Vampires:
Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil

Thursday 22nd May - Saturday 24th May 2003
Budapest, Hungary

Lead Paper
“Getting to know the Un-Dead: Bram Stoker, Vampires and Dracula”

Elizabeth Miller
Author of four books on Dracula (including the controversial Dracula: Sense & Nonsense, which challenges dozens of widely held misconceptions about Bram Stoker and his novel), Elizabeth Miller is a recently retired Professor of English (Memorial University of Newfoundland) who specializes in 19th-Century Gothic Fiction. She is President of the Canadian Chapter of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, and maintains Dracula's Homepage.

Abstract
Given that Count Dracula has proliferated every aspect of western culture since his creation in 1897, to such an extent that his name is now synonymous with “vampire,” it is not surprising that much effort has been spent attempting to trace the sources of Bram Stoker’s knowledge of vampires. While some useful suggestions have been put forth, there has unfortunately been a flood of misinformed speculation (not the least among which, that Stoker was inspired by stories he had learned about Vlad the Impaler and Elizabeth Bathory).

The single most vital source of information about the genesis of Dracula is Stoker’s working notes for the novel. Housed at the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia, “Bram Stoker’s Original Foundation Notes & Data for his Dracula” (unpublished) comprise both handwritten and typewritten notes. These include early plans for the book, chapter outlines, a list of characteristics of vampires, several pages of notes taken at Whitby, an article entitled “Vampires in New England” and numerous jottings which Stoker made from crucial source books.

Also useful in piecing together Stoker’s knowledge about vampires are comments that he made himself in a newspaper interview shortly after the novel was published, and the preface that he wrote for a 1901 Icelandic translation of Dracula. Along with the Notes, while not the “last word” in tracing the origins of the novel, these do provide answers to many nagging questions: Where did Stoker find the name “Dracula”? How much did he know about those two infamous historical figures? Why did he choose Transylvania as the homeland for his vampire? What vampire traits did Stoker borrow and which were his own invention?

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