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'Drekavac' /drekavats/ (literally "the yeller"), also called ''drek'' and ''drekalo'' is a mythical creature in south Slavic mythology. Belief in drekavac was widespread in Bosnia and Serbia. Словенска митологија: енциклопедијски речник, , , , Zepter Book World, ,
Also belief in Drekavac and similar creatures (Bukavac) was well spread in northern parts of Serbia and in Slavonia.

Contents

Original beliefs

Other believed attributes

Similar creatures

Modern sightings

In Fiction

References

Original beliefs

Drekavac comes from the soul of a dead unbaptised child Српски митолошки речник, Š. Kulišić, , , Nolit, , .
The creature is not consistently described. One description is that its body is dappled, elongated and thin as a spindle, with disproportionately large head; yet another is that it is some kind of bird I drekavac sumnjiv ; a modern find of supposed drekavac body looked like a dog or a fox, but with hind legs similar to those of kangaroo Gimnastika na poledici . It may also appear in the form of a child and call for people passing near the cemetery to baptise it. The one feature everyone agrees about is its horrifying yell.
Some describe Drekavac as being similar to strepsirrhine Aye-aye, only more than twice as large, stronger stature and more sinister in appearance.
Drekavac could be seen at night, especially during the twelve days of Christmas (called ''unbaptised days'' in Serbian) and in early spring, in time where other demons appear most often. In the form of the child it predicts someone's death, but in the form of the animal, it predicts cattle disease. Drekavac rarely bothers its parents, as it is afraid of dogs.
Drekavac is often used as a child scare, in a similar way a bogeyman is in the West. It is probably more useful than bogeymen in rural areas, as children will surely sometimes hear a sound of some animal and attribute it to drekavac, thus becoming convinced that it really exists; which would then probably prevent them from wandering far from home. In the cities, however, belief in it has faded, and Baba Roga, which more closely resembles western bogeyman, is much more used.

Other believed attributes

★ Some believe that there are variant types of Drekavac (different regions having different breeds). Consistently though, its size is said to be one meter or more (on four legs), but never less. According to some stories Drekavac can live in packs, in caves and tunnels.

★ Generally it is believed that Drekavac can not be killed or pass on until its soul finds its peace (or through baptism).

★ In some parts of Serbia and Balkans it is believed that one must first have a dream about Drekavac to actually encounter one. Also Drekavac can strangle people while they are sleeping, if they did something bad to it in life.

★ It is believed that when a Drekavac screams all night long someone from the house that heard it will die.

★ Also, it is believed that if the shadow of Drekavac falls upon some person that that person will turn sick and die.

★ In some places it is believed that Drekavac's cry is due to his long fur, on which it steps often, and then yells in pain.

★ It is also believed that the Drekavac are afraid of light to some extent

★ Drekavac likes to move in ares that are covered in fog, according to some sources.

★ While the word "Drekavac" can mean "the yeller", a more correct meaning is "One that cries while yelling" taken from noun "Drečati" (commonly means baby cry). This is due to belief that Drekavac is a soul of unbaptised child.

Similar creatures

★ Bukavac, recorded in Srem, a six-legged monster with gnarled horns which lives in water, coming out of it during the night making big noise, strangling people and animals^[1].

★ 'Jaud', similar to drekavac, from a vampirised premature baby^[1].

★ 'Nava'

★ 'Nekrštenac'

★ 'Plakavac', recorded in Herzegovina, is a small vampire, a newborn strangled by its mother, which will rise from its grave at night, return to its house and scream around it, but otherwise can't do any harm^[1].

★ 'Svirac'

Modern sightings

A mutilated sheep in Tometino polje

Though the creature is used as a child scare, adults do believe in its existence. According to the guide of a reporter of Duga magazine, numerous villagers on the mountain of Zlatibor report seeing it, and almost everyone reports hearing it^[4]. In 1992, it was reported that in the Krvavicka river the villagers have found remains of an animal which doesn't look like any known, and claimed that it is drekavac; it looked like a dog or fox, but with hind legs similar to those of kangaroo. A more recent encounter is from 2003; in the village of Tometino Polje near Divcibare, a series of attacks on sheep took place, not unlike those which are in other parts of the world attributed to chupacabras, and some villagers have concluded that they must have been perpetrated by a drekavac; other have concluded that it could not have been a drekavac because they have only heard the yells during the night, and sheep were mutilated during the day.

In Fiction

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Belief in Drekavac is sometimes described in modern fiction. An example is a short story by Branko Ćopić ''Brave Mita and drekavac from the pond'' in which superstitious fishermen hear yells in the pond they fish in and, believing that they hear a drekavac, stop fishing which leads to hunger in the village; protagonist, a curageous boy from the village called Mita decides to investigate and captures the drekavac, which turns out to be a Great Bittern, a bird very rare for the area^[5]. Drekavac is also mentioned in Ćopić's book Eagles Fly Early^[6]. A more recent and much more popular example comes from the movie Pretty Village, Pretty Flame where (lack of) belief in drekavac is present in one of the central points of the movie:
:Halil (Bosnian Muslim): "Who torched my house?"
:Milan (Bosnian Serb): "And who slaughtered my mother?"
:Halil: "I haven't slaughtered your mother."
:Milan: "And I haven't torched your house."
:Halil: "Then who did, Milan? Maybe it was drekavac from the tunnel?"
Drekavac is rarely depicted in modern fantasy. An exception is the card which has this to say about drekavac: ''Like a vulture's scalp, the face of a drekavac is oily and hairless. The filth and disease of its carrion diet slip off its blood-slick skin.''^[7] Serbian trading card game Izvori Magije also has a drekavac card, named ''Drekavac iz vira'' (meaning "Drekavac from the whirlpool"): ''Big headed and with long thin necks, drekavacs often jump out of whirpools to attack people who are returning home from watermills.''^[8]
Recently Drekavac got an entire edition of cards named "Dreka iz Tame" (Yells from the Darkness).
Here is a table with full names of the cards.

×	Serbian	English
1	Kopija Drekavca	Drekavac's copy
2	Besmrtni Drekavac	Immortal Drekavac
3	Krilati Drekavac	Winged Drekavac
4	Oprezni Drekavac	Careful Drekavac
5	Žilavi Drekavac	Venous Drekavac
6	Zloćudni Drekavac	Currish Drekavac
7	Kradljivi Drekavac	Sneaking Drekavac
8	Spektralni Drekavac	Spectral Drekavac
9	Zavodljiva Drekavčica	Seductive female Drekavac
10	Drekavac Bogova	Drekavac of the Gods
11	Nečisti Drekavac	Impure Drekavac
12	Drekavac kraj Dolapa	Drekavac at Dolap

References

1. Српски митолошки речник, Š. Kulišić, , , Nolit, ,
2. Српски митолошки речник, Š. Kulišić, , , Nolit, ,
3. Српски митолошки речник, Š. Kulišić, , , Nolit, ,
4. Ljudi i vreme
5. U svijetu medvjeda i leptirova, , Branko, Ćopić, , ,
6. Orlovi rano lete, , Branko, Ćopić, , ,
7. ''Dissension'' Sortable Spoiler
8. Drekavac iz vira