Dampyr Speciale #1 (2008) 'Dracula Park' complete

Slavic vampire lore has a particular emphasis on romance between vampires and humans, which is why they have a term dhampir for half-bloods born from human/vampire matings. This issue leans into the romance aspect moreso than most in this series. Harlan Draka is a Dampyr who, along with his human friend Kurjak and vampire friend Tesla, is constantly drawn into battles against supernatural forces.

I was amazed that the kernel of this story is 100% historical. Vlad the Impaler hailed from the Romanian town of Sighișoara, which apart from being a UNESCO World Heritage Site is also home to a large nature preserve. In 2003, Romania's minister of tourism proposed bulldozing the Breite preserve to make room for a Dracula-themed amusement park, but the project was nixed by staunch opposition from environmentalists. Furthermore, many Romanians resented that their most famous native son owes his notoriety to British author Bram Stoker, who cast Vlad Dracula as the vampire villain in his 1897 novel. Locals worried that a Dracula Park would attract an unsavory element to their sleepy hamlet. Apparently the developers regrouped, because a billion dollar theme park named DraculaLand is currently due to open in 2027 near Bucharest.

Dampyr's version of the story sees Vlatna Castle (location of a previous Dampyr story) turned into a Dracula-themed attraction which, like Jurassic Park, becomes a hazard to its first guests. In the process, Harlan's vampire father Draka is revealed to be an environmentalist who wants to prevent the destruction of the Romanian countryside. Who knew?

This is also the story in which I realized that Harlan's father is a different character than "Dracula" in this series. The former is an alien vampire lord, while the latter is a human who associated with Draka. If the cover image of Dracula in his regalia looks familiar, that's because it appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula film, based on a painting of the historical figure of Vlad the Impaler. Note all the impaled corpses in the background.