DRACULA is almost synonymous with Vampire in western culture. The undead vampire of popular imagination began as a creation of novelist Bram Stoker. In 1897 he published his 'Dracula' and forever set the mold for vampire tales to follow. Here, over a hundred years later the Romanian Count remains the archetypal vampire figure. Stoker managed to bring many vampire myths of the time together in his delectably gothic masterpiece. It spoke of predatory evil and sensuality, of a creature who hunted victims by night and slept in his grave by day in a castle deep in the haunted Transylvanian forest. The novel touched a chord in the public's imagination and was one of the most popular books of its day, selling over a million copies. There are two Draculas, one an actual 15th century Romanian Prince of Wallachia(not Transylvania) and the other Bram Stoker's fictional creation. No one can say for certain why Stoker chose Vlad Tepes aka Dracula as the model for his vampire. The Balkans and Greece have always been particularly rich in vampire lore. In his tumultuous life Vlad Dracula had been noted for his military campaigns against the Turks and also for his inhuman cruelty and bloodlust. Vlad the Impaler would have been a logical candidate to model a vampire protagonist upon. (For an in-depth look into The Historical Dracula , see Ray Porter's excellent article.)
The way Vlad III Dracula is viewed differs somewhat by region. Some see him as ruler who did what he had to in the harsh reality of his times, others as a depraved fiend. There's no question he was a mass murderer who relished torture or that his favorite form of killing was impalement. He managed to keep some independence for his country, defying both Turkish aggression and Hungarian Imperialism. In Romania today he's considered a hero, though a controversial one. The Romanian military recently honored him by naming their new assault helicopter the AH1 RO-Dracula.
A page of Pictures
Timeline-Life of Vlad Dracula
Was He a Vampire
Stoker's Dracula
Ssthuck Your Blood
and other delicious abominations
Dracula in Movies
