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. Other restrictions apply.
See dealer for details.
MS 311
CHAIN SAW
$
499 95
$
429 95
20” bar †
20” bar †
“The saw has a lot of power and
cuts very well. The anti-vibration
is very well designed and the
starting procedures and
usability are great.”
“I have owned other saws in
this class and the MS 271
has the best power to weight
ratio that I have owned.”
CARRYING
CASE KIT
WITH PURCHASE OF
SELECT CHAIN SAWS
199 95
$
Up to a $79.00 SNW-SRP value.
BLOWERS STARTING AT $ 139 95
SH 56 C-E SHREDDER VAC/
HANDHELD BLOWER
NOW JUST WAS $219.95 SNW-SRP
Offer valid on purchases through
11/27/16 at participating dealers
while supplies last.
– user Tommy80
– user jonohio
Check out these reviews and others on the product pages at STIHLdealers.com.
CHAIN SAWS STARTING AT $ 179 95
MS 271
FARM BOSS ®
FREE
Indicates products that are built in
the United States from domestic
and foreign parts and components.
Offer valid through 11/27/16 at
participating dealers while supplies last.
“Surprisingly quiet, light, and
engine starts on the irst pull.”
– user HighPlainsDrifter
JOIN US.
TRIMMERS STARTING AT $ 129 95
All prices are SNW-SRP. Available at participating dealers while supplies last. † The actual listed guide bar length may vary from the effective cutting length based on which powerhead it is installed on. © 2016 STIHL SNW16-1322-132647-6
STIHL
THE OFFICIAL
HANDHELD OUTDOOR
POWER TOOLS OF THE
Clatsop Power Equip. Inc
34912 Hwy 101 Bus. | Astoria | 503-325-0792
(800) 220-0792 | ClatsopPower.com
STIHLdealers.com