©

Getty Images

Vlad II -

Vlad II was a voivode (ruler) of Wallachia—a historical and geographical region of Romania, in Eastern Europe. In 1431, he was inducted into the Order of the Dragon and subsequently earned the surname Dracul from the old Romanian word for dragon, "drac."

©

Public Domain

Vlad II -

Vlad II lived in the main square of Sighișoara from 1431 to 1435. His second son Vlad III was born here in 1431, later to be known as "son of Dracul" or, in old Romanian, Drăculea, hence Dracula.

©

Shutterstock

Tokat Castle - As a member of the Order of the Dragon, Vlad II was committed to defeating the Turkish, or Ottoman Empire. In 1442, he was captured by Ottoman Sultan Murad II and his sons imprisoned at Tokat Castle in Turkey. The ancient citadel is open to visitors.

© iStock

Vlad III - In time, the elder Vlad was released. His sons, however, remained hostages. In 1447, Vlad II was ousted as ruler of Wallachia and killed by local noblemen (boyars).

© Public Domain

Vlad III - After his own release, Vlad III was eventually proclaimed voivode of Wallachia in 1456. Mindful of those who murdered his father, he invited hundreds of boyars to a grand feast.

© Public Domain

Vlad the Impaler - During the banquet the boyars began to challenge their host's authority. Enraged, the "son of Dracul" had his guests stabbed and their bloody corpses impaled on spikes. Thus the voivode of Wallachia became Vlad the Impaler.

© Public Domain

Poenari Castle -

His enmity towards Wallachia's boyars extended to the ordering of noblemen, their wives, and their children to repair and strengthen the 13th-century Poenari Castle... by hand! Its ruins are accessible by climbing an exhausting 1,480 steps to the ancient citadel.

©

Shutterstock

Cruel - Gruesome tales describing Vlad the Impaler's barbarity began circulating throughout Wallachia. One story recounts an episode when a group of Ottoman envoys seeking an audience with Vlad allegedly had their turbans nailed to their heads after declining to remove them.

© Public Domain

Vlad Dracula - One night in June 1464, Vlad attacked an Ottoman camp near Târgovişte, a city in modern-day Romania. The following morning reinforcements were horrified by the sight of hundreds of bodies impaled on wooden stakes set in the ground.

© Public Domain

"Drakulya" - By the late 1470s, Vlad III was signing his correspondence  as "Dragulya" or "Drakulya."

© Public Domain

Comana Monastery -

Vlad III died fighting the Ottomans in late 1476 or early 1477. His exact place of burial is not known, though some historians believe "Drakulya" is buried at Comana Monastery, in Romania.

©

Shutterstock

Transylvania - Although born in what is now Transylvania, Vlad the Impaler had little to do with the region, and certainly didn't live there in later life. But Dracula, the legendary vampire created by Bram Stoker, is inexorably linked with this historic area.

© iStock

'The Vampyre' -

While Bram Stoker's name is synonymous with the fictional Dracula, a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori became the first published modern vampire story.

©

Getty Images

Bram Stoker (1847–1912) - Dublin-born Stoker worked in theater and was the personal assistant of celebrated actor Sir Henry Irving. He began writing novels in 1890.

© Public Domain

Dracula - 'Dracula,' his famous Gothic horror novel published in 1897, introduced Count Dracula to the world. Pictured is the first edition cover.

© Public Domain

Whitby, England -

Oddly enough, part of Stoker's inspiration for the novel was gleaned during several visits he made to the English seaside town of Whitby between 1890 and 1896.

© Public Domain

Ármin Vámbéry (1832–1913) - Another source of inspiration was his friendship with Hungarian writer and traveler Ármin Vámbéry, who'd entertain Stoker with dark tales of the Carpathian mountains.

© Public Domain

Carpathian Mountains - The second-longest mountain range in Europe, the wild and remote Carpathians hide bears, wolves, and lynxes. Romanian folklore also suggests that its bleak terrain is home to the strigoi—vampires or undead beings.

© iStock

Stoker's handwritten notes - Intrigued, Stoker subsequently spent several years researching European folklore and mythological stories about vampires and, crucially, delving into the history of Vlad III. His handwritten notes (pictured) mention the name Dracula in the top right-hand corner.

© Public Domain

A vampire called Count Dracula -

Most likely borrowing Vlad III's morbid nickname, Stoker's vampire was given its own name and a title—Count Dracula—and a hunting ground, Transylvania!

©

Getty Images

Bram Stoker -

With his novel 'Dracula,' Stoker won fame and prestige. The book is regarded as the definitive example of vampire fiction. The author died in 1912, but his bloodsucking creation was already taking on a life of its own.

©

Getty Images

Florence Stoker (1858–1937) - Florence Stoker acted as her late husband's literary executor. She famously took the makers of 'Nosferatu,' an unauthorized 1922 film based on her husband's novel 'Dracula,' to court over attribution, permission, and payment issues.

© Public Domain

'Nosferatu' (1922) - Florence Stoker won the case in 1925. The final ruling stated that the negatives and all prints of the film should be destroyed. Fortunately, several prints survived. Today 'Nosferatu' is regarded as a cult classic.

© BrunoPress

'Dracula' (1931) - 'Dracula' was the first talking film to portray the cloaked, undead being. The vampire genre had arrived in Hollywood!

© Public Domain

'Dracula' (1931) - Béla Lugosi, an actor born in Lugoi, Romania, played the Count. This 1931 classic remains one of the most commercially successful adaptations of the Dracula story to date.

© Public Domain

'Dracula' (1958) -

Actor Christoper Lee turned in a convincing performance as the fanged fiend in this British horror film. A critical and commercial success, the movie saw Lee subsequently described as "tall, dark, and gruesome."

©

Getty Images

'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (1992) - Francis Ford Coppola's highly-stylized version references Vlad Dracula and the Order of the Dragon, thus drawing on historical fact to set the scene. The film won three Academy Awards.

© BrunoPress

'Shadow of the Vampire' (2000) - A fictionalized account of the making of the classic vampire film 'Nosferatu,' this highly praised film effectively brought the Dracula legend full circle.

© BrunoPress

Bran Castle, Romania -

With only a tenuous link to Vlad III, and never referred to by Bram Stoker in his notes, this medieval fortress is still fancifully known as "Dracula's Castle." Tourists can tour the stronghold, which is also a decorative arts museum.

See also: Breathtaking castles that look straight out of a fairy tale

© iStock