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| John Polidori. |
Everyone knows the scene. On a stormy Transylvanian night
lit by a full moon and serenaded by the howling of a wolf, a mysterious coach
pulls up to a dilapidated castle. Timidly, the coach’s passenger makes his way
to the castle door. As the door slowly creaks open, we finally see the lord of
the manor—a formally dressed nobleman with regal bearing—a creepy and ironic image
of a proper European aristocrat.
At which point, Count Dracula bids us welcome.
Dracula is not like other traditional monsters. His
elegance and sophistication set him apart. Much like a Bond villain, Dracula
could almost pass as a head of state or a captain of industry. The horror comes
from our knowledge that underneath that polished exterior lurks a creature
ripped out of nightmares and campfire stories. And that contrast between the
outer and inner character provides the complexity that separates not only
Dracula, but most modern vampires from all those more interchangeable creatures
that go bump in the night.
