The Real Count Dracula May Have Cried Bloody Tears

The brutal 15th-century ruler Count Vlad Draculea may or may not be the inspiration for the fictional Dracula, but he had a blood-themed quirk of his own: Scientists say he likely cried tears tinged with blood. In the journal ACS Analytical Chemistry, researchers say they analyzed three letters written by the count and captured microscopic material left behind by his hand through a process known as as mass spectrometry. Analysis of the resulting peptides suggests the count suffered from a condition known as "hemolacria—a condition that causes blood to mix with fluid in the tear ducts, resulting in blood-tinged tears," they write in a release at Phys.org.

"Although proteomics data cannot be considered exhaustive alone, altogether, these identifications might indicate that Dracula 'cried tears of blood'," they write in the study itself. He likely also had an inflammatory condition that resulted in problems with his skin and respiratory tract, per IFL Science. The count ruled the Romanian region of Wallachia (which borders Transylvania, where the fictional Dracula lived) and is believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 80,000 Ottomans, the study notes. His preferred method of execution was to impale his victims, thus earning him the nickname Vlad the Impaler. (More Vlad the Impaler stories.)