Dracula is one of the most famous public-domain horror novels in existence, responsible for not just introducing the eponymous Count Dracula, but for introducing many of the common tropes we see in modern horror fiction. Count Dracula isn’t the first vampire to have graced the pages of literature—that honor is thought to belong to Lord Ruthven in The Vampyr, by John William Polidori—but Dracula is the vampire on which modern vampires are based. Dracula wasn’t as famous in its day as it is today; readers of the time seemed to enjoy it as nothing more than a good story, and Stoker died nearly penniless. But its long-lasting influence is undeniable, and for all its age Dracula remains a gripping, fast-paced, and enjoyable read.
"She makes a very beautiful corpse, sir. It's quite a privilege to attend on her. It's not too much to say that she will do credit to our establishment!"
There is, however, possibly a serious side to the question, for some of the children, indeed all who have been missed at night, have been slightly torn or wounded in the throat.
During the past two or three days several cases have occurred of young children straying from home or neglecting to return from their playing on the Heath. In all these cases the children were too young to give any properly intelligible account of themselves, but the consensus of their excuses is that they had been with a “bloofer lady.” It has always been late in the evening when they have been missed, and on two occasions the children have not been found until early in the following morning.