We took a visit to Transylvania, a province in Romania, to see Dracula's castle and have a look at his blood-thirsty ways. We now have the absolute truth on the whole vampire thing, so here goes:
True or False- Dracula was real and was a blood-thirsty vampire....
The answer is no. Dracula is a purely fictional creation. But the writer of Dracula, English writer Bram Stoker, named his infamous character after a real person who happened to 'impale' his foes back in the 15th century. His name was Vlad III from the House of Draculesti and nicknamed Vlad the Impaler. History records that he liked to get rid of his enemies by implying them on poles (true). Here's a picture of how it's done with a replica of the wood pole in the foreground:
True or False- Dracula's character lived in Bran Castle in Transylvania...
The answer is no. Vlad the Impaler 'visited' the place, but it was the result of him being imprisoned when the opposing side took control of the area. That said, Bran Castle is the only castle in all of Transylvania that actually fits Stoker’s description of his castle and so it 'became' Dracula’s Castle.
True or False- there were blood-thirsty vampires in Transylvania
The answer is not really. But there was one crazy lady from Hungary, Elizabeth Bathory, who was frightened of turning old. She was a turn-of-the-17th century aristocrat who believed that bathing in the blood of virgins would maintain her youthful looks. Apparently, some 600 young women came to a premature end in order to keep her macabre fountain of youth flowing. They say that the writer Stoker thought about using her for his Dracula adventures but that the audience would prefer a guy, hence Dracula.
Yuk!
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