Dracula: History and Myth

Digital reconstruction of Castle Poenari!

Manning April 12, 2021 Uncategorized No Comments

Wow, this is so cool! A group of designers and architects have created digital reconstructions of the ruins of seven European castles; a project in collaboration with Australian insurance company Budget Direct. Poenari made the list! Here’s the “before” photo and the “after” digital render. And here’s an animation of the digital reconstruction. I’d give anything to be able to visit the castle in its original state! Definitely check out the rest of the castle…Continue Reading →

The Wolves of Paris

Manning April 5, 2015 Uncategorized No Comments

From Cool Stuff in Paris: “Les Loups de Paris — the Wolves of Paris — were a pack of man-eating wolves who terrorized Paris during the winter of 1450. This particular winter was especially harsh and prey was scarce, so the desperate and starving wolves had no choice but to make Paris their new hunting ground. The hungry pack were able to enter Paris through breaches in the city’s poorly maintained outer walls. And throughout…Continue Reading →

A multi-lingual sign about Castle Poenari

Manning November 6, 2014 Uncategorized No Comments

I just found this old photo I took of a large sign at the base of the mountain atop which Castle Poenari is situated. I’ve zoomed in and cropped out the English language portions, and also the map of the region, which may be useful if you’re planning to visit the area. Please see my articles about my visit to Castle Poenari, as well as my article about getting to Poenari. Here are just the…Continue Reading →

First Bite by Drew Christie

Manning November 4, 2014 Uncategorized No Comments

I absolutely loved this 4-minute animation called First Bite, by Drew Christie. It combines exactly the things I love in vampire history/folklore; it’s a true historical account from 1725 by an Austrian official about a case of alleged vampirism in Serbia, with terrified villagers, a disinterment of a mysteriously fresh corpse, and of course, a good old-fashioned staking. In the accompanying article Mr. Christie mentions the excellent book “Vampires, Burial and Death,” which I found…Continue Reading →

My cemetery photos from Sighișoara, Romania

Manning October 17, 2014 Uncategorized 4 Comments

Here are some more cemetery pics from my first big trip across Transylvania, in October 2005. Sighișoara is the birthplace of Vlad Țepeș, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula; see my recent posts about Dracula’s childhood home and the bust of him nearby. Sighișoara is a beautiful medieval town, much of which is situated within a 12th-century citadel. More pics of that coming soon. The first group of photos are tombstones that are scattered around…Continue Reading →

More photos from Brașov, Romania: wandering and sightseeing

Manning October 16, 2014 Uncategorized No Comments

These first few are the wonderful view from the balcony of my hostel. Transylvania really is gorgeous. Yes, Brașov really does have a Hollywood-style “Brașov” sign up on a mountain. Good job shoring up that wall! Shame about the rest of the house. I hiked up the mountain with the “Brașov” sign; this is the beginning of the trail, but it soon got a lot more rugged. At the top I found out there was…Continue Reading →

My cemetery photos from Brașov, Romania

Manning October 15, 2014 Uncategorized No Comments

These pics are from my first big trip across Transylvania, in October 2005. Most of these are from the cemetery at Biserica Sfântul Nicolae (St. Nicholas Church), a gorgeous 14th-century church in the old town area of Brașov. These last two pics are from another, more modern cemetery, the name of which I could not find. I took these photos from the street called Șirul Plăieșilor. This was on the wall outside the cemetery; definitely…Continue Reading →

My top ten vampire movies

Manning October 9, 2014 Uncategorized 7 Comments

Here are my top ten vampire movies, in no particular order! It was so hard to choose exactly ten! These are the vampire movies that I can watch over and over again forever. Let the Right One In (2008) Beautiful, dark. Make sure to watch the Swedish version, and make sure you’re watching it with the good subtitles instead of the bad ones! This is crucial! Info about that here. Daybreakers (2009) A really intriguing…Continue Reading →