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and earth than are dreamt of

in your philosophy.

There are more things in heaven

Dracula, published in 1897,

is one of the all time
great money-making novels.

It has been sold in millions
of copies throughout the world.

This greatest of all
horror classics

has also been a hit play
in several countries

and has inspired more
commercially successful films

than any other novel.

Dracula was written by
the Irish author bram stoker,

best known in his own time
as the business manager

of Henry Irving,
one of the most famous,

theatrical personalities
of the victorian age.

Stoker is supposed
to have modeled Dracula's

physical appearance on Irving.

The novel tells the story
of count Dracula,

who plans to gain control
of the world

by turning everyone
into vampires.

He leaves his ancestral home
in transylvania

and goes to england,

taking with him
several boxes of earth

as his daylight hours
must be spent

resting on his native soil.

Transylvania, which means
the land beyond the forest

is often thought to be
a mythical place,

in fact, it is an ancient
province of Romania

which consists of
a high plateau ringed

by the rugged
carpathian mountains.

Even today,
it is one of the wildest

and least known parts of Europe.

The population is of rich,
national origins.

Romanian, Hungarian,

slovak, German, and székelys.

In book, count Dracula
speaks of his decent

from these székelys,

who's ancestors
were probably huns.

Stoker never visited
transylvania

but gained most of his
knowledge at the British museum

from old maps and guidebooks.

He made free use of
transylvanian history,

folklore and geography to create

an atmosphere of terror.

He wrote that, "every known
superstition in the world

was gathered into the horseshoe
of the carpathians,

as if it was some sort of
imaginary whirlpool.”

On leaving the carpathians,

count Dracula journeys
to england

and proceeds immediately
to carfax,

an old castle
where he intends to hide

while ravaging the countryside.

Dracula must remain in
his grave during the daytime

but at night, his lust for blood

becomes unquenchable,
his brain power limitless,

and his physical strength
irresistible.

He quickly adds to his
countless list of victims.

Eventually, Dracula is found out

and forced to flee england.

He makes for his remote castle
in transylvania,

certain that no one will
be able to trace him there.

Stoker located Dracula's castle
near bistrita

in northern transylvania.

Although he had never
visited the area,

his descriptions were
remarkably accurate.

He writes, "the road
was cut through pine woods

that seemed in the darkness
to be closing down upon us,

as the evening fell,
great masses of greyness

produced a weird
and solemn effect.

Beyond Rose the forest
up to the lofty steeps

of the carpathian's themselves.

Blue and purple
in the shadows of the peaks,

green and brown
where grass and rock mingle.

An endless perspective
of mountains

losing themselves
in the distance.

Then the mountains seem to
come nearer to us on each side,

we were entering
the borgo pass itself.

A sinister silence
seemed to settle,

but for a strange music a far.”

According to the novel,
Dracula's castle

is not mentioned
in any guidebook

nor did it appear on any map.

Stoker wrote,
"we looked back and saw

where the clear line of
Dracula's castle cut the sky,

there was something wild
and uncanny about the place.

We could hear the distance
howling of wolves."

At the end of the story,

count Dracula is about to
reach the safety of his castle

when he is caught
by the hero Jonathan harker

and the vampire expert,
Dr. Van Helsing.

Just as the sun is about to set,

Dracula's head is cut off

with a kukri knife,

and a bowing knife
is plunged into his heart.

Count Dracula
instantly turns to dust

and vanishes forever.

In reality, peasant life
in the more remote villages

of transylvania has not
changed much for centuries,

and belief in vampires
and other superstitions

is still strong, though such
things are now rarely spoken.

Living today,
in the valley of arges

below castle Dracula,
is the gypsy tinker.

Should it calls
that when her father

was laid out for burial in 1932,

it was discovered that
rigor mortis had not set in,

the skin was still pliable

and the cheeks bore
a ruddy completion.

The villagers believed, that
of course he must be a vampire.

So they plunged a wooden stake
through his heart

and as an added safeguard,
burned his body.

Vampire belief has existed
since the dawn of civilization

throughout the world,
but has been most common

in eastern Europe.

Vampires are creatures
of the night

who can either be men or women.

In eastern Europe they're
supposed to have two souls

and are neither alive nor dead

but undead,
as one's soul never dies.

Vampires cannot rest
in the grave

but will spend the night
searching for victims,

people, or animals
whose blood they drink.

