The Impalements Were Effective
Now, impaling people from rectum to mouth is a gruesome business. Certainly not the way I’d like to earn a living. But in Vlad’s war-torn times, it did serve its purpose, beyond simple castle decoration. The impalements were also meant as a deterrent to those that might be looking to take the throne from the Impaler, by displaying in plain terms the uncomfortable seat they might be taking instead.
Unsurprisingly, it was very effective. The morale of marching soldiers takes a pretty massive hit when they come upon a screaming human forest. There’s even a story of Sultan Mehmed II, not a particularly merciful man in his own right, basically seeing Vlad’s handiwork and going “OK, holy s**t dude, you can keep your castle.” The recorded quote is “How can we despoil of his estates a man who is not afraid to defend it by such means as these?” His troops retreated the next day. Though the word “retreat” here might be a little too organized sounding, as I would think this was a true “they got the f**k out of there” situation.