Dracula Day 2024: Celebrating 127 Years of the Vampire Legend
Bram Stoker’s Gothic horror novel DRACULA has left a lasting mark on the vampire genre.
Published in 1897, the original book also explores themes of superstition, sexuality, and the clash between modern POVs with ancient evil.
Over in the Monster Complex group on Facebook, one member brought to my attention that this week is the anniversary of when Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula was first published—and this week also includes the birthday of famed Dracula actor Christopher Lee!
CELEBRATING DRACULA: WHAT ARE *YOUR* FAVORITE ADAPTATIONS AND CHARACTER APPEARANCES? Answer us HERE!
UPDATE! THERE ARE MORE RELATED DATES INVOLVED!
About DRACULA
One of the most famous books ever written, the original novel DRACULA by Bram Stoker was published on this date—May 26—back in 1897. The author introduced his characters—including the frightful vampire Dracula and the profound vampire hunter Van Helsing—in a story told through letters, diary entries, and media articles.
In the decades since its publication, the novel DRACULA has made a HUGE impact on literature and pop culture. The story itself has been adapted on screen dozens of times, and the various characters have made an AMAZING number of appearances in pretty much all types of media. More details below!
Monster Complex™ uses Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (At no additional charge to you.)
By the way, when you sign up for our newsletter above, you get a free download of our PDF highlighting Dracula’s Weirdest Fights! Discover the time the Lord of Vampires bumped into that superhero, was pestered by that funny animal, and was defeated by those civil servants. Read about about these crazy stories and even watch video clips from most of them!
More about Dracula and his many appearances!
As part of the celebration, this image includes…
1) The original novel by Bram Stoker. While it’s not the first book with vampires, Stoker’s the novel has of course made a huge impact on how people think about, discuss, and create vampire fiction. Dracula himself has the record of showing up more times in movies, TV, and more, than any other character. The only other character that even comes close is Sherlock Holmes.
2) The page from the Playbill stage production of DRACULA that starred Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing. Both men later played those same roles in the Universal Monsters movie that came out in 1931. The “Dracula” stage play was written first by Hamilton Deane in 1924, then revised by John L. Balderston in 1927. Although the DRACULA movie was officially based on the book, it was also greatly influenced by the play.
3) One of the most famous actors who played Count Dracula is Christopher Lee—whose birthday is May 27, exactly one day later than the anniversary of the DRACULA novel. Over an acting career of more than 60 years, Lee’s IMDB resume includes several Hammer horror movies, plus the Lord of the Rings movies, the James Bond movie THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974), three Star Wars movies, and five Tim Burton movies.
4) The legendary 1970s Marvel Comics series TOMB OF DRACULA featured a group of vampire hunters fighting Count Dracula—but sometimes Dracula would actually help these vampire hunters against other supernatural threats. In the Marvel universe, Dracula also introduced the character Blade the Vampire Slayer, and crossed paths with the likes of the X-Men, Spider-Man, Werewolf by Night, and Howard the Duck.
Of course, we’ve posted lots of articles about Dracula and other vampire fiction. Including…
More from Monster Complex
‘Dracula: Dead and Loving It’—Behind the scenes of the vampire comedy
60+ Special Vampire Book Series—from Anne Rice, L.A. Banks, Charlaine Harris, more
‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Fans—16 Vampire Books You Should Check Out
Making ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN: Behind the scenes of the classic movie
27 Striking Vampire Books—including horror, romance, fantasy, and comedy titles
Dracula Reimagined—Ricardo Delgado’s Dracula of Transylvania
Horror and comedy both make us jump—which is why these elements work together so well together. Looking at books from authors like Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Tanya Huff, Kelley Armstrong, John Scalzi, Diana Rowland, and Kevin J. Anderson, plus many authors you should meet.