100 Years of Dracula: The Most Iconic Portrayals Ranked

In this final installment of our March podcast villain series, we decided to end with a character who has been interpreted in more ways than almost any other: Count Dracula.

Meaghan and Arthur dove into this rich, multifaceted figure who has stood the test of time, appearing in literature, theater, film, television, comics, and even ballet. While Dracula is far from the first fictional villain, his enduring presence makes him one of the most iconic.

Across generations, the character has been portrayed in so many forms that it almost becomes impossible to count. So we took on the challenge of tracing Dracula’s origins, his evolution across media, and our own personal favorites from his cinematic portrayals.

The Roots of Dracula

We began by introducing listeners to the original story of Dracula, the novel published in 1897 by Irish author Bram Stoker. The novel is set up in an epistolary format, meaning it’s told through letters, journal entries, telegrams, and various documents — a storytelling method that adds a documentary-like authenticity to the supernatural tale.

Much of it was written while Stoker stayed in Whitby, England, a location that eventually inspired part of the book's setting. In the story, Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to help a mysterious count named Dracula purchase property in England. Things spiral into horror as Dracula makes his way to London, bringing with him death and chaos.

As we discussed, there’s a longstanding debate about Dracula’s real-life inspiration. The common theory connects him to Vlad the Impaler, a ruthless 15th-century ruler known for his violent methods. There's also speculation around Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory, infamous for allegedly bathing in the blood of young girls. However, newer scholarship suggests Stoker might have chosen the name "Dracula" simply because he misunderstood it to mean “devil” in Romanian.

We also touched on the thematic weight of Dracula’s character - how, especially during the Victorian era, he symbolized temptation, corruption, foreignness, and disease. His ability to lure women into his power and feed on them while they remained semi-willing created a metaphorical blend of sexuality, danger, and the fear of the “other” that resonated with readers of the time.

Dracula on the Screen: From Shadows to Sound

We explored how Dracula’s story was first visualized in cinema, starting with the silent film Nosferatu (1922), a German adaptation that changed character names to avoid copyright issues.

Despite efforts by Stoker’s widow to have all copies destroyed, a few prints survived, and the film became a cult classic. Nosferatu laid the groundwork for what would become the Dracula visual standard — looming figures, haunting silhouettes, and unsettling stillness.

We then examined the 1931 Dracula film starring Bela Lugosi, the first officially licensed screen adaptation. Lugosi’s performance shaped the image of Dracula in popular culture: the accent, the cape, the stare.

We learned that Lugosi performed the role phonetically, not speaking English fluently, which added to the eerie stillness of his portrayal. Interestingly, a Spanish-language version was filmed simultaneously using the same sets, which many critics consider to be superior in certain technical aspects.

Dracula became the foundation for Universal Studios’ “monster movie” identity, alongside Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Wolfman. These films established a shared aesthetic that would be drawn upon for decades.

Waves of Interpretation: Gothic Horror to Sexy Vampires

From the 1950s through the 1970s, we saw a gothic revival of Dracula through Hammer Horror films, most prominently fea