Why vampire rumours haunt this Ottawa Valley town | CBC Creator Network

Residents of the tiny Ottawa Valley town of Wilno say it's time to drive a stake into the vampire tale that has haunted their community since the 1970s. Instead, they want to share the 'real Wilno' and its unique heritage in this CBC Ottawa Creator Network piece by filmmakers Tys Burger and Josh Murphy.
This video is part of CBC's Creator Network. The Creator Network collaborates with a select roster of diverse Canadian creators to amplify Canadian stories and share unique perspectives.
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[@lucasdacosta3835]

I’m so happy these people are reconnecting to their culture!! It’s so important and very heart warming to see. Canada is a multicultural society and we need to promote it in all forms including within ourselves!

[@realamanda1943]

These are all things I'd sav if I were a vampire trying to hide that I was a vampire

[@AstroLucass]

hahaha

[@troyzieman7177]

I have a property 20 km from Wilno . Spent lots of time at the Wilno tavern . Never heard any talk about any of this . The locals are just friendly people and the peroges at the tavern are some of the best

[@johndowner2196]

Be interesting to know who started the tale

[@scottdavis1549]

Well that’s what vampires would say isn’t it?

[@canadianbakin1304]

i grew up in Courtice/Oshawa area and remember my foster parent taking me there once, i think thats the place anyway i wasn't even ten so its hard to remember at this point

[@CountryLongboarding]

Wilno we’ve been cutting the heads of our dead for years, what about it?

[@Keepasking123]

Most of the people I approached didn’t even want to talk to me after I mentioned the word “CBC” 😂

[@Diarmuhnd]

... thats not what the reporter said ... Did you get wood lying? Did you giggle a little while you dribbled?

[@MrJcarrut]

See, what really happened is that they shot this all on a mirrored lens camera and we all know vampires aren’t visible in reflections, so that’s why we can’t see them. 😅 /s

[@elytracollective]

Actually we shot this on MirrorLESS cameras... The plot thickens 🦇🦇🦇

[@MrJcarrut]

@@elytracollective Well, clearly then the vampires are just really good at hide and seek. It’s not possible they’re fictional. /s

[@Yourmomma568]

these guys, especially Mayor Shulist, have all done great work in rediscovering the history of our area. great work and it means so much to so many people. I grew up there and I did hear the rumors, but by this time it was like no one knew about it in any details. it was also full of bits from other rumors or stories, and had been completely muddled. I'll tell what I heard on the condition that it is pretty clearly a fabrication that includes bits form other stories told in other places, and why they persisted... So over a hundred years ago, there were 3 women who were accused of being vampires. the story of why or how this happened was always different. either they were always vampires, or became them, sometimes it was one woman or 3, sometimes it was because of a curse, or because the woman did something to offend god, like cheated on a spouse or they were just picked on by superstitious locals. anyway, they were killed, and their heads were cut off and placed at their feet, and they were buried outside the cemetery. it's all BS, but the only part that people would point to as evidence was the 3 unmarked graves outside the cemetery grounds. now, when I was a kid, I remember these grave stones, small and sitting on the ground, in the back of the cemetery, and I remember them from before I first heard the story as a teenager, but they aren't there anymore. My theory is that these were likely buried many many years ago outside the cemetery for some religious reason, like suicide, or unbaptized infants. Some unfortunate tragedy lost to time. the stones, I assume, were either removed to prevent this sort of conjecture, or they were stolen by some vandals. Anyway, the real history and culture of this area is way more fascinating. The old conflicts between the polish immigrants and the kashub, etc. I recall as a kid that this was a non issue by the time I was born, but people still talked about the High poles and the low poles. It was always confusing to me why. it wasn't until I learned about the Kashub history that it all made sense. The "low poles" sounded weird to the new immigrants because they were speaking a different language, had a different culture, etc. it's amazing how much can be lost to knowledge in such a short time. only a generation or two. again, congrats and thanks to David for all he has done to restore this knowledge, and hopefully all of the people who were curious about the "real" story see it for what it is. it's a myth, made up from a bunch of different stories and sources, that evolved over years to try and make a story that fit with an article written by some sociologist 50 years ago. maybe people in kashubia 200 years ago had some vampire folk lore, but that didn't carry over to the new world, and no one was ever killed for being a vampire in wilno. all of the parts of the story are taken from other myths form other places, and the only "evidence" for it was some unmarked grave stones that have much better and more likely explanations. i've never heard anyone ever tell the story with any consistency or even a hint of historical fact, and no one has ever claimed to know anything about what actually happened. I have heard stories about werewolves in foymount, however.

[@robmann400]

Vilno. It’s pronounced, Vilno... 🦇 BLAH!

[@milesduggan4996]

Put garlic outside her door if she believed it?....spoken like a true vampire😅

[@Keepasking123]

I’m from pembroke. Never knew this was a thing.

[@CB-zd2dn]

Great interviews 👌

[@tritun5154]

As a kid while we drove through wilno, there was garlic hung on the doors all over. Maybe they were just drying it.

[@pipe2devnull]

I saw that too.

[@pipe2devnull]

That younger (looking?) bald guy seemed to pull back from the light.😊

[@stevethecross2727]

Some solid journalistic work here CBC am glad our tax dollars funded fantastical bull.

[@saintyoungum641]

Thats what they want you to think

[@d.r.tweedstweeddale9038]

"This vampire story is absolute crap. It's all bull crap." M. Shulist covered it perfectly I'd say. Hope CBC didn't pay for this, they certainly shouldn't have aired it.

[@AnhTuPhucDerrickHoangCanada]

Reporters have full highschool only and partial university is the rumor that their who what when where is less

[@SoundsGoodChannel]

spooky!

[@loveobviously]

Plot twist: the whole town knows and they wanna keep their identities as vamps secret 😅😅😂😂😂😂

[@lorrainekinder5908]

😢

[@havaguday]

Poorly funded education, obviously.

[@joanieHG]

🦇🧛‍♀️

[@mck59er]

Cbc using a vampire story to discredit conspiracy theorists, haha. 😂