Dracula in popular culture

Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula at the Hollywood Wax Museum

The character of Count Dracula from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, has remained popular over the years, and many films have used the Count as a villain, while others have named him in their titles, such as Dracula's Daughter, The Brides of Dracula, and Zoltan, Hound of Dracula. Dracula has enjoyed enormous popularity since its publication and has spawned an extraordinary vampire subculture in the second half of the 20th century. More than 200 films have been made that feature Count Dracula, a number second only to Sherlock Holmes. At the center of this subculture is the legend of Transylvania, which has become almost synonymous with vampires.

Most adaptations do not include all the major characters from the novel. The Count is usually present, and Jonathan and Mina Harker, Dr. Seward, Dr. Van Helsing, and Renfield usually appear as well. The characters of Mina and Lucy are occasionally combined into a single female role. Jonathan Harker and Renfield are also sometimes reversed or combined. Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood are usually omitted entirely.

Films

Early adaptations

One of the first film adaptations of Stoker's story caused Stoker's estate to sue for copyright infringement. In 1922, silent film director F. W. Murnau made a horror film called Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens ("Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror"), which took the story of Dracula and set it in Transylvania and Germany. In the story, Dracula's role was changed to that of Count Orlok, played by Max Schreck.

The Stoker estate won its lawsuit, and all existing prints of Nosferatu were ordered destroyed. However, a number of pirated copies of the movie survived to the present era, where they entered the public domain.

There are reports of a 1920 first Soviet silent film Drakula (Дракула), based on Stoker's novel. The film would have predated the lost 1921 Hungarian film Dracula's Death, and is thus claimed to be the first film adaption of Dracula. Nothing regarding this film is known to survive; there are no known production stills, and there is very little information about this film available. Most sources agree that the existence of this film is questionable because no details appear to have survived, and its existence is not verifiable.[1]

Count Dracula depicted by Bela Lugosi

The 1931 film version of Dracula was based on the 1927 stage play dramatized, with the Stoker estate's endorsement, by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston (see below), starred Bela Lugosi versus Edward Van Sloan, both of whom had originated their respective roles on the stage in the aforementioned play, and was directed by Tod Browning. It is one of the most famous versions of the story and is widely considered a horror classic. In 2000, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. The films had music only during the opening (the famous main theme from Swan Lake, which was also used at the beginning of other Universal horror productions) and closing credits, and during a brief sequence set at an opera. In 1999, Philip Glass was commissioned to compose a musical score to accompany the film. The current DVD release allows access to this music.

At the same time as the 1931 Lugosi film, a Spanish language version was filmed for release in Mexico. It was filmed at night, using the same sets as the Tod Browning production with a different cast and crew, a common practice in the early days of sound films. George Melford was the director, and it starred Carlos Villarías as the Count, Eduardo Arozamena as Van Helsing and Lupita Tovar as Eva. Because of America's movie industry censorship policies, Melford's Dracula contains scenes that could not be included in the final cut of the more familiar English version. It is also included on the Universal Legacy DVD.

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Universal Studios horror films made Dracula a household name by starring him as a villain in a number of movies, including several where he met other monsters (the most famous being the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, in which Lugosi played Dracula on film for the second and final time.)

One 1944 oddity from Columbia Pictures that is worthy of mention is The Return of the Vampire, in which rescue workers revive a previously staked vampire during the London Blitz. Bela Lugosi plays the undead Armand Tesla, who is Dracula in all but name.

Universal Studios productions of Dracula

The Universal Studios films in which Dracula (or a relative) appeared (and the actor portraying the character) were:

  1. Dracula (1931 - Bela Lugosi (collectively the most famous interpretation)) (A second version was filmed at the same time in Spanish, with Carlos Villarías as Dracula)
  2. Dracula's Daughter (1936 - Gloria Holden)
  3. Son of Dracula (1943 - Lon Chaney, Jr.)
  4. House of Frankenstein (1944 - John Carradine)
  5. House of Dracula (1945 - Carradine)
  6. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948 - Lugosi)
  7. Dracula (1979 - Frank Langella)

Hammer Films productions of Dracula

Christopher Lee as Dracula

1958, Hammer Films produced Dracula, a newer, more Gothic version of the story, starring Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. It is widely considered to be one of the best versions of the story to be adapted to film, and in 2004 was named by the magazine Total Film as the 30th greatest British film of all time. Although it takes many liberties with the novel's plot, the creepy atmosphere and charismatic performances of Lee and Cushing make it memorable. It was released in the United States as Horror of Dracula to avoid confusion with the earlier Lugosi version. This was followed by a long series of Dracula films, usually featuring Lee as Dracula.

