April 16, 2006

In Search of the Real Dracula For the true believer, the boundaries between Bram Stoker's creation and historical fact have become blurred, like all great legends. Many people believe that the immortal count was based on a real person: a medieval Romanian warlord called Vlad Tepes, also know as "Vlad the Impaler" and "Vlad Dracula." Was this famous national hero the man behind the legend?
posted by At Swim Two Birds 18 years ago
  • Which of course sparks the age-old debate: Who was the best film Dracula - George Hamilton or Leslie Neilsen?
  • George was the best Zorro. Twiceover.
  • Dammnit, I thought I typed Hamilton. and yes, I looked at preview. /bee it ever so humble
  • I happened to read the Wikipedia Dracula article recently (I stumbled upon it while searching for info on Elizabeth/Erzsebet Bathory). For what it's worth the article downplays any connection between Stoker's Dracula and Vlad Tepes.
  • timefactor, if you are interested in Elizabeth Bathory, Andrei Codrescu's The Blood Countess is a fun read.
  • According to Matthew Bunson's The Vampire Encyclopedia, vampires are characterized by hair on the palms "a trait that is largely fictional", and (what I personally most particularly resent) red hair. "The Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, and Romanians believed that red was the hair color of vampires, joining often with blue eyes, another vampiric attribute." Says who?!? (No, this is not a red herring! Really says so!) So much has been publicized about the dread Nosferatu that it hardly seems worthwhile to recap here. However, some lesser-known facts about vampires from this same [often amusing, whether intended or no] work are: "Less Common Methods [for the Annihilation of Vampires]: Stealing the left sock: Useful for only a few species; fill a sock with soil, grave dirt, or rocks, and throw outside of village limits, aiming for a river. Injecting with holy water: Demands close proximity to vampire...." "Detecting the Vampire: At the Grave or Cemetery...finger-size holes" Have to say this book is very uneven in quality: some parts are hysteria-inducing, while other parts are what kids used to call Dullsville.
  • Sock????
  • Yes. The left sock is specified.
  • ... speaking of close proximity to vampires ...
  • *slooowly moves away from Chyren*
  • Remember when the current Dracula was looking to adopt an heir ? I send them a letter and a photo. They sent me a nice letter back, but they're looking for someone who looks more like the current guy ( who is the spitting image of the original Dracula ). Oh well.
  • I do have vampyre fangs, but they're at the bottom. They're like two little tusks that are at each end of the bottom front teeth. They aren't long, they just sit like bookends (my teeth are crowded).
  • AND I CAN BITE YOU NYAAAAAAAAANG
  • The left sock is the "sinister" one.
  • Naw, they both smell equally foul. On an unrelated topic, a friend of my fathers used to say that if you put garlic salts into a person's socks you'll be able to smell it on their breath within the hour of them putting them on. I wonder if vampires would like replacement left socks filled with garlic salt?
  • Red hair and blue eyes? Damn, I'm outed! *hides from sun*
  • yes, now we know the truth! its not "fear of sunburn" its the evil of your vampire (non)soul!
  • Evil laugh That wasn't me! That was... someone else....
  • Munch's picture shows a red-haired woman, Medusa -- was that you? Come here, my dear. Do let me bite your neck, and thus we'll pass the night.
  • may wee, bees. altho my eyes are green, which I believe means I am a witch, not a vampire. however, I will still be happy to sample your neck-tar ;)
  • Vlad was dead sexy and I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.
  • Buffy Euro-trashed him. Episode one, season five.