Destinations
Velkom to Dracula’s Castle! The Man, The Myth, and the Legend of the Vampire Modern myth heroes are way better than original characters and this is one great example. What would Hollywood and global entertainment be nowadays without the vampire genre? And who cares about actual historical facts and figures when fiction is so much more appealing? This is a story told from the perspective of a native Romanian proud of her national history.
The Man. How are legends born? King Vlad the Impaler was a real historical character in Eastern Europe. The country of Romania, as it’s known today, during the Middle Ages it was divided into three separate provinces, Wallachia (south), Moldavia (east), and Transylvania (center-northwest). King Vlad, however, was not a ruler of Transylvania, but of Wallachia, the southern province. This is a fact little known by most foreigners since the vampire is almost exclusively associated with Transylvania. The Myth. Due to King Vlad’s radical approach to justice by extreme measures, a bloody reputation was created involving his thirst for murder for any reason he deemed strong enough to warrant the death of his enemies. Rather than his name, the nickname prevailed in history. Esteemed by common folk, whose wellbeing and security he protected, but hated by aristocracy, whose interests and power he actively undermined to consolidate his own political position, King Vlad made lots of enemies and did not remain in power for long. Eventually, the more or less accurate account of his crimes became the stuff of legend.
based partial information, medieval folklore, and local traditions. The novel, published in 1897, portrays a charming, but bloodthirsty aristocrat from Transylvania, who is a superhero in his own right, a count but not a king. Considered derogatory to the national history by the communist authorities, the novel “Dracula” was not available to Romanians until past the anti- communist revolution, and it became a bestseller upon publication. I own both the first and the second edition of the book, and the foreword of one of them states that it was banned before “because the communist leaders felt that, in the monsters of the book, they may recognize their own hideous faces”. Politics... on historical interpretation, In the early 1990s, after the fall of communism, the novel “Dracula,” by Bram Stoker, was published in Romania for the first time. Contrary to popular belief, we had no prior ownership of the vampire myth. Following the success of the book, some foreign investors expressed an interest in building a vampire-themed horror park in Romania. A few locations were discussed, but every single town council that had a say in the matter opposed the initiative. Because this imported tourist myth is not part of our national culture, Romanians did not want such a park in the middle of their communities.
A book was written by Irish author Bram Stoker,
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