Whitby Whitby Abbey It is easy to see how Bram Stoker’s visit to the harbour town of Whitby, and in particular the ruins of the 13th century Abbey, in the year 1890 provided him with atmospheric locations for his Gothic novel, and a name for his famous vampire, Count Dracula. Whilst he was staying in Whitby, Stoker heard of the shipwreck five years earlier of a Russian vessel called the Dmitry, which came from from Narva. It ran aground on Tate Hill Sands below East Cliff, complete with its cargo of silver sand. With a rearranged name, this ship became the Demeter from Varna, which carried Dracula to Whitby with a cargo of silver sand and boxes of earth. During the ships journey to Whitby, the log charts the gradual disappearance of the entire crew, until only the captain remains, tied to the wheel, as the ship runs aground below East Cliff on 8th August, a large dog jumps from the wreck and runs up the 199 steps to the church, and from this moment, things begin to go badly wrong. D...