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¶¶

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Of all the monsters
the human imagination

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has willed into existence,
nothing quite matches

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the perverse, surreal
characteristics of vampires.

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But why do they fascinate us?

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Vampires are bloodsucking,
sun-fearing,

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shapeshifting immortal demons
that should terrify us.

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I'm digging deep
into a legend

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that has fed our imaginations
and plagued our nightmares

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for generations

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to explore the story
of vampires.

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Even now, people believe
in the undead.

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From medieval folklore...

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This is where the torture
would have happened.

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[agonized shouts]

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...to Count Dracula himself.

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From Bram Stoker's
Transylvania

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to the gory dungeons
of Vlad the Impaler,

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I'm here to find out what is
fact and what is fiction

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when it comes to the world's
most infamous

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bloodsucking fiends,
vampires.

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It's all right here.
This is how to be a vampire.

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I'm Don Wildman.

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I've explored the world's
greatest mysteries,

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examined rare artifacts
and epic monuments.

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That is unbelievable.

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Now, I'm digging deeper
into some of the most

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perplexing and famous
cases in history.

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My goal--to get closer
to the truth.

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Let's burn this place down.
Let's burn it down.

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(Don)
On this special episode of
"Mysteries at the Museum"...

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Vampires.

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[birds chirping]

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For over 1,000 years,

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vampires have fueled
our superstitions

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and haunted our nightmares,

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but what do we really know
about vampires?

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I want to find out
how much is legend

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and how much is real
when it comes to

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these bloodsucking monsters.

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To do that,
I've traveled to the place

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where the vampire began,
to what is now

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the eastern European country
of Romania.

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Today, Romania is a vast,
mountainous collection

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of towns and villages known
for its natural beauty
and wildlife,

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but back in the day,

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Romania was a land
full of mystery,

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known for its colorful
folklore and superstitions,

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but no part of Romania
has more to do

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with the story of vampires
than the place where

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I'm starting my journey--

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the very real region
of Transylvania,

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the birthplace of vampires.

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Vampires seduce us
with sex appeal,

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lust, and the promise
of eternal life

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and repel us with their savage
thirst for blood.

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Sometimes, they are
sophisticated aristocrats,

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while other times,
they are rotting,

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bloodsucking demons
resembling zombies.

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But those are just some of
the depictions that have

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developed over hundreds
of years.

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Of course, the most famous
vampire of all

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is Count Dracula,
a pop culture icon

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featured in horror movies,
television,

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and literature
throughout the ages.

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Dracula is the main character
of Bram Stoker's

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infamous horror novel,
written in 1897

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and set here in Romania.

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Stoker's terrifying
gothic novel

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popularized the vampire
as we know it

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and continues to shape
how we think of vampires today.

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Support us and become VIP member 
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The tale of Dracula began

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deep in the Romanian
countryside

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in the now famous region
called Transylvania.

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Check it out--

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Bran Castle.
Beautiful.

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This looming castle is
what Bram Stoker's Dracula

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called home,

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so why does Stoker adopt it
as a setting

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for his vampire novel?

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Hello!
Hey, Don!

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(Don)
Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew,
Dacre Stoker,

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is here to share how the Dracula
character was born.

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Nice to meet you--
whoa, whoa, whoa.

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How are you?
Well, I'm great.

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This is a picturesque spot.
It certainly is.

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So why this castle?

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You gotta remember
where this is.

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You know, for those guys
in that time, in the 1800s,

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people in Europe, in England,
they knew nothing

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about this part of the world,
it was literally the land

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beyond the forest, this was
deep, dark spooky stuff.
Okay.

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What did this look like
in the day?

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Well, I tell you something--
Bram actually had

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a collection of books
that actually showed us

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what it looked like--
this is one of
Oh, I see.

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the two images that he
actually used to create
the description of this
I see.

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in his writing--what he did
was he used Transylvania

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as the location because of
all the superstitions

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from this part of the world,
and most importantly,

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he wanted to create
a sense of reality.
Yeah.

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The fact that it's set
in a real place

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gives it a sense
of authenticity.
With real superstitions
and mythologies.

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(Don)
Born in Dublin in 1847,

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the worst year of Ireland's
potato famine,

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Stoker was a sickly,
bed-ridden child.

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His mother would often
regale him with tales

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of people being buried alive
during the fever epidemics

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of 1832.

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As Stoker grew as a writer,
his love of history

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and science continued to feed
his macabre imagination,

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which planted the seeds
for the creation of

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the world's most
infamous vampire.

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Wow.

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It is a perfect setting
for a great story, isn't it?

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So as far as the story
of Dracula,

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this is where it all starts.

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Yeah, and Bram used this castle
as his inspiration

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for Castle Dracula.

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(Don)
While Stoker had published
other novels,

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none would capture the
imagination like Dracula .

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Published in 1897

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and set at the end
of the 19th century,

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Dracula tells the story
of the young Englishman,

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Jonathan Harker,
as he travels

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through Transylvania
on business.

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Harker is there to meet
a mysterious Transylvanian
nobleman...

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Count Dracula.

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But soon,
Harker comes to realize

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that he's a prisoner
of a bloodsucking fiend

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and trapped inside
his stone fortress.

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I've gotta show
some pretty cool things.

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Dracula's secret passageway.

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(Don)
Dacre's offered me
special access

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to get some rare insight
into Bram Stoker's

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fascinating process
as he created

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the most infamous vampire
of all time.

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This is a collection
of the resources

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that Bram used
for his writing of Dracula .
Wow, cool.

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And we've got some of his notes.

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And they represent
all the information

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that he extracted
from these books.

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And here's the timeless classic
itself.

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Here it is--this is a first
edition book that's been in
the family for a long time.

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And the cool thing about this
is this is Bram's copy that
he gave to his mother.

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You can read it right there.
To my dear mother,
Abraham Stoker.

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So he did a tremendous amount
of research

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prior to even writing
this book, yes?
Yeah.

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I mean, we know it took
about seven years

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from the dates
on these notes to put
this whole thing together.

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It seems so obvious that
you'd need to do this research,

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but it's really that
which makes this novel
so scary,

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'cause these are real places
and even a real castle.

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(Dacre)
These are three pages
that he actually took

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notes from all these other books
and created the traits

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that a vampire--
we know nowadays
that most vampires

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have no looking glass,
no reflection.

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It's a menu of vampire traits.
Sure it is.

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That's fascinating--
see in the dark.
See in the dark,
painters cannot paint him,

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can't reproduce him.
(Don)
That's amazing.

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Power of getting himself
large or small,

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shapeshifting.
(Dacre)
Right, seeing in the dark.

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Yep, money's always old gold.
(Don)
God, it's all right here.

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This is how to be a vampire!

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So he's really a genius
of synthesizing

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all of these ideas.
Absolutely.

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That's really his mark
as a writer, isn't it?
Yeah.

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He created a manual
that was followed
for 100 years afterwards.

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I mean, all the great
vampire stories and movies
Yeah.

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and all that...
He did all the work
for everybody else.

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That's incredible.

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(Don)
But there was one more gem
that Stoker found hidden

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within his research--

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a book about a medieval ruler
who reigned

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over a Romanian kingdom
known as Wallachia.

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His name

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was Vlad Dracula.

