Free Republic

Did you know that the archfiend best representing the Halloween season — namely, Count Dracula — is fake news? I don’t mean that he’s fake in the sense that he’s fictional — which, of course, he is — but rather that his entire genesis is grounded in a pattern we now recognize and see on a daily basis: leftist propagandistic forces working to transform heroes into villains. Count Dracula entered the popular consciousness in 1897, with the publication of Bram Stoker’s novel, "Dracula," which surrounds the exploits of an undead bloodsucker from Romania. As many novelists do, Stoker tried to...

Today — or rather, tonight — in history, Vlad the Impaler launched a midnight raid against Muslim invaders that would cause his name to live on forever as Dracula, the terror of the night. The year was 1462. Ottoman sultan Muhammad II (“Mehmet”) had demanded tribute, by way of gold and Romanian boys, to serve as his slave soldiers (janissaries). Vlad III Dracula — better known as Vlad Țepeș, or the “Impaler” — the ruler of Wallachia (in modern-day Romania) responded by sending the Muslim emissaries back to Muhammad with their turbans nailed onto their heads. So it would be...

THE King has told actor Luke Evans how his bloodline shows he is related to Vlad Dracula.The Hobbit star had just finished the 2014 film Dracula Untold when he first met His Majesty, who was then Prince of Wales.The 15th century Romanian ruler Vlad III, also known and Vlad the Impaler, Vlad Tepes and Vlad DraculaThe actor, 43, played a fictional version of the 15th century Romanian ruler Vlad III, also known and Vlad the Impaler, Vlad Tepes and Vlad Dracula. In the movie, Vlad turns into a vampire. Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show, Luke said: “I remember the...

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania returned a picturesque castle in the Carpathian mountains to its former king, who was chased out by the communist regime 60 years ago. The Peles castle, now hosting a museum and an art collection, has become a popular tourist attraction since opening to the public after the execution of Stalinist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. According to a memorandum signed by the representatives of the former monarch King Michael, the castle will be sold back to Romania if authorities agree to keep it as a museum. "This is a historical moment, a symbolic one that marks...

Dracula-centric projects, from Universal's remake to Renfield to the series The Brides are blooming. But what brought the Count back? Vampires are at the top of the horror-movie monster pyramid, and their fans have enjoyed watching them onscreen almost since the dawn of film as a medium. In the past decades alone, interest has peaked with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, True Blood and The Vampire Diaries. However, despite being adapted many times, Dracula hasn't been a huge deal in pop culture since Francis Ford Coppola took the Count out for a spin in 1992, when the director adapted Bram...

The man who ruined Doctor Who, Steven Moffat, and one-half of the duo behind the Sherlock Holmes reboot, Mark Gatiss, have teamed up together for a reboot of another classic story, Dracula. The new show will debut on BBC in 2020. Oh, and Dracula has been made bisexual while Van Helsing has been turned into a woman. The USA Today Post is reporting that the BBC is proud and out about making Dracula a connoisseur of the alphabet soup, with Mark Gatiss telling press… "He’s got broad tastes has this Dracula. It’s not just a collection of Sixties women with...

Full Title: Theft of decapitated mummy's head from Dublin crypt was 'planned crime' and not 'mindless vandalism', say Gardaí Last weekend, tomb raiders decapitated and subsequently stole the head of 'The Crusader' – 800-year-old mummified remains believed to be those of a man who fought in the Crusades during the Medieval Era. The head remains missing and there are fears it will begin to deteriorate in the open air as micro-climatic conditions in the crypt had kept it preserved. Two other mummies – including the body of a 400-year-old nun – were also "desecrated" …(snip) ...St Michan's Church – founded...

One man is dead and a Columbia Heights man is in custody after a late Friday shooting at a Minnetonka park-and-ride. Minnetonka police say they were dispactched to the park-and-ride at 11201 Wayzata Blvd about 11:15 p.m. on a report of a shooting. On arrival, they found an adult male with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses told police the suspect, later identified as 25-year-old Marcus Wayne Hallmark, had fled on foot. Police found Hallmark in the woods near Crane Lake just before 2 a.m. Saturday and apprehended him without incident.

The Bulk of hate mail I've received since August has been mostly that of anti-Trump rhetoric. Granted here there there are also lunatics who make generic statements like Oldfartrants and so on. Also, we've gotten quite a lot of flak from Europe in the form of left wing agitators and even neo-nazis. Today we present some of the more interesting hate mail. In the form of  comments made to my blog and YouTube Channel. First up is Oldfartrants: Freedom of speech allows me to voice my opinions - hopefully Führer Trump won't take that away from us - he's talking about...

