Officially called Bran Castle, this 11th-century mansion is a landmark tourist attraction made famous by Irish author Bram Stoker’s 1897 Gothic novel ‘Dracula’.(Photo: Airbnb via AFP)
Armed with courage and hopefully garlic, two horror fans dying for a thrill will become the first guests in almost 70 years to spend a night at Dracula's castle in Transylvania on Halloween.
More than 80,000 subscribers to the home-sharing service Airbnb have taken part in a global contest for the unique chance to stay at the brooding fortress, perched on a rock above the misty Carpathian valley in central Romania.
Officially called Bran Castle, the 11th-century mansion is a landmark tourist attraction made famous by Irish author Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic novel "Dracula".
In the book's opening pages, unsuspecting London lawyer Jonathan Harker travels to the remote Transylvanian woods for business dealings with the mysterious Count Dracula.
Several blood-drenched chapters later, the reclusive aristocrat reveals himself to be an ancient vampire with an unsatiable appetite for young women's arteries.
Although Stoker never visited Romania, his description of the count's eery home matches that of the Bran fortress, thus giving rise to the myth.