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This is, you know, a question
everybody asks.

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How did Bram ever decide
on the name Dracula?

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And what we understand

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is that from his notes,
he took out this book

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called the Account of
Principalities of
Wallachia and Moldavia ,
Mmhm.

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And look what was written
in there, read that.
Oh, there you go.

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Dracula, page 19
of this book.
Yes.

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Dracula in Wallachian language

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means devil.
Yes.

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Because of that word, devil,
Yeah.

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that solidified in Bram's mind
the character he wanted.

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It was a devil-like creature.

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00:09:44,868 --> 00:09:48,770
(Don)
Although it wasn't
an immediate success,

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Dracula brought Bram Stoker
critical praise

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and would go on to become
his most successful novel,

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outliving its author and serving
as the template

195
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for all vampires that followed.

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It's got eternal life,
doesn't it?

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Sure, just like the character.

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Right, and it all started
right here.

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In Transylvania, in this castle
as his image

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of the perfect castle.

201
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And then goes out over
that hillside

202
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and all over the world.

203
00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:25,940
Fact and fiction,

204
00:10:26,043 --> 00:10:28,243
history and folklore.

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00:10:28,345 --> 00:10:30,578
Under the surface
of the vampire myth

206
00:10:30,681 --> 00:10:32,881
lies real truths.

207
00:10:32,983 --> 00:10:36,084
So who is the mysterious
Vlad Dracula?

208
00:10:36,186 --> 00:10:38,520
And what else besides a name

209
00:10:38,622 --> 00:10:41,122
does he share with the most
notorious vampire

210
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of all time?

211
00:10:43,393 --> 00:10:45,627
This is where the torture
would have happened.

212
00:10:45,729 --> 00:10:47,495
[agonized shouts]

213
00:10:52,552 --> 00:10:55,486
[birds chirping]

214
00:10:55,588 --> 00:10:57,621
(Don)
I'm in Romania
in search of the truth

215
00:10:57,723 --> 00:10:59,890
about vampires.

216
00:10:59,992 --> 00:11:02,193
My visit to Bran Castle,
deep in the heart

217
00:11:02,295 --> 00:11:05,563
of the infamous and very real
region known as Transylvania

218
00:11:05,665 --> 00:11:08,232
revealed something fascinating.

219
00:11:08,334 --> 00:11:10,935
Dracula,

220
00:11:11,037 --> 00:11:13,504
the most famous fictional
vampire of them all

221
00:11:13,606 --> 00:11:16,607
is, in fact,
based on a real man.

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00:11:18,444 --> 00:11:21,612
His name was Count Dracul,
Dracula.

223
00:11:25,251 --> 00:11:27,284
To find out more about him,
I'm headed deep

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00:11:27,386 --> 00:11:29,420
into the Romanian mountains.

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00:11:31,424 --> 00:11:33,991
Over 500 years ago,
this area in Romania

226
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was known as the Kingdom
of Wallachia,

227
00:11:36,562 --> 00:11:38,863
and Vlad Dracula was king.

228
00:11:41,334 --> 00:11:43,300
Mei, how you doin'?
Nice to meet you.

229
00:11:43,402 --> 00:11:45,736
Mei Trow is a Welsh historian
and author

230
00:11:45,838 --> 00:11:49,139
who has extensively studied
the history surrounding
Vlad Dracula.

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00:11:49,242 --> 00:11:53,644
He can show us the inside
of this 15th-century fortress

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00:11:53,746 --> 00:11:57,515
and the real dungeons
that inspired the legend
of Dracula.

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Ah, this is spectacular.
Wow!

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00:12:06,592 --> 00:12:09,326
(Mei)
This is the citadel.
This is the home

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00:12:09,428 --> 00:12:13,330
of Wallachia, it's the center,
the capital, the heart
Okay.

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00:12:13,432 --> 00:12:15,799
of Vlad Dracula's kingdom.

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00:12:15,902 --> 00:12:18,235
If you think, Wallachia was
very small, about the size

238
00:12:18,337 --> 00:12:20,271
of New York State today.
Okay.

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00:12:20,373 --> 00:12:23,007
It's not modern Romania
by any means,

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and we haven't got
those national boundaries.

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00:12:25,978 --> 00:12:28,245
They're constantly moving, as
you say, constantly changing

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depending on
the political situation.

243
00:12:31,217 --> 00:12:34,919
This is a kid who's raised
in incredibly violent
circumstances
Yeah.

244
00:12:35,021 --> 00:12:36,654
from the get-go--
he would've seen

245
00:12:36,756 --> 00:12:40,291
people burned, uh,
heads chopped off.
Yeah, absolutely.

246
00:12:40,393 --> 00:12:41,959
Absolutely.
You name it.

247
00:12:42,061 --> 00:12:44,461
This would have made him
inured to it somewhat
Yes.

248
00:12:44,564 --> 00:12:46,463
but also see its value.

249
00:12:46,566 --> 00:12:49,233
Yes, absolutely. Yep, yep.
I mean, this is a kid,
and he's royalty,

250
00:12:49,335 --> 00:12:51,735
so he knows this is
how you control people.
Yeah, yeah.

251
00:12:56,509 --> 00:12:58,475
When Vlad was only 17,

252
00:12:58,578 --> 00:13:01,779
his father was murdered
by traitors inside
his own kingdom.

253
00:13:01,881 --> 00:13:04,415
After his father's death,

254
00:13:04,517 --> 00:13:07,551
Vlad Dracula took control
of the kingdom of Wallachia.

255
00:13:07,653 --> 00:13:09,687
And by this time,

256
00:13:09,789 --> 00:13:12,323
the kingdom had fallen
into lawlessness,

257
00:13:12,425 --> 00:13:14,892
and the very same people
who had betrayed his father

258
00:13:14,994 --> 00:13:17,328
were roaming free.

259
00:13:17,430 --> 00:13:19,930
The new king needed
to assert his power,

260
00:13:20,032 --> 00:13:22,232
and he was out for revenge.

261
00:13:22,335 --> 00:13:26,070
He takes control in a place
where people have not
Yeah.

262
00:13:26,172 --> 00:13:28,339
been controlled for awhile.
Yeah, that's right.

263
00:13:28,441 --> 00:13:30,975
How does he do that?
All kinds of torture.

264
00:13:34,614 --> 00:13:37,114
(Don)
And it was in these dungeons
that Vlad Dracula

265
00:13:37,216 --> 00:13:39,350
avenged his father's death...

266
00:13:39,452 --> 00:13:41,952
in the most extreme ways.

267
00:13:42,054 --> 00:13:45,189
For example, people were
literally boiled,
Yeah.

268
00:13:45,291 --> 00:13:47,224
uh, in cauldrons of water.

269
00:13:47,326 --> 00:13:50,327
They were broken on a wheel,
a gigantic wheel

270
00:13:50,429 --> 00:13:53,263
in which experts used
iron bars
Yeah.

271
00:13:53,366 --> 00:13:55,065
to break their limbs.

272
00:13:55,167 --> 00:13:57,668
[cracking noises]
[agonized shouts]

273
00:14:00,806 --> 00:14:03,407
(Don)
Was he doing this for--
to set an example,

274
00:14:03,509 --> 00:14:06,644
or was this guy crazy?
He shows an awful lot
of traits

275
00:14:06,746 --> 00:14:09,980
of a psychopath--
he doesn't care
about human suffering.

