Dracula, the Un-Christ

When I began to read Dracula this year, for the first time in my life, as a way to celebrate Halloween, I did not expect how Christian and Christ-oriented this book was. Nor was I expecting to learn more about the aspects and qualities of the Christian Messiah by reading of a creature that is an opposite of Christ, or an Un-Christ such as Dracula, the vampire.

As a disclaimer or a warning. I will not be attempting to withhold information on the ending of this book. Therefore, if you have not read this book I recommend to stop now and to go read it and then return to finish reading this article.

Additionally, I am a Christian and feel that my Christian background sheds light on fantasies, fables, and fairy tales of both ancient and modern times. I say this to invite you to understand why and how I can go into the depths of Christian theology.

Un-Christ and Undead:

What do I mean by ‘Un-Christ’? Well, I believe that looking at the word ‘undead’ can shed some light on this. From my understanding, I believe that Bram Stoker, who wrote the Dracula book, coined the term ‘undead’. This means a creature or a person that is not dead but is also not truly alive. This creature is somewhere in between, thus, an entirely new term needed to be created for this unnatural occurrence. Thus ‘undead’ is formed. It is something untoward, or unnatural, something that should not happen. Thus, this thing, this creature is evil, uncalled for, and something bad.

Dracula has some aspects, or qualities about him that are the opposite or inverse of the Christ that we find in the holy writ. Dracula is not a Christ-like figure, but calling him the Antichrist, or an ‘antichrist’ is perhaps somewhat a step too far. Thus, he is something in between, therefore, he needs a new label. He is ‘Un-Christ.’ Something other than the Christian Messiah. Something twisted, uncalled for, and evil.

Characteristics of qualities of Dracula:

In the Bible, you can find scriptures that say something along the lines of…

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” - Revelation 3:20.

This is Christ speaking, and explaining that he can only stand at the door of our hearts and knock. But he must wait until we let him in, open the door for him to enter the hearts of men to bless or eat with us. He cannot force us to be good, he cannot or will not force his will upon us.

This is twisted or crafted by the vampire Dracula. He too is limited by not being able, or allowed to enter any residence, or home unless he is invited in whether knowingly, or unknowingly. When Jonathan Harker came to his home in Transylvania, at the threshold of the door, Dracula stood back and said…

“Welcome to my house! Enter freely”

Once Jonathan Harker freely entered the domain of Dracula. He was then within the will and power of the vampire. But the twisted part is that Jonathan was not aware yet that Dracula was a vampire and that he was crossing a threshold and thus, putting himself within the power of Dracula. He was ignorant of what he was doing. Oh, he had warnings though, from the peasants of Transylvania and the eerie coach ride to the castle. Whereas, when one opens the door for Christ, they are very sure and knowledgeable of what they do.

Lucy opens the door or welcomes Dracula in to have power over her. By going and sitting upon the bench of where Dracula was hiding in a grave beneath. She had crossed a threshold into his domain. This allowed Dracula to then begin to feed upon her.

Dracula was unable to enter the house of Dr Seward to get at Mina to feed until Renfield opened his window willingly, but also knowingly, letting the vampire into the house to cross the threshold and do as he would within the domain of Dr Seward.

Vampire Baptism of Blood:

In the scriptures, it is taught that one must be baptized, and depending upon one's denomination there is a range between sprinkling to full immersion underwater. By so doing the person is cleansed and enters into a covenant with God to follow the Savior Jesus Christ. In combination with this Christ said…

“Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” - St John 6:54

Again, depending upon one's denomination this means different things. But in my religion, this has to do with the sacrament and taking of the bread and water/wine every Sabbath to remember Christ and to become more like him. But some denominations believe that the water and bread are almost literally changed into the body and blood of Christ. Whereas I believe this is symbolism.

There may be Dracula scholars who disagree with my theory here partially. But I believe that when Dracula feeds on someone he is merely eating them/feeding. But I believe that the change from human to vampire only takes place when Dracula forces one to drink his blood. I believe that this is confirmed after Mina is forced by Dracula to drink his blood, multiple times Van Helsing refers back to this as “the vampire baptism of blood.” Again, the twisted or corrupted part of this is a Christian is willingly baptized to come closer to Christ and partake of the blood and flesh of Christ. Whereas, one is forced against their will, to partake of the blood of the vampire and thus will be changed into a vampire, to become more like Dracula and to be one with him and under his dominion. In contrast to being more like Christ as one partakes of his body and blood, being one with Christ, and to receive all that the Father and Christ have.

The options are; forcibly dominated by a vampire or willingly invited into the kingdom of God and Christ and receive all that they have.

Corrupted Resurrection:

In Christian theology, it is believed that when humans die, because of the death and resurrection of Christ, we too will be resurrected. The definition being the body and spirit reuniting forever, nevermore to be separated. In my religion, this will be into a perfect and glorious body being immortal, and depending upon the judgments of God will receive eternal life.

With Dracula, the Un-Christ, after one is forced into the “vampire baptism of blood.” The victim will then die. Only to awake and rise again being immortal, but without a soul, without eternal life. Being a vampire, a demoniac creature who will then feed upon its former fellow human beings, and corrupt more humans into vampires conceivably.

