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The Lafayette vampire is an urban legend originating in Lafayette, Colorado.

History

In the 1950s, local youth were told by their parents that a vampire was buried in the Lafayette Cemetery and if they didn't get home by dark the vampire would get them.

Those Lafayette parents were referencing Romanian immigrant and coal miner Teodor Glava, who died in 1918. His grave marker in the potters field section of the cemetery lists his home (or birthplace) as "Transylvania". Curator of Lafayette Miner's Museum Claudia Lund explains "Supposedly a miner that came from Transylvania. And that part of the world has always had a certain history behind it. Particularly the Dracula story and everything."

The legend of the Lafayette Vampire evolved over many decades after the 1950s to mimic details of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and mimic the Hollywood's latest incarnation of the blood thirsty vampire starting with Bela Lugosi's classic motion picture portrayal. As the Internet took root in the 1990s, the tall tale exploded into a myth so popular that visitors from across the U.S. visit the grave.

As of 2024, the legend goes something like this: Local residents were suspicious of coal miner Teodor Glava and, after he died in 1918, dug him up and drove a stake through his heart. That wood stake grew into a tall juniper tree that now dominates his grave site. Also, the buried demon's fingernails grew into a red rose bush that covered the grave until the early 2000s. (Although the rose bush was actually yellow.) Various blog posts and newspaper articles starting in the late 1980s enhanced the legend, and state that "local youth" sighted a tall, dark figure with red eyes lurking near the grave. Estate records at the State of Colorado Archives in Denver show that Teodor Glava was embalmed and buried about two days after he died, probably the result of Spanish Flu. He had been sick for several weeks prior to his death. Newspaper death notices state that Glava had no relatives in the U.S. and estate records state that he had no relatives in Colorado.

The Lafayette Vampire grave site can be found in the north-central edge of the Lafayette Cemetery at 111th and Baseline, about 20 feet south of the City Park road and 70 feet east of 111th.

References

1. "5 urban legends that still live in Colorado". FOX31 Denver. 2024-02-28. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
2. ^ Conarroe, Doug (2024). Ghosts and Legends of Lafayette and Louisville. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781467152730.
3. "There's a vampire buried in Lafayette?". 9news.com.
4. "The Lafayette Vampire". Lafayette History.

Further reading

• Offutt, Jason (2019). Chasing American monsters: over 250 creatures, cryptids, and hairy beasts (1st ed.). Woodbury, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 978-0-7387-6006-3.

• Vampires
• American urban legends
• Lafayette, Colorado