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How did Dracula become
the world's most famous vampire?

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More than 100 years after
his creator was laid to rest,

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Dracula lives on as the most famous
vampire in history.

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But this Transylvanian noble,

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neither the first fictional vampire
nor the most popular of his time,

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may have remained buried
in obscurity if not for a twist of fate.

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Dracula's first appearance was in
Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name.

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But that was far from the beginning
of vampire myths.

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Blood-sucking monsters had already been
part of folklore for at least 800 years.

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It was Slavic folklore that gave us
the word vampire,

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or "upir" in Old Russian.

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The term's first known written mention
comes from the 11th century.

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Vampire lore in the region predated
Christianity's arrival

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and persisted despite the church's efforts
to eliminate pagan beliefs.

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Stories of vampires originated from
misinterpretations of diseases,

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such as rabies,

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and pellagra,

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and decomposition.

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In the case of the latter, gasses swelling
the body and blood oozing from the mouth

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could make a corpse look like
it had recently been alive and feeding.

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Vampires were describe as bloated
with overgrown teeth and nails.

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This gave rise to many rituals
intended to prevent the dead from rising,

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such as burying bodies with garlic
or poppyseeds,

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as well as having them staked,

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burned,

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or mutilated.

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Vampire lore remained a local phenomenon
until the 18th century

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when Serbia was caught in the struggle
between two great powers,

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the Habsburg Monarchy

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and Ottoman Empire.

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Austrian soldiers and government officials
observed and documented

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the strange local burial rituals,

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and their reports 
became widely publicized.

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The resulting vampire hysteria
got so out of hand that in 1755,

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the Austrian Empress was forced 
to dispatch her personal physician.

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He investigated and put an end
to the rumors

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by publishing a thorough, 
scientific refutation.

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The panic subsided, but the vampire
had already taken root

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in Western Europe's imagination,

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spawning works like "The Vampyre" in 1819,

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and Joseph Sheridan
Le Fanu's "Carmilla" in 1872.

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This book would greatly influence a young
Irish drama critic named Bram Stoker.

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Stoker, who was born in Dublin in 1847,

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was famously bedridden with an unknown
illness until the age of seven.

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During that time, 
his mother told him folktales

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and true tales of horror,

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including her experiences during
an outbreak of cholera in 1832.

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There, she described victims buried alive
in mass graves.

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Later in his life, Stoker went on to write
fantasy, romance, adventure stories,

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and, in 1897, "Dracula."

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Although the book's main villain
and namesake

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is thought to be based on the historical
figure of Vlad III Dracula,

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or Vlad the Impaler,

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the association is mostly just
that they share a name.

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Other elements and characters 
were inspired directly and indirectly

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by various works in the Victorian Era,

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such as "The Mysterious Stranger."

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The novel, upon release, was only
a moderate success in its day,

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nor was it even 
Stoker's most well-known work,

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mentioned only briefly in a 1912 obituary.

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But a critical copyright battle would
completely change Dracula's fate,

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and catapult the character
into literary renown.

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In 1922, a German studio adapted the novel
into the now classic silent film "Nosferatu"

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without paying royalties.

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Despite changes in character names
and minor plot points,

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the parallels were obvious,
and the studio was sued into bankruptcy.

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To prevent more plagiarism attempts,

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Stoker's widow decided
to establish copyright

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over the stage version of "Dracula"

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by approving a production 
by family-friend Hamilton Deane.

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Although Deane's adaptation made drastic
cuts to the story,

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it became a classic,

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thanks largely to Bela Lugosi's 
performance on Broadway.

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Lugosi would go on to star in
the 1931 film version by Universal,

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lending the character 
many of his signature characteristics.

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And since then, Dracula has risen again
in countless adaptations,

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finding eternal life far beyond
the humble pages of his birth.