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Carmilla
The story of Dracula as Stoker created it and as it
has been portrayed in films and television shows ever
since may be a compound of various influences. Many of
Stoker's biographers and literary critics have found
strong similarities to the earlier Irish writer Sheridan
le Fanu's classic of the vampire genre, Carmilla. In
writing Dracula, Stoker may also have drawn on stories
about the sídhe — some of which feature blood-drinking
women.
It has been suggested that Stoker was influenced by
the history of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was born
in the Kingdom of Hungary. It is believed that Bathory
tortured and killed up to 700 servant girls in order to
bathe in or drink their blood. She believed their blood
preserved her youth, which may be connected to the
element of Dracula in which Dracula appeared younger
after feeding
Count Dracula - Index
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