The House of Căpușan:
Summary
In a remote village in Romania's Carpathian Mountains, a respected physician is confronting a mysterious outbreak of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The patients are sick, the ticks are behaving strangely, and the doctor has invited an American scientist to help investigate.
In The House of Căpușan, Dr. Helen Seward arrives expecting an outbreak investigation. But as she examines patient records, collects tick specimens, and explores the isolated village, she begins to uncover disturbing inconsistencies. Unusual bite marks appear on her skin. The villagers seem unusually devoted to their physician. And something about the doctor's relationship with the ticks defies scientific explanation.
Inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, this Infectious Dose audio drama blends real infectious-disease science with Gothic horror, exploring the unsettling relationship between parasites, predators, and the people who depend on them.
💀 Part of the Month of the Macabre series.
🎬 This week's #SickFlicks: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Nosferatu (2024)—two haunting interpretations of vampire mythology, where blood, desire, disease, and the supernatural become inseparable.
🎧 Headphones recommended.
Listen here or scroll down to read the episode overview.
The complete episode transcript is available for download:
Episode Overview
What happens when the physician protecting a village may also be the thing it needs protection from?
Dr. Helen Seward, an American scientist specializing in tick-borne diseases, has traveled to a remote Romanian village to investigate an outbreak of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). The village physician, Dr. Căpușan, has documented patients with fever, weakness, and bleeding, along with unusual tick specimens that appear to be carrying the virus.
For Helen, it's a challenging but recognizable scientific problem. She needs to verify the laboratory results, examine the ticks, review patient exposure histories, and determine how the virus is spreading.
But almost immediately, something doesn't fit.
The ticks appear in unexpected places. Some seem to persist in an environment where Helen wouldn't expect them to thrive and the village's medical records contain discrepancies that become harder to explain the more closely she examines them.
When science meets something older
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a real viral disease, primarily transmitted to humans through infected ticks or contact with infected animal or human blood and tissues. Certain ticks in the genus Hyalomma are important vectors of the virus.
These ticks are not supernatural. Their biology, ecology, and capacity to transmit disease are well-established subjects of scientific investigation.
But in The House of Căpușan, familiar biological relationships begin to take on unfamiliar dimensions.
Ticks are parasites. They survive by feeding on the blood of other animals. Their hosts may never notice them, and the consequences of feeding can extend beyond the loss of blood when pathogens are involved.
Vampires, of course, are parasites of a very different kind.
Inspired by Bram Stoker's Dracula, this story brings those two worlds together by imagining what happens when the boundaries between a biological parasite and a supernatural predator begin to dissolve.
A physician, a village, and an unsettling dependence
Dr. Căpușan is not an ordinary Gothic villain.
He is a physician who has cared for an isolated community for generations. His patients trust him. He knows their families, their histories, and their fears. In a place where medical care and outside assistance may be difficult to obtain, that devotion is understandable.
But trust can become dependence. And dependence can make it difficult to recognize exploitation, particularly when the person doing harm is also the person providing protection.
As Helen's investigation deepens, she must confront not only what is happening in the village, but the increasingly disturbing possibility that her own decisions are no longer entirely hers.
What does it mean to protect a community while taking something from it? Can care and predation coexist? And what happens when a carefully maintained relationship between host and parasite begins to collapse?
A Gothic story told entirely through sound
The House of Căpușan is an original, immersive audio drama told through Helen's field recordings.
The sounds of an ordinary scientific investigation—clinical conversations, specimen collection, notes, and the familiar routines of documenting evidence—gradually give way to something more unsettling.
A strange movement in the walls. A sound that repeats. A house with rooms its owner would prefer remain unexplored. And a scientist whose recorder may capture more than she ever intended.
This is Month of the Macabre, where the science is real, the horror is fictional, and some mysteries are better left undisturbed.
This Week's #SickFlicks
🎬 Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) — Francis Ford Coppola's lavish adaptation of the classic novel follows Count Dracula from Transylvania to Victorian England, intertwining blood, seduction, disease, and supernatural power. Its atmosphere of ancient evil intruding upon a world of modern medicine and scientific inquiry makes it a fitting companion to The House of Căpușan.
🎬 Nosferatu (2024) — Robert Eggers' Gothic reimagining of the vampire story presents vampirism as an oppressive, almost pestilential force. Its atmosphere of dread, bodily corruption, and the disturbing relationship between predator and victim echoes the themes running through Helen Seward's investigation.
Both films explore the vampire as something more complicated than a monster with fangs. Blood becomes a source of power, intimacy, dependence, and danger, while the boundary between illness and supernatural influence grows increasingly uncertain.
🎧 Headphones recommended. The House of Căpușan is designed as an audio-only experience. Small sounds, unsettling silences, and the changing atmosphere of an isolated house are central to the story.
Coming Next: The Final Week of Month of the Macabre
🩸 Next week marks the final week of Month of the Macabre 2026, and we're celebrating with two special releases!
First, it's an Outbreak After Dark anniversary reunion! Original cohosts Kate and Sam return for a special episode celebrating the show that started it all. The original trio is back together for an anniversary edition of Outbreak After Dark, with the irreverent humor, infectious-disease discussions, and unpredictable conversations that have always been part of the fun.
📻 Then, on Friday, October 30, we're going back to 1938.
On the 88th anniversary of Orson Welles' legendary War of the Worlds radio broadcast, Infectious Dose presents The Devil of Hawthorn Mill, an original audio drama inspired by the broadcast that made radio history.
