Asa Vajda

Biography
Asa Vajda was a princess of Moldavia who lived during the latter half of the 17th century. Asa was a witch in service to Satan and she practiced her art along with a colleague named Igor Javutich. Asa's own brother, Prince Vajda I was the head of the Holy Inquisition. Capturing Asa and Igor, he tried them for witchcraft outside the family estate. Before her sentence was carried out, Asa placed a curse on her brother's family line, shouting "It is I who repudiate you, and in the name of Satan I place a curse upon you. Go ahead, tie me down to the stake, but you will never escape my hunger, nor that of Satan!" The prince had his men nail the Mask of Satan upon both Asa and Igor's faces and their bodies were burned at the stake. At the moment of her death, a terrible storm erupted and the Inquisitors fled the scene. When the storm subsided, they placed Asa's body in the tomb of her ancestors. Her coffin was outfitted with a glass window so that all who looked upon it would see the Mask of Satan staring back at them. A giant cross was erected upon the coffin to ward off evil.

Two centuries later, two scientists named Doctor Thomas Kruvajan and Andre Gorobec traveled by coach through Moldavia on their way to a conference in Mirgorod. Their coach suffered a broken axle near the ruins of the Vajda family chapel and while the coachman effected repairs, Kruvajan and Gorobec decided to explore the ruins. While inspecting the catacombs, they came upon Princess Asa's coffin. A large bat flew out, startling Kruvajan. In an attempt to kill the bat, he unwittingly struck the cross affixed to Princess Asa's coffin, as well as shattering the small glass window at the head of the casket. Cutting himself on a splinter of glass, Kruvajan's blood dripped down onto the Mask of Satan, mysteriously bringing Asa back to life.

Notes & Trivia
Actress Barbara Steele also played Asa Vajda's descendent Katia Vajda.