Make Your Halloween Travel Plans Now

By Jillian Locke

Transylvania

Reaching out across the thin, smoke-screened wall between this life and the next can be an invigorating ~ and

sometimes terrifying ~ experience. Yet, many of us thrive and delight in the supernatural thrill of making contact with dark histories and even darker entities. Read on, if you dare, to discover a place your travel agent might warn you against ~ but that’s perfect for true lovers of Halloween!
You know what they say ~ go big or go home! Take a no-holds-barred approach to this Halloween and go straight to the source: embark on a 10 day trip to Transylvania, the homeland of one of horror’s most renowned and revered legends, Vlad “The Impaler” Tepes, or as most of us know him, Dracula!
You will be ushered from the Budapest Airport, after which you’ll receive your one necessary tool for the journey ~ a cross, which will serve as your talisman for the adventure through Dracula’s homeland. You will also receive your “survival certificate” to track your progress and continued (fingers crossed) survival! From there, the time traveling begins! You will meet a famous woodcraftsman who will guide you in crafting your own wooden stake to fend off any evil nasties you may meet along the way. Lunch will be attacked at the Jonathan Harker Saloon, as you pay homage to Bram Stoker’s brave crusader and choose from the very same menu he dined from before his legendary meeting with the our favorite bloodsucker.

Halloween Day will bring you to Transylvania, Ground Zero for nightmares and strange, bloody happenings across the ages! Take in some historical sites, including Europe’s best preserved medieval citadel and a fortified church at Madam Monica Cosma’s in Biertan, meet an artist in Medias who merges nature with art by incorporating spider webs in his paintings, and BEST of all ~ attend the Halloween party at Sighisoara Citadel! Have your future revealed by the Count’s Fortune Teller, purchase After-Life Insurance, witness a witch trial, and see, with your very own eyes, the apparition of Vlad the Impaler himself!

Not impressed? Along the way, you’ll visit Transylvania’s epic castles, stay at Dracula’s fictional castle where you will dine by candlelight and gather ‘round a campfire to hear bone-chilling tales, take part in the ritual killing of a vampire, and even taste of the wine Vlad Tepes would serve his guests! The adventure begins October 27th and ends November 5th, and will cost just under $2300 American. Get all the gory details here: www.visit-transylvania.us/romania-travel-transylvania/
halloween-dracula-tour.html.

New Orleans

Don’t have the means to visit true Dracula country? No worries ~ New Orleans has what you need right on American soil! Join Haunted History Tours (yes, you’ve seen them on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, The Sci-Fi Channel and more) for their infamous “Journey Into The Darkness” Vampire Tour! These two-hour long tours are offered seven nights a week in the historic French Quarter. Groups depart from St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square at 8:30pm, and delve into the murky darkness of vampire lore in the thick black of night. Thrill seekers will learn about the real and fictional vampires of New Orleans, visiting movie sites (Interview with the Vampire) and actual crime scenes where the victims of real-life blood drinkers have been discovered. Tours are $20 for adults, $17 for students and seniors, and $10 for children 12 and under. Check out the Vampire Tours and all of the spooky tours Haunted America has to offer at www.hauntedhistorytours.com.
Now GO! Go forth and discover all of the supernatural delights that these ghastly Halloween destinations have to offer!