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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 2016)
9A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2016 Halloween treat: a night at Dracula’s castle in Transylvania By ALISON MUTLER Associated Press BRAN CASTLE, Roma- nia — Dracula’s castle will have overnight guests on Halloween, marking the irst time since 1948 that anyone has slept in the Transylvanian fortress. The site’s actual name in Bran Castle, and two peo- ple will get to sleep there Oct. 31 thanks to a promo- tion by Airbnb. The guests will be wined and dined, then left alone to lie down in red velvet-trimmed cofins just as Dracula did in the Bram Stoker horror novel that pop- ularized the legend. The castle is famous for its connection to Vlad the Impaler, a real-life prince who stayed there in the 15th century and had a cruel habit of using stakes to impale his victims. Vlad inspired Stok- er’s story of Count Dracula. The Airbnb contest to ind guests for the night launched Monday. Applicants were asked to use their “vampiric wit” to imagine what they’d say to Count Dracula if they met him. Winners will be lown to Romania and then taken to the castle set dra- matically in the Carpath- ian Mountains. If they’re too spooked to sleep in the cof- ins, beds are on hand. The castle is one of Roma- nia’s top tourist attractions, with more than 630,000 vis- itors a year. Hosting the one- off Airbnb event is a descen- dant of Bram Stoker, Dacre Stoker. “I want to make it both realistic and show the leg- end in the wonderful coun- try that birthed the whole thing,” Stoker said in a tele- phone interview. He’ll play the role of Jonathan Harker, a character from the novel who encounters Dracula at the castle. When the win- ners arrive in a horse-drawn carriage, he plans to greet them using the same words Dracula used in his ances- tor’s story: “Welcome to my house! Enter freely. Go AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru Men stand in the inner courtyard of Bran Castle, in Bran, Romania. Airbnb has launched a contest to find two people to stay overnight in the castle on Halloween, popularly known as Dracula’s castle because of its connection to the cruel real-life prince Vlad the Impaler, who inspired the legend of Dracula. AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru LEFT: Two girls light up candles before a photo shoot in Bran Castle, in Bran, Romania. Airbnb has launched a con- test to find two people to stay overnight in the castle on Halloween, popularly known as Dracula’s castle because of its connection to the cruel real-life prince Vlad the Impaler, who inspired the legend of Dracula. RIGHT: A candlelight dinner is set up before a photo shoot, in Bran Castle, in Bran, Romania. safely, and leave something of the happiness you bring!” Stoker added that staging “Halloween night in Dracula castle” was a way of “re-cre- ating the book, and giving people a good experience and a good scare.” The winning pair will tour the castle, then be treated to a candlelight dinner of chicken paprikash, the same meal described in the novel. Airbnb’s rules for the night are simple: no garlic or sil- ver jewelry — both believed to ward off vampires — and this reminder: “The count is not a fan of mirror selies.” (According to legend, a vam- pire’s image cannot be seen in mirrors.) Bran Castle was origi- nally a military fortress, stra- tegically set on a highway that links Transylvania to southern Romania. Vlad the Impaler did not own the castle, but is believed to have used it briely during his incursions in Tran- sylvania. He is also believed to have been imprisoned in the castle for two months in 1462 when he was captured by a rival Hungarian king. Vlad impaled his victims as punishment for wrong- doing. His victims reput- edly included all the elderly residents of one community to avenge the deaths of his father and brother. Following World War I, the castle was given to Queen Marie in gratitude for her role in unifying Transylvania with the rest of Romania. She bequeathed it to her youngest daughter Princess Ileana. In 1948, the Communists seized it from Ileana. In 2006, years after com- munism ended, the castle was returned to Ileana’s son Dom- inic Hapsburg, a retired New York architect. His sisters spent their childhood there. A Romanian company manages the castle which is rented for weddings, soirees and corpo- rate events. Hapsburg plays an active role in the site, but nobody has stayed overnight there since Hapsburg and his family were exiled from Romania. The castle is very popular with tourists. “We just love Halloween, so what drew us to Romania was Transylva- nia,” said Gina Ricciardi of Boca Raton, Florida, visiting with her husband and friends. “We wanted to see Dracula’s castle and just experience the whole Dracula.” Might Count Dracula him- self show up on Oct. 31? “Did he really die at end of the novel when he was stabbed with knife? Bram leaves the question ambig- uous,” Stoker said. “But if he’s still loating around, he would make an appearance.” “Our guys go out daily with a lot of STIHL products on their truck.” Jeff Jones | Bud Jones Landscaping ON THE JOB AND AT HOME... SAVE $ 20! DOUBLE YOUR LIMITED WARRANTY WHEN YOU PURCHASE EITHER STIHL HP ULTRA OIL (SIX BOTTLES) ® OR STIHL MotoMix PATENTED PREMIXED FUEL (ONE GALLON MINIMUM) Double limited warranty protection applies to most STIHL gasoline-powered products purchased and registered for personal non-income producing, family and household purposes only. 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