The Hammer films in which Dracula (or a follower) appeared (and the actor portraying the character) were:

  1. Dracula (1958) - Christopher Lee. Released in the US as Horror of Dracula
  2. The Brides of Dracula (1960 - David Peel as Dracula disciple Baron Meinster)
  3. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966 - Lee)
  4. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968 - Lee)
  5. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969 - Lee)
  6. Scars of Dracula (1970 - Lee)
  7. Dracula AD 1972 (1972 - Lee)
  8. The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973 - Lee). Released in the US as Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride
  9. The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974 - John Forbes-Robertson). Variously released as The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula and Dracula and the Seven Golden Vampires

Though Dracula is pronounced as dead in The Brides of Dracula he is resurrected for Dracula: Prince of Darkness, before being killed off again. This formula is followed in each succeeding film apart from the last: The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires.

Christopher Lee, the British actor who played in the Hammer Dracula films, reminisced in a 1999 interview for NPR.[2]

Other productions 1953–1979

Drakula İstanbul'da (1953) was a Turkish made production starring balding Atif Kaptan as the count. It was the first sound film to depict Dracula with fangs.

The Blood of Dracula (1957) was producer Herman Cohen's attempt to cash in on his previous success with I Was a Teenage Werewolf. The film was basically "I was a Teenage Dracula", with the same story of a wayward teenager (Sandra Harrison) being transformed into a legendary fiend by an ill-willed adult (Louise Lewis). Herbert L. Strock directed.

The Return of Dracula (1958) brought the Count to modern day America. Matinee idol Francis Lederer played Dracula, who flees vampire hunters in Transylvania to take up residence in small-town America in the guise of an artist he had previously murdered. The Count begins to feed on the local populace and create more vampires before he is tracked to his lair in an abandoned mine and destroyed. Paul Landres directed from a screenplay by Pat Fielder. The film is also known, for some reason, as The Fantastic Disappearing Man. It has been shown on television under the title The Curse of Dracula.

Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (1966) saw the Count in America's old west, facing off with a pre-outlaw years Billy the Kid. John Carradine returned to the role of Dracula under the direction of William Beaudine.

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) was directed by Roman Polanski and introduced him to Sharon Tate. This was a parody of Hammer's films and featured Ferdy Mayne as the Dracula-like Count von Krolock.

Thames Television's (UK) anthology series Mystery and Imagination ran Dracula based on the book in 1968. It featured Denholm Elliott as Dracula.

Blood of Dracula's Castle (1969) was a low-budget entry from director Al Adamson. Alex D'Arcy and Paula Raymond play Count and Countess Dracula, who have taken up residence in a castle in America under the aliases of Count and Countess Townsend. Too genteel to stalk their prey by night, these fiends are content to sip their blood from cocktail glasses prepared by their faithful butler George (John Carradine). In the end, they meet their doom in the rays of the morning sun.

Jonathan (1969) was an arty take on the legend from Germany. Jonathan (played by Juergen Jung) infiltrates the castle of the undead Count (who is never actually named in the film) played by Paul Albert Krumm.

Christopher Lee in Jesus Franco's Count Dracula. In this film, an attempt was made to make Lee resemble the Dracula described in the original novel.

Count Dracula (1970), directed by Jesus Franco starring Christopher Lee as Dracula. In spite of its star, Franco's film is not a part of the Hammer series, and was shot on a small budget. Lee is made up to look like the description of the Count from Stoker's novel, and he does seem to grow younger as the story progresses, but the film otherwise takes some huge liberties with the plot. The international cast includes Herbert Lom as Van Helsing and Klaus Kinski as Renfield.

Jess Franco followed this with Vampyros Lesbos in 1970, in which Soledad Miranda plays Nadina, a descendant of the Dracula family.

CBC-TV's (Canada) anthology series Purple Playhouse featured an hour-long adaptation, Dracula based on the book in 1970. It starred Norman Welsh as Dracula.

1970 saw Al Adamson return with Dracula vs. Frankenstein, a grade Z budget film with Zandor Vorkov as the Count terrorizing a California boardwalk community with Frankenstein's monster in tow. Screen legends J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney, Jr. appeared, and Famous Monsters of Filmland editor Forrest J. Ackerman cameoed as an unlucky victim.

In 1971, Hrabě Drakula, directed by Anna Procházková, was broadcast on Czechoslovakia television. It was reasonably faithful to the novel, except for the exclusion of Renfield. Ilja Racek played Dracula.

In 1972, Paul Naschy starred in Count Dracula's Great Love, directed by Javier Aguirre for the Spanish production company Janus Films. This movie predated Francis Ford Coppola's vision of Dracula as a romantic figure by 20 years.

