Forget about the pale emulsions. There’s a strong trend on the way towards very busy wallpaper, writes Kya deLongchamps

A district court judge said it was unacceptable for a man to beg for money on the streets of Cork to buy food for his dog. She fined him €150 for begging and €200 for having no licence for the dog.

Dracula's castle will have overnight guests on Halloween, marking the first time since 1948 that anyone has slept in the Transylvanian fortress.

ITALY: Fried cow’s brains might not be to everyone’s taste, but more people may sample the Florentine specialty now that Italy’s art capital has ordered food outlets in the city centre to sell mostly local produce.

Transylvania has a way of life lost in the rest of Europe. Just in time for Halloween, Darina Allen paid a visit.    

I’M ABSOLUTELY thrilled to read about big plans to give the humble spud a makeover, a €1m boost to be precise. 

One of the golden stretches for restaurants in Dublin is St Andrew’s St; minutes away from Grafton St, Stephen’s Green, and Temple Bar, it packs more really good restaurants into a very short length of cement than probably any other area of the city. 

Carphone Warehouse made one person’s dreams come true this Christmas.

Gone Girl *****

From full sail ahead on the high seas to stylish, limited edition handbags for the high street.

SO IT’S almost midnight.

Vampire or pistolero?

Get your garlic, crosses and stakes ready: a bloodsucking vampire is on the loose – or so say villagers in a tiny western Serbian hamlet.

Hit and Run ****

CFR Cluj 1 Manchester United 2

CFR Cluj 1 Manchester United 2

Manchester United landed in Transylvania yesterday afternoon with Alex Ferguson ordering his side to start baring their teeth.

After their Premier League hot streak came to an abrupt end on Saturday, Manchester United aim to ensure there are no nasty surprises in Transylvania tomorrow.

After the harshest winter in decades, the Balkans region in the south east of Europe is now facing its hottest summer and the worst drought across the area in nearly 40 years.

Dracula author Bram Stoker was inspired by his chieftain ancestor and not the blood-thirsty Vlad the Impaler for the vampire novel, it has been claimed.

IRISH hotel and guesthouse owners have launched a marketing offensive to drum up business for next year with the launch of the 23rd annual Be Our Guest Guide.

Chelsea could be down to the bare bones for Sunday’s Barclays Premier League clash with Aston Villa after Didier Drogba joined a lengthening injury list.

FR Cluj 0 Chelsea 0

LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI has demanded Chelsea’s “football machine” dish out a stiff Champions League reality check to European minnows CFR Cluj tonight.

TOPFLIGHT’S choice of holidays continues to expand.

Romania looks headed for a period of political uncertainty after final election results today showed the ruling Social Democratic Party leading, but unable to form a majority government, even if it forms a power-sharing coalition with ethnic Hungarians.

A theme park inspired by Dracula, the fictional bloodthirsty count, is to be built in a lakeside resort in eastern Europe where Vlad the Impaler – the inspiration for Dracula - is buried.

Much is expected of this blockbuster, in which Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula gets another screen outing.

A Romanian man who savagely slashed his ex-girlfriend's face in what was described as "a Transylvanian horror story worthy of the pages of Bram Stoker" has been jailed for five years by Judge Frank O'Donnell at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.