Dracula Twists That Won't Die!

I just finished reading a collection of short stories involving the literary character, Dracula. The one thing that stuck out in my head after I was done was how the plot twists that were supposed to be shocking and brilliant were lame, old, and cliche. So I jotted down a few notes and thought I'd share some of the more over-done ideas. (Keep in mind this book was originally published in the early 1990s--probably around the time of Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula.) While I pulled the general ideas from this anthology, I really am talking about the Dracula mythos as a whole, including books, films, and other forms a media.

Of all of the motifs used, the most prevalent was the link between Stoker's character and the actual man who ruled Wallachia during the mid-15th Century. So many of the stories tried to mix both men, some succeeding more than others. But I think this idea has been done to undeath. It has been well-documented that Stoker came across the name Dracula in his studies of Easter European vampire tales, liked it, and slapped it on his creation. He had never actually studied Vlad the Impaler, because if he had, his novel would have been much different. Anyway, this idea that the shadow dressed in a opera cape who swooped in on London in the late 19th Century is the same Dracula is ridiculous. Here's the biggest reason: in the novel, Dracula is a count; the real Dracula was a prince. I doubt that he would lower his station in life--especially given the kind of man he was.

Another commonly used story element is the notion that the events in Stoker's novel really took place, and that the author disguised the actual names and places of those involved. In these kind of stories there is also a subcategory involving two common ideas: 1) Stoker was involved in the actions--usually as the Van Helsing character, and 2) one of the real participants told the story to him--usually Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, or the Count himself--which usually causes problems among the other members of the clandestine group who were involved. The problem with this idea is that among all the stories devoted to it, none really stand out as genius--because after so many, they all start bleeding together and it is nearly impossible to tell one from another. However, an anthology that collects all of these might be interesting (I know, it sounds like a contradiction to my previous statement, but having them all next to each other would make it easier to tell them apart).

The third most-used theme of Dracula is the simple rearranging of the letters of his name to try and convince the reader he's someone else, and then, surprise, the reveal that the character is really the dreaded Count is as flat as an open, two-day old ginger ale. Whether it's Alucard, Cardula, La Druca, La Curda or Dr. Acula, when you've read the name as many times as it has been printed, your brain starts to put the letters together in the right order the first time you see them in some psychological phenomenon. In reality, the gag is best suited for films where the character's name is spoken, not shown as it can be said quickly to disguise the lame attempt at concealment.

Well, those are the top of the list. There's a few others that are used frequently, but not to such a degree. If you can think of a few more, leave them in the "Comments" section for discussion.