[runeofdoom]

The author thinks that Helsing & company killed Dracula... and that is certainly the narrator's desperate belief. But as Fred Saberhagen pointed out in his more modern telling of the tale, Van Helsing himself maintains Dracula must be staked, decapitated and have his mouth stuffed with garlic to perish. And yet, despite this and despite knowing that Dracula can turn himself to mist, the heroes are content with victory when, in the shadows of sunset, they stab and cut Dracula with steel knives and he turns to "dust".

Fun article though, even with that small "mistake". :)

[082349872349872]

If you've ever wondered why staking or decapitation specifically, see the mechanisms proposed in https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/715512.Vampires_Burial_a...

[throw__away7391]

I have heard that the stake was specifically intended to be driven into the floor of the coffin once it had completely penetrated the body with the intention to hold the vampire in place, rather than merely used as a weapon stabbing the heart as is near universally depicted in film.

[wiml]

I also recommend that book for anyone interested in the subject!

GP neglects to mention that it might also be necessary to bury the decapitated, garlic-stuffed, staked corpse at a crossroads.

[echtroipolemos]

In the Bram Stoker novel, Dracula is eventually killed, but at what cost? Harker must eventually drive a stake through his beloved Lucy. Dracula is a virus, not a man.

[atombender]

Are you mixing things up? Harker's fiancée is Mina, not Lucy. And the novel is quite clear that since Dracula is dead, she's no longer going to become a vampire.

[maximus-decimus]

Imagine if viruses actually worked like that and you just had to kill patient 0 to cure everybody of covid. There would be so much witch hunting.

[WillAdams]

Saberhagen's other Dracula novels are a lot of fun, esp. _The Homes--Dracula File_.

[sigzero]

Dust and mist are two very different things though.

[bryanrasmussen]

different things sure, but very different? Plants and molten lava are very different things, dust and mist have similarities to the human eye. I mean if the dust were blown away by a wind that might have been Drac turning into mist and just happening to have a little bit of dust on him he scattered. Maybe I'm just overly cautious but I've always been taught you can't be too careful with the undead.