Welcome to Hotel Transylvania

18 October 2016 - 09:35 By ©The Daily Telegraph

If you're looking for something spooky this Halloween, you couldn't get much more haunting than this. Airbnb has announced that Bran Castle in Romania, also known as "Dracula's Castle", will be listed on its website for the night of October 31, meaning two brave souls will spend Halloween in the imposing medieval fortress in the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania.Bram Stoker, the author of the 19th-century classic, was said to have based Dracula's residence on Bran Castle - though he never visited Romania.The guests will be hosted by Dacre Stoker, the Irish author's great-nephew who is, Airbnb said, "a well-respected vampire expert and passionate advocate of his great-uncle's novel".Airbnb is running a global competition to win the spooky stay. Would-be vampire hunters must write a short passage on what they would say if they came "face-to-fang" with Count Dracula.The winners will be invited to recreate the story of Stoker's protagonist, Jonathan Harker, arriving at their destination by horse-drawn carriage before dining on a "blood-enriching meal" and bedding down for the night in "luxurious velvet trimmed Dracula coffins".Stoker's infamous count is partially based on 15th-century Wallachian prince Vlad Dracul, also known as Vlad Tepes (Vlad The Impaler in English) due to his rather gruesome penchant for ramming a spike through his enemies and leaving them to die.For last year's Halloween Airbnb hosted guests in Paris's subterranean catacombs, also known as the "Empire of the Dead".This year's winners will be subjected to a series of rules that ban any garlic or "garlic-scented items" from the residence, as well as silver jewellery and holy symbols. The guests are advised to close all curtains and warned that "the count is not a fan of mirror selfies". ..

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