History’s Most Famous Psychopaths: Vlad The Impaler
Wikimedia CommonsVlad Dracula, later Dracula, the impaler.
Vlad the Impaler is one of the most infamously deranged dictators in human history, in large part due to the iconic character he inspired: Dracula. The vampire was even named after the 15th-century prince of Wallachia (part of present-day Romania), but the truth is even stranger than fiction.
After being kept in a tower for most of his childhood, imprisoned there by one of his father’s enemies, Vlad decided to seek revenge. He took power back from his oppressors and decided that anyone who crossed him would end up dead.
Wikimedia CommonsVlad the Impaler’s forest of spikes.
To prove his point, Vlad hosted a dinner, to which he invited everyone who had voiced opposition to him. As they arrived, he stabbed them all, impaling their still-twitching bodies on spikes for all the townspeople to see. Because the tactic was so effective at striking fear into the hearts of his enemies, Vlad began using it on all who opposed him. Before long, the people began to call him Vlad the Impaler.
He certainly lived up to his name, impaling 20,000 of the 80,000 total people killed under his regime on spikes to send a message. Legend has it that he would even host dinner parties in a forest made of spikes, the bodies impaled on them still dripping blood.
He ultimately died a bloody death himself while fighting against the Ottomans circa 1476/1477.
