Dracula (episode)

***Halloween Special: Dracula*** is the second Halloween Special by Red. It summarizes Bram Stoker's 1897 novel *Dracula*.

## Introduction

Red begins the episode by talking about how vampires have changed over the centuries and are so different across different cultures. She says that due to the variation, a vampire isn't strictly defined but is more of a loose group of traits that one can pick and choose to make a vampire.

Depending on the time, different sets of traits have been popular; in the 1800s, they were often unholy monsters; today, however, they are often hypnotically beautiful, sexy, and seductive. She states that Bram Stoker's *Dracula* put vampires in a more "human" light, as to say that they now have more character.

She talks about how not too many people have actually read the book, which is presented as journal entries and newspaper clippings of the characters who encountered the monster, slowly revealing more as the book progresses. She then says that she made a summary that kept the style, but it was half an hour long, so she went with the shorter version that is being presented.

## Summary

### Jonathan's Journal

The story begins with a solicitor named Jonathan Harker, who has traveled to Transylvania to oversee the real estate transactions of a certain Count Dracula. The locals implore Jonathan not to visit the Count, but he blissfully ignores these warnings, so they give him a crucifix for protection. Jonathan then travels to Castle Dracula, where he meets Dracula and finds him to be ugly and pale and that he has sharp teeth. After some incidents including seeing Dracula climbing along the castle wall like a lizard, he finally puts two and two together and realizes he's in a gothic horror novel. Later, Jonathan has an encounter with  three vampiresses in Dracula's castle and decides he needs to get out of there.

He fails.

Jonathan keeps snooping around the castle and finds the Count's plans to take 50 boxes of earth with him to England. When the Count leaves, Jonathan writes in his diary that he is making one last effort to scale the castle walls and escape. Red notes how although the book doesn't tell you if he survives, one can easily infer that he survives on the fact that we have his diary.

### Lucy's Suitors and Vampirish Ailment

The story cuts to a series of letters between Mina Harker, Jonathan's wife and intelligent woman, and Lucy Westenra, an innocent and pure woman with too many boyfriends. Lucy writes to Mina, telling her about when three dudes proposed to her in a single day. The first, Doctor John Seward, is kind and soft-spoken and works at the local insane asylum. The second dude, Quincey P. Morris, is a walking personification of Texas who doesn't sound at all like a Texan. The third dude is a boring English guy named Arthur Holmwood, whose proposal Lucy accepts. Despite being rejected, Seward and Quincey remain friends with the couple.

The ship *The Demeter* washes ashore nearby with a dead captain tied to the wheel and 50 boxes of earth. Dracula, having used the ship as transport to England, begins to drain Lucy of her blood. No one pays much mind to this, and Lucy nearly dies. Seward calls his colleague Doctor Abraham Van Helsing for help, and Lucy is saved by blood transfusion from Arthur. Van Helsing then goes out to make some *PREPARATIONS* while Seward has to give Lucy another blood transfusion when her health suddenly declines. Van Helsing returns with garlic flowers and spreads them around Lucy's room for protection. However, Lucy's mother removes these and opens the window to give her daughter some fresh air, allowing Dracula to come into her room. A few days later, Lucy and her mother are both dead.

After a funeral with Lucy's hot corpse, Van Helsing leaves more garlic flowers and a crucifix in her casket and makes a plan to cut off her head. Unfortunately, a maid steals the crucifix, and the now vampire Lucy begins draining the blood of local children.

### Figuring Out What They're Doing

At this time, Mina had learned that Jonathan had returned to England and met up with him. She reads his diary and learns of his encounter with Dracula. Van Helsing then writes to her, asking her to meet up; the two then compile all of their information on Dracula. Van Helsing returns to Lucy's suitors and informs them that she is now a vampire. After providing some proof by showing her in the act of draining the blood of a child, the four then fully kill her.

Van Helsing introduces the Harkers to Lucy's suitors, fully forming the Dude SquadTM (and Mina). Van Helsing then educates the group on the abilities of vampires. Everyone except Mina, that is, because the Dude SquadTM doesn't want her to know such cruel knowledge. Unfortunately, Dracula begins draining Mina's blood, too, and is only stopped when the Dude SquadTM catches him in the act of force-feeding her his own blood. They drive him off and make a plan to capture him.

### The Hunt

The group go out and find Dracula's boxes of Earth. They find all of them except one, however, since Dracula used one of them to escape England. Fortunately, Mina has a psychic link with Dracula due to the " being force-fed his blood" incident. They then use the information gathered from her to track Dracula across Europe. Mina also figures out what route Dracula must be taking when they lose track of him. Mina and Van Helsing then go out and seal off Dracula's castle while the rest of the Dude SquadTM pursues Dracula on horseback. They then successfully find Dracula, and Jonathan and Quincey kill him, although Quincey dies in the process.

### Epilogue

Seven years later, Jonathan and Mina have a son named Quincey, and Seward and Arthur are now happily married (although not to each other).

## Credits

Red sings *I Love the Night* by Blue Öyster Cult.

## Characters Appearing

* Count Dracula
* Jonathan Harker
* Vampire Ladies
* Mina Harker
* Lucy Westenra
* John Seward
* Quincey P. Morris
* Arthur Holmwood
* Abraham Van Helsing
* Quincey Harker