#2- Count Dracula or Vlad the Impaler

#2 - Vlad III Tepes, Transylvania, Hungary

                           This is it. We have reached the end of our countdown of the scariest places on earth. And I have saved the best for last. You have no idea how much I have looked forward to this all month long. Yes, yes. I know. Before you politely bring to my attention that this is indeed NOT the end of the countdown, that this is in fact only #2, I would like to politely tell you to mind your own business.....I know what I'm doing...

                             Nothing screams Halloween like Count Dracula, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler. He ruled Wallachia from 1456 to 1462. (wherever the hell that is) and spent most of his reign fighting the Ottoman Empire. As his name suggests, he brought flowers and candy to his enemies and treated them so nicely. What a lovely man Vlad was! ....HE WAS AN IMPALER!! What do you think his name suggests? He is believed to have killed between 40,000 to 100,000 people by impaling them on stakes and displaying them in public to frighten his enemies. 

                            His father, Vlad II was admitted to an organization called the Order of The Dragon in 1431, which was founded to protect Christianity in eastern Europe. "Dracul" is the Romanian word for "Dragon", thus he became known as Vlad Dracul. Which means Vlad II  became known as Vlad Dracula, son of the dragon. Bram Stokers 1897 novel is inspired by Vlad. We don't know where the vampire legend comes in and if there's any truth to it. What we do know is that Mr. Impaler hated everyone. He hated his younger brother Radu for converting to Islam,  he hated the Ottoman Turks, and he was jealous of his fathers preference for his older brother  Mircea II and his half-brother Vlad Calugarul. So he went on murdering rampages..like you do, when you hate everything. 

                       Vlad's life is quite detailed, so it's more than I can put here. But you get the gist. He reigned and impaled..and then reigned and impaled some more. He was assassinated in 1476 in Bucharest. Most Romanian historians believe the Comana Monastery is his final resting place. I hope he's resting on a stick....just like his victims. 

                        *footnote*
                                      Bran Castle, located in the Carpathian Mountains and the residence of Vlad Tepes... .. the #1 scariest place on earth. Care to spend the night?