Bob Dorian, the voice of Dracula in the attraction, was also the voice of the recording in Evil Dead that started the haunting.

Anybody who was there knows, If you started at the north end of the boardwalk and made your way south, the creepy billboard seemed to summon visitors to the eerie red glow of the castle window while Toccata and Fugue in D Minor played on loop to the awesome foreboding structure that was Castle Dracula. I was happy taking pictures with 1989 Batman at the castle gates until I was "Brave" enough to enter. Thank you so much for a cherished childhood flashback!!!

Boy the memories. 2 punks destroy that amazing legacy…for what? Nothing can bring it back now. Just sad. 2 nitwits, a flame…millions of folks lost their summer attraction. Great tribute video however. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

I live in Philly and was born in 1970 ... My entire youth was spent down in the Wildwoods and Castle Dracula and Brigantine castle were awesome .. Such great memories ...

Wildwood has had a lot of devastating fires, but the fire that took Castle Dracula was the worst. This was an icon. I had been going to Wildwood since 1979, virtually my whole life. A lot of memories burned that day.

My dad responded to the Mars ride fire and this one. Growing up, I could ONLY go into this ride because he knew the layout and he was more confident in the safety measures Castle Dracula took. I remember being told while still in class that it was on fire. We wanted to know who did it but consensus from our teachers and the adults who actually knew the jerks was that we had the potential to do some actual harm. And yeah, we would have. This place was pretty special. For a lot of us, we had friends and family that worked here for a summer or two. And I remember, without fail, every summer of being absolutely terrified while walking past the thing. The showmanship was great and what truly made it spooky.

Some of my favorite memories are visiting the castle/dungeon ride as a child. I feel bad for people that are too young to have witnessed the golden years for dark rides. Great doc!

I live in Wildwood. This castle is still sorely missed. Most of the kids I grew up with, at one time or another, worked at the castle.

This is by far the best amusement park documentary ever!

Thank you for putting together this incredible tribute to one of the happiest memories of my childhood. This place was an absolute treasure! The photo of the man and the little boy (26:53) was taken by my grandfather... the little boy is me, and the man in the Rolling Rock shirt is my dad. I almost teared up when I saw it. Thank you again!.🧛‍♂

Wow... I spent every summer in Wildwood from 1978 to 1985... I also worked on Morey's pier as Luke Skywalker on the Star Wars ride! Your Castle Dracula documentary was stupendous! I so recall that amazing ride and the simpler times and memories of being a kid on those boards! Thanks for sharing this and the memories it instilled.

I worked at the castle in 93’ and it was the best summer of my life

Doggone it ! This was my favorite haunt in the early eighties. Fast forward to 2009, I wanted to take my new Bride to the Castle on our honeymoon. I hadn't been to WW since '85. Didn't know about the fire, the Castle website led me to believe it was still in operation. We walked up and down the whole boardwalk looking for it. No dice. Asking locals and learned it had burnt down. Heartache. Thanks for the video trip down memory lane ! Wife now sees what I was talking about all those years ago. As a haunted attraction afficionado, Castle Dracula will always be the benchmark I compare others to, and none has ever met the mark.

What a great tribute to such an attraction that was undoubtedly the best of them all with narration by family members that through time, helped change the face of Wildwood, attracting hundreds of thousands of tourists through the years and giving them fond memories of the excitement of the Wildwood boardwalk. I remember fighting the fire as a volunteer fireman and the tragedy that took place that day when losing a fixture of the Wildwood boardwalk. The documentary was well orchestrated and to that end, thank you to the Nickels family for sharing.

I grew up in Riverside,NJ. My Grandparents took me every summer to Wildwood and let me bring a friend. The first time I had seen Castle Dracula was 1981. I was 11 years old. It changed my life. I was obsessed with it. The only reason I loved going to Wildwood was because of the castle. I loved when the robotic Dracula would slide out and give his speech. I used to stand there and wait for him to come out. I recorded him with a tape recorder. I still have the audio recordings of the castle. I put them on a CD. I remember Castle Frankenstein. My Grandmom took a pic of me standing by it but it was not in operation. I am sure Castle Dracula was way better. Awesome memories we all have. Those 2 young teens may have taken away our castle but they can never take away our memories.

