In the trailer for the 1931 film Count Dracula, the narrator’s ominous voice relays the cryptic message, “In all the annals of living horror, one name stands out as the epitome of evil!” This is followed by the actor Bela Lugosi declaring, “I am Dracula!” Dracula has become synonymous with Halloween, and the character people have become accustomed to seeing as a lawn decoration, costume or presence at a haunted house is rooted in a prince from a principality called Wallachia that was established in the 14th century.

Wallachia is situated north of the Danube River and south of the Southern Carpathian Mountains, which is where Romania is today. Wallachia was founded in 1415 after Basarab I rebelled against Hungary’s rule. Wallachia had the misfortune of being in between two rivals: Hungary, which was a kingdom to the north devoted to Christianity, and the Ottoman Empire to the south, which was Roman Orthodox.

The prince, or voivode of Wallachia, had the incredible task of aligning with the rival that would be the most beneficial and offer the most protection. Not only did this allegiance change often, but the voivodeship did as well. Although there were a few voivodes who remained in power longer, perhaps the most infamous is Vlad III.

Vlad III would claim the throne on three separate occasions, but his longest reign was from 1456-1462. This time period was perhaps what earned Vlad III his infamous reputation and macabre nickname “The Impaler.” Vlad was an extremist and was not known to compromise, so he did things that were shocking to gain an advantage over his internal and external enemies.

His preferred method of killing opponents was impalement, and then publicly displaying the victims. This was meant to be visibly disturbing to any intruders who posed a threat to Wallachia. Certainly, this was horrific, but it was Saxon propaganda that elevated Vlad’s actions to an even more exaggerated level.

The Hungarians invited the Saxons to set up colonies in Transylvania as a way to bring in revenue via taxes. However, when Hungary decided they wanted more revenue, Vlad III and his soldiers were sent to collect. Vlad used his typical intimidation technique of impalement to persuade the Saxons, and the Saxons retaliated by using Vlad’s actions against him.

They launched a propaganda campaign to create an internal and external alliance to end Vlad’s reign as prince. The Saxons exaggerated the actual events to reflect something even more horrific. For example, during 1458-1460 the Saxons reported that Vlad dined amongst the impaled victims and even drank their blood.

The propaganda campaign worked because there is record of a 1488 publication detailing Vlad’s embellished actions.

In fact, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1897, was inspired by Vlad the Impaler.

Bram Stoker’s novel immortalized Vlad and solidified how Dracula is viewed in literature and the film industry. Stoker is known as “the father of vampire fiction” because his novel remains the foundation of Dracula/vampire literature.

Much like Vlad, Count Dracula is described as a cunning and manipulative individual who was an opportunist preying on others for his benefit. Of course, for Vlad his actions were strategic and necessary for him to remain in power since he had enemies both within Wallachia and externally with Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Stoker’s novel inspired the 1931 film “Dracula” starring Bela Lugosi as the evil Dracula. Legosi’s performance solidified the mannerisms and the appearance that modern culture traditionally associates with the evil Count. However, it should not be forgotten that Legosi’s Dracula was inspired by a real man named Vlad III of the Draculesti House, his military strategy to stay in power, and a rebellious propaganda campaign meant to usurp his power.