NEW YORK (CNNfn) - If you think Wall Street's a scary place, you should check out Transylvania.
Perhaps you normally wouldn't think of visiting Count Dracula's hometown for a holiday, but we're coming up on Halloween and "normal" flies out the window like a vampire bat on rocket fuel. This is the time of the year when people want something more blood chilling than the dot.ka-boom spooking the stock market. 
If costume parties leave you cold and monster movie marathons make you howl with boredom, it's time to spread your wings and make a ghostly getaway.
"People are traveling year-round now much more than they used to," said travel writer Laura Powell. "Halloween is not your typical travel holiday, but people can use it as an excuse to travel. Plus, unlike Thanksgiving and Christmas, when everybody is traveling, on Halloween you're not going to be traveling with the masses."
Marion Weinstein, a self-proclaimed New York witch and author of "Positive Magic," said there is a need in the Western culture to celebrate the turning points of the season. Halloween is a biggie.
"As the calendar turns and we head into winter, people start thinking about death," she said. "The leaves have fallen off the trees, it's the last harvest. In the old days people in Western Europe went bananas at this time of the year."
Well, you heard the lady—go bananas. If Transylvania is out of your broomstick's range, there are plenty of eerie events around the world, with funky happenings in New Orleans, the Headless Horseman riding through Sleepy Hollow, and wild times in Salem, Mass. Now let's see you disappear.
Fangs for the memories
Transylvania is located in central Romania, a country that has gone through a tremendous upheaval in recent years. There also was turbulence in the 1400's when Vlad the Impaler, named after his favorite method of execution, seized the Walachian throne.
Vlad was also known as Dracula, meaning "son of the dragon," or, according to some translations, "son of the devil."
While not the blood-sucking creature of the night described in Bram Stoker's deathless classic, the real Dracula was said to have killed between 40,000 and 100,000 people before he was finally deposed.  Many people, however, dismiss stories about Vlad's cruelty and regard him as a hero. In any case, Drac is gone, but his name lives on.
"Bram Stoker did a great PR job for the Romanians," said Powell, who recently spent two weeks in the eastern European country.
Bran Castle, near the town of Brasov, is most often referred to as Dracula's castle and is the No. 1 tourist site in Romania. While Vlad may have stayed there a few days when dodging the Turks, historians say the place was not his home. But it sure looks the part.
"It's very ominous," Powell said. "It's up there on a hill."
The castle is sparsely furnished, Powell said, and contrasts with Peles Castle in Sinaia, summer residence of King Carol the First, which Powell said was quite exquisite.
You can enjoy a good time in Romania without driving a stake through your wallet. The U.S. dollar converts to about 24,640 Romanian Leu and Powell said a fine meal with wine can cost as little as $5 to $8.
"It's hard to believe," she said. "It's a great bargain destination."
Powell said Tarom Romanian Air Transport, the country's national airline, is the only carrier offering nonstop flights to Bucharest out of the United States and she said you'll likely get a better rate on Tarom than on any other airline.
Travel Bug runs every Wednesday on CNNfn's Life Page.
Have cloak, will travel
If you go to Romania, be prepared for a country that is no place like home. Straddling the past and the present, it is a place where a woman leading a horse-drawn cart with a cell phone in her hand is not an unusual sight.
"It's definitely for the adventurous traveler who wants to get off the beaten track," Powell said. "This is a total leap into the past. If you're looking for a luxurious vacation, I wouldn't necessarily recommend Romania. But if people want to educate themselves and see someplace really different, it's a great place to go." 
While the country has gone through some intense political and economic changes since the 1989 revolution, when Nicolae Ceausescu was deposed, most tourist facilities have not reached Western standards. Powell does not recommend Black Sea coastal resorts for that reason.
The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs warns travelers that medical care in Romania is limited and basic medical supplies are scarce. Road conditions are poor, the bureau said, as is the availability of roadside assistance. Powell suggested hiring a driver, which is relatively inexpensive.
There has been an increase in violent crime, with several reports of people being robbed in taxis. There also are thefts and assaults on overnight trains and money exchange scams targeting travelers.
Powell suggested taking a tour, as tour guides know where to go and more importantly, not to go. Among the companies organizing Halloween tours to Transylvania are:
- Quest Tours and Adventures in Portland, Ore., and Bucharest, including its "Dracula Myth and History" trip that takes in a visit to Dracula's castle. The nine-day tour costs $1,105, airfare not included.
- Transylvania Inc. in Martinez, Calif., offers 8-day and 15-day Halloween 2000 tours, priced at $1,899 and $2,649 respectively, per person double occupancy. Airfare is included.
Life's a witch
A Romanian trip too hard for you? Then try the Big Easy. New Orleans—Nawlins, if you please—likes to say it celebrates Halloween like no other town in the world. The city has some fabulous above ground cemeteries, due to the swampy conditions that make the traditional six-foot hole a soggy prospect indeed.
The so-called "Cities of the Dead" provide the final resting places for politicians, voodoo queens and pirates. Travel experts warn visitors against wandering around these cemeteries alone, as some flesh and blood criminal types can haunt them. 
In honor of Halloween, novelist Anne Rice, author of "Interview with the Vampire" and other works, will host the Gathering of the Coven Party at State Palace Theater on Oct. 27. Other events include "Boo in the Zoo," which will be held at the Audubon Zoo and offer games, a haunted house and a zoo ghost ride.
Salem, Mass., site of the infamous witch trials in 1692, also likes to get into the Halloween spirit. The town is throwing a bash of its own called "Salem Haunted Happenings" that runs to Oct. 31 and includes psychic fairs, an annual costume ball and a King & Queen of Halloween contest. And while things have calmed down since the trials, the Salem Witch Museum says Halloween is its busiest time of the year.
Wandering spirits
Lastly, the British Isles have enough spiritual happenings to keep an army of ghost busters busy. A quick Web search will turn up a site like Haunted Britain & Ireland, which lists haunted castles and ghost walks in London, Canterbury, Dublin and other cities. 
In the United States, the Web site Haunted-Places.com has its Paranormal Travel Guide, a state-by-state directory of possessed libraries, hotels, and other locations where lost souls reputedly hang their sheets.
Fans of Harry Houdini are psyched over Halloween because it is the day the famed escape artist died. The Houdini Museum in Scranton, Pa., is planning daily shows through Oct. 31, and the Houdini Historical Center in Appleton, Wis., has an annual Halloween with Houdini event.
The Headless Horseman will show his face, so to speak, in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., as part of the town's Legend Weekend, a tribute to Washington Irving's classic story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" that runs Oct. 27-29.
And finally, if you're in New York on Halloween night, you can stop by the 27th annual Village Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village. You're bound to see things you won't believe. 
-- Click here to send e-mail to Rob Lenihan
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