Visiting Dracula

Bram Stoker's short story "Visiting Dracula" (English "Dracula's Guest", also published under the titles "The Dream in the Dead House" and "Walpurgis Night") was first published in 1914 in the cycle "Dracula". It is widely believed that "Dracula's Guest" is actually the first chapter of the main work, which the publisher considered unnecessary for the plot of the novel and deleted.

In the preface to the original edition , Stoker 's widow Florence wrote:

"To the original list of stories in this book, I have added an unpublished episode from Dracula. It was originally cut out due to the book being too long, but now it may interest fans of what is considered to be my husband's most outstanding work."

Swedish scientist Rikard Berghorn noted that the description of the countess in the story "Visiting Dracula" is very similar to the description of a vampire woman in "The Forces of Darkness" (this is the name given to the novel "Dracula" in Reykjavik in the newspaper "Fjalkonan", in which from January 13, 1900 to March 20, 1901, an abbreviated version was printed and an altered translation of an earlier version of the work).

In the story "Dracula's Guest" we are talking about an Englishman (whose name is not mentioned, but it can be assumed that this is Jonathan Harker) who is staying in Munich before leaving for Transylvania. The plot develops on Walpurgis Night.

Walpurgis Night. The night when, as millions of people believe, Satan rules the world, when graves open and the dead come out of them. When all the evil forces on earth, in the air and in the water are feasting.

Despite the hotel owner's warning not to return late, the young man leaves the carriage and heads towards the abandoned "unholy" village. At this time, the unattended horses are frightened by a tall and thin stranger who appeared on the crest of the hill.

Left without a means of transportation, the main character is forced to continue his journey on foot. A few hours later, when he reaches a deserted valley, it starts snowing. Soon the storm is gaining strength, and the Englishman is forced to take shelter from it in a cypress and yew grove.

Soon, in the light of the moon, the Englishman realizes that he is in the cemetery in front of a marble tomb with a large iron stake driven into the roof. The inscription on the tombstone reads: "Countess Dolingen of Graz (Styria) sought and found death in 1801."

An Englishman is worried about being in such a place on such a night. However, the storm is gaining strength again, and he is forced to take refuge in the doorway of the tomb. The bronze door of the tomb opens under his weight, and a flash of lightning illuminates the interior and "a beautiful woman with rounded cheeks and red lips, apparently sleeping in a coffin." The force of the thunderclap that follows the lightning knocks the Englishman off his feet and he falls into the doorway, feeling "grabbed by the giant's hand." The next lightning strikes the iron stake in the roof of the tomb, destroys it and illuminates the screaming woman inside.

The main character wakes up, and he is immediately overcome by a feeling of disgust, which he associates with the warmth on his chest and someone's tongue licking his throat. Having plucked up the courage, the Englishman looks through his eyelashes and sees a giant wolf with burning eyes watching him.

After another failure, he is brought to consciousness by riders dressed in military uniforms, driving away the wolf with torches and guns. Returning to the main squad with the Englishman, the riders report that they have not found "him" and that the animal he saw is "a wolf – and yet not a wolf." They also note that they saw blood in the destroyed tomb, but not on the Englishman's neck. They say: "Look, comrades, the wolf was lying on him and warming him." Later, the Englishman discovers that his neck hurts.

When the Englishman is brought back to the hotel, he is informed that none other than Count Dracula warned the riders about his disappearance, as well as about the "danger of snow, wolves and night" with the help of a telegram.

The story tells the story of an abandoned village, all the inhabitants of which have become vampires:

.. hundreds of years ago, people died there, they were buried, but sounds were heard from under the ground, and when the graves were opened, the dead men and women looked like they were alive, and their mouths were covered in blood.

The main character, feeling that he was not alone, noticed a vampire woman in a crypt lit by lightning:

At the same moment, as my eyes were directed into the impenetrable darkness of the tomb, I saw a beautiful woman with full cheeks and bright red lips. The woman was lying in a coffin, standing on a dais, and seemed to be asleep.

He also describes the following strange phenomenon:

I remember that before I lost consciousness, I saw a shapeless white mass moving, as if the ghosts of those who lay in coffins, covered with shrouds, had risen from all the graves around, and now they were approaching through the hail wall.

Probably, the vampire described in the story can turn into a wolf. The main character hears a wolf howl, which seemed to be heard from all sides. A little later, waking up after losing consciousness, the main character realizes that the wolf is lying on him and warms him. The man describes him like this:

Some big animal was lying on my chest and licking my neck. I didn't dare to move, because some inner instinct of self-preservation suggested that I should lie still. However, the beast seemed to sense the change in me and raised its head. Through my eyelashes I saw above me a pair of large burning eyes of a huge wolf. Sharp teeth flashed in the open red mouth. I felt hot breath, rapid and fetid.

The Horsemen also mention the wolf:

– Like a wolf... but not a wolf!  Shuddering, another interjected.
"It's useless to shoot him with ordinary bullets," a third remarked in a calmer voice.