Darkness rules the castle. The lady prepares herself to sleep, not even imagining what is about to happen. Outside, in the woods, a creature, who changes from wolf to bat, approaches the fortress silently. It passes through the guards, climbs the tower walls, until it reaches the lady’s widow. It enters the room like a deadly black fog, surrounding her bed, where she is sleeping. Suddenly, the fog turns into a man. The man gets closer to her, letting his dark cape swallow her body. The lady wakes up, but she is unable to move. His fangs had punctured her neck, and he sucked all her blood, until the last drop. The master of vampires made another victim.
Movies, books, plays, sitcoms, and even morning cereals have contributed for vampires’ long-lasting fame, but they did not appear out of nothing. Vampire legends have been around for a long time, tracing back to ancient Greece, where “stories of men turning into beasts” were very popular (“Lycanthropy”). But that was all they were, legends and myths, part of just a few cultures. Things changed only when an Irish writer created the king of vampires, turning all blood drinkers into Goth icons. Many years after his birth, this prince of darkness continues to be part of people’s heads. Dracula is the type of character that seduces our minds and imagination, because he represents our darkest desires.
Dracula was created after many years of research and not as a result of a bad crab dinner as his creator would say years later (“Bram Stoker”). Everything started when Bram Stoker met a “Hungarian adventurer [called] Professor Arminius Vambery, who [studied] stories of vampires in Eastern Europe” (“Bram Stoker”). This professor really inspired Stoker, who started long and deep research about old legends and even gave him a little cameo in the book. Van Helsing mentions over and over his friend Arminius: “I have asked my friend Arminius, of Buda-Pesth University, to make his record; and, from all the
means that are, he tell me what he has been” (Stoker 206). It is also believed “that Stoker likely knew of several existing vampire stories: ‘Carmilla’ by Sheridan Le Fanu, ‘Le Horla’ by Guy de Maupassant, and The Vampyre, a novel by Dr. William Polidori” (“Bram Stoker”).
Fictional stories apart, Stoker’s research took him to Hungary and Romania, where two historical figures called his attention. Erzsébet Báthory was the mistress of the Hungarian “Csejthe Castle . . . and member of a powerful family”, famous for its many warriors (Ramsland). However, lady Báthory was famous for her own little hobby: torturing and killing young women. Although there was never evidence, many stories started to circulate after her death that she used to kill young women to “[bathe] in [their] blood . . . to restore her waning beauty” (Ramsland). However, the main inspiration for the famous vampire was a Romanian warrior called Vlad Tepes. This fact becomes explicit when Van Helsing expresses his knowledge about Dracula: “He must, indeed, have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk” (Stoker 206). According to Leblanc, Vlad Tepes not only fought against the Turk, but he was part of the Order of the Dragon, a military and religious society, the official dress of which was a black cape over a red garment. Leblanc also states that Tepes’ father was called “Dracul” which means “Dragon” in Romanian, and many people started referring to Tepes as “the son of Dracul” Dracula. Besides borrowing this historical character’s wardrobe and the name of, Stoker also got inspired by the warrior’s lust for blood (Leblanc). According to Johnson, T
epes was famous for impaling his enemies on stakes and for watching them agonize while eating his bread with their blood.
Many critics believe that Dracula’s fame is not attributed to the book’s plot, which is considered to be “poorly written with virtually one-dimensional characters” (MacGillivray, qtd. in Hensley). But the way the book was written, basically showing a collection of diaries and letter, captured the audience and was essential for the character’s success. It is like the reader is reading something that they should not be reading: A perfect example of the “effectiveness of an unintended message” (Hensley).
Another great reason why the story and the character have survived is that they represent the idea of the dark lover. Even though this idea obviously started with the book, it was the big screen that immortalized it. The German film Nosferatu was about Dracula, but many characters and even the plot had been changed. Some critics did not approve the cinematic version of the book, but there is no question that “whatever may be lost in the richness of the printed word is gained by the fullness of the visual image” (Hensley). Audiences did not mind the differences and started to view the character as an extremely horrifying creature. Dracula was portrayed as a tall, bald and very white man, whose arms never moved. He keeps looking straight ahead like “he is peering into our soul” (Hensley). Nine years after Nosferatu, another type of Dracula was presented to the public, brought to life by a charming actor called Bela Lugosi. Lugosi’s Dracula of 1931 was very a human-like vampire who wore a tuxedo and looked like a gentleman. Even though this movie was based on a stage version of Stoker’s book, it created a new image for the vampire, a more seductive one (Dracula). Years later, Christopher Lee (Horror of Dracula) and Gary Oldman (Bram Stoker's Dracula) would make this image even stronger. Thanks to the big screen, the book started to be more intensely analyzed and it was not hard to find the strong sensual and sexual evidence in it. Dracula is a character that represents:
A form of sexuality that contrasts with socially acceptable expressions of sexuality. Yet it is also presumed to be an innate part of human desire, which we subconsciously want permission to express. From this perspective, Dracula represents that permission by providing his victims with a vehicle to express this forbidden impulse; a vehicle that civilized society is both unable and unwilling to provide. (Wyman and Dionisopoulos)
Obviously not all readers will actually liberate themselves like Dracula’s victims, but the imagination will definitely fly sky high.
