Are there really vampires walking around the globe as we speak? Is it just a horror story that children like to tell around campfires? Or is it something more?

So let's start off at the beginning....between 1456 and 1476 ruled a king of now Southern Romania, Wallachia. His name was Vlad Tepes. Known by his people as a good king, but soon to come, he would be known as Dracula.

On the 8th of February 1431, Vlad's father (also called Vlad) gave him the necklace and a gold medallion with a dragon engraved on it. This was the badge of the knights of the Order. The knights' sole purpose was to defeat the ottomans (old name for the Turks).

Because if the symbol of the dragon, Vlad also went by the name "Dracul." Before in old Romanian, "dracul" meant "the dragon" or "the devil," but in contemporary Romanian, "dracul" only means "the devil." And being the son of "Dracul," Vlad was also called "Dracula," meaning "son of the Dragon."

On August 22, 1456, Vlad went to his uncle Lancu de Hunedoara (the ruler of Wallachia) and married his daughter, becoming prince of Wallachia. Vlad organized the law, the army, the state, and built several monasteries. He was also a respected ruler and warrior. He tolerated no crime, impaling all those whom he considered robbers, beggars, enemies, etc. He soon became one of the most feared enemies of the Ottoman empire.

Impalement was Vlad's favorite type of execution, especially mass executions. He routinely would order a banquet table set up in front of his victims and enjoy the sights of their bodies impaled between the legs from behind, and the sounds of them dying. One of the many other things he was known for was dipping his bread in his victims' blood.

Because of his enjoyment for torture and sadism, his name "Dracula" soon became more interpreted as "the son of the Devil" instead of "the son of the Dragon." Also, because of the way he punished his enemies, he recieved the nickname "Tepes," the Romanian word which means impaler. But Vlad still continued to sign with his father's name, "Dracula."

Towards the end of 1476, Dracula was killed at Snagov by Basarab, a man whom followed him to the throne in Wallachia. He died very violently, and was buried at one of his monasteries on the island at Snagov. His crumbling castle still stands in the northern Wallachian town of Tirgoviste (now central Romania).

Later on after his death, many ordinary people began confusing Vlad's dragon symbol with him being in league with the devil. Soon he was seen more as "son of the Devil" than "son of the Dragon" because of his talent for torture. It also seems that in some languages, the words "vampire" and devil" are similar. According to the story, Vlad used to bath in his enemies blood to keep him young and strong. His absences from his grave are also related to the vampire story.

And soon the stories began throughout Europe of Vlad's cruelty. The Germans hated Vlad and in 1463, they published the first book about him (the History of Voivode Dracula). Because they hated him so much, the stories were exagerated till' the limits of the unbelievable. The story passed throughout Russia and Soth-Eastern Europe, where the stories became an oral tradition. After a long time of research, Bram Stoker published the masterpiece of vampire literature in 1897, "Dracula." And soon the tales began of the blood-drinking son of the Devil....

So now you know that Dracula was real. But has really risen from the dead? And do vampires really exist? It's very unlikely, but that choice.....that choice is for you to decide.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Sleep tight. Don't let the vampires bite. (yes, i know, that was a very cheesy joke, but o, well, it went with the theme of this story.) All information is given credit to this one website i got off google but can't remember! i kid you not, i looked all over my computer for that website, and i can't find it! grrr! o, well, thanks to that website and a little bit of history.com!