Dracula

Story

Englishman Jonathan Harker visits Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania to provide legal advice on a land dispute. When he arrives, Harker soon realizes he is a prisoner of the charming count. Horrifyingly, with no reflection and his ability to scale walls, Harker concludes Dracula is a vampire. Harker flees back to London, but soon newspapers start to report on strange attacks in England.

Why we chose it

The original literary vampire, the story of Dracula continues to chill readers today and has inspired a host of vampire stories over the years.

Where it came from

Stoker spent years researching European folklore of blood-sucking creatures and the vampire myth. He may also have been influenced by the historical figure of Vlad III Dracula, a 15^th century Romanian ruler who had cruel punishments for his enemies. Parts of the story are set in Whitby where Stoker spent some time in 1890 and took inspiration from the atmospheric ruins of the abbey which still dominates the headland today.

Where it went next

Dracula created an entire genre, vampire literature, and some of the most well-known characters - the Count himself, Dracula’s brides, and Van Helsing, the vampire hunter.

There have been numerous film and television adaptations, with the two most iconic Draculas probably being Bela Lugosi in 1931 and Christopher Lee in 1958.

Associated stories

Stories of vampirism have existed for centuries and across many cultures, even in Hebrew, Ancient Greek, and Roman tales. They existed as oral tales, traditionally passed down verbally. It was in Slavic and Balkan folklore that the vampire existed most prominently.

Dracula has inspired countless television programms, films and books, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) and the Twilight series (2008). Keren Millward Hargrave's more recent novel The Deathless Girls tells the story of the brides of Dracula.