OK, well, this isn’t weird or anything.

According to news reports, including one from IOL.co.za, it appears that absolute panic now rules the day in the Mozambique town of Gile, where local residents are convinced that there are actual blood-sucking vampires in their midst.

Not vampire bats; vampires.

Last week, in response to the rumors of vampires, which have been circulating for months now, a mob attacked a business owner in the locality of Muiane who had been accused of being a vampire. Not only was the man attacked and his shop looted, but the homes of both the head of the Muiane administrative post and local secretary of the ruling Frelimo Party were vandalized.

Conditions have apparently deteriorated even further, with local police in the town of Gile saying that “utter chaos” has taken hold there.

As if all this wasn’t bizarre enough, the predominant narrative in the area claims that the supposed vampires are actually in cahoots with local government officials to drink the blood of the townspeople. The rioting in Gile has been so severe that the district administrator there fled and is now reportedly in hiding.

According to a spokesperson for the provincial police, what’s really behind all of the madness is an orchestrated attempt by an area criminal element to play on the fears of locals in order to steal their property. The spokesperson, Miguel Caetano, said Monday that five people were arrested in Muiane on charges of spreading vampire rumors and “inciting disorder,” and that police had recovered a variety of merchandise – including five motorcycles – stolen during the rioting.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large