1972 also saw the release of Blacula, a low-budget blaxploitation horror film about an African prince vampirized by Count Dracula himself (who is portrayed by Charles Macaulay) in a brief opening prologue. The 1973 sequel, Scream Blacula Scream briefly replays this scene as a flashback.

In 1973, Bram Stoker's Dracula starring Jack Palance was produced by Dan Curtis, best known for producing the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, and who worked from a script by sci-fi favorite Richard Matheson. Filmed in Yugoslavia and England, it was relatively faithful to the novel, though it tried to paint Dracula as a tragic, rather than evil, character in search of his lost love. It also drew the connection between Dracula and the historical figure of Vlad the Impaler, which was a popular notion at the time (see above). In these respects, it is also a close fore-runner of Coppola's later film.

In 1974, Andy Warhol presented an outrageously campy Dracula (also known as Blood for Dracula), directed by Paul Morrissey and starring cult icons Udo Kier (as the Count) and Joe Dallesandro.

Dracula père et fils ("Dracula Father and Son"), a French comedy again starring Christopher Lee as Dracula, here having trouble convincing his son to take up the family mantle of vampirism. (In interviews, Lee has claimed that his character was not called Dracula during filming, and that the producers only decided to make it a Dracula film after the fact.)

1977 saw a BBC television adaptation titled Count Dracula directed by Philip Saville. It starred Louis Jourdan as the Count and Frank Finlay as Van Helsing. This version is one of the more faithful adaptations of the book. It includes all of the main characters (only merging Arthur and Quincey into the same character) and has scenes of Jonathan recording events in his diary and Dr. Seward speaking into his dictaphone.

In 1978, an independent film company produced the horror thriller Zoltan, Hound of Dracula starring Michael Pataki as the mild-mannered family psychiatrist destined to encounter the resurrected hound of Dracula.

Draculas ring (1978) is a Danish TV-miniseries, written and directed by Flemming la Cour and Edmondt Jensen, starring Bent Børgesen as Dracula, who journeys to Denmark on a quest to reclaim his stolen ring.

The year 1979 saw three film versions released. In the first, Frank Langella starred as a sexually charged version of the Count in the big budget Dracula. Based on the 1977 Broadway revival of the 1927 Deane-Balderston play, in which Langella had starred in the title role, it also starred Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing. It was directed by John Badham and featured a score by John T. Williams. That year also saw the release of Love at First Bite, a romantic comedy spoof set in contemporary New York City starring George Hamilton as the Count. The third film is the previously mentioned Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht starring Klaus Kinski and directed by Werner Herzog. In this remake of the 1922 film, the vampire is specifically called Count Dracula rather than Count Orlok. Additionally, a holiday television film, The Halloween That Almost Wasn't starring Judd Hirsch, was shown on ABC. It later aired on the Disney Channel until the late 1990s.

Dracula adaptations 1980–1999

In the 1980s, Dracula appeared as the leader of the monsters in The Monster Squad (played by Duncan Regehr) and was one of the monsters featured in Waxwork (played by Miles O'Keeffe).

In 1992, Francis Ford Coppola produced and directed Bram Stoker's Dracula starring Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, and Anthony Hopkins. Coppola's story includes a backstory telling how Dracula (who is the historical Vlad Ţepeş in this version) became a vampire, as well as a subplot not in Stoker's original novel in which Mina Harker was revealed to be the reincarnation of Dracula's greatest love. Dracula is portrayed as a tragic hero instead of being a villain, and although malevolent, his nature is one which is playful and often flirtatious, evidenced by him shaving Jonathan Harker.

In 1995, Mel Brooks did a comedic parody, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, which parodied all of the standard Dracula themes and portrayed the count as an incompetent klutz. Brooks played Van Helsing as an aged professor and Dracula was played by Leslie Nielsen.

Dracula adaptations 2000–present

Patrick Lussier directed a modern day version of the story Dracula 2000, promoted as Wes Craven Presents Dracula 2000. The film gives Dracula (played by Gerard Butler) a new identity as Judas Iscariot, forbidden by God to die following his betrayal of Christ and intent on corrupting the innocent. Dracula 2000 was followed by two sequels, Dracula II: Ascension (in 2003) and Dracula III: Legacy (in 2005).

In 2000, director E. Elias Merhige re-imagined the making of the original Nosferatu in the dark comedy horror Shadow of the Vampire. It starred Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck.

In 2000, an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was titled "Buffy vs. Dracula", with Dracula portrayed by Rudolf Martin.[3] In the same year, Martin also held the starring role in Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula. Shown on USA Networks on October 31, it tells the origins of Vlad III Dracula, "the Impaler", who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name.

