The land of Dracula
A part of our country known for rustling a lot of myths is Transylvania. For centuries, Transylvania was colonized by several transient populations that have shaped its history. Romanians, Hungarians, Saxons, Ottomans, and Jews, shaping the local folklore and giving birth to fantastic creatures, magic legends, and a fascinating tradition of storytelling. Transylvania is often associated with the land of Dracula and blood-thirsty vampires that sleep during the day and get out by night to find their victims. But in the local folklore, vampires didn’t exist before the novel of Bram Stoker. Or at least, they weren’t called vampires, but strigoi, undead souls that rise from their graves during the night and haunt the villages, feasting on the blood of the living. It is believed that they are afraid of garlic and incense odour. In the villages that are supposedly haunted by strigoi, locals grease their doors and windows with garlic and eat as much as they can. The little ones wear a necklace made of garlic cloves while they sleep.
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