276
00:14:10,082 --> 00:14:13,984
(Don)
But soon, Vlad's appetite
for torture grew,

277
00:14:14,086 --> 00:14:16,286
and he created something

278
00:14:16,389 --> 00:14:18,422
even more brutal
for his enemies.

279
00:14:24,430 --> 00:14:27,865
Wow. So this is the--
this is the real hellhole?
This is.

280
00:14:27,967 --> 00:14:31,068
This is where it would all
have happened, yeah.
Ewugh.

281
00:14:31,170 --> 00:14:35,072
It's what the French call
oubliette,

282
00:14:35,174 --> 00:14:38,942
the place of the forgotten,
and this is where

283
00:14:39,045 --> 00:14:41,578
the torture would have happened.

284
00:14:41,681 --> 00:14:43,881
You can almost hear the screams
down here.

285
00:14:43,983 --> 00:14:46,950
[agonized shouting]

286
00:14:47,053 --> 00:14:49,620
But it didn't end there.
It didn't end there.

287
00:14:49,722 --> 00:14:52,056
He invented
a brand-new torture,

288
00:14:52,158 --> 00:14:54,024
and that, of course,
was impalement.

289
00:14:56,896 --> 00:14:59,096
(Don)
Vlad Dracula began
publicly impaling

290
00:14:59,198 --> 00:15:01,765
his own people on tall,
wooden stakes.

291
00:15:01,867 --> 00:15:05,135
It was a level of
sheer brutality

292
00:15:05,237 --> 00:15:07,337
that horrified everyone

293
00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:09,506
and earned him
the infamous nickname,

294
00:15:09,608 --> 00:15:12,209
"Vlad the Impaler."

295
00:15:14,814 --> 00:15:17,781
(M.J.)
Here we have
the famous stake.

296
00:15:17,883 --> 00:15:21,351
That sharpened end is
inserted up from below

297
00:15:21,454 --> 00:15:24,088
and goes right up
through the body.

298
00:15:24,190 --> 00:15:26,557
If it goes through the brain,
you're gonna die quickly,
Yep.

299
00:15:26,659 --> 00:15:29,560
but if that doesn't happen,
you're going to die slowly,

300
00:15:29,662 --> 00:15:32,830
and that was the whole point
in the exercise.

301
00:15:39,638 --> 00:15:42,506
(Don)
And soon, Vlad the Impaler's
notorious reputation

302
00:15:42,608 --> 00:15:46,076
that ultimately inspired
Bram Stoker's Dracula character

303
00:15:46,178 --> 00:15:48,879
would become known throughout
the western world,

304
00:15:48,981 --> 00:15:53,150
because in 1462,
the Turkish army

305
00:15:53,252 --> 00:15:56,220
invaded Wallachia,
and the bloodthirsty Vlad

306
00:15:56,322 --> 00:15:58,589
was ready.

307
00:15:58,691 --> 00:16:01,558
He put a three-mile-wide screen
Wow.

308
00:16:01,660 --> 00:16:03,794
of stakes,
and on every one of them,

309
00:16:03,896 --> 00:16:06,230
there was a victim.

310
00:16:06,332 --> 00:16:09,133
We're talking about
the so-called forest
of the impaled.

311
00:16:14,974 --> 00:16:17,541
It's a new kind of
psychological warfare.

312
00:16:17,643 --> 00:16:20,010
(Don)
Yeah, exactly.
(M.J.)
Nobody had tried this before.

313
00:16:20,112 --> 00:16:22,980
And these are times
of great superstitions,

314
00:16:23,082 --> 00:16:25,816
magic, etcetera--
that same soldier

315
00:16:25,918 --> 00:16:28,652
would have thought something
evil was afoot.
Absolutely.

316
00:16:28,754 --> 00:16:31,455
Remember that in the Wallachia
language,

317
00:16:31,557 --> 00:16:34,158
Dracula means
"Son of the Dragon."

318
00:16:34,260 --> 00:16:36,960
It also means "Son of
the Devil," and here he is,

319
00:16:37,062 --> 00:16:39,496
he is proving that he is,
indeed, the son of the devil

320
00:16:39,598 --> 00:16:42,132
with this diabolical scene.

321
00:16:47,006 --> 00:16:49,907
(Don)
Vlad the Impaler may have
been using impalement

322
00:16:50,009 --> 00:16:52,476
and other extreme tactics
to scare off

323
00:16:52,578 --> 00:16:55,345
his much stronger enemies
and create the impression

324
00:16:55,447 --> 00:16:58,215
of a mad ruler
who knew no boundaries,

325
00:16:58,317 --> 00:17:01,685
but how did he become linked
to vampires?

326
00:17:01,787 --> 00:17:04,922
The answer is because his thirst
for power and dominance

327
00:17:05,024 --> 00:17:07,758
didn't stop at impalement.

328
00:17:07,860 --> 00:17:10,694
Vlad Dracula was even said
to have the blood

329
00:17:10,796 --> 00:17:13,964
of the impaled Turkish soldiers
brought to him in a bowl

330
00:17:14,066 --> 00:17:16,366
where he actually
dipped his bread

331
00:17:16,468 --> 00:17:18,936
and consumed his enemy.

332
00:17:19,038 --> 00:17:22,005
Horrified,
the Turkish army

333
00:17:22,107 --> 00:17:24,174
left the Wallachian border

334
00:17:24,276 --> 00:17:27,945
saying "The devil himself
is at Târgoviste."

335
00:17:33,085 --> 00:17:36,353
The forest of the impaled
was a stunning success...

336
00:17:36,455 --> 00:17:40,290
at first,
but the Turkish army's
sheer size and force

337
00:17:40,392 --> 00:17:43,961
eventually drove Vlad to what
is now northern Romania

338
00:17:44,063 --> 00:17:48,098
to the region of Transylvania
where, years later,

339
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,368
Bram Stoker's Dracula
would be set.

340
00:17:54,607 --> 00:17:56,974
Vlad scorched the earth
and poisoned the rivers

341
00:17:57,076 --> 00:17:59,209
along the way,
destroying their value

342
00:17:59,311 --> 00:18:01,778
for his Turkish enemy,
who was hot on his trail.

343
00:18:01,881 --> 00:18:04,882
High on the crest of
the Romanian mountains,

344
00:18:04,984 --> 00:18:08,252
they cornered Vlad
at another one of
his fortresses,

345
00:18:08,354 --> 00:18:12,623
this one named Poienari Castle.

346
00:18:37,249 --> 00:18:39,216
More and more,
Vlad was alone.

347
00:18:39,318 --> 00:18:43,020
Many in his army
had deserted him,
even Vlad's wife.

348
00:18:43,122 --> 00:18:45,622
Desperate upon hearing
about the approaching Turks,

349
00:18:45,724 --> 00:18:48,692
threw herself from the walls
of Poienari Castle

350
00:18:48,794 --> 00:18:51,194
to her death below
in the River Arges.

351
00:18:51,297 --> 00:18:53,630
Just as it seemed
Vlad was cornered,

352
00:18:53,732 --> 00:18:56,066
he somehow mysteriously
slips away

353
00:18:56,168 --> 00:18:58,201
into the caves
of the Carpathians

354
00:18:58,304 --> 00:19:00,604
and deep into the forests
of Transylvania.