The victims either
die immediately

or gradually waste away,

and some become vampires
after death.

At cockcrow or when
the morning bell tolls,

vampires must return
to their coffins

or risk dissolving
in the sunlight.

They spend their daylight hours
in the grave,

and under their fingernails
are traces of blood.

The universal fear of death

and the impossible desire
for eternal life

are deeply rooted
in vampire belief.

As is the oriental concept
of reincarnation

or eternal return.

In transylvania,
vampirism was originally

a folk superstition
rather than a religious idea,

it probably came from Asia
by caravan route

and with a nomadic magyars
around the birth of Christ,

centering in
the carpathian mountains

and mixing with the rich
folklore of that region.

Who can become a vampire?

Criminals, witches,
those born with teeth,

those under a curse,

and young children
who die unchristened.

The seventh son
of a seventh son is doomed.

And one must be
very cautious of a man

who does not eat garlic.

Vampires can assume
a variety of animal forms,

such as large dogs,
snakes, or bats

and in Romania, particularly,
wolves and black cats.

They are tremendously strong,

they cast no shadow,
have no reflection in mirrors,

and can make
themselves invisible

by dissolving into a mist.

It is also believed
that every year

on Saint Andrew's Eve,

vampires meet at places
like graveyards,

to decide on their programs
for the coming year.

Who is to be killed and by who.

In transylvania folklore,
vampires are almost always

peasants rather than nobleman,

as literary tradition
would have it.

However, countess
Elizabeth barthory

born in 15670
was a famous exception.

Her family coat of arms

consisted of three wolves teeth,

and Elizabeth herself
was said to have been

a living vampiress or werewolf.

In her castle
in northern Hungary,

she butchered nearly
600 young girls,

bathing and showering
in their blood,

which she hoped would
keep her eternally young

and beautiful.

Still standing in Vienna
is her house on blutgasse,

blood street,
where she perpetrated

many of her horrible deeds.

Eventually, Elizabeth's
monstrous crimes

were discovered and she was

walled into a cell
in her castle.

Here, she died 12 years later.

Never again having seen
the light of day.

This traditional Romanian dance

here performed by
the national folklore ballet,

was once used to exercise
evil spirits.

The solo dancer
was beaten with sticks

and bitten by his fellow dancers

in an attempt to
frighten away the devil.

In Romania, witchcraft,
diabolism, and vampirism

are all closely associated.

For instance,
the snake or dragon

is an ancient symbol
for the devil.

Dracul in Romanian,
which frequently appears

in Romanian paintings
and literature.

The legend of Saint George
and the dragon

is very reminiscent
of both vlad's impalings

and the killings
of vampires with stakes.

Vampires are also
said to be most active

between the Eve's of
Saint Andrew and Saint George,

a superstition
which is closely tied

fo the Greek orthodox religion.

The Greek orthodox church
has often unjustly

been credited with originating
the vampire concept,

however, the Greek church
has always leaned towards

mysticism and attached great
importance to complicated

rituals in the worship
of saints and icons,

thus creating a hotbed
for all sorts of superstitions.

Vampire belief may sometimes
have been used by the church

to increase its
hold on the people.

In much the same way as
the Jews believe in witchcraft.

For centuries,
the Greek orthodox church

taught that the bodies
of those excommunicated

would not decompose
in the grave.

As vampires,
according to popular belief,

were recognizable
because their bodies

did not decompose in the grave,

excommunication meant
becoming a vampire on death.

The church claimed that if
a priest administered exorcism,

this was sufficient to seal
the vampire in its grave.

However, history shows
that most people

did not trust the power
of the church over vampires.

The drinking of blood
and sacrificial blood offerings

have played an important role
in most great religions.

For thousands of years,
man has endowed blood

with magical powers such as,
that drinking the blood

of someone of great strength

increases ones own strength.

During mass, priest drinks wine,

which has become
the blood of Christ

through transubstantiation

and the congregation eats
the bread or flesh of Christ

to has thus sacrificed
to god anew

the gospel according to
Saint John holds a passage

which could well apply to
the vampire mixing its blood

with that of its victim.

"Except ye eat flesh
to the son of man

and drink his blood,
ye have no life in you.

So eat my flesh
and drinkith my blood

hath eternal life and I will
raise him up on the last day.”

The vampire bat
has many things in common

with its human counterpart.

