Dampyr #172 (2014) pages 32-33: The ghost carriage

Professor Palmieri concludes his flashback about fleeing from the vampire crypt:

“I lost control of the car and flew down the slope. But I am convinced: That creature was really Olimpia Maidalchini.”

“What makes you so sure, professor?”

“There are legends about her, but I never gave them any weight.”

“Yes, I read about some before meeting you.”

“Good! So you know that she was an evil woman -- so evil that the people thought she had returned from hell to persecute the people of Rome. According to legend, her ghost would race at night in a burning carriage, crossing the city and then sinking into the Tiber.”

“Ouch, she must have been a real harpy, to give rise to such gossip.”

“Evidently those stories had a grain of truth. I am not afraid of being thought crazy. If you had seen what I saw, nothing would surprise you anymore!”

“Believe me, we’ve seen worse.”

“We completely understand you, professor.”

“Does anyone else know about this story?”

“Of course not. And I feel terribly guilty about my two assistants...”

It's debatable whether the historical Olimpia Maidalchini was actually evil or just a tough woman in a male-dominated culture. Regardless, the legend of her fiery carriage stuck in the public imagination of Italians, just as Washington Irving's image of the Headless Horseman did in America.