Bram Stoker came to Whitby on holiday in the summer of 1890, stayed at a guesthouse on the Royal Crescent and found the setting, the name and much of the atmosphere for Dracula in the town. Six chapters of the novel take place here.
The trail
- The Royal Crescent on the West Cliff, where Stoker lodged
- The bench at the top of the Khyber Pass, where Stoker sat and looked across at the abbey
- The harbour, where the Russian ship Demeter runs aground in a storm with its crew dead and a great dog leaps ashore
- Tate Hill Sands, where the dog, Dracula in animal form, lands
- The 199 steps, which Lucy sleepwalks up
- St Mary's churchyard, where Mina finds her on the grave of a suicide
- The library, then on Pier Road, where Stoker found the name Dracula in a book about Wallachia
Beyond the book
The Dracula Experience on Marine Parade tells the story with animatronics. Whitby Museum has the Stoker connection in its collection. Goth Weekend twice a year and the abbey illuminated at Halloween are the modern celebration.