An erect head,
web-like hands for wings,

and the ability to walk upright.

A bite from its
extremely sharp teeth

has an anesthetic quality
and its saliva

contains an anticoagulant

which quickens the flow
of blood from the wounds

it inflicts on its victims.

The attack of the vampire bat

is very like that
of the folklore vampire.

It first stalks
and hypnotizes its prey,

after which,
it bites into a vein

and begins to lap up blood

with its long tongue.

At sundown,
creatures of the night

are thought to stir and
vampires rise from the grave.

People must be careful
in passing low ruins,

crossroads, and churchyards.

The erotic element
in vampirism is very strong,

for instance, a vampire is said
to be the only night creature

capable of sex,
although his children are born

without bones.

He usually chooses
one particular woman,

in a specific locality
to be his bride

and relentlessly pursues her

in a kind of macabre courtship.

He may attack others,

but if he is denied
his chosen loved one,

he may go berserk
and wreak havoc.

In former times,
the report of a vampire attack

created panic, everyone
took immediate precautions

to protect themselves,
especially during the hours

between sundown and sunrise.

Bells were rung
to sound the alarm

and were thought to
frighten vampires away.

People shut themselves
tightly indoors.

Many left the countryside
to seek shelter in towns,

and Shepherds drove
their flocks to safety,

as vampires might attack
sheep as well as humans.

At night,
torches were lit outside

and many candles
were kept burning inside.

People sat up until cockcrow
and told stories

for when stories are told,

vampires cannot approach.

In some areas, vampires
were thought to be unable

to cross running water
and throughout transylvania

garlic was an
extremely potent weapon.

Windows and doors
were anointed with this garlic

and all cows and other
farm animals were supposed to

be rubbed with it
to protect them as well.

The thorns of wild roses were
sure to keep vampires away,

thus thorns or Poppy seeds
were spread on the paths

leading from the local
churchyard to the village.

When the vampire took the path,

he had to stop to pick up every
one of the thorns or seeds.

This so delayed him as he
could not reach the village

before sunrise, at which time
he had to return to the grave.

Large black dogs
with an extra set of eyes

painted on them in white,
also discouraged vampires.

The church added the cross
and the communion wafer

as major weapons
against vampires.

As soon as a vampire
began to ravage an area,

an all out effort was made
to find it in its grave

and destroy it.

One common method
of locating the vampire

was to chose a boy or girl,
young enough to be a virgin

and seat them naked
on a horse of a solid color,

which was also a virgin
and it never stumbled.

The horse was lead
through the cemetery

and over all the graves
recognizable

from one or several holes
big enough,

the vampires tomb
was also supposed to be

for a servant to pass though.

The most usual way
of killing a vampire

was to drive a stake
though the heart or navel

during daylight hours, when
the vampire lay in its grave.

The stake had to be made
from a wild rosebush,

an ash, or Aspen tree.

In some areas, iron bars,
preferably heated red-hot,

were used instead of wood.

The stake had to be
driven though the body

and into the ground under
the corpse

fo keep the vampire
from rising again.

As the stake pierced it,
the body twisted in agony

and fresh blood flowed,
a horrible scream

also accompanied the act,

after which a look of peace
settled on the vampire's face,

final release of torment
and real death.

Ah!

Many other means of killing
vampires were practiced.

The vampire's head
was sometimes cut off

and put between
the legs of the corpse,

or the body could be
buried at crossroads,

According to Romanian legend,

if a vampire is not found
and rendered harmless,

it first kills all members
of its immediate family

and then the other
inhabitants of the village.

At last, the vampire climbs up

into the belfry of the church

and calls out the names
of any survivors

who instantly die.

Or in some areas, the vampire
rings the death knell

and all who hear it
die on the spot.

Inevitably, the folkloric
vampire of eastern Europe

began to disappear
in modern times,

but in 1964, Dr. Robert mccully

of the medical university
of south Carolina

published the only authentic
psychological case study

of a person showing
vampire traits.

The subject was bill, a young,

unmarried, white male American.

He displayed the essential
vampire characteristics.

He was clearly aware
of bearing eternal curse,

the ever constant desire
for life and renewal,

coupled with a horrible wish
to destroy human beings

in order to maintain
his own existence.

Bill performed acts
of vampirism on himself,

that is, he drank his own blood.

