Dracula: Bram Stoker’s Legacy of Blood, Passion, and Gothic Horror

In the shadowed realms of horror Dracula reigns as everlasting sovereign. We pay respect to the original work that introduced us to the Vampire.

Today Dracula’s face is common among the heads of pop culture. The Count has appeared in numerous films – both horror and comedies. He’s been transformed into a child-friendly persona in various cartoons, and his dashing image is marketed for holiday cereals. He’s been the villain of video games and the hero of comic books. Today Dracula is somewhat of a friendly fixture in society and far removed from his gothic origins.

The domesticated Dracula – much like that of the Vampire itself – has undergone a great many changes since his first appearance in the late nineteenth century. The decrepit demon of Stoker’s timeless epic was a plague-bearer to mankind, a cruel figure who invoked hypnotic fear over those he trampled over. He rose out of an era of relentless nightmares and – in spite of modern licensing of his name – the primal strygoi influence of the Prince of Darkness has lost none of its original malignity.

In Universal’s accompanying documentary, The Road to Dracula (via, Dracula Blu-ray), horror sensationalist, Clive Barker, calls Stoker’s book ‘exploitation.’ “It’s a first-rate nineteenth-century trashy novel.” –Barker says with an adoring grin. It’s a stygian field Barker himself is well acquainted with. With such titles like Hellraiser, The Books of Blood, The Great And Secret Show, and The Scarlet Gospels adorning Barker’s grim legacy, he is something of an expert on exploiting the horrors of blood, flesh and virulent passions. Horror isn’t always romantic, but when it is its glamor exhales in the pain of those who fall victim beneath its cruel shadow. Victorian horror mastered that craft.

The Dominion of Dracula

A dark foreign countryside locked beneath the perpetual grey breaths of arcane fears of those who brazenly defy the serenity of death. Midnight shadows enraptured with the Hellish aria of nocturnal children raising their forsaken voices to the unfurled wings of Night. Villages populated by simple folk who live under the veil of supernatural dread, and in the far distance, where the light of Day is hardly ever seen, stands the Castle Dracula.

This is a small glimpse into the Transylvania introduced to us by Bram Stoker. Reigning darkly over this insidious kingdom of living shadows is the Lord Vampire, Master of the Night, the Ordained of Hell commanding ageless fathoms of mortal dread. This is Dracula, Bram Stoker’s undying epic of blood, terror and ancient obsessions.

The book was first introduced to an unsuspecting world in 1897. Dracula’s shadow quickly spread its leathery wings far across Queen Victoria’s sovereignty, further dimming the sparkling glint of her majesty’s Diamond Jubilee. It was the Age of the Monster, and one none could escape from.

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The Prince of Darkness clashed against proper society at the crowing era of gothic horrors – horrors found both on the printed page as well as the wet streets of London. Truly it was a grotesque age for dark imaginations and obsidian wonders! The Occult was widespread, séances were common practice among social gatherings – the elite gave themselves over to the supernatural with child-like readiness. The Grotesque was celebrated just as much as it was feared. Satan and his beloved walked behind the walls of human consciousness, and all too often the ethereal doors were opened to His Dark Majesty and all those who flow in the abyss of his presence. The Black Goat danced with his fiddle during that age.

It was a time when dear-ol’ Jack warmed the mist-shrouded byways of London with the arterial splash of his crimson art for murder and carnage. It was also the very height of gothic romance. The century was dominated by horrific masterpieces such as Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, as well as the sleazy Penny Dreadfuls . Bram Stoker released the Vampire to a society eaten up by spectral terrors and furthered that obscene world of chilling wonders.

It was truly a defining age of horror, one we still benefit from today. When audiences sat by the pale glow of lamplight and poured feverishly over monstrous tales about reanimated flesh rising sickly from the scientist’s slab to quickly wreak havoc and seek revenge against a world that robbed him of a peaceful death. Or of a French Opera house haunted by a demonic specter of shadows and accursed music.

The hunchback swung by the chains of his bell tower, forlornly clanging the echoing melancholy of the long ages from the celestial heights of heavenly Notre Dame. Meanwhile, from across the ocean, Poe’s immortal epic of the condemning Raven took flight on ebony wings and enthralled audiances. It was the Age of Monsters – one I wish to have been born into – and Stoker’s dark vision from Transylvania joined their hellish ranks, and in many ways, became their Master. Rightly so, for every kingdom needs a king, even a kingdom of monsters.

Their kingdom rose and none could stop its spreading shadow. A shadow that still spreads today and enraptures new disciples with every new blooming generation.

Modern horror fans owe our gratitude to the creative minds of that age of grotesque beauty. Nightmares drove writers back then, and the only means to exorcise such paralyzing nightmares was to capture them with pen, ink and paper. They shared – or more rightfully, released – their inner demons upon society, and how fortunate for us they did! The world would have otherwise been so dreadful in their absence.

Like his colleague before him (Mary Shelly), Stoker was tormented one night by a vivid dream. One in which he couldn’t get over. Based on his early notes, Bram Stoker had a clear vision of the Count, heard his voice and fell beneath his presence. Dracula demanded to be told. It was a six-year project, but what began as a nightmare has now proven to be among the most successful titans of our beloved genre.

"Then I stopped and looked at the Count. There was a mocking smile on the bloated face which seemed to drive me mad. This was the being I was helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst its teaming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the helpless. The very thought drove me mad. – Bram Stoker, Dracula"

Most of my most beloved words of horror began as a dream or roaring nightmare. Lovecraft’s mighty lore was based on the terrors by night he frequently suffered from. Shelly was awakened by the towering monster brought back to life by a madman’s obsessions. And Dracula entered the mind of his chronicler, demanding an audience.

Who will be next? What fresh Hell can be furthered explored by dreamers? Will we embrace our nightmares and capture them in writing? Though we fondly look back to that grotesque age of gothic wonders, let’s not neglect the era we are now given. There’s always a new ghost story to be told.

During this time of year, when the night closes in earlier, as the winds chill and the leaves fall, it’s the perfect time to cuddle up with a good read to last you well into the nocturnal hours. Lose yourself for a moment and travel back to the haunted trails of Transylvania. I’ll meet you there at the Borgo Pass where my brethren of the night will be waiting.

Next: Dreams turn into nightmares in Sweet Dreams

This is Manic Exorcism providing you with a Dracula retrospective, this is the first of multiple segments, stay tuned for more. We’re gearing up for the 25th anniversary of my all-time favorite movie.

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