In 2002, Canadian film director Guy Maddin released his screen adaptation of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's version of the count's tale, a ballet set to the music of Gustav Mahler and titled Dracula, Pages From a Virgin's Diary.

Also in 2002, the Italian telemovie Dracula was broadcast starring Patrick Bergin as Dracula. In the US, it was released on VHS and DVD as Dracula's Curse.

Director Jesús Franco made the 2002 movie The Killer Barbys vs. Dracula starring the real life band The Killer Barbies whose new song woke Dracula from his eternal slumber.

Dracula 3000 (2004) is a futuristic adaptation set in outer space.

Van Helsing is a 2004 film based on the vampire-hunter Van Helsing from the book, played by Hugh Jackman, only reinvented as an immortal action hero assigned by the Vatican to hunt monsters. Richard Roxburgh portrays Dracula.

A character named Drake appears in the 2004 film Blade: Trinity, where a group of vampires summon him in order to finally defeat Blade. It is stated that Drake is Dracula but this is only one of many names he has gone by throughout the centuries, having been born around 5000 BC in ancient Sumer. Dominic Purcell portrays Drake.

Also in 2005 WB released the direct to DVD animated film The Batman vs. Dracula. It is a continuation of The Batman cartoon series in which The Dark Knight faces the Prince of Darkness. Count Dracula is voiced by Peter Stormare.

2006 saw a revisionist BBC TV adaptation of Dracula. It starred Marc Warren as Count Dracula.[4]

In 2012 a low budget 3D retelling was directed by Dario Argento, Dracula 3D, starred Thomas Kretschmann as Dracula and Rutger Hauer as Van Helsing.[5]

Dracula appears in the 2012 CGI animated comedy film, Hotel Transylvania, voiced by Adam Sandler. Here, he has a daughter named Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) and a deceased wife named Martha (voiced by Jackie Sandler). Dracula gets all of the world's most famous monsters to go check into a hotel he made called Hotel Transylvania, a safe haven for all of the famous monsters to get away from humankind.

In 2013, a Malayalam 3D film named Dracula 2012 directed by Vinayan was released. It is not a remake but an attempt to tell the story of Dracula based on Indian myths and folklores.[6]

In October 2014, Universal released the action horror film Dracula Untold. Luke Evans portrays the title character, with Sarah Gadon and Dominic Cooper in supporting roles. Rather than adapting Stoker's original novel, the film creates an origin story for Dracula by portraying the story of Vlad the Impaler, who makes a deal with an ancient vampire to obtain dark powers in order to save his kingdom from an advancing Turkish army. In this version, Dracula is depicted as an anti-hero instead of a villain, as he is determined to protect his family and people at all costs.

Other media

Stage

Program for the 1897 Lyceum Theatre stage production of Bram Stoker's Dracula, or The Undead

The first stage adaptation was written and directed by Bram Stoker himself, and performed once only at the Lyceum Theatre in London for the sole purpose of securing a stage copyright on the material in England. Stoker's production, which Lyceum actor/manager Henry Irving reportedly pronounced "Dreadful!", was called Dracula, or The Un-Dead and took place on May 18, 1897, preceding the novel's publication by eight days. The unwieldy manuscript took fifteen actors over four hours to perform.

In 1924, with the permission of the Stoker estate, the story was adapted for the stage a second time by Hamilton Deane. Entitled Dracula, The Vampire Play the English touring production starred Deane himself as Van Helsing. In 1927, the play, as substantially revised by John L. Balderston, opened on Broadway in a production starring Bela Lugosi and Edward Van Sloan as the count and Van Helsing, respectively. Eventually the play would see a major Broadway revival in 1977 with atmospheric sets and costumes designed by Edward Gorey. This acclaimed Gorey production starred Frank Langella as the Count, who, like Lugosi before him, would go on to perform the role on the big screen; Langella was succeeded in the role by Raul Julia and Jean LeClerc. The same Gorey sets and costumes were used for a U.S. touring version of the play starring Jeremy Brett and a UK touring version starring Terence Stamp. The Deane-Balderston lines were altered somewhat and played for a more comedic effect.

Premiering in 1970 was the musical I'm Sorry the Bridge Is Out, You'll Have to Spend the Night, featuring classic monsters, with book, music and lyrics by Sheldon Allman and Bobby Pickett.

In 1976 Dracula: Sabbat by Leon Katz, an Off-Off Broadway rendition debuted, as did the spoof-esque musical Dracula Spectacula by John Gardiner and Andrew Parr, which would become a popular school play.

Dracula, the Vampire Play by Tim Kelly opened in London at the Queen's Theatre in 1978. That same year saw The Passion of Dracula by Bob Hall & David Richmond which was also adapted into a Showtime TV production in 1980.

