Was Vlad Dracula a Vampire?

According to a 15th century poem, Vlad Dracula liked to dip his bread in the blood of his victims. Or did he? Was he really a “living vampire,” as two Dracula scholars claimed, or is there more to the story?

Stoker and the Bat

Punch Magazine (1885)

It is now common knowledge that vampires can turn into bats but prior to Bram Stoker’s seminal 1897 novel “Dracula” the connection was not so obvious. “Dracula” . . . solidified popular knowledge regarding vampire lore.