On a dark stormy night in Transylvania, a British

solicitor is travelling along a treacherous road on a horse-drawn carriage to

eventually arrive at a large Gothic castle. This castle is owned by an

eccentric but alluring count. At first the count seems charming, erudite, but

there's also something unnerving about him. Why is he only awake at night? Why

does he seem to cast no reflection in the mirror? And why does he appear to have

a frighteningly animalistic thirst for blood?

The Vampire is one of the most prolific and well-known monsters in horror. Ask

anybody of any age, any generation, and they'll probably be able to describe a

vampire, a creature of the night, someone who appears human but feeds on human blood.

We all know the rules of the vampire. They can't enter your home without an

invitation. They don't like garlic or crucifixes or holy water. The vampire has

become so saturated in popular culture that it doesn't just belong to the

horror genre. It could be argued that the vampire is the original movie

monster, the thing that started it all. And unlike a brain-dead zombie or a

silent slacker killer, the vampire can be a luring, charismatic, even attractive.

Can you at least tell me your name? Angel. Angel. It's a pretty name.

But how exactly did the vampire become one of the most mainstream and commercially

successful horror icons of all? I'm flesh and blood, but not human. I haven't been

human for 200 years. This series we're going to be looking at the history and the evolution

of one of cinemas oldest monsters. We'll begin by deep diving into the novel that started it all.

Bram Stoker's Dracula and its various adaptations from universal to hammer to France's

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