Characters in Bram Stoker's famed novel Dracula (1897) eat in order to escape being swallowed, very literally, by the blood-sucking Count from Transylvania. He does not eat regular foods or "dinner," but instead feeds on victims by swallowing their blood. In the original Hungarian version of the story, published in 1896, Dracula refuses to eat solid food because he cannot digest it properly with his teeth. He prefers to drink the blood of animals and humans. Dracula's decision not to eat is perhaps one of the most iconic elements in modern culture that associates him with horror and darkness. The fact that he does not eat imparts him with a kind of immortality as well as cruelty and violence. His refusal to consume food impels him to search for other ways to sustain himself. Although vampires have appeared in many different forms in various cultures around the world over the centuries, they always involve a person who abstains from eating meat, drinking wine, or any other form of nourishment or liquid sustenance. As we know, Bram Stoker based his character on Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad the Impaler, who was a prince of Wallachia in what is now Romania. Vlad III was an eccentric ruler who married several times and had more than 20 children.