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Wayfarer Transylvania


A horror writer’s dream visit to Romania on a writing workshop of a lifetime By J. H. Moncrieff


Bran’s castle, the storied 14th century hilltop castle near Brashov, Romania is said to have inspired the Dracula legend.


Here in rural Romania, garlic is used for protection, and this is taken quite seriously. Our friend, Laurentiu Dragan, who runs the Mama


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Cozonacilor Inn with his family, greeted everyone with a ro- sary and a braided strand of garlic. “In Hawaii, they have the lei. Here, we have the crucifix,” he says. Everyone laughed, but we soon learned this isn’t a joke to the Romanians. After dinner, we were led into a room and blessed by two orthodox priests. Tey mixed dried basil with the holy water


70 • Fall 2015


ou know those decorative strands of garlic every- one had in their kitchen back in the ’80s? Well, the trend started here in Eastern Europe, and it had nothing to do with style.


and used a bouquet of basil to sprinkle the water on our bowed heads. Tey also touched a crucifix to our lips. Tis blessing is for protection from evil and for good thoughts, but I suspect the Romanians hope it will also counteract any trouble twelve horror writers manage to stir up. When people refer to this part of the earth as the “Old


World”, they’re speaking more truthfully than they know. Romanians have a core set of values that have been lost in much of western society. Family, faith, home and hearth – respect – are everything. You know what I haven’t seen in this country? People walking around staring at their cell phones. I’ve seen people talking, people laughing, people sharing food and selling food, people playing chess.


The Hub


Photo by Dobre Cezar.


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