News Scoop: October 27, 2006 Vol. 12 Iss. 8
- This Issue:
- Table of Contents
- Cover Story
- Cover Story - Spanish Version
- Mini-Lesson
- Comprehension Quiz
- Teacher's Guide and Worksheets
Spotlight: Joy Masoff
Do pictures of Vlad the Impaler, better known as Dracula, make you shiver? The bloodthirsty ruler of Transylvania was feared by many of his people. But he was even spookier after his death. When archaeologists dug up his grave in the 1930s, the coffin was empty. "I'm sure his followers moved him," Joy Masoff assured TFK. As the author of
Oh, Yikes! History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments
, she wants to get the facts straight. Still, "I thought it was really creepy," she says of Dracula's disappearance. Masoff dug up dirt on lots of creepy characters, superstitions and traditions, including burial customs. "People were so afraid of being haunted that they would nail the coffin shut," she says. "A tombstone was just a big rock dragged over the grave to keep the dead from coming back to haunt you."Next: Time for Fun
