The fictional Dracula hails from Transylvania, Romania, also home to Vlad Dracula, 'Vlad the Impaler' (bust, above). DAVID GREEDY/GETTY IMAGES

- DAVID GREEDY/GETTY IMAGES

Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz vamp it up in TV's 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' DAVID GREEDY/GETTY IMAGES

Bela Lugosi is the evil Count Dracula in the 1931 movie classic. Former Spotsylvania resident Paul Bibeau set out to separate fact from fiction. DAVID GREEDY/GETTY IMAGES

- DAVID GREEDY/GETTY IMAGES

Hunting Dracula: Former Spotsylvanian takes on Transylvanian legend

BY EDIE GROSS

Date published: 10/28/2007

BY EDIE GROSS

They had agreed that during their tour of Europe, they'd honor Bibeau's dual loves of history and vampire lore and visit Dracula's castle in Romania.

Anne likely envisioned a well-preserved gothic monument in Transylvania, perhaps sporting a gift shop.

What she got was a pile of ancient bricks atop a hill reachable only by scaling a crumbling, twisted spine of 1,500 steps.

No gift shop. Not even so much as a restroom.

Exhausted after the hike to what was left of Poenari Castle, Bibeau glanced at his wife and wondered if his obsession had cost him his marriage.

"I knew we'd be in therapy years from now, and she'd use this to justify a string of affairs," he writes in his book "Sundays With Vlad."

"I knew the therapist would look at me and shrug, and I wouldn't say anything."

Amazingly, eight years later, the couple, who recently moved from Spotsylvania County to Virginia Beach, are still together--a testament to either her good humor or his ability to make it up to her.

Also alive and well is Bibeau's passion for all things Dracula, whether it be the 15th-century Romanian prince who once occupied that pile of bricks or the billion-dollar "plastic empire" built on pure vampire legend.

His book, published Oct. 2, is a humorous romp through the shock and schlock associated with the vampire industry.

"The point of the book is that the sort of world surrounding Dracula was almost more compelling than Dracula," Bibeau, 37, said in a telephone interview. "Dracula was like the grain of sand in the oyster that becomes the pearl."

Bibeau traces his fascination with vampires back to a childhood prank involving his older sister and a pair of glow-in-the-dark fangs.

But he says Dracula became a full-blown passion in June 1977 when he watched an episode of Leonard Nimoy's "In Search of "

The program, which investigated everything from UFOs to Big Foot, suggested Irish author Bram Stoker may have based his famous character on an actual vampire.

"It really was this idea that was fascinating to me," Bibeau said, "that there was a real Dracula. I'm fascinated by getting as close as possible to the legend and seeing what's really there."

Hence, a honeymoon to a heap of Romanian bricks.

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Date published: 10/28/2007