355
00:19:04,643 --> 00:19:07,277
The mysterious king
hiding like a bat

356
00:19:07,379 --> 00:19:09,579
deep within the caves
of Transylvania

357
00:19:09,682 --> 00:19:12,449
with a taste for blood.

358
00:19:12,551 --> 00:19:14,985
So if we compare him
to the Dracula character

359
00:19:15,087 --> 00:19:18,956
he would later inspire,
was Vlad Dracula a vampire?

360
00:19:19,058 --> 00:19:21,925
If a vampire is defined
as one who feeds

361
00:19:22,027 --> 00:19:24,828
off the lives of others,
then you could argue

362
00:19:24,930 --> 00:19:27,464
that Vlad Dracula was,
indeed, a vampire,

363
00:19:27,566 --> 00:19:29,533
if only in the figurative sense.

364
00:19:29,635 --> 00:19:32,302
You can sense the power still

365
00:19:32,404 --> 00:19:34,972
of Vlad's bloodstained legacy.

366
00:19:36,976 --> 00:19:39,710
The vampire legend dates back
over 1,000 years

367
00:19:39,812 --> 00:19:42,913
and does, indeed, have its roots
right here in Romania.

368
00:19:43,015 --> 00:19:46,316
But while Vlad the Impaler
inspired the greatest

369
00:19:46,418 --> 00:19:49,319
vampire of all time,
who served as the model

370
00:19:49,421 --> 00:19:51,688
for vampires we know today,

371
00:19:51,790 --> 00:19:54,524
Count Dracula wasn't the first.

372
00:19:54,626 --> 00:19:57,561
So where, then, does the
original vampire come from,

373
00:19:57,663 --> 00:20:00,897
and how much of it is based
on something real?

374
00:20:12,645 --> 00:20:15,813
(Don)
I'm deep in the land
of vampires--Romania--

375
00:20:15,915 --> 00:20:19,150
where a real-life king
known as Vlad the Impaler

376
00:20:19,252 --> 00:20:23,121
and his craven thirst for blood
inspired Bram Stoker's

377
00:20:23,223 --> 00:20:25,690
infamous character, Dracula.

378
00:20:25,792 --> 00:20:27,925
So when it comes to vampires,

379
00:20:28,027 --> 00:20:30,161
what else is real?

380
00:20:34,801 --> 00:20:36,901
What we think we know
about vampires

381
00:20:37,003 --> 00:20:39,637
is a list that seems
as long as their history.

382
00:20:39,739 --> 00:20:41,706
They loathe garlic,

383
00:20:41,808 --> 00:20:44,175
fear sunlight, crucifixes,

384
00:20:44,277 --> 00:20:46,511
holy water,
and they've been said

385
00:20:46,613 --> 00:20:48,913
to shapeshift into other
creatures at their will,

386
00:20:49,015 --> 00:20:51,382
into wolves, even bats.

387
00:20:56,423 --> 00:20:58,890
Which brings me here,
to the Moeciu Cave,

388
00:20:58,992 --> 00:21:01,559
just south of
the Transylvanian border.

389
00:21:03,229 --> 00:21:04,996
Man, look at this place.

390
00:21:09,869 --> 00:21:11,903
Romania is famous
for its caves, you know.

391
00:21:12,005 --> 00:21:14,505
The whole nation is built
on limestone,

392
00:21:14,607 --> 00:21:16,407
so you're walking through
the forest, you can find

393
00:21:16,509 --> 00:21:18,209
all these bat caves
right here,

394
00:21:18,311 --> 00:21:20,445
and they are filled
with the things--
just look at them.

395
00:21:20,547 --> 00:21:23,781
Behind every legend
and superstition

396
00:21:23,883 --> 00:21:26,217
lies a kernel of truth,

397
00:21:26,319 --> 00:21:30,021
so where did vampires
really come from?

398
00:21:30,123 --> 00:21:33,925
¶¶

399
00:21:34,027 --> 00:21:36,160
To find out,
I'm headed to Sighisoara,

400
00:21:36,262 --> 00:21:38,596
one of the best preserved
medieval towns

401
00:21:38,698 --> 00:21:40,431
in all of Europe,

402
00:21:40,533 --> 00:21:42,433
deep in the wilds
of Transylvania.

403
00:21:42,535 --> 00:21:47,939
¶¶

404
00:21:48,041 --> 00:21:53,144
[singing in foreign language]

405
00:21:53,246 --> 00:22:02,286
¶¶

406
00:22:04,290 --> 00:22:05,857
Dr. Rickels?

407
00:22:05,959 --> 00:22:07,959
Nice to see you.
Good to see you.

408
00:22:08,061 --> 00:22:09,961
(Don)
Dr. Laurence Rickels
is a professor

409
00:22:10,063 --> 00:22:12,063
who's written extensively
about the myths

410
00:22:12,165 --> 00:22:14,098
attached to vampires.

411
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,835
He can help me separate
vampire fact from fiction.

412
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:22,940
Where do vampires come from?
Where does the idea

413
00:22:23,042 --> 00:22:24,942
of vampires originate?

414
00:22:25,044 --> 00:22:27,979
Well, we know, um, of course,
that the modern vampire

415
00:22:28,081 --> 00:22:30,414
has to be traced through
Bram Stoker

416
00:22:30,517 --> 00:22:33,050
and his influences,
but every bit of folklore

417
00:22:33,152 --> 00:22:36,521
I've looked at suggests
that every civilization,

418
00:22:36,623 --> 00:22:39,190
culture, on record, um,

419
00:22:39,292 --> 00:22:42,527
had some kind of bloodsucking
demon or god.

420
00:22:42,629 --> 00:22:45,897
¶¶

421
00:22:45,999 --> 00:22:48,232
(Don)
Vampirism found its roots
in the graves

422
00:22:48,334 --> 00:22:50,735
of old medieval towns
like this one.

423
00:22:50,837 --> 00:22:53,604
In the 14th century,

424
00:22:53,706 --> 00:22:55,740
a plague known as
the Black Death

425
00:22:55,842 --> 00:22:57,975
ravaged this village.

426
00:22:58,077 --> 00:23:01,546
Thousands of people died,
and bodies began to pile up.

427
00:23:01,648 --> 00:23:03,881
And here,

428
00:23:03,983 --> 00:23:07,285
against this bleak backdrop,
the vampire legend flourished.

429
00:23:07,387 --> 00:23:10,321
[bell tolling]

430
00:23:16,262 --> 00:23:18,462
Wow, look at this cemetery.
Gorgeous.
Wow.

431
00:23:18,565 --> 00:23:22,400
(Laurence)
We're at the highest point
of this fortress town

432
00:23:22,502 --> 00:23:25,670
and what's most protected,
the resting place of the dead.

433
00:23:25,772 --> 00:23:27,371
(Don)
Interesting, yeah.

434
00:23:27,473 --> 00:23:29,373
I mean, today, we think of
cemeteries as sort of

435
00:23:29,475 --> 00:23:32,543
pastoral, peaceful places to go
and visit our loved ones,

436
00:23:32,645 --> 00:23:36,113
but in these days,
they're worried about
the undead.

