An Unseen Invasion: Vampirism as Contagion in Bram Stoker’s Dracula

As creatures that come back from the dead to haunt and hunt living, vampires represent fear of an uncontrollable, mysterious, foreign threat. Bram Stoker’s Gothic novel Dracula (1897) presents vampirism not only as a curse resurrects human body undead monster, but also metaphor for contagious disease. Transgressing boundaries between life death, animal, past present, vampire breaches purity by contaminating individual. Arriving elusive, unseen disease English soil subject, exposes his victims contaminated blood in quest invade Victorian England. Consuming feeding on giving blood, victim causing illness transforming into vampire, embodies contagion upon society. Accordingly, aim this paper explore links infection, looking closely at role creation monstrous To end, aims analyse how agent reflect anxieties regarding individual identity, social changes, fears degeneration, invasion Other bringing destruction within.