Dracula Tour Celebrates 20th Anniversary

For two decades, “DraculaTour,” has been the ultimate haunted horror travel experience.  It is a unique adventure which takes visitors to Eastern Europe’s most infamous land of the unholy, Transylvania (in Romania).  For one week during Halloween, travelers experience the definitive Halloween holiday with fellow fans, friends and ‘fiends’ of the macabre on a vacation that is scary, spooky, campy – but most of all – fun for all ages!  

This year marks the tour’s 20th year bringing travelers on the only true fully-escorted “vampire vacation” professionally organized by fans—for the fan themselves. It travels from the United States on October 27, 2018 and returns on November 3, 2018, planned so that participants spend their Halloween celebration in Dracula’s Castle.  This annual pilgrimage to Transylvania, in Romania, is presented by Tours of Terror, who also host the annual “GHOSTours” to various parts of Europe.

“DraculaTour” follows Jonathan Harker’s trail from the novel “Dracula,” while throwing in all sorts of spooky surprises along the way. There is a mock witch trial, visits to haunted graveyards and time spent in the world’s largest and oldest “tools of torture” museum.  There is both educational and entertainment value as the tour includes historical Bran Castle, Clock Tower, the Black Church, Vlad’s birthplace, Vlad’s castle (also known as Dracula’s fortress) and also the monastery where Vlad is buried.  It’s the perfect combination of fun and fear, for anyone looking for an unusual week-long ghoulish getaway.  Vampires, vampire fans and even vampire slayers are welcome, and all get along harmoniously on this travel adventure.

The highlight of the “Dracula Tour” is undoubtedly spending the night within the walls of Dracula’s Castle.  All travelers dress in their best masquerade costumes, eat a lavish multi-course meal, experience a “vampire show,” descend to the dungeon of the castle where “the coffin” lies waiting, dance to appropriate macabre music (everything from “The Monster Mash” to music from “Rocky Horror”), partake in a moonlit bonfire and simply have the times of their lives … even if they’re part of the undead. Want to get married on the tour?  Occasionally, a couple takes the experience one step further — they get married (or renew their vows) during the trip with their ceremony and reception at Dracula’s Castle, and all the fellow travelers are guests at this unique wedding!  Whereas most couples kiss after their cake-cutting ceremony, the bride and groom bite each other’s necks (lovingly, we hope).

This professionally-guided, fully-escorted tour, which started in 1998, is ideal for the single traveler, but also is well-suited for couples and also families. If you’re the type who would enjoy dressing up (or down) for a masquerade ball in Dracula’s Castle, or if you can imagine have a blood-suckingly great time partying under a full moon in a land that time forgot, this is the tour experience of a lifetime.

DraculaTour is a $5,999 value for only $2,299 per person, based on double occupancy. Package price includes deluxe hotel accommodations, meals, transfers, luxury coach ground transportation, all events – parties – guest appearances – attractions – admissions. Travelers from the U.S. also have the option of joining the group flights at an additional charge. Reservations are now being accepted.

For More Info

To read about past Dracula Tours, or for additional information on the 20th Annual Vampire Vacation, visit the official website: www.DracTours.com.  For a free color brochure, write to “Tours of Terror” at 315 Derby Avenue, Orange CT 06477.

Debe Branning

Debe Branning has been the director of the MVD Ghostchasers–a Mesa/Bisbee, AZ based paranormal team since 1994. The team conducts investigations of haunted, historical locations throughout Arizona and has offered paranormal workshop/investigations since 2002. Debe has been a guest lecturer at Ottawa University, Central Arizona College, Arizona State University, Scottsdale Community College, and South Mountain Community College. She has been a speaker at science fiction conventions such as Phoenix ComiCon, CopperCon, FiestaCon, HauntedCon and AZParacon. Debe has been the guest speaker at many historical societies and libraries talking about historic/haunted Arizona.

She has appeared in an episode of “Streets of Fear” for FearNet.com which aired October 2009 and on an episode of TRAVEL CHANNEL’S “Ghost Stories” about haunted Jerome, Arizona in July 2010. She recently appeared as an extra in the 2017 horror movie “The Covenant”. She enjoys assisting in the research field for various Travel Channel TV shows such as ‘Ghost Stories’, ‘Haunted Highway’, and ‘Deadly Possessions’ and MTV’s ‘Fear’. She has traveled, toured and investigated at haunted locations across the United States, England, Scotland, Ireland and Mexico.

Debe is the author of “Sleeping With Ghosts-A Ghost Hunter’s Guide to AZ’s Haunted Hotels and Inns” (2004), “Grand Canyon Ghost Stories” (2012), “The Graveyard Shift–Arizona’s Historic and Haunted Cemeteries” (2012), “Dining With the Dead–Arizona’s Historic and Haunted Restaurants and Cafes” (2017) and a series of three children’s books, “The Adventures of Chickolet Pigolet: 1. “The Bribe of Frankenbeans” —-2. “Murmur on the Oink Express” —-3. “You Ought to be in Pig-tures”. For 7 years Debe penned 3 columns for Examiner.com titled: “Phoenix Travel Adventures,” “Arizona Haunted Sites” and “Haunted Places” so travelers could know where they might find a ghost or two when they visited Arizona and the United States. She was the Managing Editor of “Paranormal Investigator Magazine.” As a paranormal travel writer, Debe traveled to Europe to cover haunted castles, jails, ships, inns, cemeteries and ghost walking tours. She has been the guest of several US tourism departments such as Carlsbad, Historic Hotels of the Rockies, Salem, and Biloxi.

Debe is a preservation activist with a special interest in preserving historic cemeteries. She is on the board of directors of the Pioneers’ Cemetery Association and the Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board. She is also one of the co-hosts of the Association of Gravestones Studies in Arizona.