437
00:23:36,215 --> 00:23:38,716
Worried what might come back
out of the grave,

438
00:23:38,818 --> 00:23:40,918
especially in the evening.

439
00:23:44,490 --> 00:23:46,958
So in the time of
the Black Death,

440
00:23:47,060 --> 00:23:50,595
you have very small areas,
these cemeteries,

441
00:23:50,697 --> 00:23:54,298
suddenly packed up
with too many people.

442
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,101
The overcrowding problem was
already impressing

443
00:23:57,203 --> 00:24:00,137
throughout western Europe
in particular.

444
00:24:00,239 --> 00:24:03,207
Look at this.

445
00:24:05,411 --> 00:24:08,446
So why would these stones
be misplaced?

446
00:24:08,548 --> 00:24:10,481
I mean, they're not with any
graves at all.

447
00:24:10,583 --> 00:24:14,485
Yeah, they were under pressure
to make room for the dead.

448
00:24:14,587 --> 00:24:17,722
(Don)
And in doing so,
the villagers had to move

449
00:24:17,824 --> 00:24:21,092
freshly buried bodies,
witnessing decomposition

450
00:24:21,194 --> 00:24:23,728
up close for the first
time ever.

451
00:24:26,065 --> 00:24:29,433
So where did they come up
with the notion of the undead?

452
00:24:29,535 --> 00:24:32,603
Well, if they had to unbury
the recently deceased,

453
00:24:32,705 --> 00:24:36,607
they were bound to see signs
of decomposition

454
00:24:36,709 --> 00:24:40,611
that they were not prepared
to read.
Right, because this had never
happened before,

455
00:24:40,713 --> 00:24:42,780
this kind of, uh,
the necessity to find

456
00:24:42,882 --> 00:24:45,216
new space for so many bodies.
Right.

457
00:24:45,318 --> 00:24:47,551
Suddenly this phenomenon
of understanding what actually

458
00:24:47,654 --> 00:24:49,587
happens in the grave.
Right.

459
00:24:49,689 --> 00:24:51,689
And in the course of
decomposition,

460
00:24:51,791 --> 00:24:55,626
internal gases can build up
and mount.
Yeah.

461
00:24:55,728 --> 00:24:58,829
Not only are there bloated
distortions in the body

462
00:24:58,931 --> 00:25:02,099
that seem so alive after
several weeks in the ground,
Yeah.

463
00:25:02,201 --> 00:25:05,569
but also, the gases can prompt
the corpse simply to sit up.

464
00:25:09,942 --> 00:25:12,143
Certain things continue
to grow on a corpse--

465
00:25:12,245 --> 00:25:14,612
fingernails, the hair.

466
00:25:14,714 --> 00:25:17,615
The blood builds up and starts
to flow out of the mouth.

467
00:25:17,717 --> 00:25:20,718
Given these graveside
experiences,

468
00:25:20,820 --> 00:25:24,522
they would learn to fear
the dead as forces that could

469
00:25:24,624 --> 00:25:27,391
tear one down into
the underworld.

470
00:25:27,493 --> 00:25:31,395
So naturally, they would have to
develop rituals and practice

471
00:25:31,497 --> 00:25:33,431
to protect themselves from this.

472
00:25:33,533 --> 00:25:36,033
They had never seen
decomposition on this scale.

473
00:25:36,135 --> 00:25:38,736
Because it's not just
a flatline--the body produces

474
00:25:38,838 --> 00:25:41,939
a kind of light show,
special effects that
no one expected.

475
00:25:47,113 --> 00:25:49,547
(Don)
So while vampires
may not be real,

476
00:25:49,649 --> 00:25:52,583
the characteristics we attribute
to them came from

477
00:25:52,685 --> 00:25:55,853
real face-to-face exposure
to dead bodies in cemeteries

478
00:25:55,955 --> 00:25:58,122
just like this.

479
00:25:58,224 --> 00:26:00,191
When you add that to
the real-life story

480
00:26:00,293 --> 00:26:04,328
of Vlad the Impaler
and Bram Stoker's infamous
Dracula character,

481
00:26:04,430 --> 00:26:08,099
you start to see the birth of
the vampire as we know it today.

482
00:26:08,201 --> 00:26:11,569
[bell tolling]

483
00:26:11,671 --> 00:26:14,205
So originally,

484
00:26:14,307 --> 00:26:17,908
the function of vampires is
to explain the undead.
Mmhm.

485
00:26:18,010 --> 00:26:21,645
Uh, why these bodies looked
like they did, essentially,

486
00:26:21,748 --> 00:26:23,781
explain away that crazy
phenomenon,

487
00:26:23,883 --> 00:26:26,016
but it doesn't go away.

488
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:28,219
I mean, the vampire
is everlasting.

489
00:26:28,321 --> 00:26:30,354
The first vampires
that you recognize

490
00:26:30,456 --> 00:26:34,225
in the graveyard here locally
were more like zombies, ghouls,
Yeah.

491
00:26:34,327 --> 00:26:37,361
that were hungry to stay alive.

492
00:26:37,463 --> 00:26:40,731
Once it comes to American
popular culture,

493
00:26:40,833 --> 00:26:42,733
you have these two choices,

494
00:26:42,835 --> 00:26:46,837
between an aristocratic lineage
and zombieism.

495
00:26:49,809 --> 00:26:53,210
The vampire count is someone
that one can idealize,

496
00:26:53,312 --> 00:26:56,747
but with the zombie, especially,
as is the case

497
00:26:56,849 --> 00:26:59,917
in most zombie films where
you don't recognize the people,

498
00:27:00,019 --> 00:27:02,153
you thrill to the killing
of them, because that's,

499
00:27:02,255 --> 00:27:05,122
um, the germination phase
of mourning.

500
00:27:05,224 --> 00:27:08,225
You can only mourn someone
if you kill that person

501
00:27:08,327 --> 00:27:10,327
Interesting.
that's dead.

502
00:27:10,429 --> 00:27:13,197
These two characters,
the zombie and the vampire,

503
00:27:13,299 --> 00:27:16,000
are two aspects
of the same process,

504
00:27:16,102 --> 00:27:18,769
Count Dracula being
this idealized version,

505
00:27:18,871 --> 00:27:21,238
so he's very, kind of,
interesting and sexy,
Right.

506
00:27:21,340 --> 00:27:23,374
but these zombies
are disgusting,

507
00:27:23,476 --> 00:27:26,977
and it's telling that
we're so fascinated
by zombies now.

508
00:27:27,079 --> 00:27:29,446
Yeah.
They've sort of taken over,
haven't they?

509
00:27:29,549 --> 00:27:33,117
The pleasure that lies
in killing the dead.
Yeah, right.

510
00:27:33,219 --> 00:27:35,386
Here's to the dead.

511
00:27:35,488 --> 00:27:37,988
May they never come back.
The dead dead.

512
00:27:38,090 --> 00:27:39,757
(Don)
Stay dead.

513
00:27:44,897 --> 00:27:48,032
So now, I understand
where much of the fear

514
00:27:48,134 --> 00:27:50,534
surrounding vampires
comes from.

515
00:27:50,636 --> 00:27:52,870
Some people relied
on superstitions

516
00:27:52,972 --> 00:27:55,339
to ward them off,
but others didn't.

