Sundays with Vlad, By Paul Bibeau
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Paul Bibeau and his wife went to Romania for their honeymoon, to visit the ruins of Count Dracula's castle. It turned out to be nothing but a small pile of bricks atop a high and lonely mountain. And it's not in Trannsylvania but Wallachia. And the real-life Dracula, a 15th-century prince aka Vlad the Impaler, has nothing in common with Bram Stoker's Dracula beyond the name, which Stoker used because he thought it meant "devil" (it actually means "dragon").
This mismatch is a weakness at the heart of Bibeau's book: he researches the life of Vlad and of Stoker, visits vampire museums, watches dozens of vampire films, meets fruit-loops who claim they are vampires... but he never gets to the heart of the "real" Dracula, because there isn't one. Dracula isn't even a myth, but a Venn diagram of myths which barely overlap.
Bibeau is informative, but not enough of a stylist – nor, despite his best efforts, a humorist – to make his hopeless quest interesting to anyone who does not share his obsession.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments