In Search of Dracula: A True History of Dracula and Vampire Legends

A GENUINE FIRST PRINT YEAR (NOT THE 1979, 1994, 1995. OR SOFTCOVER EDITION)
THIS EDITION INCLUDES A STUNNING COLLECTION OF 15TH CENTURY ENGRAVINGS AS WELL AS 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
THIS BOOK IS NOW 52 YEARS OLD AND IN VERY GOOD CONDITION
HERE ARE "SOME" OF THE SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: THE REAL HISTORY OF DRACULA, VAMPIRES AND VAMPIRISM, WEREWOLVES, ANCIENT FOLKLORE, TRANSYLVANIA, THE CASTLE OF DRACULA, DRACULA HORROR STORIES, BEYOND THE GRAVE, THE 15TH CENTURY HORROR STORIES, THE REAL GENEALOGY OF DRACULA, THE LOCATION OF DRACULA TOMB, SPIRITS, THE UNDEAD, AND MORE
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE FICTIONAL TALE OF DRACULA; IT IS A REAL-LIFE STORY THAT WAS COMPILED WITH YEARS OF RESEARCH

"There are such things as vampires; some of us have evidence that they exist."

"With the bodies of his victims left at various strategic places until beasts or the elements had reduced them to dust, Dracula terrorized the entire countryside."

Most of us have heard of the fictional tale of Dracula written by Bram Stoker in the 19th century, and many prints of that book have been made. although it is a cult favorite in literary history, I myself find this book even more interesting than the famous tale. I assume most people never imagined that Dracula himself was, in fact, a real person and one that deserved far more attention than the fictional character portrayed by Stoker. This is, without question, one of the most compelling and interesting stories of the man behind the myth, or maybe the myth itself was, in fact... True... Dracula-the greatest vampire in literature-is here traced back to a real 15th-century Romanian prince. Count Dracula, the hero of Bram Stoker's late 19th-century novel, by day, walked the streets of Victorian England by night and drank from the necks of Victorian ladies. But the real Prince Dracula gained glory as a crusader against the Turks and everlasting infamy as "the impaler" of both foreigners and fellow countrymen. His ghoulish atrocities and personal depravities were recorded by contemporaries ranging from refugee monks to Byzantine chroniclers. This book traces the exploits of the dark prince and his evolution. "For peculiar reasons which will someday be analyzed by sociologists," say the authors, "America is, at least for the present, in love with Dracula." McNally and Florescu, serious scholars who specialize in Eastern European history, have spent ten years investigating Prince Dracula, unearthing in the process a treasury of centuries-old vampire literature and superstition. Their explorations have taken them from Dracula's birthplace at Sighisoara in Transylvania to his mysterious grave in the island monastery at Snagov. They have located his mountain retreat, Castle Dracula; searched for documents about the prince in the town archives, the libraries, and the monasteries of Europe; and researched ancient maps and artworks. They have traced Stoker's extraordinary knowledge of the real Dracula and of Transylvanian legends, related it to the development of his fictional Dracula, and analyzed vampirism in all its forms: legend, literature, film, and reality.

This scholarly work rediscovers the roots of the Dracula legend in the historical figure of Prince Vlad of Transylvania. It includes excerpts from Bram Stoker's diaries.

What follows is a complex story, for it involves a 15th-century prince known in his time as both "Vlad Tepes' and "Dracole"; the fictional Dracula created by Bram Stoker in 1897; and the beliefs of the Romanian peasants in Transylvania and Wallachia both today and in the 15th century.

Using dozens of ancient chronicles and maps of European provenance documents contemporary with Dracula and 19th- and 20th-century philological and historical works, and drawing on folklore and peasant traditions, we have pieced together a dual history: an account not only of the real 15th-century Dracula, or Vlad Tepes, who came from Transylvania and ruled in Wallachia but also of the vampire who existed in the legends of these same regions. In addition, we have studied how Bram Stoker, in the late 19th century, united these two traditions to create the most horrifying and famous vampire in all fiction: Count Dracula.

"Including Fifteenth-century woodcuts and portraits of Dracula, one from a pamphlet that was published in Bamberg in 1491, a copy of it was purchased by the British Museum and perhaps was consulted by Bram Stoker. The Old German caption reads: "A wondrous and frightening story about a great bloodthirsty vampire called Dracula the voevod who inflicted such un-Christian tortures such as with stakes and also dragged men to death along the ground."

Raymond McNally's In Search of Dracula is the true story of Dracula and his strange and mysterious history.