Presented as a vintage radio program interrupted by increasingly disturbing news bulletins, The Devil of Hawthorn Mill pays homage to the storytelling techniques that made the original broadcast unforgettable—with an entirely new story of its own.
Two special releases. One anniversary reunion. And a radio broadcast you won't want to miss.
On October 30, tune in to WIDX. The broadcast is about to be interrupted.
Annotated Citations & Further Reading
Accessing the literature: Whenever possible, I've linked directly to free full-text articles and books that are legally available online. For subscription-only journal articles, many researchers are happy to share a personal copy of their work if you contact the corresponding author. For books, I've included links to free online lending copies or library catalogs when available. If a title isn't freely available online, I've linked WorldCat to locate it at a nearby library or you can ask your local library about interlibrary loans.
Each citation is annotated to explain how the source connects to the episode and to help listeners who want to explore the science in greater depth.
A note on the science: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a real viral disease, and Hyalomma ticks are important vectors in its transmission. However, The House of Căpușan is fiction. The extraordinary behavior of the ticks, their supernatural connection to Dr. Căpușan, and their apparent influence over Helen's thoughts and decisions are fictional and should not be interpreted as biological effects of tick bites or CCHF infection. Although CCHF can cause severe illness and can be transmitted through infected ticks or contact with infected blood and tissues, a tick bite alone does not establish infection. Likewise, finding Hyalomma ticks in an unusual location does not demonstrate that a reproducing population is established there. These references provide the scientific foundation for the disease and tick ecology portrayed in the story, not an explanation for its supernatural events.
Bente DA, et al. 2013. Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever: History, Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, Clinical Syndrome and Genetic Diversity. Antiviral Research.
→ A comprehensive scientific review of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), covering its history, geographic distribution, transmission, clinical manifestations, and underlying virology. Explains how infected ticks and exposure to contaminated blood or tissues can transmit the virus, and why identifying the source of an outbreak requires careful epidemiological investigation.
🔒 Subscription required:
You can request a copy from the author via ResearchGate:
Hoogstraal H. 1979. The Epidemiology of Tick-Borne Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Journal of Medical Entomology.
→ A seminal review establishing much of the early scientific understanding of CCHF epidemiology and the relationships among tick vectors, animal hosts, and human infection. Its examination of the virus's geographic distribution and ecological cycles provides historical context for the unusual tick population at the center of The House of Căpușan.
🔒 Subscription required: https://academic.oup.com/jme/article-abstract/15/4/307/2219529?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Seyma CS. and Jiří C. 2025. Hyalomma marginatum in Europe: The Past, Current Status, and Future Challenges—A Systematic Review. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases.
→ A systematic review examining the distribution, establishment, and spread of Hyalomma marginatum ticks across Europe. Explores how climate, environmental suitability, animal movement, and geographic conditions influence where these ticks can survive and potentially establish populations. The distinction between occasional tick introductions and a persistent local population is central to the mystery in the episode.
🆓 Open Access: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/tbed/7771431
Zhou, R. et al. 2026. A Systematic Review of the Occurrence of Hyalomma Ticks Associated with Birds Migrating Between Africa and the Northern Hemisphere. Parasites Vectors.
→ An examination of published research documenting Hyalomma ticks transported by migratory birds. Immature ticks can attach to birds and travel long distances before detaching, providing a potential mechanism for their appearance outside established geographic ranges. This research supports Helen's initial consideration of whether the unusual ticks in the Carpathian village represent introductions from elsewhere rather than an established breeding population.
🆓 Open Access: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13071-025-07222-y
Estrada-Peña A. 2023. The Climate Niche of the Invasive Tick Species Hyalomma marginatum and Hyalomma rufipes (Ixodidae) with Recommendations for Modeling Exercises. Experimental and Applied Acarology.
→ An ecological study examining the climatic conditions associated with the distribution of two medically important Hyalomma species. The paper helps explain why temperature, environmental suitability, and species-specific ecological requirements matter when evaluating reports of ticks in unexpected locations. It provides scientific context for Helen's skepticism about a persistent Hyalomma population in an isolated mountain village.
🆓 Open Access: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10493-023-00778-3
Hassan Nasirian. 2020. New Aspects About Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) Cases and Associated Fatality Trends: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
→ A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the reported global burden of CCHF, including cases, fatalities, and epidemiological patterns. This paper provides broader context for the seriousness of the disease Helen has traveled to investigate and why even a relatively small cluster of suspected or confirmed cases warrants public health attention.
🔒 Subscription required:
You can request a copy from the author via ResearchGate:
World Health Organization. Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever. WHO Fact Sheet.
→ An authoritative public health overview of CCHF, including transmission through infected ticks and contact with infected blood or tissues, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and prevention. It provides accessible scientific background for listeners interested in the real disease underlying the fictional outbreak.
🌐 Free online resource: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/crimean-congo-haemorrhagic-fever
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Factsheet for Health Professionals About Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever. ECDC.
→ A European public health reference covering CCHF epidemiology, transmission, clinical characteristics, and prevention. Useful for the episode's Romanian setting, this factsheet provides context for the role of Hyalomma ticks in European disease surveillance and the importance of recognizing and investigating possible CCHF cases.
🌐 Free online resource: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/crimean-congo-haemorrhagic-fever/facts/factsheet
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