| Vampires stalk our collective imaginations. The stars of | | | | suffer the same fate.In one story, he is said to have |
| books, movies, and even role playing games, they are | | | | invited his political enemies to a meeting at his castle. |
| at once both dangerous and alluring. No Halloween | | | | Vlad then locked the doors and burned it to the |
| celebration would be complete without wax teeth, | | | | ground.Another story tells of the visit of an Ottoman |
| fake blood and a black cape.But were there ever any | | | | ambassador. When the ambassador refused to |
| real Vampires? Probably not, although there are any | | | | remove his turban as a sign of respect, Vlad had it |
| number of historical figures whose bloodthirstiness | | | | nailed to the poor man's head. That surely did not do |
| may have provided a basis for the legend.Countess | | | | anything to improve relations between his Kingdom |
| Elizabeth Bathory certainly stands as a prime | | | | and the Turks.But the cruelty for which Vlad is best |
| example.Born in Hungary in 1560, Bathory was married | | | | known also gave him his nickname: Tepes, which |
| at age 15 to a warlord who apparently spent much of | | | | means "impaler."To serve as a warning to his enemies, |
| his time away fighting the Turks. Left at home, Bathory | | | | Vlad would impale his prisoners on long poles, leaving |
| satisfied her own bloodlust by torturing and killing young | | | | them to twitch and rot in the sun. It is said that the |
| girls.Her victims at first were peasants, but as her | | | | roads to his kingdom were lined with these poor |
| sadistic urges grew, Bathory expanded her prey to | | | | unfortunates.So much of Vlad's history is mixed with |
| include the daughters of minor gentry.It was this that | | | | legend that it is imposible to know how many of these |
| proved to be her undoing. Missing peasant girls is one | | | | stories are true. But contemporary reports seem to |
| thing, but the gentry were wealthy and educated. Local | | | | verify many of them.Accounts vary as to the |
| priests brought their suspicions to Emperor Matthias II, | | | | circumstances of Vlad's death. Tradition holds that he |
| and an investigation was launched.George Thurzo, the | | | | died in battle with the Turks and that his head was |
| Palatine of Hungary, led the inquest, and on December | | | | sent as a gift to the Sultan of Turkey. Another version |
| 29, 1610, caught Bathory in the act. The Countess and | | | | claims that he was killed by the Hungarians. It's also |
| four suspected accomplices were arrested.Over the | | | | possible that he was killed accidentally by his own |
| next three years, more than 300 people were | | | | troops.Strange as it may seem, Vlad Tepes is seen as |
| interviewed and a chilling story emerged. Always a | | | | a folk hero to many in that part of the world.Vlad may |
| harsh mistress, Bathory apparently came to truly enjoy | | | | have been lost to history, except for the research of a |
| the pain she inflicted on her servants. Her cruelty was | | | | writer named Bram Stoker. Planning a novel on |
| regrettable, but certainly not unheard of.One day, a | | | | vampires, Stoker rediscovered Vlad and made him the |
| servant pulled Bathory's hair while brushing it. The | | | | central figure in the novel that bears his name: |
| Countess raked the girl's cheeks with her long nails, | | | | Dracula.In more modern times, several serial killers |
| spilling blood on her wrinkled hand. Bathory imagined | | | | have been dubbed "vampires" by the press.Fritz |
| that the drops of blood smoothed away her wrinkes, | | | | Haarmann committed at least 24 murders in Germany |
| and concluded that the blood of young girls could | | | | between 1919 and 1924. He killed his victims by biting |
| restore the beauty of her youth.That's when the horror | | | | their necks. During his trial, which became a media |
| really began. Bathory began to kill young girls to bathe | | | | circus, Haarmann was variously called a werewolf and |
| in, and drink their blood. Evidence at the trial put the | | | | a vampire. He was beheaded in 1925.Haarman wasn't |
| body count at more than 600.Following the trial, | | | | the only "vampire" in Germany at that time. Peter |
| Bathory's accomplices were burned alive. Because | | | | Kurten, a serial killer who was beheaded in 1932, was |
| she was nobility, Bathory escaped execution, and was | | | | known as the "Vampire of Dusseldorf." He was |
| instead walled up in a room in her own castle, where | | | | charged with nine murders and a variety of other |
| she died three years later.But horrible as it is, Bathory's | | | | offenses, including sexual assaults.It is said that Fritz |
| story is usually overshadowed by that of another | | | | Lang's movie "M" was based on the Haarmann and |
| Eastern European noble.Vlad III was a Romanian | | | | Kurten stories.In England, John George Haigh, the |
| nobleman who lived from 1431 to 1476. Held hostage | | | | infamous "Acid Bath Murderer," also was known as |
| by the Turks as a child, Vlad later came to rule his | | | | the "Vampire of London." Haigh, who was hanged in |
| father's kingdom, which has variously been identified as | | | | 1949, claimed to have drunk the blood of his victims |
| Transylvania and Wallachia. He was also known as | | | | before destroying their bodies in a vat of sulfuric |
| the Son of the Dragon (Dracula) in reference to his | | | | acid.Are there real vampires?Again, probably not. But |
| father's position as a Knight of the Order of the | | | | there are those whose monstrous crimes make us |
| Dragon.Because his kingdom served as a buffer zone | | | | wonder about the terrible creatures of night and |
| between Moslem Turkey and Christian Europe, Vlad's | | | | legend.More on the haunted history of Halloween can |
| life was one of constant warfare. Leading frequent | | | | be found at Top Halloween Links at .This article is |
| raids into Turkish territory, he burned crops, pillaged, and | | | | derived from his lectures on the haunted history of |
| poisoned wells. Legend has it that one of these | | | | Halloween.John Retzer has worked as a professional |
| excursions resulted in the deaths of 20,000 Turks.Both | | | | journalist, photographer, editor, public relations |
| home and abroad, Vlad gained a reputation for cruelty | | | | professional and golf coach. He currently teaches |
| and ruthlessness. His father was murdered in a political | | | | economics, political science and history. |
| intrigue, and Vlad apparently was determined not to | | | | |