Many murderers kept the attention of the public on high alert or passionate to know more about their history. This killer might not be as famous as others, but it certainly will hold your attention. Here is the story of a vampire who likes pickles!

Who Is Béla Kiss, And Where Is He From?

Let us go to Hungary, where a dangerous man was born in 1877, Béla Kiss. As a child, reports say that Béla was a victim of incest perpetuated by his mother, Verona Varga.

Born in the city of Izaák but lived in Cinkota, which used to be close to Budapest but is now neighbouring the city. Béla Kiss was a tinsmith, meaning he made repairs on items made of tin or any metals.

Béla Kiss married twice and, out of the two marriages, had two children named Aranka and Ilonka. After his wife—no information on which one—left him for another man, Kiss hired a housekeeper who found out he had many correspondences with various women.

How The Authorities Found Out Béla Kiss Was A Murderer

Supposedly, Béla Kiss was an occult practitioner as well as an enthusiast of astrology. He most likely used those interests to place advertisements in offering his knowledge over matrimonial agencies and as a fortune teller. He went as far as bringing the women to his home one at a time.

Béla Kiss was a quiet man who wasn’t close to his neighbours, and they liked him. They noticed he started collecting metal drums, and when asked why he collected them by the authorities, he said they were filled with gasoline. His reasoning was the upcoming war.

1914 World War I started, and Béla Kiss was conscripted, and his house fell into the hands of his housekeeper, Mrs. Jakubec. Jakubec was interrogated by the authorities, who asked if she was aware of what happened in the house, but she said she had no relationship with Béla Kiss.

On May 10th, 1916, an article from Népszava was published talking about a police inspector report. Béla Takács, a pharmacist and Béla Kiss’ neighbour, mentioned that the latter had gone to war in 1914. Kiss’s house was a rental, and the owner, Márton Kresinszky, looked to renovate the building in Cinkota.

The Discovery Of A Murderer’s House

When the two men, Takács and Kresinszky, were next to the workshop room, there was a large quantity of reeds. Once inside the room, they found a total of seven light metal drums that were stacked. The drums were one metre long by fifty centimetres wide. 

All drums were airtight and sealed as such with lead. But the two men loosened the barrels’ lids with the help of an axe. To their surprise, a stench like no other came out of the cylinder when it prised open.

Now, the lids were open, and a bag was found by the two men that they put out of the first barrel. There was a woman’s body that was sewn into the bag. Meanwhile, another barrel opened, and the corpse of another woman was found, from which a stack of blonde hair fell off.

At that moment, Takács and Kresinszky decided to alert the authorities. The chief notary, Gyula Huszka, accompanied by the police officers, confirmed to have found one body per barrel for a total of seven corpses. However, after thorough research, a total of twenty-four bodies were found in the perimeter.

When Vampires Commit Murders

 Because Béla Kiss was fighting in the war, it was always a possibility that he would either be dead or be a prisoner of war. Because his name was common, it was hard to pinpoint his whereabouts. 

To be on the safe side, the authorities arrested Mrs. Jakubec and held all correspondence mailed to him. In his will, Mrs. Jakubec was mentioned and would receive money. However, to prove her innocence, she decided to show them a secret room. He warned her never to go in there and kept it locked.

When they opened the door to the room, they saw many bookcases and a desk. The books were about subjects of strangulation and poisoning. There was also a pile of letters that were correspondence with women. A total of seventy-four was found, along with a photo album.

The correspondence went back to 1903. The victims were middle-aged women looking to become wives. The victims had no relatives nearby or at all. He would get money from them after establishing a connection. Those correspondences were due to him placing ads in various newspapers. 

Once strangled, the victims would be pickled in alcohol and sealed in airtight metal drums. What was strange was that authorities found out that all the bodies had punctures on their necks. There was no blood left in their bodies, leading them to believe that Béla Kiss practiced vampirism.

What Is A Vampire Loving Pickles To Do?

On October 4th, 1916, the authorities received good news that Béla Kiss was in a Serbian hospital. But by the time they showed up, he was already gone, leaving another victim behind. This time, it was a fellow Hungarian soldier. 

The popular belief is that Béla Kiss was able to switch identities with a dead soldier to fake his own death. The name is believed to be Mackaree. Some reports say that he was arrested in Romania as a thief. Others state that he died from yellow fever in Turkey.

In 1920, one French soldier reported that a legionnaire named Hoffman used the name Kiss in some of his letters. He bragged about his skills at using a garrote. Moreover, he fitted the description of Béla Kiss. However, Hoffman disappeared, and the authorities couldn’t get to him.

The last of him or last sightings happened in 1932 in New York City. The rumours said he was a janitor, but the sightings couldn’t be verified. A homicide detective, Henry Oswald, reported to have seen Béla Kiss coming out of the subway in Times Square in Manhattan. When the authorities showed up to interview the janitor, he had already disappeared.

We will never know the last whereabouts of Béla Kiss or the exact number of victims he bit and pickled.

The OCD Vampire