by Brian Ripley
The story of Dracula has been the basis for countless films and plays. Stoker himself wrote the first theatrical adaptation. Being presented at the Lyceum Theatre under the original title ‘The Dead Un-Dead’ shortly before the novel’s publication and performed only once.
When it was first published, in 1897, ‘Dracula’ was not an immediate bestseller. Although reviewers were unstinting in their praise, it done very little to increase book sales. The contemporary Daily Mail ranked Stoker’s literary powers above those of Mary Shelley and even Edgar Allan Poe.
That newspaper’s review of 1 June 1897 proclaimed it a classic of Gothic horror. According to literary historians Nina Auerbach and David Skal in the Norton Critical Edition, they remarked that the novel has now become more significant for modern readers than it was for contemporary Victorian readers.
Originally, it was enjoyed just as a good adventure story. It only reached its broad iconic legendary classic status later in the 20th century when the movie versions appeared. However, some Victorian fans were ahead of the time, describing it as “the sensation of the season”.
Others said it was “the most blood-curdling novel of the paralyzed century”. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle praised the novel by letter to Stoker saying, “I write to tell you how very much I have enjoyed reading ‘Dracula’, I think it is the very best story of diablerie which I have read for many years”.
In my opinion, Bram Stoker based the character of his novel ‘Count Dracula’ on an entity that does indeed transcend natural death and is therefore to be regarded as being ‘immortal’ by mortals.
Part of the story-line of Stoker’s novel has ‘Count Dracula’ re-locating to England, saying that he wanted ‘teeming millions’ to prey on.
The ship he travels on is ship-wrecked on the coast of Whitby. Dracula, being quite vulnerable really, most certainly required a sponsor to provide for his unusual needs. Research indicates that three notable gentlemen from Whitby may well have made the acquaintance of Dracula.
Two of them did have later connections with St Mary’s Church Speldhurst. That connection was that these two notable gentlemen helped design and erect some of the stained glass windows in St Mary’s Church, Speldhurst as the documented records prove.
Obviously, these two notable gentlemen would need long-term accommodation in or nearby the village of Speldhurst. It is my belief that one or both of these gentlemen played host to Dracula. The inclusion of Dracula ‘s re-location and ship-wreck off the Whitby coast in Stoker’s novel follow the true events of earlier years.
When the Russian schooner Demetrius got wrecked off Whitby, many occupied coffins got washed up on Whitby beach. Just why anyone should ship a cargo of dead people on such a voyage is a mystery in itself. Mr Stoker made use of the incident and incorporated it in his novel.
It now appears that Whitby is a regular destination for members of the ‘Gothic cult’. The town of Whitby welcomes their interest in Dracula and of course Bram Stoker.
There are several coincidences here, the first being Bram Stoker’s intense interest in vampires. The second being his frequent visits to Whitby (Mr Stoker was a popular figure at many aristocratic dining tables in many towns and cities throughout England). Some of whom were located in Whitby.
Further research reveals that Bram Stoker, being the author of several horror and mystery novels already, knew and visited many notable gentlemen in Whitby. These acquaintances included landed gentry, as for instance the Earl of Erroll, Earl Kilmarnock, Sir William Hay and many others at that time. All this is well documented. Being of obvious use to Dracula any friendship between them would have been to their mutual benefit.
The third coincidence being that Mr Stoker included that Dracula was ship-wrecked off the coast of Whitby.
The fourth coincidence being that Mr Stoker actual met and befriended Dracula, then became acquainted with Dracula’s past and recorded same in his novel.
Therefore, I would strongly suggest that Bram Stoker based the character of his novel ‘Count Dracula’ on a known entity that does indeed transcend natural death. Regarded as being ‘immortal’, I would further suggest that Dracula, at that time, resided in Speldhurst courtesy of Sir William Hay.
It is apparent that Dracula still resides there at this present moment in time. Should my friend John ever take it into his head to visit St Mary’s Church, Speldhurst again, the only protection available to him would be a blood transfusion.
This would also apply to those brave souls that want to verify this true story at first hand, but be warned please. It must be remembered that Dracula holds entirely different values to ourselves. Known to be a soldier and a very cruel man to his enemies, his ideas of ‘fair play’ are very, very remote from our own.
All this must be seen as a common sense warning, because there will be hardly any protection against him. The film industries addition of a ‘wooden stake’, ‘sharp teeth’, ‘garlic’ and a ‘silver Christian cross’ would be entirely useless against him, so it is better to know that now before it is too late.
Obviously, some brave souls will go to the church at Speldhurst to try and find out for themselves, but do be aware of mixing bravery with stupidity. The ‘brave soul’ would be going up against an immortal being who desires that ‘brave souls’ soul and will probably get it.
I survived because I had a few pints of blood transfused into my body when I had a car accident in 1989. That is the only protection I know of and I very much doubt if there is any other protection available against Dracula. It has taken me many years to come to some kind of terms with the strange ‘dracula’ experience that happened to me.
It was something that I could not tell anybody about because they would have laughed at me. However, I did tell my wife about it a lot of years later. My wife was my best friend and although she could not offer any explanation, I did feel a lot better that I had told someone about it at long last.
These days, there seems to be a ‘hunger’ for genuine information about very unusual things normally regarded as being of a supernatural or paranormal nature. However, my Dracula experience was different, besides being absolutely terrifying, I felt that it was too private and personal to share with others.
But there was another, much bigger reason for not making my Dracula experience known to the world. Dracula did not harm me, and I do not wish any harm to Dracula.
To my mind, Dracula is a very vulnerable being, he is from our early centuries and may be comparatively defenseless in today’s world, who knows. Even so, from my very brief meeting with Dracula, it did appear to me that Dracula was no fool.
Originally a very cruel, warlord like individual who killed thousands with no remorse whatsoever, it may well be that Dracula will find a way to adapt to any new threat to his existence. Nowadays, the ultimate ‘endangered species’, there would be many who would wish to destroy Dracula.
This is my main concern, my compassion not extending much to the village of Speldhurst whose inhabitants will financially benefit when they discover the truth of what lurks in their churchyard. Can you imagine the newspapers of the world descending on this small Kent village or even worse, searching for Dracula’s day-time resting place as they will surely do.
Personally, I hope a few of them get bitten necks out of it, serves them right too. Yes, I am concerned for Dracula, but thinking about it all, I hope that Dracula will rise to the occasion and be able to adapt and overcome any threat to his immortal existence.
As to me, I do hope you will be polite and courteous enough not to come to the Medway Towns trying to find me. I have told you all I know about this and there will be no purpose served in trying to speak to me further about it. If you do insist, and this also applies to any media people, most of the male and female Ripley’s have a good right hook and very little patience, so again be warned, please. B.Ripley.