This is a great tribute to the great late Castle Dracula. I was sick to my stomach the day it burned. I found out when I went to the now defunct Anthony's Boardwalk site and saw the news and picture of it smoking from the air. At least I went through it and the Dungeon boat ride several times in the mid-late 90's. And audio taped the inside in Aug 1995 and June 1996, and videotaped the outside at night in June 1998.

Im 54 and I loved Wildwood back in the day! I've been in Dracula's Castle many times so many great memories at the beach and on the boardwalk.. man!..those were the days! Thanks for the memories!

That castle has proven to be irreplaceable. But I’d love to see a new spooky castle inspired by Draculas.

I'm from Canada and wasn't even born when the castle was in full swing but your video seems to be finding the right audience of theme park enthusiasts! Great little doc about an attraction that must have been very loved. Great narrator's voice as well.

My favorite atttraction of Wildwood. I miss Castle Dracula.😢

I have fond memories of Wildwood in the 1960's when my grandfather had a bungalow in West Wildwood. It was so nice back then. Now it's overdeveloped; even West Wildwood. My only connection to the shore is my brother who has a small house on Reeds Beach.

Grew up in North Wildwood in the 70's and early 80's. What a time and place to be a kid!

Sad that nothing like this exists today that isn’t at Disney or universal. Wish I was alive to see this when it was there

This was the greatest haunted castle I've ever been in. I am saddened that I was never able to take my nieces to this amazing experience. Thank you for priceless memories.

Very nice to see this. In about 1980 or so, my dad was a performer here. He worked the castle walkthrough part and said that his favorite thing to do was be the guy who leapt out of the portrait in the front opening.

The greatest attraction in wildwood history

I live in Canada, but I went to Wildwood twice in the late 80s/early 90s when I was 8-9 years old, and Castle Dracula was one of the most memorable things of those two summers! I remember there were some blank white mannequin head that had moving faces projected onto them in a few spots, and something about how weird/surreal the effect was freaked me out as a kid!

Storyteller narrates about Dracule castle? What a day!

Grand documentary! I hope you find the time to do many more like this one; I could feel the excitement of when the castle project was just getting started, this is pure gold 🙂

Great job with the documentary! My parents started going to Wildwood with my family when she was pregnant with me in 1979. We spent every summer there until 2001. I am glad that in the mid to late 90s I got up the courage to finally go in with my friends. Unfortunately, I only went through a handful of times. Maybe one day we will see a recreation.

I miss this castle and the boat ride too! 💜😎

I was almost 10 when the castle opened. I loved both parts. I still have a Dracula's Castle pamphlet and a mini flyer that looks like a $10 bill on one side and castle advertising on the back.

I grew up in Wildwood. this is and will forever be my favorite dark ride and the thing I looked fwd to most every summer

Luved this, my dad and me luved this in the 70s.

I was born in 1976 1 year before the castle opened. I was born and raised in south Jersey we visited Wildwood sometimes. That castle scared the heck out of me as a child just looking at it. I unfortunately never got a chance to go inside before it burnt down.

THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!!!! I SO MISS THIS PLACE!!!!!

That was awesome! Thanks for sharing. Such great memories and a huge part of my family vacation in Wildwood every August in the 80's. Was heartbroken when Castle Dracula burned to the ground. I will never forget the boat ride and how scared I would get going into that attraction but I did it every summer!!

This video popped up on my feed. I remember this castle so well. I was young and scared going through it but loved it. Thank you for sharing this video

Thanks for this. Many great memories from Wildwood. 👍

Thank you so much for this!!!!! I loved that Castle and miss it and it's memories.

Thank you so much for doing this

Great narrator. Fascinating documentary

Awesome documentary .... Castle Dracula was a must see everytime I went to Wildwood as a kid.....Miss it alot!

As a young kid, we'd go to wildwood every summer, sometimes 2-3 times. My Aunt was an older teenager and she'd always go on, but I'd be terrified. I had the courage to go in once, but ran out terrified. Another time, one of the monsters in the moat came up and scared me and I ran down the boardwalk, losing my family. When I heard it burned down I was bummed out - I never got to conquer my fears and go inside. It has forever maintained a mythical status for me because of that. Edit: 10:00 That's it! That's the moment I screamed and turned and ran out afraid for my life LOL

So great 👏🏻 👏🏻 I was very fortunate to have enjoyed this with my older brothers from 1990-2001. We still talk about it today. Still think about the Castle every time I drive by the Pier. Keep up the great work and enjoyed this 🤘

Fantastic Documentary. Brought back so many memories for me as a kid. This, by far, was one of the most unique attractions Wildwood had to offer!! Take care and God Bless.