Countess Dracula: A Play in Three Acts, by Neal Du Brock opened in 1980.

Although new Dracula themed plays dwindled in the eighties, two notable attempts were: Dracula: The Musical in 1980 by Rick Abbot and Out for the Count; or, How Would You Like Your Stake?: A Vampire Yarn by Martin Downing in 1986.

1991 saw the one act play Dracula: Death of Nosferau by Christopher P. Nichols.

In 1996, playwright Steven Dietz published a new adaption of Dracula.

The popular and successful balletic Dracula adaptation by Michael Pink and Christopher Gable premiered in 1997, to commemorate the centenary publication of the novel. It was created for the Northern Ballet Theatre in the United Kingdom. The production stays as faithful to the book as possible in non-verbal theatre. Original music was composed by Philip Feeney, the Naxos recording of the score has remained a top seller. Sets and costumes were designed by Lez Brotherston, whose career as a designer for dance began with NBT. Lighting was by Paul Pyant. The production has been seen throughout the world, most companies presenting the work more than once during the last decade. It is the lure of the novel that makes this as popular in the dance world as the film industry. This same production team is responsible for many successful adaptations of popular novels.

The 1998 play Undead, Dreams of Darkness mixed Stoker's characters and situations with those from Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, in a modern setting, written & directed by David M. Nevarrez.

In 2001, Dracula, the Musical, composed by Frank Wildhorn, premiered in California. It went on to Broadway in 2004 to play 157 performances.

The opera by Hector Fabio Torres Cardona was believed to be the first Dracula opera. However, in October 2004 an operatic version of Dracula premiered at the Lancaster Opera House, by the composer Paul Ziemba. Gary Sage as Dracula. The score includes a waltz, a polonaise, a mazurka, several romantic arias, a lively gypsy number, plus music to accompany several specially choreographed ballets. Here is how Paul describes the score, "In all the music, melodic themes are distinct and often strongly developed depending upon scene, setting, story, and of course, the characters."

2005 saw the premiere of an adaptation by playwright P. Shane Mitchell. By the end of 2005, the opera Dracula, by the Colombian composer Héctor Fabio Torres Cardona, opened in Manizales, Colombia.

A new Northern Ballet Theatre production of Dracula was created by choreographer David Nixon in 2005 and has become popular at Halloween among many companies in the US and England.

In 2006, Dracula - Entre l'amour et la mort, a French Canadian musical starring Bruno Pelletier premiered in Quebec, Canada.

A French Canadian musical production (Dracula - Entre l'amour et la mort) opened in Montreal in January 2006, starring Bruno Pelletier.

Dracula was performed entirely on a Bouncy Castle at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Bouncy Castle Dracula was produced by The Strolling Theatricals, the company behind the famous 'Bouncy Castle Hamlet' and 'Bouncy Castle Macbeth', which featured on ITV's 'Britain's Got Talent'.[7][8]

In 2010, a new musical version entitled The Blood of Dracula premiered in Scotland, UK. It ran from 13–16 January at the Denny Civic Theatre in Dumbarton. It has a Book & Lyrics by Joseph Traynor and Music by Kevin Taylor. A Sequel to the play was also written, entitled "Dracula: Resurrection", with music by Kevin Taylor.

In 2013, Blackeyed Theatre commissioned a new stage adaptation, entitled Dracula and written by John Ginman, to be toured across the UK from September 2013 until March 2014. The production, directed by Eliot Giuralarocca and featuring original live music composed by Ron McAllister, is due to open at South Hill Park on 26 September 2013.

In November 2013, Turkish State Opera and Ballet premiered a new ballet adaptation entitled Kont Dracula at Ankara Opera House.[9]

"My Sidekick Dracula" play by Kate Aksonova. Tired from life Dracula thinks about committing suicide. But he involves in life of other people and gives second thought to his plans.[10]

Radio

In 1938, Orson Welles and John Houseman chose Dracula to be the inaugural episode of the new radio show featuring their Broadway production company, The Mercury Theatre on the Air. The adaptation was largely faithful to the book, although condensed to fit in the show's hour-long format and with a different ending. Welles was the voice of both Dracula and "Arthur Seward", a pastiche character combining two of Lucy's suitors. The music was composed by Bernard Herrmann.

Loren D. Estleman's novel Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula: The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and directed by Glyn Dearman in 1981 and starred Dacid March as Dracula with John Moffatt as Holmes, Timothy West as Watson and Aubrey Woods as van Helsing.

In 1994, Frederick Jaeger starred as Dracula in BBC Radio 4's seven half-hour-episode adaptation of Stoker's novel by Nick McCarty.