The vampire's always been
a creature of nightmares,

the nocturnal spirit
who embraces the sleeper

to suck his blood.

Bill frequented reported
dreams of bloodletting

and felt anxiety upon awakening.

Sometimes these dreams were
filled with a sense of peace

and being loved by someone,

but sometimes bill felt
that he had subdued someone

who had attacked him.

He often dreamed
of sucking blood

from the necks of young boys.

Bill spent most of his time
wandering about alone

and constantly suffered
from an unexplained cycle.

Four days of elation,

followed by twelve days
of depression,

his deepest depression coincided

with the appearance
of the full moon.

Bills case defies
conventional psychology.

He had no knowledge
of the vampire myth.

However, his earliest
childhood memories

were strangely significant.

At the age of seven,
he saw a dog hit by a car,

lying in a dark pool of blood
in the street.

He also recalls that
after a walk in the park

together with his nurse,

she placed his warm hands
on her cold neck.

Extensive psychological testing
showed bill to be intelligent,

but emotionally very immature.

However, nothing directly
pathological was established,

except possibly,
a fascination with blood

and the mystical.

Bill's interpretation
of the rorschach cards

was very revealing.

The lower part of the anatomy

of some large animal,

part of a living thing,

or once part of a living thing.

The red could be blood
that came from it,

ripped out of
a dissected corpse.

On second look,
the red seems like a fluid,

draining symmetrically.

Dr. mccully reasons that bill
may not have been mentally ill

in the usual sense
and offers a startling theory,

that the ancient vampire
image may be one

of the primitive archetypes

suggested by Dr. Carl jung.

Concepts which supposedly
govern our thoughts

hidden deep within
everybody's unconscious mind.

Mccully speculates that
the vampire archetype

may have mysteriously risen
from the unconscious

and taken possession of bill,

of that in the same way,

all of us might have
the potential

fo become vampires.

How happy this would
have made count Dracula.

In criminology, the
living-vampire is not uncommon.

The term refers to
the sadistic sex murderer,

mostly male,
bites or cuts the throats

of his victims
and drinks their blood.

One famous example
is Peter kiirten

the vampire of disseldorf

who directly inspired
Fritz lang's famous film m.

Kiirten was executed in 1931

for 29 murders.

In the daytime, he was
a hardworking lorry driver

and considerate husband,

but at night,
he became a vampire.

He wrote to the mother
of one of his victims,

five-year-old girl,

"what do you want me to do,
madame?

I need blood
as others need alcohol.”

John haigh, the vampire of
London,

writes in his confession

that his thirst
for blood was awakened

when he cut his finger
as a small boy

and licked the wound.

The feeling of lust,
he then experienced,

changed his whole nature.

He said, "I then realized
that I belong

to the species of vampires.”

He killed nine people,

slitting their throats
and drinking their blood

directly from the wounds.

Modern criminologists
may well term

the 18th century prince,
vlad tepes Dracula

a living vampire.

This dreaded Romanian prince,

described in contemporary
pamphlets as,

"a monster
of tyrannical cruelty,”

inspired bram stoker to create
his character, count Dracula.

The prince was best known as,
"te 0 e s, ”

which means, "impaler,"

because of his fondness
for that form

of torture and execution.

However, he was also known as,
"Dracula,"

which, in Romanian, can mean

either, "son of the devil,"

or, "son of the dragon.”

Stoker simply drew upon

the rich Romanian
vampire tradition

in resurrecting vlad
as count Dracula.

The count,
as described in the novel,

closely resembles various
15th century portraits of vlad.

Stoker writes,
"his face was a strong aquiline

with a thin, high-bridged nose

and peculiarly arched nostrils.

His eyebrows were very massive,
almost meeting over the nose,

and with bushy hair that seemed
to curl in its own profusion.

The mouth, so far
as I could see it under

the heavy moustache was fixed
and rather cruel-looking."

This painting
of a martyrdom of St. Andrew

from Dracula's own time

includes him as an observer.

As St. Andrew was the patron
Saint of the saxons,

vlad may have been shown

because of his reputed cruelty
towards saxons.

But, in Romania,
St. Andrew is also said to be

a protector of vampires.

The only existing life-sized
portrait of vlad

is located at ambras castle
near innsbruck, Austria.

Archduke ferdinand ii
who owned the castle

during the 16th century

had a perverse hobby
of documenting the villains

and deformed personalities
of history.