The following exchange took place during Thursday’s Republican debate in Florida: TAPPER: Senator Cruz, you were a supporter of the Pacific trade deal, but after taking some heat from conservatives, you changed your position. Why should these voters who don’t like these trade deals trust that you will fight for them all the time and not just in election years? CRUZ: Actually that’s incorrect. There are two different agreements. There’s TPA and TPP. I opposed TPP and have always opposed TPP, which is what you asked about.… Senator Ted Cruz’s statement that he “always opposed TPP” is incorrect. He and...

Republican presidential candidate Texas Senator Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said he would seek out and deport all the illegal immigrants in the US and that both fellow candidates Donald Trump and Florida Senator Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)“would allow those 12 million people to become US citizens” on Monday’s “The O’Reilly Factor” on the Fox News Channel. Cruz began by stating [relevant remarks begin around 2:30] that the law should be enforced, and illegal immigrants in the US should be deported. When asked if he would “go look for them” Cruz responded, “Bill, of course you would. That’s what ICE exists...

Ted Cruz's presidential bid is in turmoil after repeated allegations of unsavory campaign tactics by his Republican rivals, leading some key supporters to call for a shake-up in the candidate's message and strategy a week ahead of the crucial Super Tuesday primaries. Aides and allies of the insurgent senator from Texas acknowledged in interviews this week that the campaign has been damaged by attacks on Cruz's integrity from Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. They have pointed to a series of questionable tactics by the Cruz camp, including calls to voters suggesting that candidate Ben Carson was dropping out and the...

As a supporter of Ted Cruz I have had many supporters of other candidates tell me that he would not be electable in the general election. I disagree. Yes, Cruz is caricatured in social media and elsewhere as unlikable and as one who doesn't play well with others. He's too extreme and we need someone who can draw independents to win, and, once elected, unite us in bipartisan action. He just isn't as handsome as Rubio, they say. Yet I have seen polls showing that Cruz is the most well-liked candidate among Republican voters, so you can't always rely on...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz didn’t offer a confident response Sunday when asked if he was going to defeat Donald Trump in his own home state of Texas. When asked on Meet The Press by host Chuck Todd whether he was going to win Texas, Cruz responded with “I hope so.” Worth noting, an internal campaign poll leaked to PPD last week showed Cruz trailing the national frontrunner in The Lone Star State by single digits. The interview comes after Cruz finished a disappointing third place in South Carolina. He did his best to put a spin on the fact he...

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Monday he’s fired campaign communications director Rick Tyler, after his top spokesman promoted a video that wrongly depicted Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as trash-talking the Bible. The Texas senator announced that he's asked for the resignation at a press conference Monday afternoon.

Ted Cruz may have a knack for the debate stage and a disciplined, data-driven campaign, but he may also have a huge viability problem. Cruz’s short-term dilemma has received plenty of attention: Donald Trump is on the verge of a big victory in the South Carolina Republican primary, according to most polls, and could easily capture all 50 of the Palmetto State’s delegates. And if Cruz can’t beat Trump in South Carolina — a Southern state with a large proportion of evangelical and very conservative voters, Cruz’s supposed bread and butter — what “SEC Primary” states can he win on...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the top pick of Utah voters in the GOP presidential race but is closely followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, according to a new poll released Monday. The national front-runner for the Republican nomination, business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump, trails behind Cruz, Rubio and "don't know" in the UtahPolicy.com poll. The poll comes the same day as Trump supporters in Utah were scheduled to announce the formation of the Trump for President-Utah organization in a news conference on the steps of the state Capitol. Trump backers in the...

Ted Cruz asked for the resignation of national spokesman Rick Tyler on Monday. Cruz cited a social media posting from Tyler on Sunday about a comment Marco Rubio supposedly made about the Bible.

Archaeologists still aren't entirely sure where a secret passageway beneath a castle in Turkey leads, but visitors can now explore it for themselves. Not far from where Vlad the Impaler—the inspiration for Dracula—was reportedly held in one of two dungeons inside Tokat Castle, the tunnel stretches for about 100 feet before the path is blocked, reports Hurriyet Daily News. "We have made progress. Since it has an angle of 45 degrees, it is hard to remove stones and earth," culture and tourism director Abdurrahman Akyuz says of the tunnel, found during restoration efforts in 2009. "We think that this tunnel...

First movie that focusses on the real Vlad Dracula. Fought for his country against the muslim beheaders. Then he impaled them all. I think the "thing" in this movie is that he gets so desperate in his fight against the muslims, that he becomes a vampire.