How Whitby played a major role in the inspiration for Bram Stoker's gothic horror novel Dracula

I loved watching the Hammer horror version of Dracula, starring Christopher Lee, as a kid, but I never actually read the book. I knew Whitby appeared in the creation of Bram Stalker's novel, but I really didn't know the complete story behind the myth.

Whitby has an entire industry centered around the blood-sucking mythical Earl of Dracula. Whitby hosts two Whitby Goth Weekends each year, and has the popular Dracula experience, and is often asked by people who have been fully dressed as “Mr. Dracula's Grave” for many years when leading in town. They are often disappointed when they explain that Dracula was not the real thing!

Last year I saw a great performance by Dracula on the grounds of Whitby Abbey. Each scene played elsewhere within the ruins, and in 2022 the abbey appeared at Whitby Abbey, which appeared in the vampire-clothed Whitby Abbey (world record making), and appeared in national news to celebrate the novel.

However, the story behind the novel begins without much drama. In 1890, Bram Stalker was the manager of a well-known actor called Sir Henry Irving. Irving had a reputation as a Prima Donna and a difficult man. After a tour of Scotland, the stalker was exhausted and needed a break, and in fact he recommended that Henry Irving visit Whitby to recharge his battery.

He booked a local guesthouse and planned to spend a week decompression himself before his wife and son joined him. The guest's home was on top at Westcliffe, 6 Royal Crescent, and was run by Mrs. Viesey.

While staying at the guesthouse, his landlady kicked him out for several hours each morning, allowing her to clean the room. This meant that Bram Stoker had no choice but to explore the town.

Bram Stoker has already written a book set in Ireland, where Stoker was born, and it is worth noting that when he came to Whitby he inked the idea of ​​another book. The idea of ​​blood-sucking creatures and vampires was nothing new. They appeared in Romanian folklore, and the stalker had already decided that the central figure in his next book would be called Count Wonpil.

Stalkers often wandered into public libraries (where the Quayside Fish and Chip Shop is now).

First, he found the British Consul's book for Bucharest. Bucharest is a man called William Wilkinson, who recorded many stories about Romanian folklore. He spoke about the prince in the 1400s. Vlad Tepes, who thrusts an enemy into the spike, is probably more recently known as Vlad the Impaler. Vlad was known as “Dracula.” It was interpreted as either the son of a dragon or “devil.”

This gave Bram Stoker the name of the main character in his book Dracula.

The second book concerns a recent disaster at the port when a Russian ship called Dmitry was destroyed at Tatehill Sand, carrying Silver Sand cargo. This was something the Whitby people still remembered, and the stalkers chatted with locals about the event.

The story was about inspiring Bram Stoker in the opening scene of his novel. In the book, a ship called Demeter carrying sand and wooden boxes of Earth is wrecked at the port, with only the dead captain on the ship tied to the wheels of the ship. While investigating the wreck, a large black dog is seen leaving the boat and running up the famous 199 steps to the cemetery of St. Marie Church.

It is worth noting that there was already a Yorkshire legend of the big black dog known as the Burgies who plague local Moors. Therefore, stalkers used Yorkshire and Romanian folklore for insporiation.

As the stalker was exploring Whitby, he experienced thick sea frets that swallowed the town, reducing his vision to foot problems. And at dusk, as the river was walking along the west cliffs that drifted into the ocean, bats blew the lives of local insects low and blew them away. However, located across the harbor from his inn, the abandoned Gothic Whitby Abbey sat on a cliff to the eastern side. So we can see how the local environment combined with the research that proved the important atmospheric inspiration in his novel.

Whitby is mentioned many times, including this reference to the monastery from Minah Murray, one of the main characters who tells some of the dialogue…

“Just above town is the abandoned in Whitby Abbey, fired by the Danes. It is the most noble abandoned in, full of huge, romantic bits. There is a legend that white people can be seen in one of the windows.”

“For a moment, the shadow of the clouds became vague in St. Mary's church and surrounding it, so I couldn't see anything. Then as the clouds passed I could see the ruins of the monastery coming into view. Or the beast, I couldn't know.”

Part of St. Marie's church dates back earlier than Whitby Abbey, and its location is the key to the book. Churchyard had a seat where Bram Stalker often sat and rested, pondering the next part of his book. This seat became known as Mina's suicide seat, as it was the site of Dracula's first attack in the book (Lucy).

Hopefully, we can see how all these separate elements combined during his stay to produce perhaps the most famous Gothic horror novel of all time.

His novel was finally published in 1897 and never inspired hundreds of films or TV shows. The book was not actually successful until after Bram Stalker's death, but he had no idea of ​​the legacy the book would leave behind in town.