Viy

Viy is a figure from East Slavic folklore and literature, commonly described as a powerful demon associated with death and the underworld. The name, rendered in Cyrillic as Вий, appears in Ukrainian and Russian folklore and has been popularized in modern culture through Nikolai Gogol's short story Viy (1835).

In Gogol's tale, a seminary student named Khoma Brutu is compelled to spend the night in a widow's house to keep watch over her corpse. He encounters a witch and, eventually, Viy, a monstrous being whose presence endangers those who encounter him; the demon's gaze is deadly, and his power embodies the boundary between life and death. The story is one of Gogol's best-known horror works and has played a central role in shaping Slavic fantastical fiction.

Viy has been adapted for film and other media on several occasions. The best-known screen versions are the 1967 Soviet film Viy, directed by Konstantin Ershov and Georgiy Kachin, and the 2014 feature Viy (also released as Viy 3D), directed by Oleg Stepchenko. Both adaptations build on Gogol's character while expanding the world to include broader fantasy and adventure elements. The figure of Viy remains a recurring symbol in popular culture as a representation of Slavic folklore-inspired horror.