Dracula really did live in a castle in Transylvania. But this ain't it.

The leaves are turning. The nights are getting longer. There’s creepiness in the air. Yes, we’re fast approaching Halloween!

In keeping with this creepiest of seasons, let’s talk about creepy travel. More specifically, a really nasty 15th century Romanian prince, Vlad Tepes, Prince of Wallachia and the real-life inspiration for the baddest of Halloween ghouls, Dracula.

Indeed, he was bad. His alias, Vlad ‘The Impaler’ says graphic things of his favorite form of justice. The guy was about as bad as you can get. And yes, he really did live in a castle within the mystic realm of Transylvania.

Contrary to what the tourist board of Romania might have you believe, Tepes had little, if anything to do with Bran Castle. For the real goods on Dracula’s Castle, you need venture further south, to the top of the Arges River valley. That’s where you’ll find Poienari Castle. Tepes spend much time here in the 15th century. And befittingly, the castle sits in ruins, far off the beaten track. Yet for the intrepid, ghoulish traveller looking for the true hang-out of Stoker’s inspiration for our favourite vampire, it waits, as it has for five centuries, hinting of the horrors that transpired within.

Creepy travel alert: Poienari Castle in Transylvania is the real Dracula's Castle.

Disneyland might be the happiest place on Earth, but for these sad and abandoned amusement parks, the echoes of laughter and happy times are long gone. There are more than you might think – in the United States alone there are at least a hundred theme parks since abandoned and left to sit as a reminder of times past. Among them, SIx Flags New Orleans, the Pripyat Amusement Park near Chernobyl and the rather family-unfriendly Koga Family Land in Koga, Japan. Check out this list of the most incredible, if not creepy, abandoned theme parks around the world.

Hey guys, how’d you like your isotope sandwich?  Um, I’d like mine easy on the cesium please.  Golly I’m such a kidder.

Seriously though, this is definitely a twist on adventure travel, and a far cry from sitting on the beach drinking pina coladas.  Twenty-five years ago this month, the worst nuclear disaster occurred, at Chernobyl, in the former USSR, now the Ukraine.  How did the nearby areas survive a complete nuclear meltdown?  Um…well anyway, it’s 2011, the nearest town, Pripyat, has been pretty much left untouched since that fateful day, and believe it or not, there is life in and around Chernobyl.  Animal life, including bear, lynx, beaver, wild horses and other species long believed extinct from the area have moved in.  The area’s been strictly off-limits for 25 years, and sparrows are literally nesting in the reactor!  It’s now the largest nature sanctuary in Europe, and has been deemed safe enough for tours since 2004.  You’ve got to go with a guide and a geiger counter, mind you, but tourists and those with a morbid fascination for apocalyptic travel are taking the trek to Chernobyl.

Some cool pictures here.  The one of the abandoned ferris wheel, in an amusement park that was to open four days after the accident, is downright creepy.  Still, people are making the journey to Chernobyl.  Admit it, you’d rather dodge nuclear fall-out and risk growing a third (and fourth) eye from lingering radioactivity in a former Soviet nuclear reactor than sitting on a beach with a Corona in Mexico any day, right?

Well, I would.  But I have been told I need professional help on more than a few occasions.  Here’s the link to the tour.  And if anyone actually does this tour, let me know how it goes!