Exploring the Route to Castle Dracula. A Reply to Paul Murray and Brian Coffey

Abstract

In December 2023, an article by Stoker biographer Paul Murray challenged my findings about the location of the fictitious Castle Dracula, known from Bram Stoker’s vampire novel. In fact, Dracula contains sufficient clues to narrow down the area where the castle could be situated: the ridge of the Călimani volcanic caldera. Stoker’s preparatory notes even allow us to pin down the exact site: Mount Izvorul Călimanului. The Millerian paradigm that Stoker was “sloppy” in his research arguably does not apply to the locale of the castle; instead, it is Murray who is less precise than Stoker, and echoes errors I refuted in 2012 already.