If such persons
could be found alive,

the archduke tried
to settle them in the castle.

A few giants, a notorious dwarf,

and the wolf man
from the canary islands

stayed on at ambras castle
for some years

in order to have
their portraits painted.

The wolf man had a hormal wife

but his two children
inherited his hairy skin

and devilish countenance.

Ferdinand's gallery
of rogues and monsters

contains many grisly studies.

Dracula's reputation
as a mass murderer

ensured his place
in the archduke's collection.

Vlad Dracula's birthplace
in transylvania

is the old German fortified
town of sighisoara,

south of bistrita.

The house in which viad was born

bears a plaque
identifying his father,

vlad dracul, the devil,
prince of wallachia.

Some historians consider
vlad Dracula a hero,

who fought for christianity
and the independence

of his country
against the turks.

Others claim he was
a madman who killed

and tortured wantonly
for sadistic pleasure.

Dracula may not
have been more cruel

than many other rulers
of the 15th century,

such as Mohammed il of Turkey,

Ivan the terrible,
or cesare borgia.

But, his executions
were much greater in number.

In creating count Dracula,

stoker may have been
struck by the similarity

between viad's impalings
and the killing of vampires

by driving stakes
through their bodies.

Impalement was a fairly
rare form of execution

and vlad was one
of the few rulers to use it.

Horses were usually employed
to pull a victim onto a stake

so that it pierced
the length of the body.

And the victim left to die,

which sometimes took
agonizing hours,

or even days.

Dracula's best known
mass impalement

took place in 1459,

on tampa hill, above brasov.

Here Dracula and his boyars

feasted for a whole month,

while thousands of saxons
were methodically impaled

on neat rows of stakes
around them.

This contemporary German woodcut

depicts the scene.

It is said that Dracula's
chief pleasure

was to dine with his court

surrounded by dead and dying
people impaled on stakes.

Once, a certain nobleman
was supposed to have complained

that he could not enjoy his meal

because of the stench
of rotting corpses

surrounding the table.

Dracula thereupon
had the nobleman impaled

on a much higher stake
than the others,

so that he would be
above the stench.

Countless such tales
about Dracula's bloody deeds

and macabre sense of humor

persist to this day
in transylvania.

Most of them portray him
as merciless,

yet possessed of a strange
sense of justice

and tragic destiny,
much like count Dracula.

According to legend,
a Hungarian merchant

once came to viad's city.

While he slept, someone stole
160 gold ducats from him.

The merchant went to Dracula
and told him of his loss.

Dracula said, "go your way

and in the morning
you will find your gold."

He then commanded that
a search be made for the gold

throughout the city and said
that if the thief was not found

he would burn the entire town.

When the merchant arose
next morning,

he found his money returned.

He counted it once,
and then twice.

There was one ducat too many.

The merchant went again
to Dracula and said,

"my lord, I have found the gold,

but there is one ducat more
which is not mine."

Dracula then revealed that
he had ordered the extra ducat

placed there and said that

if the merchant had
not told him about it,

he would have impaled
him with the thief.

The merchant was
very grateful to Dracula

and took his cart
and left the city.

Though Dracula showed a certain
kindness to the merchant,

he is said to have solved
the problem of poverty

in his kingdom by inviting
all poor people and beggars

to a great banquet, and then,

setting fire to the hall.

Everyone inside
was burned alive.

In a particular place,

there was a spring of cold,
fresh water

and many came to drink.

Dracula placed a large, fine,
golden cup by the spring.

All who drank from the cup
returned it to its place,

and while vlad Dracula lived,
no one dared steal it.

Dracula had a peasant mistress

who lived in a poor,
outlying part of targoviste.

He visited her often,

but his interest
was purely physical.

The woman, on the other hand,
fell in love with Dracula

and grew afraid of losing him.

One night she told him that she
was going to have his child.

Dracula became angry and said
that this would not be.

He then cut her open from her
loins to her breast and said,

"let the world see where I have
been and where my fruit lay."

Bram stoker
did not know that a real

castle Dracula existed.

But his description
of the count's castle

at the borgo pass
is uncannily apt.

The real castle Dracula
is perched on top of a rock

1,000 feet above
the arges river in wallachia.

It is nearly inaccessible
from the valley.

The original fortress
was very old,

but vlad rebuilt it
when he came to power.

