Vampires have been called the rulers of the night for a long time, but common people usually describe them as clumsy stupid bloodsuckers. The difference was made by the young Dr. John Polidori, who re-wrote a short story by Lord Byron without knowing. The story sprang from those convivial nights when the story of "Frankenstein" was told the first time and the nightly rounds of showers were introduced.
The vampire
Secretly, however, Byron's personal physician Polidori wrote the story almost completely, giving it the title "The Vampire". The 20-page story was about an attractive aristocratic vampire full of charm and intellect which was part of the London high society. Lord Byron was parodied by the vampire Lord Ruthven and an unauthorized book was published in the New Monthly Magazine in 1819. This book became an instant bestseller. The work was attributed to Lord Byron, so its real author remained unknown. John William Polidori died of natural causes in August 1821 at the age of 25. The rumor that Polidori had poisoned himself with cyanide because of depression and gambling debts still travels today.
The triumph of the elegant vampire was unstoppable. In France, a two-volume serial novel ("Lord Ruthven ou les vampires") and numerous plays followed (by Alexandre Dumas, for instance). The successful continuation novel, "Varney, the Vampire or The Feast of Blood", already contained many elements that later on appeared in "Dracula".
Inspired by a dream
The "Dracula" novel was inspired by a dream that Bram Stoker had on March, 7, 1890. In his dream, young women kissed him on the neck. He suffered from fear of death until an angry old Graf appeared. "This man is mine!" He began to take notes about shipwrecks and folklore. Thus, he also took notes about the Wallachian nicknamed Dracula and the campaigns of Vlad the Impellor against the Turks.
He collected stories and facts for a horror story, but they did not match. Being an assistant and manager of the famous Henry Irving, Stoker only had short breaks at his disposal to work on his notes. Spending his summer holidays in Whitby, on the northeast coast of Scotland, he was inspired by the Slains Castle. This was the inspiration for the Dracula Castle. Accordingly, he started presenting Romania and Count Vlad Dracula.
The classic Dracula
The classic Dracula outfit has style. Evening wear is called for. What you need is a raincoat with a silly-up collar and a bright red interior. But would a century-old, venerable Romanian noble family dress like that? Probably yes. Thanks to movies like the new version of Dracula by Coppola and Anne Rice's cycle “Interview with a Vampire”, an elegant evening dress is also an appropriate outfit. Of course, accessories such as cylinders or sunglasses are also mandatory.
Moreover, here is a rule of thumb: Look out for your teeth. The picture of ill-fitting teeth landing in the bowl is quite terrifying. Giant plastic teeth can also cause a pronounced speech problem and make sucking more difficult.
Behave! A vampire descends from an ancient, Romanian noble family and not from the Gummy Bears family. You can afford a slightly eccentric trick like a twitching left eye or a strange gesture! You can also try to speak with an accent. If you sound more like an exiled Russian, that's okay. No one will notice anyway. And wise guys are usually not invited to parties anyway.
Of course you do not have to think of the elegant dress code and have a
childs knight costume rather than a vampire one. You can also dress up as a teenage vampire living in the streets, like the one in "Near Dark". But be prepared to be kicked out from the party if you drool all over the guests and babble about all kinds of stupid things. Frankenstein is also an option. It just isn’t for you.
Films
There are many more and less successful films about Dracula. One of the best is "Nosferatu - Symphony of Horror", which was released in 1922. The name of the Count was changed in order to circumvent the copyrights and the action was moved from London to Bremen, but this implementation followed the Roman model very closely. The first film under the name "Dracula" (with the legendary Bela Lugosi in the leading role) was released in 1933. There are many crossover films like "The House of Frankenstein" (1944) and "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948). But the brightly colored films of the legendary Hammer Studios, such as "Horror of Dracula" (1958), "Dracula - Prince of Darkness" and "Blood for Dracula" released in 1965 with Christopher Lee as Dracula set new standards. The last influential film is closely linked to the original set of tags based on Francis Ford Coppola’s films, with Gary Oldman starring as a particularly fine spiritual, melancholic Dracula.
