Béla Kiss — The Monster of Cinkota — Killer Files

Alleged / reported perpetrator

Béla Kiss

Status: fate unknown

Case overview

Béla Kiss (born circa 1877) was a tinsmith in Cinkota, a district near Budapest, Hungary. In 1916, while Kiss was away serving in the First World War, authorities searching his former property reportedly discovered numerous metal drums containing preserved human remains. Contemporary accounts and later reference works

Reported paranormal context

Popular accounts attached the nickname "the Vampire of Cinkota" to Kiss and claimed he drained blood from his victims (unsubstantiated). This vampire characterisation appears in sensational journalism and folklore rather than in any verified forensic record (unsubstantiated). PRN holds no record of any paranormal investigation associated with the Cinkota site and makes no claim that any reported activity is paranormal in origin.

Timeline

1914 · event
Kiss conscripted into military service
Béla Kiss left Cinkota to serve in the First World War, before the discovery at his property.
1916 · investigation
Drums discovered at the Cinkota property
Authorities reportedly found numerous metal drums containing preserved human remains at Kiss's former home. Counts are generally reported as twenty-four, with some accounts citing up to thirty.
1916 · event
Kiss never apprehended
Kiss had already departed for military service. He was never captured; later reported sightings were never confirmed (unconfirmed).
1916-07-10 · crime
Discovery of bodies
In July 1916, Kiss's landlord forced open a sealed barrel on the property and found a woman's body, leading police to uncover roughly two dozen victims on the estate.
1916-10-04 · investigation
Telegram from Serbian hospital
Budapest police received a telegram stating a soldier named Bela Kiss had died; on arrival a different body was found in his place, indicating he had escaped.

Attack / sighting map

Location coordinates pending — add coordinates via admin.

Explore geographic context on the PRN Map Explorer.

Media archive

image · historical
Béla Kiss barrels (discovery site)
Barrels in which Kiss stored victims' bodies, found at his property; historical documentation, no bodies visible.
Open
image · portrait
Béla Kiss portrait
Historical portrait of Hungarian serial killer Béla Kiss.
Open
image · location
Bela Kiss home, Cinkota
The Cinkota property associated with Bela Kiss.
Open

Reported paranormal activity

atmospheric · unverified
The "Vampire of Cinkota" nickname and the claim that Kiss drained blood from his victims circulate in sensational journalism and folklore (unsubstantiated). No verified forensic record supports a vampire characterisation, and no structured paranormal investigation of the Cinkota site is recorded in PRN sources. PRN makes no claim that any reported activity is paranormal in origin.
Area: Cinkota, near Budapest, Hungary
auditory · unverified
Kiss's story is a staple of paranormal- and supernatural-themed true-crime podcasting, which keeps the vampire framing alive for modern audiences. The 'Obscurata' podcast episode 'Monster of the Drums: The Vampire of Cinkota,' for example, presents the case explicitly within a 'true scary, paranormal, ghost and supernatural' format. Such treatments are entertainment retellings that foreground the vampire lore rather than documenting new phenomena.
Area: The Béla Kiss case as told on paranormal/true-crime podcasts (e.g., 'Obscurata')
visual · unverified
Because Kiss vanished during World War I and his death was never confirmed, a body of 'phantom sighting' lore grew up around him. As recounted by All That's Interesting and Prisoners of Eternity, a New York detective named Henry Oswald reportedly claimed in the 1930s to have spotted Kiss leaving the Times Square subway station, and rumours placed him working as a janitor in the city; when police went to question that janitor, he had already left. These are unverified reported sightings that fuelled the legend of a killer who simply disappeared.
Area: Times Square / New York City (alleged post-disappearance sighting)
atmospheric · contested
Local Hungarian legend gave Kiss the nickname 'the Vampire of Cinkota,' rooted in the reported finding that the preserved bodies bore neck punctures and appeared drained of blood, which led some at the time to suspect ritualistic blood-letting or vampirism. As recounted by All That's Interesting and Anomalien, the metal drums on his property and the unexplained fate of the blood fed a durable folk reputation of Kiss as a literal vampire. Period investigators could not determine what became of the blood, and the vampire framing is folklore built on that gap rather than established fact.
Area: Cinkota, near Budapest, Hungary — Kiss's rented house and its tin/metal drums

Sources

What Happened to Hungarian Serial Killer Béla Kiss? — 2019Tier 3
The Terrifying Story of Bela Kiss — Mental Floss, 2018Tier 3
Béla Kiss — 2026Tier 3
The Terrifying Story of Bela Kiss, Hungary's Most Murderous Bachelor — Deanna Cioppa, 2022Tier 2
Bela Kiss: Beast of Cinkota — Prisoners of Eternity, 2021Tier 3
The Crimes of Bela Kiss — Marilyn Bardsley and Denise Noe, 2013Tier 3
The Terrifying Story of Bela Kiss, "The Vampire Killer" — Deanna Cioppa, 2019Tier 3
The Bizarre But True Story Of Béla Kiss, Hungary's 'Vampire' Serial Killer — All That's Interesting staff, 2021Tier 3
Monster of the Drums: The Vampire of Cinkota — Obscurata (podcast), 2025Tier 3
Kiss of Death: True Story of A Vampiric Serial Killer — Anomalien staff, 2022Tier 3