517
00:27:55,441 --> 00:27:58,375
They took matters
into their own hands,

518
00:27:58,477 --> 00:28:01,345
battling suspected vampires
face-to-face.

519
00:28:01,447 --> 00:28:04,915
They were the vampire slayers.

520
00:28:19,231 --> 00:28:22,065
I'm in Romania,
the birthplace of vampires,

521
00:28:22,167 --> 00:28:25,302
to find out what is fact
and what is fiction.

522
00:28:25,404 --> 00:28:28,572
Today, there is still evidence
being unearthed

523
00:28:28,674 --> 00:28:32,909
that shows how extreme the fear
of vampires really was.

524
00:28:33,011 --> 00:28:36,746
In order to fend off
bloodthirsty vampires,

525
00:28:36,849 --> 00:28:40,083
people in these medieval
villages began to fight back,

526
00:28:40,185 --> 00:28:43,353
and these brave few were called
vampire slayers,

527
00:28:43,455 --> 00:28:46,289
and according to legend,
their methods could be brutal.

528
00:28:46,391 --> 00:28:50,093
But how do we really know

529
00:28:50,195 --> 00:28:52,129
how people reacted
generations ago?

530
00:28:52,231 --> 00:28:54,564
Some experts
think they have proof.

531
00:28:59,037 --> 00:29:01,138
Archeologist Andre Gonciar

532
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,240
has invited me to see
a current dig

533
00:29:03,342 --> 00:29:05,976
in an old graveyard dating back
to the 14th century.

534
00:29:06,078 --> 00:29:10,013
He has unearthed mysterious
discoveries that reveal

535
00:29:10,115 --> 00:29:12,816
the fears and superstitions
of the past.

536
00:29:12,918 --> 00:29:16,153
So all these piles of dirt,

537
00:29:16,255 --> 00:29:20,157
this is what you've taken
out of the tombs?
That is correct.

538
00:29:20,259 --> 00:29:22,325
(Andre)
We are in a cemetery, right?
(Don)
Right.

539
00:29:22,427 --> 00:29:24,294
So we are bound to encounter
human remains

540
00:29:24,396 --> 00:29:26,363
that are completely mixed
with the dirt

541
00:29:26,465 --> 00:29:29,399
that belong to a past that
literally everybody forgot.

542
00:29:29,501 --> 00:29:31,768
Look at that.

543
00:29:31,870 --> 00:29:34,905
There's a Romanian
village person

544
00:29:35,007 --> 00:29:37,507
and their teeth.

545
00:29:37,609 --> 00:29:40,043
He had pretty good teeth,
didn't he?

546
00:29:40,145 --> 00:29:42,546
He had some nasty little
cavities, though.

547
00:29:42,648 --> 00:29:45,215
Oh, yes, that was probably
the least of his problems.

548
00:29:45,317 --> 00:29:48,718
This takes us back to the time

549
00:29:48,820 --> 00:29:52,189
when people believe in undead
and vampires

550
00:29:52,291 --> 00:29:55,592
and werewolves
and all the rest of it.
Oh, absolutely.

551
00:29:55,694 --> 00:29:58,195
Well, that being said, even now,
people believe, actually,

552
00:29:58,297 --> 00:30:00,197
literally believe in the undead.

553
00:30:00,299 --> 00:30:04,000
There are rituals for them
when people are buried.
Still, yeah.

554
00:30:04,102 --> 00:30:07,337
It's amazing to me how
the mystery of, you know,

555
00:30:07,439 --> 00:30:10,273
what happens to us after we die
lives on.

556
00:30:18,650 --> 00:30:20,483
These graves,
or graves in general,

557
00:30:20,586 --> 00:30:22,852
are a perfect lens
to study culture, yes?

558
00:30:22,955 --> 00:30:25,789
It's the point of intersection

559
00:30:25,891 --> 00:30:29,693
of social conventions,
of folklore.
Right.
Doesn't get any more basic.

560
00:30:29,795 --> 00:30:32,195
Or any more honest.
Yeah, exactly.

561
00:30:32,297 --> 00:30:35,999
(Don)
Recent archeological digs
in burial grounds

562
00:30:36,101 --> 00:30:39,436
from Ireland to Romania
have brought remarkable

563
00:30:39,538 --> 00:30:42,339
new evidence to the surface
about medieval populations

564
00:30:42,441 --> 00:30:44,774
and the fear of the undead.

565
00:30:44,876 --> 00:30:47,811
They're called deviant burials.

566
00:30:51,583 --> 00:30:54,050
(Andre)
When you have a cemetery where
the treatment of the body

567
00:30:54,152 --> 00:30:56,620
in the grave is different,

568
00:30:56,722 --> 00:30:59,489
it is a deviant environment.

569
00:31:02,728 --> 00:31:04,928
The word deviant refers
to the fact

570
00:31:05,030 --> 00:31:07,063
that this is not
a normal burial.
Yes.

571
00:31:07,165 --> 00:31:08,898
In a normal burial,
they wouldn't be worried

572
00:31:09,001 --> 00:31:11,935
about things happening after
this person's put in the ground.

573
00:31:12,037 --> 00:31:14,304
Deviant burial worries
about that person.

574
00:31:14,406 --> 00:31:17,707
Why were they worried
about that person?
Those, uh, spirits

575
00:31:17,809 --> 00:31:20,844
are not at peace.

576
00:31:20,946 --> 00:31:23,580
They cannot find their way
on the other side.
True.

577
00:31:23,682 --> 00:31:26,583
And so they come back
for revenge.

578
00:31:35,827 --> 00:31:37,394
So this is your land back here?

579
00:31:37,496 --> 00:31:39,629
Yes, this is where we get
all the bones together,

580
00:31:39,731 --> 00:31:42,265
we wash them
and we analyze them,

581
00:31:42,367 --> 00:31:44,734
we reconstruct whatever we can
reconstruct, and we prepare them

582
00:31:44,836 --> 00:31:48,738
for preservation
and whatever

583
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,075
we need to do next
in terms of analysis,
in terms of DNA.

584
00:31:56,181 --> 00:31:57,514
Wow, who is this?

585
00:32:00,752 --> 00:32:04,954
This is one of the strangest
graves we've found yet.

586
00:32:05,057 --> 00:32:07,023
Where did you find it?
Where does this come from?

587
00:32:07,125 --> 00:32:09,592
About five kilometers just on
the other side of the rise

588
00:32:09,695 --> 00:32:11,861
from where we were
just a bit ago.

589
00:32:11,963 --> 00:32:14,130
(Don)
Male, female?
(Andre)
It's female.

590
00:32:14,232 --> 00:32:16,066
What's absolutely fascinating
about it is

591
00:32:16,168 --> 00:32:20,136
when you look at the vertebra,
they're highly compacted,

592
00:32:20,238 --> 00:32:23,273
and they're compacted at a very,
very steep angle.

593
00:32:23,375 --> 00:32:27,010
When this happens,
the shape of the spine,

594
00:32:27,112 --> 00:32:29,946
it's very convoluted.
Sure.

595
00:32:30,048 --> 00:32:33,516
So she was the archetype image
of the...

596
00:32:33,618 --> 00:32:36,386
the wicked witch
that you can see...yes.
The old woman like this.

