The Count was Innocent!

Count Drakulitz, that is.

I’ve written before about the freaky cool bits of serendipity involving Bram Stoker’s DRACULA. Like how the physical description of Dracula provided by Stoker in the novel matches so perfectly the famous painting of Vlad Tepes, the historical Dracula, when in all likelihood Bram had never seen that painting. My online friend, Dracula scholar Hans de Roos, discovered this report contained in the Söderhams (Sweden) Newspaper on the 8th of February 1893: “Seven years ago, an innkeeper in Gosspodince, Hungary, was murdered. His wife was arrested on strong suspicions, and she confessed that she had committed the murder, together with a police constable named Drakulitz. She was condemned to death, but her sentence was reduced to life-long forced labor; her accomplice was sentenced to 15 years of forced labor. Now that seven years have passed, the miserable wretch has confessed that Drakulitz had not been involved in the murder, but that she had accused him to appear in a less criminal light herself. A new investigation yielded that this time, she had spoken the truth, and Drakulitz was set free.” Then, on June 10, 1899, the plight of this man, now referred to as “Count Draculitz” of Transylvania, was related in the newspaper DAGEN from Stockholm. Related in that same article was how a man named Thomas Harker had also been falsely accused of the crime of murder in Hungary!

There’s nothing to suggest that Bram Stoker could read Swiss. Besides which, DRACULA was already in print by the time these articles came out. But those names. Drakulitz. Harker. And this happened in Transylvania and Hungary. What are the odds?!

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

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