So the vampire Dracula first appears in Bram Stoker's novel. Published in 1897, Dracula is as popular now as when it was written. Millions not only have read it but have seen it at the cinema. Among the filmed versions are Nosferatu, made with Max Schreck in 1922, Dracula with Bela Lugosi in 1931, and Horror of Dracula with Christopher Lee in 1958. By now, there are more than a hundred Dracula films, and still others are in the making. As for the book before you, it has been written by two authors. One of us-but let Raymond McNally speak for himself:
"More than 15 years ago, as a fan of Dracula horror films, I began to wonder whether there might be some historical basis for their vampire hero. I re-read Stoker's Dracula and noted that not only this novel but almost all of the Dracula films are set in Transylvania. At first, like many Americans, I assumed that this was some mythical place in the same imaginary region, perhaps as Ruritania. I found out, however, that Transylvania is real—a province that belonged to Hungary for almost a thousand years and that now is part of modern Romania. In Stoker's novel, there were some fairly detailed descriptions of the towns of Cluj and Bistrita,* and the Borgo Pass in the Carpathian mountains. These, too, proved real. If all that geographical data is genuine, I reasoned, why not Dracula himself? Most people, I suspect, have never asked this question, being generally thrown off by the vampire storyline. Obviously, since vampires do not exist, Dracula, so goes popular wisdom-must have been the product of a wild and wonderful imagination."Eventually, I read an authentic late 15th-century Slavic manuscript in an archive in Leningrad, which described the deeds of a Wallachian ruler named Dracula. After researching the little that was available about the historical Dracula in various other languages, I consulted with my Boston colleague, Professor Radu Florescu, who was in Romania at the time. With his encouragement and enthusiasm, I took up the study of the Romanian language and traveled directly to the very homeland of Dracula to see what more I could discover about this mysterious man and legend. There, underlying the local traditions, so I found, was an authentic human being fully as horrifying as the vampire of fiction and film—a 15th-century prince who had been the subject of many horror stories even during his own lifetime, a ruler whose cruelties were committed on such a massive scale that his evil reputation reached beyond the grave to the firesides where generations.

High up in the Transylvanian mountains, we came to a halt. There, atop a black volcanic rock formation, bordering the river Arges and framed by a massive Alpine snow-capped landscape, lay the twisted battlements of Castle Dracula, its remains barely distinguishable from the rock of the mountain itself. This was hardly the grandiose, macabre mausoleum described by Bram Stoker in his famous novel Dracula. Yet, no matter how modest nor how tortured by time, it was a historic edifice, one challenging the historian to solve its mystery, to push back an unconquered frontier. For our party of five, composed of two Americans and three Romanians, this was the end of a long trail.

When released from prison in 1474, Dracula was given a house by Mathias in the ancient town of Pest, across the Danube from Buda, but he lived there for only a few months. A local legend circulating at the time spoke of the brutal death of a Hungarian captain who had surreptitiously entered the house and been killed "rather horrifically" by Dracula himself. The event might well have passed unnoticed but for the motive of the killing, so typical of Dracula's egomania in any and all circumstances. He did not kill the man because the house had been subjected to theft but because his deranged vanity had been insulted. "Is this the way," he asked, in which one enters the house of a prince without a formal introduction?" The thief, interesting to say, was allowed to go free.

This book would not have been possible without the collaboration of Professor Constantin Giurescu, the distinguished historian from the University of Bucharest, George Florescu, Romania's most knowledgeable genealogist, and Matei Cazacu, a brilliant young assistant from the Nicolae Lorga Institute in Bucharest.

The Dracula Society, which is devoted to the study of Gothic literature and horror, awarded The author The Horace Walpole Gold Medal for Gothic Literature for their work on this book.

In a broad sense, Bram Stoker was quite correct in setting his Dracula story in romantic Transylvania, even though he located his fictional castle 140 miles away from the site of the authentic one. Dracula was born in Transylvania, in the old German fortified town of Schassburg (in Romanian, Sighisoara). One of the most enchanting Saxon burghs and certainly the most medieval, Schaumburg is located about 65 miles south of Bistrita. The date of Dracula's birth, as close as we can ascertain, is 1430 or 1431. The house in which he was born is identified by a small plaque dedicated to his father, Dracul. This marks the threshold of a typical German burgher's house, attached to a row of similar ones of 15th-and 16th-century vintage. Distinguished from each other only by their bright colors, they line a narrow, cobbled lane leading up to the site of the old fortress that commands the city.

