Tometino Polje

Tometino Polje is a remote highland plateau in the Zlatibor district of western Serbia, near the Bosnian border. The terrain is rocky karst, sparsely wooded with pine and beech, and largely given over to sheep grazing. In folk tradition, it is the territory of the drekavac.

The Screams

Shepherds working the highland reported hearing screams at night that matched no known animal. The sound was described as high-pitched, sustained, and moving across the terrain as if the source were traveling. Local belief attributed the sound to the drekavac, a creature formed from the souls of unbaptized children who died before receiving their names. The drekavac screams because it was never given a place in the human or the divine world.

The Investigation

During the Yugoslav era, the military conducted an investigation at Tometino Polje. Soldiers were stationed on the plateau at night. Recordings were made. The recordings captured sounds that investigators could not conclusively identify. No official explanation was published. The local population continued to attribute the sounds to the drekavac.

Today

The plateau remains sparsely populated. Shepherds still use it for summer grazing. The drekavac stories persist in the surrounding villages, passed from older residents to younger ones, though fewer people now spend nights on the highland.