Dracula

The Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby is a busy little fishing port which has changed little for the past 300 years. The town is famous for its associations with Captain Cook - the famous 18th century explorer - and for one other thing ...

From the old streets around the harbour 199 steps lead up to the church of St Mary. It was the churchyard to St Mary's which gave the writer, Bram Stoker, the idea for his world-famous book Dracula.

For a long time people have believed that creatures called vampires lived in Central Europe. Vampires are dead people who come back at night to drink the blood of living people!

Dracula, written in 1897, is the story of a vampire from Transsylvania who travelled to England. When his ship was damaged in a terrible storm, Dracula - the vampire - jumped to land at Whitby in the shape of a huge dog!

Then, the churchyard became a place of horror!

Susan Sheerin, Jonathan Seath, Gillian White: Spotlight on Britain; Oxford University Press, 1985, page 67