SHTRIGA
Episode(s): 1x18 - Something WickedLocation Sighted: Fitchburg, Wisconsin
On The Show: Sam and Dean return to Wisconsin to investigate a small town where children are falling into comas for no apparent reason. The brothers discover that a shtriga is creeping into the bedrooms of the children and stealing their "life force." While battling the shtriga, Dean recalls a past mistake that almost cost Sam his life at the hands of the very same witch, an event which has fueled Dean's protectiveness over Sam and his blind obedience to his father.
The Myth Behind the Show: The Shtriga, in Albanian folklore, was a witch that would suck the spirtus vitaé which is the living force of a person out of people at night while they slept, and would then turn into a flying insect. Only the shtriga herself could cure those she had drained (often by spitting in their mouths), and those who were not cured inevitably sickened and died. She preferred to drink from young children or even infants.
There are several methods traditionally considered effective for defending oneself from shtriga. A cross made of bone could be placed at the entrance of a church on Easter Sunday, rendering any Shtriga inside unable to leave. They could then be captured and killed at the threshold as they vainly attempted to pass. After draining blood from a victim, the shtriga would generally go off into the woods and regurgitate it. If a silver coin were to be soaked in that blood and wrapped in cloth, it would become an amulet offering permanent protection from any shtriga.
The shtriga is related to other witch/vampires such as the Romanian striga and the Roman strix