Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy View Post
If you are ever in Dublin then visit St. Michan's Church, just off the City Centre where Bram Stoker worshipped. Underneath the church are catacombs and vaults with mummified corpses dating back from the times of the crusades. These well preserved bodies are there for you to see but not touch, bodies lying in open coffins in deep underground vaults are not for the squeamish and my theory is part of the vampire legend may have originated here and then supplemented by the Transylvanian blood thirsty Count.
I'm not sure Stoker actually worshiped at St. Michan's, as St. Anne's, just off Grafton Street, would have been much closer to his home. That said, I'm sure some of the imagery of the vaults under St. Michan's did indeed find its way into "Dracula". Stoker's extensive research in the reading room of the British Library provided almost all of the detail for his highly imaginative novel. Part of what gives the novel its enduring appeal is it's attention to detail-- as a visit to Whitby (or Transylvania) will bear out.