Free Republic

An archaeologist who has been part of the restoration and excavation effort at Turkey's Tokat Castle believes he has uncovered the dungeons where Vlad the Impaler was once held. Ibrahim Cetin tells the Hurriyet Daily News that the two dungeons that were found were "built like a prison." And while he deems it "hard to estimate" which room the man who served as Dracula's inspiration was held in, "he was around here," he says.

Estonian researchers believe they may have finally discovered the whereabouts of “Dracula’s” grave, which is in Italy and not the Romanian Transylvanian Alps as first thought. The inspiration behind Bram Stoker’s 1897 gothic novel “Dracula” is thought to be Vlad III, the 15th century Prince of Wallachia in Eastern Europe. Known posthumously as Vlad the Impaler, the ruler was known for his brand of cruelty across Europe, which included impaling his enemies. Vlad’s ultimate enemy were the Ottomans. Depictions of his endless cruelty made history books, securing his reputation as one of the biggest villains in Turkey’s collective consciousness, as...

Now you can own Dracula’s castle Transylvania's Bran Castle, long connected with Bram Stoker's indelible creation, is for sale. Count Dracula never lived in Bran Castle, in the Transylvania region of Romania, because he was a fictional character. But look, it’s a Gothic-looking castle in Transylvania — plus, Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure who inspired Bram Stoker’s indelible creation, was reportedly imprisoned here. So it’s no surprise that it’s commonly called “Dracula’s Castle,” and that (like Transylvania’s Hunyad Castle and Poenari Castle in Wallachia) it’s often linked with the vampire legend. And now, you can own it. If you...

Like flaming demons, Wallachians rushed out of the night and into the Turkish camp, striking terror in an army of terrorists. Leading the charge was a gore-spattered chieftain—hewing and hacking a path to the central tents where the Sultan huddled in fear. On he came, Vlad Dracul, raining down slaughter and raging for Mehmed’s blood.On June 17, 1462, outside Targoviste, Romania, the world was given a rare instance of how the good can be accomplished though the grotesque—for God can deploy His enemies as allies. Vlad Dracul III, Prince of Wallachia, can hardly be considered a warrior of faith; but...

“If the election was held today, President Barack Obama would lose the state of Wisconsin because where his base is, we have not turned out the vote early," Mayor Michael Hancock told a Democratic rally. "The suburbs and rural parts of Wisconsin – the Republican base – are voting. President Obama’s base has yet to go vote. "We've got to get our people to go vote," Hancock said. Early voting, which began in Wisconsin on Oct. 22, is a central component of Obama’s strategy to win the state. The president won Wisconsin four years ago by 14 percentage points, but...

More than 100 "vampire" corpses have been dug out from graves across Bulgaria during historic excavations, according to the country's archaeologists. Bozhidar Dimitrov, head of the National History Museum in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, said on Tuesday that Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons from the Middle Ages pierced through the chest with iron rods to keep them from turning into the undead. Dimitrov said that the two "vampire" remains were found last weekend near the Black Sea town of Sozopol. The tradition of hammering an iron rod through the chest bones and heart of 'evil' people to prevent them...

Pardubice, East Bohemia, July 11 (CTK) - Archaeologists have uncovered a 4000-year-old grave in Mikulovice, east Bohemia, with remains of what might have been considered a vampire at the time, Nova TV has reported. The experts made the terrifying find within their research of a burial site from the Early Bronze Age. One of the graves was situated somewhat aside. The skeleton in it bears traces of unusual treatment. When buried, the dead man was weighed down with two big stones, one on his chest and the other on his head. "Remains treated in this way are now considered as...

The True Story Of Dracula By Mark Gelbart Oct. 14, 2004 Halloween is a time when friendly neighbors pretend to be tricked by children dressed up as ghosts, goblins, superheroes, clowns, fairies, and Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles. And in return the adults--feigning surprise--pass out sugary treats; a tradition that has helped those in the dental profession for many generations. Unlike most of the characters that make an annual appearance on our door steps, Dracula is based on a real person. Most people are familiar with the fictional version of Dracula created by Bram Stoker, but they are only vaguely aware...

Alex Lemons, a former Marine sergeant who deployed to Iraq three times – including once as scout sniper – reflects on the video of four Marines urinating on the corpses of three dead Taliban in Afghanistan: This is all very painful to me on so many different levels. Back in 2004 one of my fellow snipers shot someone in a mosque in Fallujah. You will probably remember it getting on TV. It was very confusing. I have tried stopping things like this before or I’ve been a coward and let them happen. In my eyes, there are several discomforting or...

