The Gateway Podcast – Dacre Stoker & Nora Vintilă – Bears, Bloodlines & Midwinter Magic: Romanian New Year Traditions
Date: December 16, 2025
Episode: 110
Discussion: Bears, Bloodlines & Midwinter Magic: Romanian New Year Traditions
About Dacre:
Dacre Stoker is the great grand-nephew of Bram Stoker and the New York Times and International best-selling co-author of Dracula the Un-Dead (2009), and Dracul (2018). Dacre is also the co-editor of The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker: The Dublin Years (2012). He has published Stoker on Stoker Dracula Revealed (2022) a companion book to his informative audio visual presentations. In 2022 Dacre and Robert Eighteen Bisang published Dracula Annotated for the 125th Anniversary, a culmination of years of research, this version includes many of the passages edited out of the final Dracula typescript, including the first three chapters and the original ending. Dacre and Chris McAuley have created the StokerVerse which as the name implies the range was originally inspired by the works of Bram Stoker. With a series of novels, comics, audio dramas, video, tabletop and RPG games published, The StokerVerse is becoming known as one of the leading brands in the Horror genre
Dacre is a native of Montreal, Canada, he taught Physical Education and Sciences for twenty-two years, in both Canada and the U.S. He has participated in the sport of Modern Pentathlon as an athlete and a coach at the international and Olympic levels for Canada for 12 years. Dacre has consulted and appeared in recent film documentaries about vampires in literature and popular culture. The Real Vampire Files (2010 History Channel), The Tillinghast Nightmare, (2014 Historical Haunts), Secrets of the Dead (2015 PBS), Mysteries at the Museum, (2017 Travel Channel) Legend Hunter (2019 Travel Channel) American Vampires (2022 Fox Nation).
Dacre currently hosts tours to Dublin Ireland, Whitby England, and Cruden Bay Scotland, to visit places where Bram Stoker lived, was educated, worked, researched, and wrote Dracula. He has been leading groups to Transylvania over the past 10 years to explore both the life and times of the historic Vlad Dracula III and also the locations where Bram Stoker set his famous novel.
About Nora
Nora Vintilă is a Romania-based tour guide and cultural storyteller specializing in traditional folklore, folk magic, and ancestral belief systems. She is well versed in Romanian witchcraft and seasonal rituals, with particular focus on midwinter traditions surrounding the winter solstice and New Year, including the famed Bear Dance festival.
Through her work, Nora bridges past and present, offering firsthand insight into how ancient customs, spirit lore, and protective rituals continue to shape Romanian culture today. Her storytelling reveals a rich spiritual landscape often overlooked or misunderstood, bringing listeners beyond popular myths and into Romania’s living traditions.
Host: CL Thomas
C.L. Thomas travels widely every year as a fine arts photographer and writer exploring various afterlife research, OBEs, metaphysics, folklore, and lectures at events. C.L. does "Spirit" art on request. She is the author of the haunting memoir "Dancing with Demons" and the acclaimed historical-fiction novel “Speaking to Shadows”. C.L. is the creator and host of The Gateway Podcast & Small Town Tales Podcast. She has written many articles and maintains a blog on legends, folklore magic, and paranormal stories. Currently, she resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with her beloved Golden Retriever and Maine Coon cat.
www.clthomas.org
Follow CL on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cl.thomas.428549/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_cl_thomas/
YouTube: / @clthomas
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