I think that Ottoman Turks he was fighting against were much worse than he was. They destroyed the whole kingdoms in Balkans. Just look what they did in Constantinople. They burned the city to the ground. I am from the Czech Republic and if we want to say that something stinks, we say it stinks like Constantinople, because the smoke of the burning city stank so much and so long. It was more than 500 years ago and it is more than 1000 kilometers away (which is a lot in Europe) and it is still in our language. So this is how bad it must have been.
Also impaling people in mid 15th century was no bid deal, it was a time of Spanish inquisition, which was much more cruel. Vlad was actually one of the very few successful resistance fighters against the expanding Ottoman empire. At least that is the way I see it... :-)