h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I found that this article was fairly well written. I only had one teeny tiny problem; the author was only partially correct in the meaning of the name Dracula. It was only after Vlad Tsepes' father was inducted into the Order of the Dragon that the surname Dracul was added. The author was correct that in Wallachia, now part of Romania, that Dracul means "Devil", but in the Latin means "Dragon". The a at the end signified that Vlad was the son of "the Dragon." The name Tsepes is usually translated as impaler which in Vlads case is well deserved because of his favorite method of execution.

thank you!
Vlad III did not just use the name Draculea to sound evil! This article (at least, the section about Vlad Dracula) makes it sound like he was just an evil, sadistic tyrant. In fact, during his lifetime he was something of a hero, defending his people from the Ottoman Turks.
He used the name Dracula with pride as a symbol of prestige, since his father was a member of the Order of the Dragon, an order which defended the Holy Roman Empire. Just as his father used the name Dracul.

...there...fine...I'm done ranting...