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Back in 1897, Bram Stoker took fundamental European folk stories and turned them into one of the most well-known horror books of all time. However, the CW is not going to be speccing a script about this man anytime soon--at least, not Dracula as Stoker composed him. Stoker's Dracula is not young and sparkly-hot; he is creepy, old, also has a penchant for turning into bats and clouds of mist.

Creepy, older, and occasionally downright dull (only stop with the rail schedules, Mina)--yes. But just like any vampire stories we can name coughVampireDiaries cough, Dracula is far more interesting to talk about than it is to read. The same as today, vampires in 1897 stood in for a whole lot of contemporary fears and anxieties. Except while the vampire craze of the 2000s could be read as representing anxieties of corruption and conspiracy theories, ye olde turn-of-the-century bloodsuckers represented the increasing globalization of London, the dangers of sexual activity, as well as the increasing presence of technology.

That is right: technology. Much enjoy this creaky rom-com You've Got Mailhinges on the newest technology of email, Dracula hinges on telegraphs, typewriters, and phonographs--only with a lot more grotesque results.

"Invasion literature," or literature which had to do with monsters invading the British Empire (which, at that point, still covered lots of the planet beyond the British Isles), was remarkably popular in the time. Writers such as Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle all composed sensational adventure stories about fantastic animals or threatening monsters from around the world. Stoker did not think about himself as a excellent performer; he was mostly a businessman. He handled the famous Lyceum Theatre at London. Stoker only wrote novels to cover the invoices (hah! The notion of writing novels to cover the invoices is mad). Honestly, he would most likely be astonished at the lasting effect Dracula has had. He composed it in a piecemeal, haphazard way--just a bit here, a bit there.

It wasn't until later in the 20th century, even when movie versions of the novel started to appear, that the novel's popularity really skyrocketed and its effects on popular culture became crystal-clear.

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