And, ever since,
it has been known as the castle

of vlad tepes, viad the impaler.

Reconstruction of the castle
was a nearly super human feat,

accomplished in typical
Dracula fashion.

One of vlad's brothers, mircea,

had been killed
by the boyars of tirgoviste.

It is said that
Dracula retaliated

by seizing the boyars
during the easter celebrations

when they were all dressed
in their finest clothes.

He impaled the old people
and put the younger people,

men, women, and children,
to work rebuilding the castle.

They are supposed
to have labored

until their clothes became rags
and dropped off their backs.

Many died from over-work
and fell from the cliffs.

But the caste was finished
within a few months.

Dracula's reign was dominated
by his confrontation

with Mohammed the conqueror
of Turkey.

By 1461, vlad had achieved
sufficient power

fo plan an all out campaign
to rid Romania of the turks.

The sultan became aware
of his ambitions

and sent envoys to negotiate
a truce with him.

However, they had
secret instructions

fo lure vlad into a trap

where he would be seized
by turkish troops.

The story goes that
when the emissaries refused

fo remove their turbans
in vlad's presence,

as it was against their custom,

he ordered the turbans
nailed to their heads

and sent them away
saying that the turks

must learn to respect
the customs of a great leader.

History records only
that vlad sensed treachery

and captured
the entire turkish force.

He impaled them
oh a forest of stakes

outside the walls
of his capital, tirgoviste,

placing the envoys on two
stakes higher than the rest,

in deference to their rank.

He then launched
his famous campaign

along the danube river

with a force of between
10 and 20,000 men,

consisting mostly
of rapid moving cavalry

and peasant conscripts,

vlad pushed all the way
to the black sea.

At first,
vlad met with great success.

After his capture
of the fortress of giurgiu,

he wrote to king Matthias
of Hungary

that 23,809 men

had been slain and impaled.

Vlad was certain
with the figure,

because their heads
had been carefully counted,

and whose heads, of course,
could not be connected.

During the famous
night of terror,

he boldly attacked
the sultan's camp.

However, his bodyguard read it

and vlad was forced to retreat.

The road to tirgoviste
now lay open.

But the turks were greeted
by the grisly remains

impaled by vlad
the previous year

and now blackened by the sun
and half eaten by birds.

The sultan was moved
to tears and said,

"what can we do
with a man like this?"

He ordered the retreat
of his army

but a small force in command
of vlad's own brother, radu,

was directed to pursue Dracula
to his remote castle

high in the mountains
above the arges river.

Radu laid siege to the
fortress, during which,

Dracula's wife despaired
and took her own life

by casting herself
from a parapet

to the arges river far below.

Viad himself was forced to flee

through a secret tunnel
on a horse shod backwards

to confuse pursuers.

After escaping the turks
by crossing

the nearly impossible
transylvanian alps,

Dracula sought the protection
of king Matthias

at fagaras castle.

Instead of granting
vlad sanctuary,

the king had him arrested.

Little is known about
Dracula's life of exile,

but he, apparently, could not
control his lust for blood.

A Russian story relates
that he used to catch mice

and buy birds in the market

and then torture and impale them

oh rows of small stakes.

In stoker's novel,
count Dracula's mad helper,

renfield, also took
a sadistic pleasure

in torturing small animals.

Viad was a handsome man

and his fabled power over women

soon led to a romance with
one of king Matthias's sisters.

They were eventually married

and Dracula regained
his freedom.

Viad did succeed
in recapturing tirgoviste

and the citadel of Bucharest
from his brother, rad...

But only two months after
regaining the wallachian throne

he was killed outside
of Bucharest.

He had disguised himself
as a turkish soldier

in order to obtain precise
information about the enemy.

His head was sent to Istanbul

as a trophy for the sultan.

Viad's headless body is said
to have been found by monks

from snagov monastery
in the marshes near Bucharest,

who secretly
interred him in a crypt

facing the chapel alter.

In 1931, the tomb was opened,

but the casket
and body were missing.

Later on, another grave
was discovered

near the front door
to the chapel.

It is possible
that vlad's body was moved

because the monks
did not want to have someone

of his sinister reputation
buried close to the alter.

A Romanian peasant belief holds

that vlad Dracula
will someday rise again

to save the country
in a time of great trouble.

A well known Romanian poem goes,

"Dracula, where are you now
that we need you?"