597
00:32:40,392 --> 00:32:42,359
She was surrounded by babies.

598
00:32:42,461 --> 00:32:44,761
What do you mean?
What I mean...

599
00:32:48,767 --> 00:32:51,267
Oh, these are children.
They're babies.

600
00:32:51,370 --> 00:32:53,269
Look at this,
oh, my goodness.

601
00:32:53,372 --> 00:32:55,705
Boy, it just breaks your heart
to see this.

602
00:32:55,807 --> 00:32:58,908
And these were found
near this woman in
the same church.

603
00:32:59,010 --> 00:33:02,379
Three of almost a hundred
children that were found
What?!

604
00:33:02,481 --> 00:33:05,448
surrounding the old lady
of the church.
No kidding.

605
00:33:07,119 --> 00:33:09,018
(Don)
We may never know
the real story behind

606
00:33:09,121 --> 00:33:12,555
this remarkable deviant burial
or if it's connected

607
00:33:12,657 --> 00:33:16,559
to a fear of the undead,
but other graves

608
00:33:16,661 --> 00:33:19,863
excavated throughout Europe
have provided archeologists

609
00:33:19,965 --> 00:33:22,632
with more direct evidence.

610
00:33:22,734 --> 00:33:25,335
(Andre)
There are a couple of cemeteries
where they excavated graves

611
00:33:25,437 --> 00:33:29,439
where the people that buried
the dead in those graves

612
00:33:29,541 --> 00:33:31,808
took extra precautions to make
absolutely sure

613
00:33:31,910 --> 00:33:34,244
that that person would not
rise from the grave.

614
00:33:34,346 --> 00:33:36,913
They put blades across
their throats,

615
00:33:37,015 --> 00:33:39,783
so when they rise from the dead,
they would get decapitated.
Wow.

616
00:33:39,885 --> 00:33:42,652
They would stick stones
into their mouths

617
00:33:42,754 --> 00:33:44,921
so they could not bite anymore.

618
00:33:45,023 --> 00:33:48,558
They would put big nails
in the lid of the coffin

619
00:33:48,660 --> 00:33:50,360
so when the dead comes
back to life,

620
00:33:50,462 --> 00:33:53,396
they would just simply impale
themselves in those nails.
Wow.

621
00:33:53,498 --> 00:33:55,865
This is really the source
of this idea of the undead,

622
00:33:55,967 --> 00:33:59,202
this restlessness of the soul
needing to be dealt with

623
00:33:59,304 --> 00:34:00,970
by the living.

624
00:34:06,111 --> 00:34:09,045
Fear of vampires was common
throughout all of Europe

625
00:34:09,147 --> 00:34:11,114
for hundreds of years.

626
00:34:11,216 --> 00:34:13,750
Is there evidence
in Romania today

627
00:34:13,852 --> 00:34:16,386
that this fear still exists?

628
00:34:20,625 --> 00:34:26,962
¶¶

629
00:34:27,065 --> 00:34:29,165
[birds chirping]

630
00:34:29,267 --> 00:34:32,301
¶¶

631
00:34:32,403 --> 00:34:35,137
[chicken clucking]

632
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:43,612
¶¶

633
00:34:43,714 --> 00:34:45,781
¶¶

634
00:34:45,883 --> 00:34:48,050
Hollywood has kept
Bram Stoker's Dracula

635
00:34:48,152 --> 00:34:50,686
and the vampire legend
alive and well,

636
00:34:50,788 --> 00:34:53,556
feeding off of a new franchise
every couple of years,

637
00:34:53,658 --> 00:34:55,925
each more sensational
than the last,

638
00:34:56,027 --> 00:34:58,194
but in some places,

639
00:34:58,296 --> 00:35:00,563
remote corners of the world,

640
00:35:00,665 --> 00:35:02,865
time seems to stand still,

641
00:35:02,967 --> 00:35:06,068
and the old superstitions
still reign supreme.

642
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:11,807
[chicken clucking]

643
00:35:14,946 --> 00:35:17,246
Look at this--I'm meeting
a local resident here

644
00:35:17,348 --> 00:35:20,349
who's lived here for many years
to talk to her

645
00:35:20,451 --> 00:35:23,519
about the, you know, beliefs
in this area about the dead.

646
00:35:26,724 --> 00:35:28,624
[speaking foreign language]
Hello, hello.

647
00:35:28,726 --> 00:35:31,660
[speaking foreign language]

648
00:35:31,762 --> 00:35:33,929
Hello.
This is Don.

649
00:35:34,031 --> 00:35:35,631
[speaking foreign language] Don.
Very nice to meet you.

650
00:35:35,733 --> 00:35:37,299
Don.
Don.

651
00:35:37,401 --> 00:35:40,069
[speaking foreign language]
Brezan Alexandrina.

652
00:35:40,171 --> 00:35:42,338
Brezan Alexandrina.
Da.

653
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:45,141
Let's see inside.
Da.

654
00:35:45,243 --> 00:35:49,245
How long as Alexandrina
lived here?

655
00:35:49,347 --> 00:35:51,747
She's 87.

656
00:35:51,849 --> 00:35:54,783
She's, uh, she's been
born here,

657
00:35:54,886 --> 00:35:57,653
6th December 1930.
Wow, okay.

658
00:35:57,755 --> 00:36:00,689
So many generations
of her family have lived

659
00:36:00,791 --> 00:36:03,192
even before that,
I imagine.
Yes.

660
00:36:08,466 --> 00:36:12,001
[birds chirping]

661
00:36:12,103 --> 00:36:14,770
(Don)
Alexandrina, this is such
a mysterious land.

662
00:36:14,872 --> 00:36:19,175
[speaking foreign language]

663
00:36:19,277 --> 00:36:21,610
Do you recall,
when you were young,

664
00:36:21,712 --> 00:36:24,713
where the stories of vampires
may have come from?

665
00:36:24,815 --> 00:36:27,082
You know, where did
those beliefs start?

666
00:36:27,185 --> 00:36:31,187
[speaking foreign language]

667
00:36:34,425 --> 00:36:37,259
[speaking foreign language]

668
00:36:44,669 --> 00:36:47,970
[speaking foreign language]
[speaking foreign language]

669
00:36:48,072 --> 00:36:49,972
She says they...

670
00:36:50,074 --> 00:36:53,175
they believe that this comes
from witchcraft,

671
00:36:53,277 --> 00:36:56,745
black magic,
so you want

672
00:36:56,847 --> 00:36:59,181
to do something
against that.

673
00:37:03,788 --> 00:37:06,956
(Don)
As recently as 2004,

674
00:37:07,058 --> 00:37:09,825
in the remote village
of Marotinu de Sus,

675
00:37:09,927 --> 00:37:13,495
half a dozen people were
charged with desecrating
a man's grave.

676
00:37:13,598 --> 00:37:16,065
Their reasoning?

677
00:37:16,167 --> 00:37:18,601
He had become a vampire,

678
00:37:18,703 --> 00:37:21,537
or as locals call it,
a strigoi.

679
00:37:21,639 --> 00:37:25,140
A young woman had fallen ill
in the village.

680
00:37:25,243 --> 00:37:28,644
She claimed that her recently
deceased uncle

681
00:37:28,746 --> 00:37:31,580
had been visiting her to drink
blood from her heart.

