Dracula | Literary Precedents

Dracula Literary Precedents

Dracula has considerable cultural importance. Stoker was not the first writer to make use of the vampire legend. Throughout the nineteenth century vampires appeared in a number of works, including Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla (1872), which Stoker read as a young man. But it is Stoker's version of the vampire legend that has had the most enduring popular appeal and the greatest influence on twentieth-century writers and filmmakers. In his book Vampires Unearthed (1983), Martin Riccardo tells the story of a survey taken by Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum to determine the world's "most hated person." Dracula ranked fifth. Clearly, Stoker's creation continues to capture readers' imaginations.