Eastern Europe,
and particularly transylvania,

has long been known
to folklore experts

and devotees of Dracula alike

as the center of vampire belief.

But the vampire in literature
owes its fame almost entirely

to the works
of english and Irish authors.

The most successful
of these vampire tales

were written during
the 19th century.

This was the age
of gothic horror,

and countless stories
of the terrible and the unknown

flooded the bookshops
of england.

Strangely enough,
the two most famous

literary and movie monsters
were born at the same time,

the undead vampire count

and Dr. Frankenstein's
living monster,

fashioned from dead bodies.

It happened in 1815
at the magnificent villa,

diodati, on the shores
of lake Geneva in Switzerland.

Lord Byron, the leading
literary figure of the century,

was spending the summer there

together with his 20-year-old
physician, John polidori.

Percy bysshe shelley and his
18-year-old wife-to-be, Mary,

had rented
a modest house nearby.

According to Mary's diary,

rainy evenings
were spent round the fire

at the villa diodati
reading ghost stories

and discussing the supernatural.

One night, Byron suggested
that they all write

their own ghost stories.

He himself never finished his.

But, polidori, who also
had literary ambitions,

turned Byron's story info

the first english vampire novel:

The vampyre, published in 1816.

His hero, lord ruthven,
was the first in a long line

of vampire counts culminating
in stoker's, count Dracula.

Polidori probably intended
lord ruthven

as a parody to Byron who,
he felt, had mistreated him.

Byron did had some classic
vampire characteristics.

He once, for instance,
lived in a half ruined Abbey.

And, in later years,
wore only black,

ate almost nothing to keep slim,

and drank vinegar
to make his face pale.

He also had an extraordinary
power over women and young men.

Mary shelley's Frankenstein,

perhaps the first work
of science fiction,

also took form one evening
at the villa diodati,

during which, everybody
discussed Darwin's theories

and human efforts
to create life.

Afterwards, Mary went to bed
in an uneasy mood

and experienced
a terrible nightmare.

She awoke in fright
and could not go back to sleep.

The next morning
she began writing her story.

"Twas on a dreary night
of November that I beheld

the accomplishment of my task.

It was already
one in the morning.

The rain pattered dismally
against the panes

and my candle
was nearly burnt out.

Then, by the glimmer
of the half extinguished light,

I saw the dull, yellow eye
of the creature open.

It breathes hard
and convulsive motion

agitates its limbs."

Mary shelley's diary
provides some clues

as to how she conceived
of Frankenstein.

During 1814, she took a trip
up the rhine river.

"We leave mainz at six o'clock
and proceed in a little boat.

The banks of the rhine
are very fine,

rocks and mountains
crowned with lonely castles."

One such castle
Mary probably visited

was the burg Frankenstein,

built atop the densely forested
magnetburg mountain.

Within this castle, in 1673,

was born the famous alchemist,

who searched
for the elixir of life

through diabolical experiments.

Mary no doubt heard this
strange story,

as well as others,
about the mysterious barons

Frankenstein.

The castle chapel
has an eerie atmosphere

which would have made
a strong impression

on the young Mary shelley.

Stone reliefs Mark the graves

of several long dead
frankensteins

who met with violent ends.

A curse was supposed fo have
destroyed three members

of the family
in rapid succession.

There is also the legend of
baron Georg Von Frankenstein,

who killed a dragon
that was chasing his lady love,

annemarie,
only to be killed himself.

Mary's diary also tells
of a visit to mont blanc

and the sea of ice,
so lyrically described

in her book
by the creature himself.

"Monday, July the 22nd,
chamounix.

As we continued, the mountains
increased in height and beauty.

The summit of the highest

was hidden in clouds.

But they sometimes peeked
out into the blue sky higher,

one would think, than the
safety of god would permit.

Tuesday, July the 23rd,
chamounix.

We continued our route on foot
and came to the source

which lies like a stage,
surrounded on three sides

by mountains and glaciers.

We sat on a rock
which formed the fourth side,

gazing on the scene before us.

An immense glacier
was on our left.

In the cathedral at sibiu,
transylvania,

is buried
baron franc Von Frankenstein.

Oddly enough,
Dracula's only legitimate son,

mihnea the bad,
was murdered in the church

and is said to be
buried there as well.

By the middle
of the 19th century,

interest in
vampires and vampirism

had spread throughout Europe.