Bloody marvelous! "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson was literally born for his famed vampire role, according to genealogical researchers who traced his bloodlines to the real-life Dracula. Pattinson's English roots connect him to famed Transylvania bloodsucker and 15th century ruler Vlad the Impaler, the researchers said. But at least the face and voice of Robert Cullen is in good company, sharing bloodlines with Princes William and Harry. Pattinson is a direct seventh-generation descendant of the Pickering family of York, England, according to Ancestry.com. That line gave birth to England's late, beloved Queen Mother. Her hubby, King George VI, was 16 generations...

Chris Matthews Calls Liz Cheney 'Daughter of Dracula' By Noel Sheppard Created 03/06/2010 - 14:35 Chris Matthews on Friday referred to Liz Cheney as the Daughter of Dracula. As the "Hardball" discussion turned to the new television ad released by Cheney's Keep America Safe, the MSNBCer invited on a Republican and Democrat strategist to offer their views. "The message of that ad is Dick Cheney`s still out there and he`s still angry about the way his war is being treated by history," said Democrat strategist Steve McMahon. Matthews interrupted with a laugh, "So, this is Daughter of Dracula?" (video embedded...

The president is scheduled to give the State of the Union address at 9 PM eastern.

I bring you the State Dinner menu. First item: Potato and Eggplant Salad White House Arugula with onion seed vinaigrette 2008 sauvignon blanc, Modus Oprendi, Napa Valley, California Perhaps the price at Whole Foods is no longer an issue because they're growing it in the garden? “Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?” the senator said. “I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.”

Although the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, has surely been one of the most influential works of genre fiction ever written, ironically the central point of the book has nearly always been missed. Fortunately, a new novel co-written by Stoker’s great-grandnephew brings that aspect of the Dracula myth back to its appropriate place of primacy. Stoker’s clear intention in the original novel Dracula was to make the devil, literally Satan, real to readers by depicting a naturally occurring but preternatural stand-in, Count Dracula. This is indicated throughout the book by direct references to Dracula as a devil, and by imagery...

Now, more than 100 years later, Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of the famed Irish novelist, and Ian Holt, have written a sequel, "Dracula: The Un-Dead."

Archaeologists have found a cellar in the university town of Pécs in southern Hungary, which they believe to have belonged to Wallachian Duke Vlad III, more commonly known as ”Dracula.” Tamás Fedeles, tutor of medieval and early modern history at Pécs University said his research showed that Vlad III Tepes alias ”Dracula,” lived in a two-story town house on what is now the city’s central square. Fedeles says the Duke of Wallachia (modern-day southern Rumania) owned the house in the 1460s and this is confirmed by a 1489 document that refers to it as ”Drakulya House.” The document contains a...

While he may not vant to suck your blood, the male fish seen above does sport spooky-looking fangs that have earned it the name Danionella dracula. Researchers at London's Natural History Museum found several of the new species (bottom) in a tank of aquarium fish. Initially museum staff had thought the 0.7-inch-long (1.7-centimeter-long) creatures, caught in Myanmar (Burma), were part of an already known, related species. "After a year or so in captivity, they started dying," museum scientist Ralf Britz told BBC News. "When I preserved them and looked at them under the microscope, I thought, my God, what is...

Myth of Dwarf Dinos in Dracula Country Confirmed Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News June 13, 2008 -- In 1900, the sister of an eccentric Austro-Hungarian aristocrat named Baron von Nopsca found a tiny bone on the baron's family estate in Transylvania, a historical region in present-day Romania. The baron, who was a dinosaur buff, identified the bone as belonging to a dwarf dino that likely once lived on an island in the region. The motorcycle-riding baron's outrageous theories were ridiculed and largely dismissed, but now new evidence suggests his proposed island of dwarf dinosaurs did indeed exist in the land of...

This is a photo essay that describes a recent appearance by Gore in Marin county, California. Almost as much fun as Kerry Krack-ups.

SLOBA THE VAMPIRE Man Drives Stake In Grave Of Slobodan Milosevic Be careful or Milosevic will get you from his grave, the police told the man who had driven a stake through Milosevic's grave. On Saturday, Miroslav Milosevic, a well known member of the Resistance from Pozarevac, invaded the grave of Slobodan Milosevic through his neighbour's courtyard and put up a hawthorn stake, report Serbian media. The time of vampiresHe visited Milosevic's grave twice that Saturday: the first time at 1 A.M., when he wrote the following words in the Book of Memory: "Dark to dark, he is buried...