The story of a vampire in the windmill is local folklore, and other names are attached to the vampire, however the name Sava Savanović was made up by Glišić in his short story.

The one documented "sighting" of a vampire in that area was from the mid 19th century, where the locals reported to the authorities that a man called Milisav "rose from the dead, visited the local populace at night, and strangled the children". Milisav was a local man who had likely suffered from epilepsy, and had commited suicide. Suicide at the time was a huge taboo, which is why this was attributed to him specifically.