In November 2006, the BBC World Service broadcast an adaptation by John Foley, based on the play by Liz Lochead. It starred David Suchet as Dracula and Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Harker.

On 23 February 2008 BBC Radio 4's Saturday Drama broadcast Voyage of the Demeter, a one-hour radio play by Robert Forrest that dramatized the events that took place on board the schooner that transported Dracula to Whitby. Count Dracula, identified in this play as "The Gentleman", was played by Alexander Morton.

A new two-part adaptation of Stoker's novel by Rebecca Lenkiewicz was broadcast as part of BBC Radio 4's "Gothic Imagination" series on October 20 and 27, 2012 starring Nicky Henson as Count Dracula.

Television

Novels

Makt Myrkranna (Might of darkness, 1901) by Bram Stoker and Valdimar Ásmundsson, is a rewritten Icelandic version of Stoker´s novel. New characters include detective called Barrington and a whole group of villainous aristocrats: Romanian Prince Koromesz, his sister, the beautiful Countess Ida Varkony; Margravine Caroma Rubiano, a medium; and Madame Saint Amand, an elegant young woman noted for taking a number of distinguished lovers.

Dracula has also inspired many literary tributes or parodies, including Stephen King's Salem's Lot, Kim Newman's Anno Dracula, Fred Saberhagen's The Dracula Tape, Wendy Swanscombe's erotic parody Vamp, Dan Simmons's Children of the Night, and Robin Spriggs's The Dracula Poems: A Poetic Encounter with the Lord of Vampires. Loren D. Estleman's novel Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula: The Adventure of the Sanguinary Count pits Dracula against that equally venerable Victorian-era character Sherlock Holmes, as does Fred Saberhagen's The Holmes-Dracula File.

In The Diaries of the Family Dracul, a trilogy by Jeanne Kalogridis, Vlad's relationship with his mortal descendants is explored, as are the specific terms of his vampiric curse and his pact with the Romanian peasants who serve him. The novels are written in epistolary form, and the story is intertwined with that of Stoker's novel as well as events from the life of Vlad the Impaler, expanding on minor characters and details from the Dracula mythos and Romanian history and culture.

Elizabeth Kostova's 2005 novel The Historian follows several historians whose research has led them too close to Dracula as they hunt the vampire across Europe.

Meg Cabot's 2010 novel Insatiable has a main character named Meena Harper who has a relationship with Dracula's son, Lucien.[11]

In the book series Vampire Hunter D, which takes place ten thousand years in the future, D's adversary Count Magnus discovers that D is the son of Dracula, who is referred to as "The Sacred Ancestor" in the series.

Freda Warrington's Dracula the Undead is an unofficial sequel to Dracula.

Will Hill's Department 19 is about Jamie Carpenter, a descendant of Henry Carpenter, Van Helsing's valet who saves Van Helsing's life multiple times. Department 19 (or Blacklight), is an organization started by the people from the original Dracula, and they fight vampires across the world.

Dacre Stoker, who is a great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, co-wrote with screenwriter Ian Holt a sequel to Dracula titled Dracula the Un-dead (Stoker's original title), which reveals that Dracula was not actually the true villain but sought to eliminate the more dangerous Elizabeth Bathory. Dacre Stoker claims that parts of the work are based on excised material from the original novel and Stoker's notes.[12] In North America, the book was published by E.P. Dutton.[13]

Short stories

Comics

Dracula has been a recurring character in many comic books, most notably, the Marvel comics version of Dracula featured in Tomb of Dracula written primarily by Marv Wolfman (following two issues each by Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin and Gardner Fox) and drawn by Gene Colan for Marvel Comics in the 1970s. They concurrently published Dracula Lives (1973–1975) in their black-and-white magazine line under the Curtis imprint, thirteen issues followed by a separately numbered all-reprint annual. After the color comic ended with #70 (August 1979), the company utilized the exact title for another black-and white magazine (#1, October 1979), which was canceled as of its sixth issue (August 1980). Their version of the character would continue to be a presence in the Marvel Universe for many years thereafter, as recently as the 2006 X-Men crossover X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula. Wolfman and Colan reteamed for a three-issue Dracula miniseries comic in 1998, titled The Curse of Dracula, this time for Dark Horse Comics.[15] Although briefly killed in a recent storyline, Dracula was resurrected by the X-Men to help them defeat his son, Xarus, when he attempted to bring the vampires of the world together to turn the X-Men and other remaining mutants.

In Warren Ellis and John Cassaday's Planetary, the protagonist, Elijah Snow, in 1919, encounters a covert group of 19th century conspirators that included Count Dracula, Victor Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, and Sherlock Holmes, who gathered together to shape the direction of the future (a homage to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). Dracula attacked Snow, who froze the vampire and then kicked his groin into shattered pieces.

