Claim: Penny Dreadful draws upon many public domain characters.
Evidence: The series draws upon many public domain characters from 19th-century British and Irish fiction , including Dorian Gray from Oscar Wilde 's The Picture of Dorian Gray ; Mina Harker , Abraham Van Helsing , Dr. Seward , Renfield , and Count Dracula from Bram Stoker 's Dracula ; Victor Frankenstein and his monster from Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein ; and Dr. Henry Jekyll from Robert Louis Stevenson 's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.