The Black Vault - Vlad fans sink teeth into Dracula legend

Aficionados of Vlad the Impaler, the 15th century Romanian prince who inspired the Dracula legend, gathered on Friday to sink their teeth into a weekend of organ music, Bloody Mary cocktails and graveyard tours.

About 30 Vlad enthusiasts from eight countries met in the baroque splendour of the town hall in Sighisoara, regarded as Vlad's birthplace, for three days of discussions at the annual Transylvania Dracula Society conference.

"The topics are very diverse: from the supernatural to the fear of evil to the vampire in Japanese literature," Mihai Soneriu, one of the conference organisers, told AFP.

"What brings us together is the wish to know more about this fascinating blood-soaked individual, Dracula," he said.

"Our researches have shown us that the Romanian prince Vlad Tepes (nicknamed the Impaler), who inspired the Dracula legend, was not following the Turkish tradition of impaling non-believers but rather that of Germans living in Transylvania."

Every year hundreds of foreign tourists make the trip (ideally in daylight) to Sighisoara in central Romania to pay homage to Vlad, whose feats inspired the Irish author Bram Stoker to publish his novel Dracula in 1897.

The house where Vlad was born, on the town's main square, has been temporarily transformed into a restaurant, though it was not clear whether garlic would be used in the cooking.

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