Head

In early 1990s Cambodia, Chanda and her husband were being drained — literally. Night after night, they woke exhausted, covered in small puncture wounds, haunted by suffocating dreams. The source turned out to be closer than they imagined: their next-door neighbor, an ahp — a vampiric entity from Khmer folklore that hunts as a disembodied floating head with trailing entrails behind it. When a Buddhist monk's blessing finally let Chanda see what had been feeding on them in the dark, she knew exactly what she was dealing with. But defeating it would take something bigger — the sacred festival of Pchum Ben, when the gates of the underworld open and the ancestors come to help. What happens when you fight a vampire with faith, family, and a ring of thorn branches? Listen to find out. You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to iHeartRadio and more. Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 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. 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 right here on Substack so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture and folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters.
S1 · E13
May 8, 2026
18:49

The Dead Don't Lie, Daria's Story

The Night Visitor of Belarus This week's episode of The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society supernatural podcast and YouTube story, explores a haunting narrative that blurs the line between medical rationality and spiritual mystery. In the mid-1980s, a young doctor named Yuri was working the night shift at a rural clinic deep in the Belarusian countryside. His only patient was an elderly woman named Katya who was nearing the end of her life. She told him about a childhood friend named Daria, a woman who'd died young under mysterious circumstances before the First World War and was buried without proper rites in the nearby cemetery. That evening, Katya said Daria had visited her and promised to return before dawn. Yuri didn't believe a word of it. Until…listen to find out. You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to iHeartRadio and more. Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Additional Music in this episode: Лет семнаццаць под неволей" (Seventeen Years Under Captivity/Bondage) by Аляксей Стрэльчанка & VIRY (Aleksei Strelchanka & VIRY) 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. 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 right here on Substack so you never miss a Tuesday article on vampire pop culture and folklore or our Friday true story accounts of supernatural encounters. Belarus supernatural, Soviet Union ghost, vampire folklore, Slavic folklore, undead, revenant, Belarusian countryside, venchik, Eastern European vampire, unholy death, restless dead, ghost encounter, paranormal podcast, supernatural encounter, Tsarist Russia, rural clinic, night shift, cemetery, vampire or ghost, Night Visitors, James Cheney
S1 · E12
Apr 30, 2026
15:31

Janos and the Ingenue: A Vampire’s Warning in the City of Angels

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.
S1 · E11
Apr 23, 2026
18:37

Betty's Night Visitor: A 1923 Honolulu tale of curses, malevolent spirits, and supernatural protection.

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 If you like this story, please share it and leave a review wherever you watch or listen. You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to iHeartRadio and more. 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.
S1 · E10
Apr 16, 2026
9:19

Joaquin and the Vampire Curse

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.
S1 · E9
Apr 10, 2026
19:38

Ania's Bloody Bread: The Fortune Teller and the Vampire of Western Massachusetts

This week’s episode of The Night Visitors Vampire Research Society podcast takes us to a small farming community in western Massachusetts in the late 1980s where a Polish biologist turned fortune teller is going about her business as usual — until one evening a strange woman walks into her parlor and the cards reveal something darker. The milk curdles. The cat won’t stop growling. And the visitor vanishes from the driveway in the time it takes to lock a door. This strange visitor sends Ania reaching back across generations for protection. Would Ania’s memory of her grandmother’s knowledge about the undead, and a loaf of bread filled with blood and ashes really keep a vampire away? Listen to find out. Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you'd like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you'd like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you. You'll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more. 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. You can watch our episode videos on YouTube @VampireResearchSociety GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you'll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays. Podcast Theme Music Title: "Haunted Haus", Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
S1 · E8
Apr 3, 2026
12:43

The Immortal Comrade: The Mystery of Mihail

A Black Market Deal That Changed Everything When 19-year-old Vera started selling contraband through a Moscow tea shop, she never imagined meeting someone like Mikhail. The charming Georgian businessman offered her a dangerous proposition: smuggling caviar and champagne for substantial payment, plus an invitation to his Black Sea home during the May Day holiday. (Trust no one was Vera's survival rule, but something about Mikhail's gentleness made her hesitate.) From the moment she boarded that private train in 1990, nothing made sense. Why would this mysterious figure possess such wealth in communist Russia? At his seaside mansion, surrounded by Fabergé eggs and priceless artifacts from across Soviet republics, Mikhail compared Vera to Saint Shushanik and revealed his true purpose—he needed someone brave enough to preserve cultural treasures as the regime crumbled. Was he protecting history or recruiting an accomplice? The arrangement worked perfectly for a year until the Soviet collapse. Vera emigrated and rebuilt her life, but years later spotted Mikhail on television looking exactly the same. Could he have possessed supernatural knowledge, or was something even stranger at work? Listen to discover how one risky decision at a tea shop led to an encounter that defies explanation. Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you. You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more. 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. You can watch our episode videos on YouTube @VampireResearchSociety GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays. Podcast Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
S1 · E7
Mar 27, 2026
21:00

