Despite being a vital location in Dracula, Bram Stoker never visited Eastern Europe. His notes show that he researched Transylvania extensively, including its folklore and history.
Dracula by Bram Stoker was published on 26 May 1897. An epistolary novel, the narrative is related through a collection of realistic but completely fictional diary entries, telegrams, letters, ship’s logs, and newspaper clippings.
Stoker was influenced by other Gothic literature of his time, including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla. At the time of its publication, Dracula was considered a straightforward horror novel based on imaginary creations of supernatural life.
Written mostly in the 1890s, Stoker produced over a hundred pages of notes, drawing extensively from Transylvanian folklore and history. Some scholars have suggested that the character of Dracula was inspired by historical figures like the Wallachian prince Vlad the Impaler or the Countess Elizabeth Báthory, but there is widespread disagreement. Stoker’s notes mention neither figure. He found the name Dracula in Whitby’s public library while on holiday, thinking it meant devil in Romanian.
Dracula follows the story of Count Dracula, a vampire from Transylvania, who seeks to spread his curse of undead immortality to England. As Dracula makes his way to England, he encounters resistance from a group of people led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Together, they strive to thwart Dracula’s plans and destroy him before he can unleash his reign of terror upon London. The narrative delves into themes of sexuality, superstition, and the clash between modernity and the ancient forces of darkness.
Bram Stoker began writing novels to supplement his income while working as English actor Henry Irving’s manager, and as secretary and director of London’s Lyceum Theatre, and had published 18 books by the time of his death in 1912. Dracula was Stoker’s seventh book and although reviewed well it did not make Stoker much money and did not cement his critical legacy until after his death.
Dracula was not the first piece of literature to depict vampires, but the novel has become synonymous with the genre. Since publication it has never gone out of print and has been adapted for film over 30 times, and its characters have made numerous appearances in virtually all media.
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