Dracula is also “embodies brutal, unrestrained violence” (Wyman and Dionisopoulos). He is a representation of the primitive man, who has “difficulty controlling [his] aggressive, indulgent, destructive impulses” (Wyman and Dionisopoulos). Wyman and Dionisopoulos also state that this aggressive, fearless, and dominant creature that can turn himself into wolf, bat, and any other beast is perfectly portrayed in the opening scenes of Francis F. Coppola’s film:
From Transylvania arose a Romanian Knight of the Sacred Order of the Dragon, Vlad the Impaler, known as Dracula. A renowned military genius, his blood-thirsty ways were notorious throughout Europe. In a bold surprise attack, he led 7,000 of his troops against 30,000 Turks. (Bram Stoker's Dracula)
Death is also related to the character, which is famous for sleeping in a coffin and for being called the “undead” (“Popular Images of Dracula and Vampires”). Humans have always been fascinated with the end of life, mainly because of its mystery. Many religions try to explain it using the idea of heaven, hell, or even reincarnation. However, Dracula represents the possibility of experiencing life after death in a very different way. Dracula’s way of celebrating death is by being free from society’s rules, trying to satisfy desires no matter what.
The vampire king has seduced society in a way that no one would ever imagine. Stoker’s book have been republished many times and many films, plays, television programs, musicals, ballets, and other books have been inspired by this vampire, giving birth to many urban tribes that try to be like their idol. It is not hard to see many “gothic” teenagers, who distinguish themselves from the others by wearing dark clothes, a lot of make up, and even fake fangs. But these teens are only the tip of a huge vampirism devoted iceberg. “The Weekend with Dracula” is a conference where “North American vampirologists, academics, fans . . . explore what attracts people to the vampire lifestyle, the degree to which their unusual passion constitutes a public hazard, and other such conundrums” (Ferguson). To some Dracula experts, those people that attend this event are just wannabes with black capes, “[who] have been sucked into the world of fantasy” (Ferguson). Others t
ake their fanaticism further:
A census . . . carried out in 2000 by the Vampire Empire . . . netted 272 people who said they were, or had previously been, vampires. Of these, 71 per cent admitted to drinking blood (from friends or themselves) or at least red drinks, 48 per cent wore fangs and 84 per cent avoided sunlight, but just 11 per cent believed they'd live longer than the rest of us. (Ferguson)
Other vampire congresses have been held for many years all over the world, but the one that started them all was the World Dracula Congress in 1995. According to Miller, this congress was organized by the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, which is a cultural and historical organization. Miller also states that the congress was not about showing off Dracula costumes, but it was all about studying and debating myths and history related to the character. Besides the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, there is the Dracula Society, which is devoted to the study of all monsters “spawned by the Gothic genre” (“About Dracula Society”). Besides organizing trips to places related to the supernatural, talks, film sections and many others, they also present two awards: the Hamilton Deane Award, which is for the greatest performance of the year, and the Children of the Night Award, which is for the best Gothic book (“About Dracula Society”). Even though they warn on their website that they are not involved with any occult ceremony, they do express their open-mindedness through their motto that says “Credo Quia Impossibile” or in other words “I believe because it is impossible” (“About Dracula Society”).
Dracula is an icon because he represents different things to different people. Some may see him as society’s alter ego, representing people’s craziest desires, others may see him as the ultimate undead warrior, and other may see him just as an interesting character. There is no denial that Stoker created an eternal character, full of mystery and evilness that fans just can get enough of. It does not matter if he is portrayed as a bald, scary man, or if he is portrayed as a seductive gentleman, Dracula is already flowing in our veins, feeding our imagination, and allowing our beating hearts to fly like the “children of the night” (Dracula). He will live for centuries and that not even Van Helsing can kill.
uldn’t sleep.
floated in the air, shadows danced all around me, and I started to hear a weak, soft piano melody. The music dragged me slowly towards the house as an insect is attracted to light in a summer night. I finally entered the house and the piano melody became stronger. “Who is there?” I asked. No answer.
onger. A door caught my attention. It was at the end of the long corridor and anyone could easily see the light coming through it.