Roxane's Vampire Summer and Mrs Campbell's Dark Secret

What happens when caring for an elderly woman slowly drains the life right out of you? In this chilling 1992 case from Cape Cod, twenty-two-year-old Roxanne takes a caregiver position with Mrs. Campbell, a centenarian living in a 1700s Massachusetts home. The house stays dark despite summer’s brightness, and something feels deeply wrong from day one. Mrs. Campbell never eats, yet she maintains sharp mental clarity and unusual energy (which should have been Roxanne’s first warning). As weeks pass, Roxanne’s vibrant personality mysteriously fades into exhaustion and listlessness. Meanwhile, her employer grows increasingly vital and energetic. The turning point comes when Roxanne discovers Mrs. Campbell tending flowers in the cemetery at midnight, surrounded by others in a secretive gathering. After witnessing this ritual, Roxanne suspects she’s been deliberately drained through witchcraft, though Mrs. Campbell might call it something else entirely. The old woman speaks cryptically about “life feeding on life” and ancient powers. Eventually released with severance pay and a fortifying herbal shake, Roxanne escapes to rebuild her life as an event planner on Cape Cod. This case raises an unsettling question: How many energy vampires work without their victims’ consent? Listen to hear the full disturbing details of Roxanne’s summer with Mrs. Campbell. Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you. You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more. 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. GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays. Podcast Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 Other Music Title: Asia Artist: Aleksey Chistilin Lic CC 4.0 Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
S1 · E6
Mar 20, 2026
18:47

The Vampire Next Door: A Vietnamese Refugee's Supernatural Terror in 1977 Texas

When Bihn arrives in 1977 Texas as a Vietnamese refugee, isolation and language barriers make every shadow feel threatening. Her charming nocturnal neighbor, who greets her in French with an aristocratic air, seems suspicious from the start, especially after she notices visitors leaving his apartment with strange puncture wounds on their necks. Haunted by dread, Bihn turns to what she knows: traditional Vietnamese protective rituals. She burns spirit money and leaves blood pudding offerings outside her door (the old ways don’t just disappear when you cross an ocean). But when those offerings vanish each night, her curiosity overtakes her fear. What she discovers in his apartment are old photographs showing him unchanged since the 1920s, his motionless body in a darkened room at noon, all seem to confirm her worst suspicions, or do they? After performing protective rituals with holy water, Bihn learns something that chills her more than any supernatural encounter: the apartment has been “vacant for over a year.” Her neighbor has vanished without a trace. Could cultural displacement and loneliness have blurred reality with folklore, or had Bihn truly encountered something beyond explanation? Years later, having moved away, Bihn rarely discusses what happened. But she remains convinced of what she experienced in that Texas apartment. Listen to hear this unsettling tale of reality, folklore, and the unexplained. Have you experienced something unexplainable? We're actively seeking your vampire encounter stories and folklore topics for upcoming episodes. If you have any experiences you’d like to share or if you have any suggestions as to which aspects of vampirism you’d like to see explored in articles and YouTube videos email me directly at thenightvisitorsvrs@gmail.com. Please note that if you give us permission to share your stories of vampire encounters and would like to remain anonymous, we will change your name and any potential identifying details to protect your privacy. I look forward to hearing from you. You’ll find The Night Visitors podcast on a variety of platforms, from Apple and ListenNotes to Pocketcasts and iHeartRadio, plus more. 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. GET SOCIAL: Join the Facebook group or follow on Instagram @nightvisitorsvrs NEWSLETTER: Subscribe on your fav listening platform or subscribe to my Substack newsletter, where you’ll receive each episode in your inbox weekly on Fridays. Podcast Theme Music Title: “Haunted Haus”, Artist: Tim Kulig (timkulig.com) Lic CC 4.0 Other Music Title: Asia Artist: Aleksey Chistilin Lic CC 4.0 Licensed under Creative Commons By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
S1 · E5
Mar 12, 2026
11:11
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