Just as Lucy, after she died. She too rose from the grave and fed upon children. Until her corrupted immortality was snuffed out by Van Helsing, Quincy Morris, Arthur, and Dr Seward. Thus setting her free from her corrupted immortality.

Attributes of the devil:

When Christ is fasting for 40 days and 40 nights and is at his weakest point. Satan/the devil comes to him and tempts him by offering him kingdoms of the Earth. He also tempts him to throw himself from the temple that angels may catch him. Additionally, he tells Christ to turn rocks into bread and attempts to persuade Christ to worship him. Which of course Christ rejects all of these.

In comparison from the vampire book; Dracula tempts Renfield by offering him all of the flies, rats, and spiders that his heart desires. But also Renfield is tempted by Dracula to gain immortality, I believe. I think truly, Renfield wished to become a vampire himself. Renfield then opens the window for Dracula and thus invites Dracula into the insane asylum of Dr Seward. Dracula then commands Renfield to worship him, just as Satan commanded Christ to worship him. Dracula was invited over the threshold and was then able to complete his desire to feed upon Mina and perform his “vampire baptism of blood.”

A fun little way that Bram Stoker connects Dracula to the devil, is that at one point Dracula uses an alias “DeVille.” which of course is an easy pseudonym for ‘devil’. I believe this was stolen for Cruella Deville in 101 Dalmatians.

Dracula’s strange relationship with holy things:

Dracula has to bring with him when he attempts to invade England, holy earth from the corrupted chapel in Transylvania. For no explained reason, he must bed down, or sleep upon earth that is ancient and holy.

And yet, just as Dr Van Helsing says, they must make the holy things that Dracula is using for his purposes, “holier still.” And therefore, the enemies of Dracula begin to put small pieces of the sacrament, or the body of Christ that has been blessed, in every one of his boxes of earth. This essentially seals these places of sleeping from him, making them holy. Where the body of Christ is, Dracula cannot come. He may be an Un-Christ, but he is in no way an equal to Christ in his level of evil in comparison to Christ's righteousness.

Other vampires also have this limitation. Lucy, after she had been made into the undead or a vampire. Was impeded from her tomb by the bread of Christ, thus unable to enter her rest again, until Van Helsing removed the bread.

Additionally, when the characters hold crucifixes/crosses before them Dracula and other vampires must retreat. At one point, while consumed by bloodlust, Dracula accidentally touches a rosary around Jonathan Harker's neck, and Dracula's bloodlust is suddenly removed from him, or gone.

Romanticization of Dracula:

In the book, Dracula is a very evil, devilish, bad person or creature that must be defeated by a group of very strong-willed and Christian people. He kills an entire shipful of men, possibly feeding upon them as well. He steals two babies from local villages in Transylvania for either him or three other vampire women to consume, and he attacks and feasts upon two women who are unwilling victims in England. Lucy becomes a vampire, and Mina is eventually cured of the growing vampirism.

From my read of this book, there is nothing sexual about Dracula. Things discussed in the books such as the feeding of Dracula on women only that we see, could be misconstrued or twisted into something sexual. But Bram Stoker put nothing explicit like that in the book.

Yet in our modern age, nay, even in the earlier 1900s, there is so much sensualness heaped upon the book of Dracula and the character Dracula. In the early silent film from 1922 Nosferatu, essentially all Christian imagery is removed from the story. In more modern media, vampires are often depicted as good people. Or creatures that could be evil and avoid drinking human blood, and just drink synthesized blood or animal blood instead.

I do not think I will watch any modern film about Dracula. The first reason would be that none of them seem to be faithful to the book. But also because Dracula is often depicted as a misunderstood, conflicted, or sexual creature. At least according to the trailers that I have seen. As well as what I have learned from a lecture series I have listened to and watched about the movies.

This begs the question, how did we get here? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I believe personally that it says much about the current state of our society when we are sexualizing or changing a character that is an Un-Christ into someone who is either misunderstood or a conflicted hero. It is as though this world, or modern media wishes to explain away how evil Dracula is in the book. As if the creators of modern Dracula adaptations wish to embrace vampirism themselves, just as Renfield did before he had his epiphany of how foolish such a choice would be. I feel these people who put vampires and Dracula in a good light are little Renfields themselves.

Stupid Joke:

This is just a pet peeve of my own that I wish to address. I have heard jokes made about Van Helsing using a wooden stake to drive through the hearts of vampires to kill them. In modern entertainment, people have misinterpreted the book thinking that a wooden stake to the heart is a requirement in order to kill a vampire, as if there were something important inherently in the properties of a wooden stake. Thus the joke is made as follows.

A character says to a vampire something along the lines of “You could die with a wooden stake to the heart?” Vampire responds “Yeah, well, who wouldn't that kill.”

This scriptwriting is both ignorant and lazy. There is no special attribute or characteristic of a wooden stake that kills a vampire. Van Helsing was merely trying to guarantee the absolute death and destruction of the vampire Lucy. Thus a wooden stake was used to crush the heart of Lucy. But of course, these modern jokes leave out the next two steps that Van Helsing made. He also cut off the vampire's head and filled the mouth with garlic. I'm certain if the idea had come to Van Helsing to crush the head underneath a wine press he would have done it. Van Helsing was merely trying to guarantee the absolute death of a vampire. Well, four vampires if you include the three female vampires that lived at Castle Transylvania. Van Helsing was making sure that the vampire had no chance of still being alive.

