Dracula tourism in Romania combines fiction with history. It is centred

on either the fictional Western vampire Count Dracula or the historical Dracula,

the fifteenth-century Romanian ruler Vlad the Impaler. These two characters are

also often conflated, or sometimes even forged together, into one Dracula figure

in Dracula tourism. Besides the history concerning the ruler, Vlad the Impaler,

through Dracula tourism the guides and travel agencies also tend to offer much

more history and tradition of Romania in their tours. In this article I will examine

what kind of history is told and what is left out. I am especially interested in

the history and tradition (as it is manipulated) that is not connected to Vlad or

Dracula. I look at the types and eras of history used and emphasised in Dracula

tourism in Romania, and the reasons for the choices. I am also interested in the

idea of how the seemingly superficial and fictitious Dracula tourism can be used

as a gateway into Romanian history and culture.