A comparison of the adopted films Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Horror of Dracula to the novel Dracula

Abstract

One of the most appealing but also frightening mythical beings is vampires. The myth of vampires goes back to Babylon. First vampires are known as Babylon vampires, Ekimmus. Many ancient societies had vampire myths and in those myths, vampires were described as evil creatures which fed on the human soul or their blood. Moreover, the most well-known vampire is a fictional character, Count Dracula, in the book, Dracula, written by Bram Stoker in 1897. Bram Stoker was inspired by Vlad Dracula, the brutally cruel ruler of Walachia, Romania. The reason why Count Dracula is the best-known vampire is that the book, Dracula, is probably one of the most adapted works of literature. One of them is Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and the other one is Horror of Dracula (1958) directed by Terence Fisher. Thus, the aim of this article is to discuss the similarities and differences between the adapted works of Coppola and Fisher and the source text, Bram Stoker’s epistolary novel, Dracula.