A lot of memories there and its unfortunate when I think of the new memories that could have been made for myself as well of thousands of others. Thank you for posting this ❤

OMG thank you for this trip to so many wonderful memories at the castle. Every summer in the 70s 80s and 90s my family vacationed at Wildwood. My favorite was the dungeon ride!

That music and that castle will always been engraved in my mind. I remember seeing it when I was 3 and it terrified me! 😄

Excellent documentary! Started going to wildwood in the late 80s.. I was a young kid and my parents would take us down every year for the fireman’s convention in early September.. we would walk the boardwalk every night and we would have to walk past castle dracula on the way to Photon. When we would get to the corner of the boardwalk and we could see the castle we used to get a pit in our stomachs from the excitement and fear . The music playing is something I will never forget and just hearing it in the beginning makes me feel like I can smell the boardwalk .. It brings back such great memories of spending those days with my family and friends .. Thanks for the great memories!

This brings back a lot of memories. We went to Wildwood pretty much every summer. Never had the courage to go to Castle Dracula. Terrific video.

Amazingly terrifying ride! They dont make them this great anymore ! I remember getting yelled at to keep my hsnds in the boat lol. Movie production level of FX ..

Beautiful work on the documentary. Love it and thank you for sharing.

Such an absolutely outstanding documentary on such a fascinating subject. Thank you.

Outstanding documentary! I loved it! Thank you.

I wish I could’ve had the privilege to see this attraction in person.. sadly I wasn’t born yet 😅

Fantastic documentary! Thank you!

This was great. Thanks.

So many memories!!! I'm a young kid All over again after watching this! Part of my past forever

That is me at 6:59 working the picture frame in the front room. I was 17 and now am 64. That was by far the most fun job I ever have had. I started upstairs in the rat hallway , I used to wear a hang mans rope and would take it off then strike the metal grate on the floor while screaming at the people , they would run to get away . After a while they moved me up front to the picture frame. After my short speech on the mantle , often times I would jump off the mantle and land into the group , wearing heavy boots {loud thud} then remove my heavy hang man rope from my neck and pound the floor with it. My favorite was every now and then a person would faint , many times they would run out of the room screaming with me right behind them.

Wonderful, wonderful documentary Bill!! It nearly brought me to tears. Hands down the greatest boardwalk haunt ever, I still "see" it everytime I'm in Wildwood, I still "hear it" too. So bummed I chickend out and never went in as a kid. The year I told myself I'd go in, is the year it burned down. Alas, it has always been my favorite part of the boardwalk and I have so many fond memories of interacting with the staff, my family going in and telling their experiences, and more. I'd love to see The Ghost Ship converted to Castle Dracula somehow, with the former Go Kart area beneath as part of the ride too. Fire codes would already be in place. I think it'd be worth the probably costly conversion. Heck, this video has 22k views in less than a week- that tells you something about the attraction's popularity!!

Love this! There was Nothing like hearing that music the closer you got to it. Great job with this video!

I love this so much! I wish I had been to Wildwood when Castle Dracula was around.

Amazing documentary!

Thank You very much! I really enjoyed the video! Summers in the 60's, HUNT'S PIER was our family's favorite.

Great video! Thank you!

I'm very happy to see this. I visited only once, in 1999 when I was 30, but it made a big impression on me. We paid for both the walkthrough and the boat ride, which were separate admissions. The walkthrough was more minimal than what's described here, and the walls didn't move in the crush room. The guillotine effect was very impressive, though. I don't remember any animatronics or props in the boat ride. I think it was just an empty space with a few goth teenagers walking through it and mostly disregarding the visitors. This video shows it was once very cool, but by the time I experienced it there was almost nothing left.

Amazing video! Miss this - great memories.

THIS video i give 2 thumbs up and rate 5 stars! One of the best produced stories about the castle i have watched. Bring back the castle!

What a great documentary! I remember vacationing in wildwood many summers so long ago and Castle Dracula was a long awaited experience every year. Also a huge fan of the Nickels Supercade and that horse racing game right at the front. Many a night was spent listening for the "free race, sit down" chant from, I believe, Angelo nickels enticing the crowd to play. Still have a few of the giant stuffed animals and a grand weekly prize of a camera. And who can forget that the "skeeball championships are now going on in the back of the arcade" for a chance to get into the money bonanza machine. Those were the days....😊

Excellent story! I still hope that the Castle will be rebuilt for a new generation of fans.

