Dracula and Whitby: follow in the Count's footsteps

Do you want to know more about Dracula and Whitby?

Well, the Count first set foot on English soil in Whitby. My fiancee, Mina, kept a journal containing a detailed description of the town and those areas frequented by Dracula.

I have included some of her entries below, as well as my own descriptions.

If you should visit Whitby in the near future, please be warned: there are those who say that Dracula (or his spirit) is still present in the town. Of course, like me, dear reader, you are a rational being and don't believe that, do you...?

"24 July. Whitby. - Lucy met me at the station, looking sweeter and lovelier than ever, and we drove up to the house at the Crescent in which they have rooms. This is a lovely place."

"The little river, the Esk, runs through a deep valley, which broadens out as it comes near the harbour. A great viaduct runs across, with high piers, through which the view seems somewhat further away than it really is. The valley is beautifully green, and it is so steep that when you are on the high land on either side you look right across it, unless you are near enough to see down."

"The houses of the old town - the side away from us - are all red-roofed, and seem piled up one over the other anyhow, like the pictures we see of Nuremberg."

"Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby Abbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the scene of part of "Marmion," where the girl was built up in the wall. It is a most noble ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits; there is a legend that a white lady is seen in one of the windows."

"Between it and the town there is another church, the parish one, round which is a big graveyard, all full of tombstones ... There are walks, with seats beside them, through the churchyard; and people go and sit there all day long looking at the beautiful view and enjoying the breeze."

"This is to my mind the nicest spot in Whitby, for it lies right over the town, and has a full view of the harbour and all up the bay to where Kettleness stretches out into the sea."

"The harbour lies below me, with, on the far side, one long granite wall stretching out into the sea, with a curve outwards at the end of it, in the middle of which is a lighthouse."

"A heavy sea-wall runs along outside of it. On the near side, the sea-wall makes an elbow crooked inversely, and its end too has a lighthouse. Between the two piers there is a narrow opening into the harbour, which then suddenly widens."

Listen to 'Dracula and Whitby'

Dracula and Whitby were thrown together in a most dramatic manner, to say the least. A terrifying storm lashed the coastline and the Russian schooner, Demeter, somehow managed to gain the safety of the harbour. The Dailygraph newspaper summed up the strange event thus:

"The searchlight followed her, and a shudder ran through all who saw her, for lashed to the helm was a corpse, with a drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro at each motion of the ship. No other form could be seen on deck at all. A great awe came on all as they realized that the ship, as if by a miracle, had found the harbour, unsteered save by the hand of a dead man! However, all took place more quickly than it takes to write these words. The schooner paused not, but rushing across the harbour, pitched herself on that accumulation of sand and gravel washed by many tides and many storms into the south-east corner of the pier jutting under the East Cliff, known locally as Tate Hill Pier."

Local Paranormal Investigators

Dracula and Whitby were introduced!

"But, strangest of all, the very instant the shore was touched, an immense dog sprang up on deck from below, as if shot up by the concussion, and running forward, jumped from the bow on the sand. Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier so steeply that some of the flat tombstones - 'thruff-steans' or 'throughstones,' as they call them in the Whitby vernacular - actually project over where the sustaining cliff has fallen away, it disappeared in the darkness, which seemed intensified just beyond the focus of the searchlight."

How ironic that the people of Whitby tried to befriend the dog! They looked everywhere, but it seemed to vanish, possibly onto the moors. If only they'd known the true identity of this dog, they would surely have kept away!

"Early this morning a large dog, a half-bred mastiff belonging to a coal merchant close to Tate Hill Pier, was found dead in the roadway opposite its master's yard. It had been fighting, and manifestly had had a savage opponent, for its throat was torn away, and its belly was slit open as if with a savage claw."

Dracula and Whitby: the second victim?

His second victim may have been poor old Mr.Swales who Mina and Lucy befriended. Strange, how the graveyard , with its beautiful views (a favourite haunt of Mina's, forgive the unfortunate choice of words!) should be the scene of such horror.

"...poor old Mr Swales was found dead this morning on our seat, his neck being broken. He had evidently, as the doctor said, fallen back in the seat in some sort of fright, for there was a look of fear and horror on his face that the men said made them shudder. Poor dear old man! Perhaps he had seen Death with his dying eyes!"

Not Death, dear Mina, Dracula!

Dracula and Whitby: Lucy succumbs!

Speaking of Mina, St Mary's Church has a bitter-sweet memory for her: a constant reminder of how Dracula and Whitby took the life of Lucy, but also memories of happy, sunny days gazing out to sea with a dear friend. To me, it is a tragic reminder of how close Dracula and Whitby were to taking more lives.

For a dramatic account of how Dracula and Whitby led to Lucy's untimely demise, click on the picture to read more.