Dracula himself was not killed by any holy relic nor a wooden stake. While he lay in his wooden box/coffin he was stabbed in the chest and had his throat cut by mere knives. This successfully killed him. Therefore, Van Helsing may have been overboard with what he did to kill vampires. Perhaps all one needs to do is kill a vampire the way they would kill any human, so long as the vampire lay sleeping in their coffin. Therefore, let us dismiss with this ignorant joke about ‘who wouldn't a wooden stake kill.’

Did Bram Stoker make a mistake?

Bram Stoker unleashed vampires into the consciousness of the world in his time, at a level that was theretofor unknown in the 1800s. There had been other vampire books but none became as popular or monumental as Dracula has.

But Bram Stoker's Dracula is a very Christian book. It details the story of very Christian people and victims discovering the truth about this monster named Dracula, finding his weaknesses, defeating him, and forcing him to flee, thus chasing him down and destroying him or setting his soul free from his demoniac state. As beautiful, and incredible as this book has been to read, and I truly have learned more of Christ, in a strange way by studying such an evil Un-Christ, but was it a mistake of Bram Stoker to write about this?

I do not know a great deal of Bram Stoker, I have never read a biography of him. But from his book Dracula, he seems to be a Christian, and he has many overt Christian themes and sermons in the book. Thus, I am led to think that he was a true believer in the Christian religion. But what has been the consequence of his book Dracula? In modern literature, and media that include vampires I have seen that Christian aspects have been suppressed or entirely removed. Vampires are sexualized, made into good characters, conflicted heroes, or just misunderstood people. Sometimes even the rules are flipped where a Van Helsing-like character, or a group of Christians are actually the evil characters and the vampires that are being hunted by them are the good characters.

The Dracula book is full of dark and evil themes having to do with blood, feeding on humans, and demoniac domination. These things are accentuated in modern books and media of vampires as well as essentially glorified. It is as though the work of Bram Stoker has been corrupted, the Christian themes being stripped away, the evil things being accentuated in isolation from the good. Again as though vampires and Dracula are being worshiped in our modern era.

In slight digression, I would like to mention something of the mafia in comparison to the corruption of Bram Stoker's Dracula book. I am told that if one wishes to learn about the true evils of the mafia you should watch the movie “Good fellas” which shows them in their true worst form. However, the most well-known Mafia movie is “The Godfather,” and essentially the mafia is glorified in the three Godfather movies, and the Godfather is seen as a very prestigious and respectable position or person on an almost religious scale. I watched a documentary about “The Godfather,” and from what I recall the mafia influenced the creation of “The Godfather” to put themselves in a good light. Whereas in the movie “Goodfellas,” the mafia was not involved, thus a true image of how evil the mafia is was put on screen.

Going back to Dracula. In the Dracula book, it feels as if we see the truth about Dracula and vampires and how evil they are. But in modern media, this is all twisted, and corrupted to see vampires in a good light. It is almost as if Dracula himself or vampires were involved in the creation of our modern entertainment to put themselves in a good light. I am not saying that I believe that there really are such things as vampires. I am merely speaking symbolically, or allegorically. I just feel that if vampires truly existed today, they would love the way they are portrayed in modern media, and they would not want anyone to read the Dracula book, for it shares the truth of who they really are. Now go and ask how many people have seen vampires in modern entertainment and books, and then ask them if they have ever read Dracula by Bram Stoker. I think we will find that the vast majority of people have seen vampires in many movies and TV shows, and even read them in modern books, but have not read the original Dracula book.

Thus I believe Bram Stoker may have made a mistake in writing the Dracula book. Thus far it seems to only have given fuel to the modern vampires, or more accurately, the modern Renfields who wish they could be vampires, to glorify vampirism in our modern age.

Conclusion:

I had never read the book Dracula by Bram Stoker until this Halloween season of 2024. I did not know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Dracula written as an evil Un-Christ while being fought and defeated by a group of very Christian good people. I have enjoyed this book and I am certain I will reread it or at least listen to the audiobook again in my life, and I highly recommend it's reading during the next Halloween season to anyone.

But I find it disconcerting how Bram Stoker's masterpiece has been corrupted in our modern era that now these vampires, these Un-Christs are glorified or almost worshiped. But just as the good book says, that in the last days ‘evil will be seen as good, and good will be seen as evil’ this is perhaps just a fulfillment of these words.

But I hope we can get back to the understanding that vampires are evil, they are wonderful to read about so long as they are viewed in their true nature which is evil and antithetical to Christ, or Christian ideals. There are always draculas in our lives and the modern era, and we must bring our theoretical or allegorical crosses and holy sacraments with us to defeat these draculas.

The End

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this art, nor did I create it. They belong and were created by incredible artists who I am grateful for and borrowed from, Thank You, artists!

Your obedient, The Viking Ginger