Since its first publication in 1897 the book hasn’t been out of print and its popularity is as ageless as the blood-guzzling count himself. He received the nickname Dracula and Vlad the Impaler from his enemies as he was known for his love of torture and impaling his enemies with wooden stakes.

There are remnants of the fictional character everywhere you look (they may not always be evident, though, so look closely! There is also the Rotunda museum that houses some of the first geological findings in the area, the UK’s best Fish and Chips at Papa’s and you can take a ride on the Hispaniola pirate ship too. Whether you head on up the coast or inland to Yorkshire, you’ll never run out of beautiful places that’s for sure. Trains to Whitby: Fortunately, Whitby has its own train station, so you can take a Northern Rail service and it will drop you right in the centre of town.In history, however, Robin Hood’s bay was an important seaport and home to lots of smuggling in the 18th century. With such significant connections to Dracula and the Goth scene, it was inevitable that Whitby Gin would in some way reflect this important part of the town’s history. I saw they recently broke a record for the most people dressed as Vampire's since Bram Stoker released his novel. The original story was written as an epistolary novel – that is the tale is told as if compiled from letters, diary entries, newspaper cuttings, transcripts of phonograph recordings (the phonograph cylinder was a comparatively new invention at the time – the equivalent of today’s Blu-Ray disc), and ship’s log entries.

Swales who tells them about the folklore of the town and the legends surrounding some of the gravestones. The year is 1885 and a Russian Schooner ‘The Demeter’ hits a huge tempest and was run aground in Whitby harbour on Tate Hill Sands. In fact, the story of Dracula is so intertwined with the history of Whitby that tourists ask to be shown Dracula’s tomb, rumoured to be in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church from which Bram Stoker himself took inspiration. Dracula’s Whitby is packed with interesting information and atmospheric photographs – it’s certainly whetted my appetite to read the original. High above Whitby, and dominating the whole town, stands Whitby Abbey, the ruin of a once-great Benedictine monastery, founded in the 11th century.

Most people have a very strong image of Dracula and for many the seaside town of Whitby in North Yorkshire is a big part of this. If you’re a die-hard Dracula fan, you may be interested in attending Whitby’s famous Goth Weekend which takes place twice each year.