Great work on this Bill and Seph, like always. I truly enjoyed it, and even learned from it.

i remember this castle. It was so great. ty for your video

Thank you for this! I’m a lifelong NJ resident and I went here when I was a kid.

Thank you for this.

Wonderful! Thank you for your work, what a cool place with a sad ending.

Such great memories of the Wildwood boardwalk and the legendary Castle Dracula. One of a kind! Very sad it’s gone. Makes me thankful for an awesome childhood growing up in 70’s and early 80’s! 🧛🏻‍♂️

This, along with the Goldmine ride, was amazing. We went on vacation there every year for a week. Loved it, such happy memories!

I just stumbled on your channel. Great stuff!!! I love dark rides, and this is truly a treasure trove. Thank you! You have a new subscriber. 🙂

I had seen the premier this morning of this Bring back so many childhood memories thanks dark in the park

My company serviced the fire alarm system for the castle at the time of the fire. Every winter the power was turned off to the castle so the fire alarm system shutdown once the back-up batteries "died". The sprinkler system was originally set-up as a "dry" type with air in the pipes unless a sprinkler head opened, a local plumber converted to a wet system once the power was shut-down for the winters as they didn't want to cover the electric costs to keep the air pump active. In hind site, if the sprinkler system was not converted and the power was left on for the fire alarm the castle may still be standing today!

Dracula’s Castle was before my time, but I would hear about it a lot. This video is so cool!

I spent many summer vacations with my family in Wildwood and would always visit Castle Dracula.

I worked at Morey's pier on 26th street. Back in the 1990's. My mother grew up in Cape May. I remember that Castel so well and how my sister would scream on the boat ride. Thank you for the little trip back in time. Also, I love the photograph of Will and Bill. I wish you had one of Delores too.

Wonderful documentary! Great work!

as a heavy metal, horror movie loving teen in the 80s, Castle Dracula was my spot! i don't remember it being particularly scary as much as it was super cool. we had come to vacation in Wildwood from NY and i always though how awesome would it be to work in Wildwood for the summer and especially at the castle! great fun

Excellent documentary 👍😊

I LOVED this as a kid!!

I was scared to death as a 6yr old kid to go into that castle as a kid. Loved it ever since the first time. So friggin cool.

That was probably the most memorable attraction in my life. Scared sh** first time through both dungeon and walk thru. (About 9 yrs old) After you got the idea of the dungeon, you knew damn well, as soon as you get thru the tunnel, someone would pop out and scare the heck out of you. Man I miss that Castle. Definitely in my heart forever. THANK YOU for such a great documentary! I've searched forever for clips and vids of this iconic place.

Thank you for making this! Castle Dracula was a Jersey Shore icon and I miss it, especially the funnel cake shop that was in one of the stalls on the right side of the castle (if facing away from the ocean). Wildwood government should have made the castle a historical site and rebuilt it. Missed opportunity.

OMG thank you for making this. This was the first haunted house I ever went into at the ripe old age of 5 years old. I was terrified of it for years…but it began my obsession with everything horror. Thank you again for this trip down memory land

Great video, congratulations. It was mentioned that the Castle opened July 4th weekend of 1977. I recall that the Castle was open the week of June 13th, 1977 in time for Senior Week. My buddies and I spent a lot of time that week hanging outside the Castle after going inside. Fantastic memories!

Really cool. Wish I could have gone. Great video! thanks for making this

Thanks For this Video I live in Philly... And Visited the Castle a Number of Times Throughout the Years in the 80s and 90s

This is wonderful. Wildwood is my favorite place in the world. I’m lucky to have gotten to go there a lot when I was young and just started going back again the last few summers. I can’t wait to go back!

Great watch! Never actually went in the castle (was a scared little kid) but my dad did the tubes of terror.

I remember seeing this attraction in those little brochures of attractions they would have in hotel lobbies when I was a kid. I thought I had dreamed this one. Wow, so cool to see it actually existed and lived up to expectations. They could never get away with something like this now.

Been going to Wildwood since I was a child and take my kids every year, told them countless stories of Castle Dracula, looked forward to going in every summer. Miss it so much. Thanks to the Nickels family for all the memories.

Wooow! That's really is sooo wild. this documentary showed up in my feed and hit me with a serious nostalgia bomb!! What great memories dude, thanks.