	The Dracula that Stoker created was obviously different in many ways.  By the time this book was written, vampire stories were starting to make their way into literary publication.  Stoker took the legends and myths, and molded them with the “real” vampires of the previous century.  He was even different in his approach from other authors who wrote of vampires. 

Stoker had to invent many things for his vampires, many of which is ingrained in our perspective of vampires today.  For example, in the novel the use of garlic wards off vampires.  One of the things that is kept from tradition is the fact that Dracula has no reflection.

	This is one of many instances where Dracula displays his powers.  Some are from traditional folklore, but other characteristics were invented for this story.  Stoker's vampire is one of the first, for example, to use the metaphysical world to his advantage.  In the book, Dracula invades the dreams of everyone from Jonathan Harker to Lucy Westenra.  Stoker also adapts several legendary characteristics, such as the belief in some cultures that people who commit suicide become vampires.  In Dracula, this is not stated, but when Dracula arrives in England, he stays at the grave of a suicide.  He also manages to get around some of the folklore that could have hindered his storytelling.  For example, since vampires cannot cross running water, presumably Dracula would not be able to go to England.  However, Stoker had Dracula create weather conditions that would allow him to land in England.  When Dracula's ship reaches the English shore, a storm makes sure that the ship is beached, and therefore Dracula is already on land when he disembarks.  
	When Stoker's Dracula became popularized, there was a mix of folklore and Stoker's own imagination present.  The creative way that Stoker wrote about his concept of the vampire spawned many storytelling opportunities in the minds of storytellers everywhere.  With the popularity of Dracula, as well as several other monsters of literature, the entertainment industry started to take notice.  Though the ending of the book seemed final enough, Count Dracula found new "life" in the 1927 play, Dracula:  The Vampire Play, and the 1931 film Dracula.

	Even though Stoker's Dracula was dead and gone, other works continued to pop up that sustained the life of vampire culture.  In fact, one of the most popular Halloween costumes of the modern day is a vampire very reminiscent of Bella Lagosi in Dracula.  Many of our modern vampire perceptions and stereotypes came from this movie.  For example, the portrayal of Dracula not as a hairy, unkempt beast of a man, but a clean-shaven, sophisticated Transylvanian noble.  His hair is neat and combed, and he wears stylish clothes that allow him to blend in London perfectly.  In the movie, he walks down the street without getting a second glance from anyone.  At first glance, the only potentially frightening thing about Lagosi's Dracula are his oddball facial expressions.  This movie also popularized the idea that the vampires' bane is sunlight.  Though vampires have traditionally been night creatures, this idea did not come from Stoker's Dracula.  In fact, Stoker's Count Dracula was able to walk about during the day and be just fine.  The filmmakers sort of "dehumanized" Dracula, made him seem like some weirdo who became a monster at night and had no real connection to the human world. 