In 2003, Dracula was re-invented as the globe-trotting "Osama Bin Laden of vampires" in the Image Comics series Sword of Dracula.

One of the Elseworlds books by DC Comics is Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, which features the caped crusader fighting Dracula, who has come to Gotham City, forcing Batman to become a vampire himself to stop his foe.

The novel, and "Dracula's Guest" are being adapted into comic form by Leah Moore and John Reppion, for Dynamite Entertainment, as a five-issue limited series, The Complete Dracula.[16]

Victor Gischler wrote, Giuseppe Camuncoli pencilled and Marko Djurdjervic created the cover of the Marvel Comics published Death of Dracula.[17]

In 2010, IDW published Bram Stoker's Death Ship detailing the count's voyage to England from the viewpoint of the crew.

Dracula: The Company of Monsters was a series from Boom! Studios, with Daryl Gregory and Kurt Busiek as writers.[18] The series was completed in twelve issues, collected in three trade paperbacks.[19]

In 2013, Five Ghosts featured a literary ghost with similarities to Dracula.

Games

Vlad Tepes is one of the more mysterious elder vampires in Vampire: The Masquerade. An Autarkis of the Tzimisce Clan, he has been present at many of the major events in the World of Darkness. In the Vampire: The Requiem setting, he is the founder of the 'Ordo Dracul', a secretive organisation to which the player's characters may claim membership. Both games draw much from the novel Dracula and vampire legends in general.

In the Castlevania series (known as "Akumajo Dracula" (Demon Castle Dracula) in Japan). Count Vlad Tepes Dracula, as he is known in the series, is the ultimate source of evil that the others must confront, after adventuring through Dracula's castle. The other aspect in relations to the Count is his son, Adrian Farenheights Tepes, commonly known as "Alucard", who has dedicated his life to ensure the survival of the human race and the preventing of his father's tyranny. In the Lords of Shadow reboot/spinoff series, Dracula was once a holy knight named Gabriel Belmont who was turned into a vampire and claimed overwhelming power in the first game's Reverie and Resurrection DLC's. The trilogy portrays Dracula in a more sympathetic light. So far the Lords of Shadow series are the only games in the franchise, outside of the fighting game spinoff Castlevania Judgement, where Dracula is featured as a playable character.

Now-defunct software company CRL produced a series of games in the 1980s featuring classic horror classics including Dracula. These were the first game titles in the UK to receive BBFC certification (they were rated "15"), normally reserved for films and videos. There were two adventure games, Dracula: Resurrection and The Last Sanctuary. Both took place after the novels end and continued Jon and Mina's fight against the Count.

Count Dracula appears in Sierra Entertainment's Kings Quest II, which was released in 1985. The hero of the game, King Graham, has to defeat Dracula by driving a stake through his heart.

Dracula: Resurrection, Dracula: The Last Sanctuary, Dracula 3 - The Path of the Dragon, Dracula 4: The Shadow of the Dragon and Dracula 5: The Blood Legacy form a series of adventure games published by Microids (Anuman Interactive). They were published in 2011, 2012, 2011, 2013 and 2013 respectively.[20]

Dracula: Origin is a 2008 PC point-and-click adventure developed by Ascaron Entertainment, in which the player assumes the role of Abraham Van Helsing in a storyline based on the original novel.

Count Dracula, appearing as an anthropomorphic duck named Dracula Duck, appears as the final boss of the NES game DuckTales, as well as the remake DuckTales: Remastered.

Anime and manga

In 1980, Toei Animation adapted the Marvel Comics story Tomb of Dracula into the anime television film Yami no Teiô Kyûketsuki Dracula. It was released on cable TV in North America by Harmony Gold as Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned.[21]

In the manga and anime series Hellsing, the vampire Alucard is actually Dracula who has become the servant to the Hellsing family rather than being outright destroyed. His background story mirrors aspects of the presentation of Dracula's origins in Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Dracula appears in the novel series Vampire Hunter D. In this adaptation, Dracula is seen as a vampire god-king who deals out both life and death. Dracula does not appear in the Vampire Hunter D anime adaptations, however he is referenced. However, in the English dub of the anime, D, the titular central character, states that Dracula respected humanity and did not feed on innocent people.

The author of Vampire Hunter D., Hideyuki Kikuchi also wrote a novel that presents Dracula himself appearing in Japan sometime before the events of Bram Stoker's novel called Meiji Dorakyuu Den. The book was released in the United States as Dark Wars: the Tale of Meiji Dracula and featured Dracula facing off with several citizens of Japan, who ultimately drive him away from Japan, presumably back to Romania, where he then lives out the events of Bram Stoker's novel.

