High Stakes
The Fang’s All Here—For Transylvania
By David Jenison
The hot Halloween costumes this year will be Paul the Octopus and a Cleveland Cavs fan (LeBron jersey with knife in the back), but what about the hot Halloween destination? It’s certainly not that Twilight party your co-workers are goobering about, even if going shirtless would qualify as a Jacob costume. Instead, party where the monsters might actually be real—Transylvania! That’s right, what many think is a fictional locale from Dracula lore is actually the perfect place for a fang-banging fiesta.
Bram Stoker’s unholy Dracula was the first global bestseller not named the Bible, and part of its appeal was that the 19th-century novel had its roots in real life. There was an actual bloodthirsty Dracula in Transylvania in the 15th century. Vlad Tepes (his title “Dracula” meant “Son of the Dragon” or “Son of the Devil” in Romanian) spent much of his youth imprisoned and whipped by an Ottoman Sultan, yet when the boyars killed his family, the Turks sent Dracula back home. He conquered Wallachia, an area bordering Transylvania, and then slaughtered the boyars. Dracula then turned his sights back on the Turks. His preferred method of execution—driving stakes through a prisoner’s body and hoisting them up like a crucifixion—earned him the nickname Vlad the Impaler. It’s said that an advancing Ottoman army once came upon a forest of 20,000 impaled prisoners, and the sights and smells were enough to turn them back. Dracula eventually died in combat, but a gypsy legend says he rose from the dead 200 years later. Thus, Halloween’s the perfect time to tap into this wellspring of terrifying history.
Several companies offer Dracula-themed tours and parties that culminate in a Halloween bash in Sighisoara, the medieval fortress town where Dracula was born. Various events include a Lady Transylvania beauty pageant (just don’t shorten the name), auctions for Vlad Dracula artifacts and even dinner in Bran Castle, a.k.a. Dracula’s Castle. For those skipping a tour, the best place to start is Brasov. This gorgeous Transylvanian town is surrounded by the heavily forested Carpathian Mountains, and in the fall, the trees turn more shades of orange than John Boehner at a Syracuse game. There’s also a popular restaurant that serves brown bear. And with apologies to Ozzy, this town even claims the original Black Sabbath. Built under the motivation of several papal indulgences, the Black Church features a 6-ton bell, a 4,000-pipe organ and black walls stained from the fires of a 17th-century war.
Brasov also offers easy access to the Bran Castle. Dracula only stayed there once, but this spooky castle built by the Teutonic Knights certainly fits the bill as the Count’s fictional residence. Travel a bit further to see Poenari, the so-called Real Dracula’s Castle, perched high above the Arges River valley. More fortress than castle, Poenari is the site of Dracula’s epic battle against the Ottomans that ultimately saw the warlord’s wife commit suicide with a leap from a tower. Interestingly, the castle earned a reputation as one of the world’s most haunted structures well before Dracula tourism emerged.
Halloween night itself should be spent in Sighisoara since that’s where most of the big parties will take place. This UNESCO heritage site features lots of Dracula attractions, incredible medieval architecture and a 500-year-old, 200-foot clock tower in the city center. There’s even a Dracula hotel.
With a destination in hand, the next question is what to wear. The punk rock move, however, would be going as a vampire hunter like Blade, Van Helsing, Buffy, Rayne or especially The Lost Boys’ Edgar Frog (a.k.a. Corey Feldman). Just make sure to load up on Holy Water, which in Romania is called “vodka.”
Photos Courtesy of www.romaniatourism.com
