Dracula << DRAK yuh luh, >> a novel by the Irish author Bram Stoker, is the most famous vampire story of all time. The main character is a wicked nobleman, Count Dracula of Transylvania, a region of Romania. Dracula is a vampire—a corpse that returns to life at night, attacks innocent people, and sucks their blood.
In the novel, Dracula’s search for new victims leads him to England. There, he pursues two young women, Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray. He, in turn, is hunted by Mina’s fiance, Jonathan Harker, and by Abraham Van Helsing, an authority on vampires. The two men finally destroy Dracula. Dracula is loosely based on legends of Vlad the Impaler, a prince of the 1400’s who lived in Walachia, a region south of Transylvania. Vlad was also called “Dracula,” which in Romanian means “son of the devil” or “son of a dragon.” However, Vlad was never associated with vampirism until Stoker used his name for the novel.
Stoker’s novel, published in 1897, is probably best known as a motion picture. Film versions include Nosferatu (1922) and Dracula (1931).
See also Lugosi, Bela.
