Happy World Dracula Day (May 26th) to those who celebrate!

On this most solemn of occasions, isn’t it time you learned the horrifying, true history of Vlad “The Impaler” Dracula, who somehow managed to be a psychopath and a national hero?

(Hint: The answer is “yes.”)

Buy or gift Backpacking with Dracula, my laugh-out-loud deep dive into the life of the real Dracula, augmented with travelogue vignettes of my time living and traveling as a Lonely Planet guidebook author in his home, modern day Romania.

Not convinced? Check out this new trailer for the book and read some of the 69 (nice) reviews on Amazon, where the book enjoys a 4.6 out of 5 star rating.