682
00:37:31,682 --> 00:37:33,916
In the dead of night,

683
00:37:34,018 --> 00:37:36,285
the band of villagers had
exhumed her uncle's body,

684
00:37:36,387 --> 00:37:39,421
used a pitchfork to crack open
his chest,

685
00:37:39,523 --> 00:37:41,924
and drove a stake
through his heart.

686
00:37:42,026 --> 00:37:44,893
Then, they took the heart,
stake and all,

687
00:37:44,996 --> 00:37:47,696
to the nearest crossroads
where it was burned,

688
00:37:47,798 --> 00:37:51,166
and then, the ashes were given
to the young woman to drink.

689
00:37:51,269 --> 00:37:54,169
In doing so,
she would be healed,

690
00:37:54,272 --> 00:37:56,605
and it was ensured
that the strigoi

691
00:37:56,707 --> 00:37:59,508
was now truly dead.

692
00:37:59,610 --> 00:38:02,111
In small, removed villages
like Marotinu de Sus,

693
00:38:02,213 --> 00:38:05,247
it's traditionally believed
that after a body

694
00:38:05,349 --> 00:38:07,516
has been in the grave
for 40 days,

695
00:38:07,618 --> 00:38:10,586
it can become a strigoi,
or as we know it,

696
00:38:10,688 --> 00:38:12,855
the walking dead.

697
00:38:12,957 --> 00:38:15,190
A strigoi can live and walk

698
00:38:15,293 --> 00:38:17,359
among the living

699
00:38:17,461 --> 00:38:19,662
and attack them
whenever they choose.

700
00:38:27,738 --> 00:38:30,105
It's fascinating to see
firsthand

701
00:38:30,207 --> 00:38:32,675
how the ancient ways are still
so much a part

702
00:38:32,777 --> 00:38:34,677
of contemporary life here.

703
00:38:34,779 --> 00:38:37,346
Romania's origins, its history,
its folklore

704
00:38:37,448 --> 00:38:40,849
is very much in the hearts
and minds of all these people

705
00:38:40,951 --> 00:38:43,285
living in these rural
communities.

706
00:38:43,387 --> 00:38:47,589
Why do vampires continue
to capture our imagination?

707
00:38:47,692 --> 00:38:51,727
And will this fascination
haunt us for eternity?

708
00:39:02,373 --> 00:39:05,074
(Don)
Everlasting life,

709
00:39:05,176 --> 00:39:07,443
a stake through the heart,

710
00:39:07,545 --> 00:39:09,745
the kiss of death.

711
00:39:09,847 --> 00:39:12,281
For over 1,000 years,
our unsatiated

712
00:39:12,383 --> 00:39:14,550
vampire obsession has endured,

713
00:39:14,652 --> 00:39:17,620
but what gives
this bloodthirsty legend

714
00:39:17,722 --> 00:39:20,556
everlasting life is the fact
that it's rooted

715
00:39:20,658 --> 00:39:23,259
in real people and moments
from history,

716
00:39:23,361 --> 00:39:26,062
starting with the dead bodies
that piled up

717
00:39:26,164 --> 00:39:29,031
during the Black Death
right here in Romania.

718
00:39:29,133 --> 00:39:32,101
Vampires were a way for people
to cope with the real horrors

719
00:39:32,203 --> 00:39:34,437
they saw every day.

720
00:39:35,940 --> 00:39:38,140
That gory folklore spread
and found its way

721
00:39:38,242 --> 00:39:40,676
into the eager hands
of Bram Stoker,

722
00:39:40,778 --> 00:39:43,446
who brought the very real
region of Transylvania

723
00:39:43,548 --> 00:39:45,948
and a fictional character
named Count Dracula

724
00:39:46,050 --> 00:39:48,250
to the rest of the world.

725
00:39:48,352 --> 00:39:51,854
So while Dracula may be the most
recognizable and frightening

726
00:39:51,956 --> 00:39:54,590
vampire of all time,
he was, indeed,

727
00:39:54,692 --> 00:39:57,426
partly based on a real,
bloodthirsty ruler

728
00:39:57,528 --> 00:39:59,962
known as Vlad the Impaler.

729
00:40:01,766 --> 00:40:04,033
Vlad Dracula's reign was
as long as it was violent.

730
00:40:04,135 --> 00:40:06,936
His daring escape from
the tunnels beneath

731
00:40:07,038 --> 00:40:09,839
Poienari Castle was by far
the last time the world

732
00:40:09,941 --> 00:40:11,340
would ever hear from him.

733
00:40:11,442 --> 00:40:13,976
He beat invading armies
for years to come.

734
00:40:14,078 --> 00:40:15,678
Indeed, he even managed
to reclaim

735
00:40:15,780 --> 00:40:18,114
the Wallachian throne
once more.

736
00:40:18,216 --> 00:40:21,250
It was almost as if Vlad
was immortal--

737
00:40:21,352 --> 00:40:25,688
that is, until 1476,
when Vlad Dracula
met his end.

738
00:40:30,728 --> 00:40:33,129
Just over 40 kilometers
north of Bucharest,

739
00:40:33,231 --> 00:40:35,531
hidden in the center
of this wooded island,

740
00:40:35,633 --> 00:40:37,766
is Snagov Monastery,

741
00:40:37,869 --> 00:40:40,336
where many believe
Vlad Dracula's remains

742
00:40:40,438 --> 00:40:42,404
are laid to rest.

743
00:40:45,176 --> 00:40:47,910
Legend suggests that Vlad
was ambushed and beheaded

744
00:40:48,012 --> 00:40:50,312
by the Ottoman Empire
and that monks

745
00:40:50,414 --> 00:40:53,115
at this monastery moved
his headless body here

746
00:40:53,217 --> 00:40:55,251
to rest for all eternity.

747
00:40:55,353 --> 00:40:57,720
To this day,

748
00:40:57,822 --> 00:40:59,822
there is a plaque marking
a stone

749
00:40:59,924 --> 00:41:01,724
in front of the altar
that suggests

750
00:41:01,826 --> 00:41:04,660
Vlad Dracula is here
and finally dead.

751
00:41:10,501 --> 00:41:12,968
Reality and fantasy,

752
00:41:13,070 --> 00:41:14,904
history and fiction.

753
00:41:15,006 --> 00:41:17,673
The vampire legend blurs
the boundaries between it all

754
00:41:17,775 --> 00:41:21,343
and reminds us of the mysterious
magic behind the exotic

755
00:41:21,445 --> 00:41:23,979
and unknown--
from the seductive allure

756
00:41:24,081 --> 00:41:27,850
of a Transylvania castle
to the war-torn borderlands

757
00:41:27,952 --> 00:41:30,352
between the Hungarian
and Ottoman Empires.

758
00:41:33,057 --> 00:41:35,624
Vampires have been around
this place forever,

759
00:41:35,726 --> 00:41:38,060
and from the looks of it,

760
00:41:38,162 --> 00:41:40,496
they're not going anywhere,
lurking in the shadows

761
00:41:40,598 --> 00:41:42,798
for generations to come.

762
00:41:42,900 --> 00:41:51,473
¶¶

763
00:41:51,576 --> 00:41:58,080
¶¶

763
00:41:59,305 --> 00:42:59,471
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