Dee -Jay

Dracula
Introductory Notes
Prince Dracula
The story of Dracula was written in 1897. The author, Bram
Stoker, had read about a prince called Dracula. Dracula was the
ruler of a country called Transylvania in the fifteenth century.
Transylvania is not marked on maps today. It is now part of
Romania.
Prince Dracula was a very cruel man. He killed many people in
horrible ways. One way wasto throw them onto the sharp points
of stakes fixed in the ground.
Many stories were told about Prince Dracula. The stories
were about his cruelty to the people he killed. After his death,
Dracula’s grave was opened. But his body was not found in the
grave. The people of Transylvania believed that Dracula was
not dead.
Vampires
At the time of this story, people in Transylvania believed invampires. They believed that vampires did not die. Vampires
rested during the day and moved about at night. They attacked
people and drank their blood. The people who were attacked also
became vampires. They did not die. They attacked other people
and drank their blood. So more and more vampires came into the
world.
The people in Transylvania were very frightened of vampires.
They believedmany strange things about vampires. They said
that vampires could climb up and down high walls and fly through
the air. Vampires were able to change into birds or animals. They
could become dust or thick mist. Vampires knew what people
were thinking. They could make people do what they wanted.
Transylvanians protected themselves against vampires in many ways. They wore a Christian crossaround their necks.
They put garlic plants in their houses. They believed that praying
to God would protect them from vampires. And they believed
that vampires were turned away by pieces of holy bread. This is
bread which is blessed by the priest in a Christian church.
Three things had to be done to destroy vampires. First, you
had to find the place where the vampires rested during the day.
Thenyou had to put sharp, wooden stakes through the vampires’
hearts. Finally, you had to cut off their heads.
“Dracula” is a horror story. People like to be frightened by
horror stories. This is one of the most famous horror stories ever
written. Do not read this book late at night when you are alone!
1
The Road to Castle Dracula
My name is Jonathan Harker. I am a lawyer and I live inLondon. About seven years ago, some strange and terrible
things happened to me. Many of my dear friends were in danger
too. At last we have decided to tell the story of that terrible time.
Part of my work is to find houses in England for rich people
who live in foreign countries. At the beginning of 1875, I received
a letter from Transylvania, a country in Eastern Europe. The
letter was from arich man called Count Dracula. He wanted to
buy a house near London.
The Count asked me to find him an old house with a large
garden. The price of the house was not important. I found him
a large, old house to the east of London. I wrote to the Count
and he agreed to buy it. There were many papers which he had
to signl. To my surprise, Count Dracula invited me to visit him in
his castle inTransylvania. ‘Bring the papers with you,’ he wrote in
his letter. ‘I can sign them here.’
I was very busy and did not want to go. Transylvania was far
away and few English people had been there. There was another
reason too. I was going to get married in the autumn to my darling
Mina. I did not want to leave England until we were married.
But Mina said that I should go.
‘The Count is a richman,’ she said. ‘You may be able to do
more business with him. You can travel most of the way by train.
In two weeks, you will be home again.’
So I accepted Count Dracula’s invitation. I left England at the
end of April. Mina gave me a book about Transylvania to read on
the train.
On the morning of 4th May, I reached Bistritz, a small town
in Transylvania. It was a beautiful day. The sun...