Drekavac (literally "the screamer" or "the screecher"), also called drekalo, krekavac, zdrekavac or zrikavac, is a mythical creature in South Slavic mythology. The name is derived from the verb "drečati" ("to screech").
Description
In South Slavic mythology and folk tales this creature has been variously described:
- In some folk tales it is depicted as an undead man who emerges from his grave by night to haunt the living. or some kind of bird.
Original beliefs
The drekavac was originally thought to have come from the souls of sinful men, or from children who died unbaptised.
It was popularly believed to be visible only at night, especially during the twelve days of Christmas (called unbaptised days in Serbo-Croatian) and in early spring, when other demons and mythical creatures were believed to be more active.
Some modern sightings happened:
- In 1992, it was reported that in the Krvavica, the villagers found remains of an animal unlike any known from the area, and claimed it was a drekavac. It was described as looking like a dog, but with a "snake-like" head and hind legs "similar" to those of a kangaroo.
- Drekavac is also mentioned in Ćopić's book Eagles Fly Early.
- Drekavac is a character in Larry Correia's novel Monster Hunter Bloodlines.
In games
- In the Magic: The Gathering has a card of drekavac from the Dissension set.
- In EVE Online, the Drekavac is a combat battlecruiser flown by the Triglavian Collective.
- The Serbian trading card game Izvori Magije has numerous cards of drekavac type creatures, one of them named Drekavac iz vira (meaning "Drekavac from the whirlpool"). This creature is described as: "Big-headed and with long thin necks, drekavac often jump out of whirlpools to attack people who are returning home from watermills."
- In DmC: Devil May Cry, a demon named Drekavac appears as a recurrent enemy. It is not named as such until player's final encounter with it. Rather than claws, it possesses long thin swords.
- In game Superhuman by Weird World, Drekavac is a humanoid monster with canine face, horns and thick fur around the neck, often covered in lacerations, effect of its masochism. It is a powerful monster that can influence souls, primarily its own, to reconstitute or move its body around, return from being dead, or even resurrect others to life.
In music
- "Drekavac" is the title of a song written and performed by the Serbian thrash metal band Horror Piknik.
- "Drekavac" is also the title of a Lordi song from their 2021 project Lordiversity.
Similar mythical creatures
- Bukavac – recorded in Syrmia, a six-legged monster with gnarled horns, slimy skin and long tail, that lives in water (rivers, swamps and creeks) and comes out of it during the night. It is known that it makes loud noises, and it will try to strangle people and animals that it encounters;
- Jaud () – a vampirised premature baby;
- Myling – from Scandinavian folklore, a phantasmal incarnations of the souls of unbaptized children that had been forced to roam the earth;
- Nav – the soul of dead child that died before its third age;
- Plakavac – recorded in Herzegovina, is a newborn strangled by its mother, which will rise from its grave at night as small vampire-like creature, return to its house and scream around it, but otherwise can't do any harm;
- Poroniec – a hostile and malicious demon from Slavic mythology. They were believed to come into existence from stillborn fetuses, but also from improperly buried remains of children who had died during infancy.
See also
- Bukavac
- Myling
- Poroniec
- Restless ghost