The Digimon series depicts a Digimon named Myotismon who resembles Dracula as one of the main antagonists. Two other Digimon, an imp named Dracmon and his mega form GranDracmon, are named after Dracula.

In the manga and anime series Shaman King, one of the antagonists named Boris Tepes Dracula is a descendant of Vlad the Impaler.

The manga "Endo Beast" written by Riko Takahashi features a character named "Dracula" living as a commoner with the name Daniel Illiescu. He is a wealthy businessman living in the fictional world of Kanaeda, instead of a castle Daniel resides inside a large chateau with a rich view of the countryside. He plays a key role in the manga sporting a dual personality as the kind, generous Daniel during the day time, and at night turning into the evil, blood-thirsty Dracula.

The manga Dance in the Vampire Bund by Nozomu Tamaki features Mina Tepes as the ruler of the vampire world. The manga deals in part with her efforts to ease the tensions between the newly revealed vampire race and the humans who have to live alongside them.

Cartoons

Dracula has even been adapted for children's literature and entertainment, serving as the basis for several vampire cartoon characters over the years, although in the interest of creating child-friendly characters, the vampiric nature of the character is often understated or not referenced at all.

Others

The General Mills cereal mascot Count Chocula is a vampire who craves Count Chocula cereal rather than blood. His title of count is an allusion to that of Count Dracula's.

The association of the book with the Yorkshire fishing village of Whitby has led to the staging of the twice-yearly Whitby Gothic Weekend, an event that sees the town visited by Goths from all over Britain and occasionally from other parts of the world. In addition, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution runs a fundraising bungee jump event in the town every April named the Dracula Drop.

Mad magazine has published countless spoofs of Dracula. In one, appearing in the Mad Summer Special 1983, on the inside front cover, a cartoon sequence drawn by Sergio Aragonés shows Dracula attacking a hippie who has taken LSD; Drac staggers away, seeing colorful hallucinations including blood, bats and such.

Dracula is mentioned in the novelty songs "Dinner with Drac" by John Zacherle and "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett. The rap song "Dracula's Wedding" by OutKast is sung from the Count's point of view.

Dracula appears at the end of Tom Lehrer's song "L-Y" from The Electric Company; "You enter a very dark room, and standing there in the gloom...is DRACULA! Now how do you say goodbye?/Immediately, Immediately, Immediate L-Y! Bye-Bye!"

In the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, composer Peter Bretter (Jason Segel), in a subplot, finishes his Dracula-themed rock opera titled A Taste for Love.

Russian authors Andrey Shary and Vladimir Vedrashko in 2009 published a book Sign D: Dracula in Books and on the Screen devoted in particular to Dracula image implications in Soviet and Russian popular and mass culture.

The American heavy metal band Iced Earth wrote a song entitled "Dracula" on their 2001 album Horror Show.

Tourism

There are several locations associated with Dracula and Bram Stoker related tourism in Ireland, Britain, and Romania.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Glut, Donald F. The Dracula Book (1975) ("Other film versions of Dracula are reported to have been made about this time — one being Russian — but there is no real verification to substantiate these claims.")
  2. ↑ Dracula : NPR
  3. ↑ Air date: September 26, 2000
  4. ↑ A page on the BBC official website about their film adaptation of Dracula
  5. ↑ "Dario Argento Vamps Out for 'Dracula 3D'"
  6. ↑ http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/8064/malayalam/dracula-2012/index.htm
  7. ↑ Carrell, Severin (2008-06-06). "Edinburgh Fringe gets dramatic dose of reality". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
  8. ↑ "Fringe Benefits". dailyrecord.co.uk. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
  9. ↑ https://secure.dobgm.gov.tr/opera2013/weser2013.aspx?EserKodu=1167&Bsz=1
  10. ↑ http://www.aksioma.lviv.ua/play-eng-my-sidekick-Dracula.htm
  11. ↑ http://www.megcabot.com/insatiable/
  12. ↑ Flood, Alison (2008-10-06). "Stoker's blood relation resurrects Dracula". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  13. ↑ "Dutton signs new Dracula". Business and Industry. 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ Pulp and Dagger - Graphic Novel Review - The Curse of Dracula
  16. ↑ Moore & Reppion on 'The Complete Dracula', Newsarama, January 30, 2009
  17. ↑ A Preview of Marvel's New Death of Dracula Comic
  18. ↑
  19. ↑ Twelfth and last issue: . Third collection:
  20. ↑ http://www.cosmosgaming.com/gaming-news/microids-announces-the-release-of-adventure-game-dracula-5-the-blood-legacy-on-pc-and-mac/
  21. ↑ http://www.vampyres-online.com/sovereign.html

External links