In england, weekly serial
novels had become the rage.

One of the most popular
was varney the vampire

or the feast of blood.

It was of doubtful
literary value,

but the piece ended
spectacularly

with the vampire baron
throwing himself

into the hissing mouth
of mt. Vesuvius.

But it was a woman vampire,
rather than a man,

who set the stage for Dracula.

Sheridan le fanu, Irish master
of the supernatural,

published carmilla in 1872.

The story made a deep
impression on bram stoker,

who was then a civil
servant in Dublin

and an unpaid theater critic.

10 years later, the flamboyant,
red-bearded irishman

became associated
with Henry Irving.

Just as polidori had modelled
lord ruthvern on Byron,

stoker no doubt gave Dracula

some of Irving's
impressive qualities.

Bram stoker claimed that
a nightmare about a vampire

after a late supper of dressed
crab inspired Dracula.

However, he had always
had an intense interest

in the supernatural.

He wrote 17 books in all,

but only Dracula
is really remembered today.

He did not live to see
the enormous success

of his novel,
but died in near poverty,

according to
the death certificate,

"from exhaustion.”

Stoker's description
of count Dracula

still evokes a sense
of mysterious destiny.

He wrote, "count must
indeed have been that

voya vod Dracula

who won his fame
against the turk.

If it be so,
then he was no common man.

For in that time,
and for centuries after,

he was spoken of as the
cleverest and the most cunning,

as well as the bravest
of the sons

of the land beyond the forest,
transylvania.

The Draculas were
a great and noble race,

though, now and again,
were said to have dealings

with the evil one.

In one manuscript, this very
Dracula is spoken of as,

'one peel which we all

understand too well.'"

the vampire has achieved
its greatest popularity

as a movie theme.

In the early days of movies,

theda bara, immortalized
the term, "vamp,"

which later became a symbol
for the roaring 20s.

The vamp was a kind of vampire,

a girl who first
charmed her victims

before draining them
of their love or money,

rather than their blood.

However, in this scene
from the hawk's trail,

made in 1919,
our vamp is hired by villains

actually to do in
Ace detective Sheldon Steele.

In 1921, Max schreck,

became the first film Dracula
in nosferatu.

This classic silent film
was directed

by the German expressionist,
friedrich murnau.

It drew openly on stoker's book,

and, although murnau
gave stoker the credit,

he did not seek permission.

The court ordered the negative
and all prints destroyed.

But, somehow, the film survived

and was shown on a limited
basis in London and America.

Legal or not,
nosferatu captured a mood

which has seldom been equaled.

Like bram stoker, the famous
Danish director, Carl dreyer,

was fascinated by le fanu's
story, carmilla.

In 1932, he made his
classic film, vampyr,

based on the story.

Briefly, a young woman
is victimized by a vampire.

After many adventures,
the vampire's helper,

Dr. hieronimko, is buried alive,

and the hero drives a stake

through the heart
of the vampire,

an old countess.

As always, dreyer obtained
fine performance

from his amateur actors.

The first mass audience
Dracula film was made in 1931

and starred the Hungarian
actor, bela lugosi,

who had also played
the role of Dracula

innumerable times on the stage.

The film was an immediate
and lasting success.

Lugosi said that
90% of his fan mail

was from women who found
Dracula strangely attractive.

He himself was born
in the Hungarian town of lugos

and immigrated
to the United States.

In the mid-1920s,
lugosi starred with Lila Lee

in the midnight girl,
a silent melodrama.

His menacing role in this film
is very suggestive of Dracula,

the role that was to make him
famous several years later.

Although lugosi remained,
for most people,

the one and only Dracula,

a number of other Dracula films
were produced in the 40s.

In 1958, the Dracula tradition

was revived
in horror of Dracula.

The film returned
more than eight times

its production costs,

and the producers,
hammer films of London,

went on to make
6 more Dracula films

over the next 16 years.

75 years have passed
since bram stoker

created his sinister
transylvanian count.

However, he still fascinates
vast numbers of people,

and will no doubt
continue to do so,

for there is yet to be
another fictional character

- quite like count Dracula.
- John?

John?

Just a word,
ladies and gentlemen,

a word of reassurance.

When you go to bed tonight,

and the lights
have all been turned out,

and you're afraid
to look behind the curtain,

and you dread to see the face
appearing at the window,

just remember...

There are such things.