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 →
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 →
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 →
Here are the rest of my pics from Sighișoara, the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, taken during my first trip across Transylvania back in October 2005. Please also check out my cemetery pics from Sighișoara.
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 →
Here are some more pics from my voyage across Transylvania in October 2005. The follow 5 pics are from Biserica Neagră, the Black Church.
These pictures are from my trip to Sighișoara, Romania in 2006. During this whole big trip across Transylvania I wanted to visit as many Dracula-related spots as I could. I’d heard that Vlad’s birthplace had been turned into a touristy restaurant, and as I approached it was immediately clear this was correct! One small regret I have from this trip is that, as I was backpacking and hitchhiking and traveling with very little money, I…Continue Reading →
Bust of Vlad Țepeș, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula, in Sighișoara, Romania. This bust is situated across from the house where Vlad Țepeș was born in 1431. The house is now a restaurant. I took this photo in 2005; many more pics and stories from that trip coming soon…
I finally watched Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive last night, and I’ll write more about the film later, but for now I want to talk about the wall of portraits of Adam’s “heroes” on the wall in his house in Detroit. I paused the movie a few times while Eve is looking at the portraits, and my girlfriend and I identified as many people as we could, and then after the movie was over…Continue Reading →
Wow, a new movie that appears to be (mostly) about the historical Dracula! I’m cautiously optimistic! Check out the trailer for Dracula Untold: As a huge fan of horror literature, horror films, the historical Dracula, and the fictional Dracula, I’m really excited for this film. It’s like it was made for me. And check out the official site for the film! It’s beautiful and spooky!
