Dracula Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis: Overcoming the Monster

Anticipation Stage and "Call"

Dracula Moves to England from Transylvania

Jonathan Harker gradually realizes that the Transylvanian count he's helping to purchase a house in England is actually a vampire... and intends to feed on the English populace. Harker wants to stop him, but succeeds only in escaping alive from Castle Dracula.

Dream Stage

Mina and Lucy Hang Out in Whitby

This isn't much of a dream stage. Mina is worried about Jonathan's long absence and the lack of letters. Lucy is giddy with excitement about her engagement to Arthur. Mina becomes increasingly worried about Lucy's habit of sleepwalking, which seems to be getting worse.

Lucy seems to be getting weaker, and they don't know why. The men try to save her by giving her blood transfusions, but it doesn't work: She dies. Only Van Helsing realizes that Dracula is behind it.

Frustration Stage

Lucy Becomes a Vampire

After Lucy's funeral, Van Helsing explains to the other men what has happened: Dracula has turned Lucy into a vampire. The only way to stop her from preying on the children of England and to give her peace is to put a stake through her heart and to cut off her head. The men aren't happy about it, but they agree to the plan. They kill Lucy and want to destroy Dracula himself. But how to go about it?

Nightmare Stage

Dracula Attacks Mina

As the men work on tracking down the vampire, Dracula has slipped in under their noses to drink Mina's blood. If they don't kill Dracula quickly, Mina will turn into a vampire like Lucy. But when they all seem to have lost hope, they figure out where Dracula is headed, and race to cut him off…

The Thrilling Escape from Death, and Death of the Monster

The Chase Scene Through Transylvania and the Death of Dracula

Mina and the men track Dracula back to Transylvania and finally catch up with him almost at the front door of Castle Dracula. They kill him, and Mina is saved.