Crosses made from the thorns of wild roses are effective in keeping the vampire away.
Spread thorns or poppy seeds on the paths leading to the village from the churchyard.
Since the vampire must stop to pick up every one of them, he may be so delayed that he cannot reach the village before sunrise, when he must return to his grave.
According to Orthodox Christian belief, the soul does not leave the body to enter the next world until 40 days after the body is laid in the grave. Hence, the celebrations in Orthodox cemeteries are 40 days after the burial. Bodies were once disinterred between three to seven years after burial, and if decomposition was not complete, a stake was driven through the heart of the body.
If a cat or other "evil" animal jumps or flies over someone's dead body before it is buried, or if the shadow of a man falls upon the body, the deceased may become a vampire.
If the body is reflected in a mirror, the reflection helps the spirit to leave the body and become a vampire.
Usually the tomb of a vampire has one or more holes roughly of the size through which a serpent can pass.
How to kill a vampire? The stake must be driven through the vampire's body

Raymond T McNally (1931–2002) was an American author and a professor of Russian and East European History at Boston College. He specialized in the history of horror and wrote many books on the subject. He co-authored several books with Radu Florescu (1925–2014), who was also a professor at Boston College.

Introducing the Dracula of Fiction, History and Folklore
Bram Stoker and the Search for Dracula
The Historical Dracula: 1430 / 31-62
Tyrant from Transylvania
Prince of Wallachia
Crusader against the Turks
Castle Dracula
Dracula Horror Stories of the 15th Century
The Historical Dracula: 1462-76
King's Prisoner
Prince Restored
An Unusual Death
Island Grave
Vampirism
Old World Folklore
New World Bats
A Real Blood Countess
Bram Stoker and the Vampire in Fiction and Film
Beyond the Grave
Appendices: Translations of 15th-Century Horror Stories
German
Russian
Romanian
Bibliography
Ancient Documents and Modern Studies about Dracula
Elizabeth Bathory
Major Vampire Stories in English
Modern Anthologies Containing Vampire Stories
Studies of the Vampire in Literature, History, and Myth Studies of the Vampire in Film Filmography
Dracula-Vampire Films 1896-1971
Silent Films 1896-1928
Talkies 1931-71

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Count Orlock (Dracula), portrayed by Max Schreck in Nosferatu
11| Mr. Bram Stoker as portrayed in 1885
14 Map of Central Europe
15 Chronologies: Rulers and Events
16, 17
Map of "Transilvania"
18
Castle Dracula in ruins
21
The Borgo Pass
23
Dracula Genealogy
25
Romanian peasant who lives near Castle Dracula
27
Voronets Monastery in Moldavia
31
Hunedoara, castle of John Hunyadi
32
Portrait of Dracula; at Castle Ambras, near Innsbruck, Austria. Permission Kunstmuseum, Vienna
33
Wooden cane carved with the head of Dracula
34
Dracula's birthplace in Sighisoara,
Transylvania
51
Portraits of the Wolfman and his children at Castle Ambras. Permission Kunstmuseum, Vienna
St. Andrew's Martyrdom. Permission Kunstmuseum, Vienna
53
Woodcut portrait of Dracula; 15th/16th century
56,57
Woodcut portrait of Dracula and text page; 15th century. Permission Szechenyi Collection, Budapest
60 Dracula's palace at Targoviste
Tower at Targoviste
66
Tirgsor. Ruins of a 15th-century monastery built by Dracula
81
Dracula's seal
82
Castle Bran
87
Castle Bran: exterior detail and secret underground passageway
91
Ruins of Castle Dracula
92
Mountain pass near Castle Dracula
106
116
Woodcut showing death scene; 15th century
Impalement scene and text page; 15th century. Permission Staatsbibliothek, Colmar, Germany
126
Solomon's Tower, Visegrad
136
View of Snagov today
136 Carved door from ancient church at Snagov
142
The Consequences by Goya. Permission Dover Publications
147
Scene with vampire by Doré
149 The Vampires by Estienne Csok
149 Vampire Nightmare by Max Klinger
152 The vampire Permission J. R. Eyerman, Life
155 Elizabeth Bathory
157
Bathory Castle
157
The Countess by St. Csok
159 The Bathory crest
161 Portrait of Bram Stoker as William the Conqueror
165 Scenes of Count Orlock in Nosferatu
168 Scene from Dreyer's Vampyr
168 Christopher Lee in the role of Vlad Tepes. Permission Aspekt Films, Stockholm
177 Cover of an installment of Varney the Vampire
181 Seal of the town of Lupos, Hungary, birthplace of Bela Lugosi
182
The Tomb of Dracula
184
Exterior view of existing church at Snagov, and floor plan
187
188
198m xation Dracult additionally assigned