Fractured Fiends - Vampire Puzzlers! Quiz

Answer: Dracula

The name "Dracula" comes from a fifteenth-century Romanian prince notorious for his cruelty but famous for his battle acumen and courage in challenging the Ottoman Turks, then the dominant power in the region. The Ottomans had enough political clout in the area to depose Dracula in 1462; he returned to the throne in 1476 with Hungarian backing, but perished in battle with the Turks shortly thereafter.

Answer: Stoker

The theatre manager for Victorian Britain's greatest actor, Henry Irving, Bram Stoker published "Dracula" in 1897. Contrary to some ideas, the historical Dracula had never previously been linked to vampires - Stoker just liked the name, and made scant use of the historical background. After the author's classic tome, however, the two words would become practically synonymous.

Answer: Transylvania

Unlike Wallachia and Moldavia, Transylvania was thoroughly dominated by the Catholic Habsburg Empire from the Middle Ages on. Largely as a result, there really wasn't much vampire belief in Transylvania traditionally; the Inquisition didn't look too kindly on that sort of thing.

Answer: Serbia

Unlike Transylvania, Serbia was part of the Muslim Ottoman Empire from 1389 onward. The Islamic Caliphate did not have an equivalent to the Catholic Inquisition, so folk beliefs flourished more freely. In the 1700s, there were several reports of vampire hunts in Serbia during the brief Habsburg occupation of that country.

In essence, most of the better-known aspects of folkloric vampires stem from Serbia (or Greece), not Transylvania.

Answer: Cremation

Though the traditional wooden stake was a popular way of killing vampires, it didn't always work - one reported case from Bohemia has a staked vampire thanking his hunters for giving him a stick to drive off dogs. Subsequently, cremation worked much better.

Answer: Buffy

Bruce McClelland's 2006 book "Slayers and Their Vampires" details many "real" vampire slayers from history. If you're interested in the vampire beliefs of Bulgaria, it's a fine read.

Answer: Eucharist

In the novel "Dracula", protagonist Van Helsing uses Eucharistic wafers quite liberally against the vampires, including rolling them into putty and pressing them into door seams. Van Helsing claims that he has an "indulgence" for this practice; I am assured that in real life this would never happen.

Answer: Bela Lugosi

Born in Hungary, Lugosi's given name was Bela Blasko. He took the name Lugosi when he emigrated to the United States in 1920, acting first for Hungarian immigrant communities, then performing in English-language productions beginning in 1922. In addition to originating the role of Dracula in American film, Lugosi would also give a fine performance as Igor in 1939's "Son of Frankenstein".

Answer: Crucifix

Interestingly enough, there is not a strong folkloric tradition of vampires being warded off by crosses or crucifixes. Garlic often was used, probably because the vampire was closely associated with the plague and the aromatic garlic was thought - by pre-scientific doctors - to protect against the "bad air" thought to cause disease.

Answer: Coffin

Starting with "Dracula", a literary tradition developed where a vampire could travel around the world with a coffin full of soil from his home cemetery, making this dirty casket his grave by proxy. In folklore, this really wasn't an issue - vampires really didn't get away from home much.

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