Bram Stoker's Magic System
Magic in the iconic novel Dracula and why my system is different
The expression of the Count’s face was so hellish, that for a moment I feared for Harker, though I saw him throw the terrible knife aloft again for another stroke. Instinctively I moved forward with a protective impulse, holding the Crucifix and Wafer in my left hand. I felt a mighty power fly along my arm; and it was without surprise that I saw the monster cower back… —Bram Stoker, Dracula
Bram Stoker’s Magic
Written by Bram Stoker in 1897, Dracula, is a story about good versus evil. Like many books of the time, it is mostly black and white with very little gray in between.
The character of Count Dracula relies on the power of darkness. Courageous protagonists like Professor Van Helsing, Mina Murray, and Jonathan Harker fight back with rosaries, crucifixes and consecrated wafers (the host).
The host is especially powerful. It burns the flesh of those under the power of vampires, stops Dracula mid-fight, and is used to create a physical barrier against the undead.
He crumbled the wafer up fine and worked it into the mass between his hands. This he then took, and rolling it into thin strips, began to lay them into the crevices between the door and its setting in the tomb. —Bram Stoker, Dracula
Stoker, an Irish Protestant whose wife converted to Catholicism after their marriage, seems to be aware of the problems this poses. He goes out of his way to describe the host as sacred throughout the text. In dialogue, Professor Van Helsing warns that the “Sacred Wafer” should not be “desecrated needlessly” and goes on to claim an “indulgence” to work with it.
In spite of this language, the sacramentals in Dracula aren’t really religious. They’re magic.
Why Stoker's magic didn't work in my story
Have old beliefs really ceased to impress the imagination? It may be so; but our novelists are clearly experiencing a reawakened faith in the charm of the supernatural. —Mr. Bram Stoker’s New Story, The Daily News [London] May 27 1897
Today, sacramentals like crucifixes are key elements in many vanpire stories. To me, however, part of the fun of writing about vampires is getting a chance to put my own spin on the lore.
In my paranormal romance, vampires are not the undead. They’re members of a magical (fantasy) race. They are predatory and dangerous and often morally gray, but they aren’t inherently evil.
Because they aren’t evil, the use if traditional sacramentals didn’t make sense—but I was able to come up with my own kind of magic. It isn't high fantasy, but I’m having fun with them
And I like to think that Bram Stoker was having fun, too.
As we burst into the room, the Count turned... His eyes flamed red with devilish passion; the great nostrils of the white aquiline nose opened wide and quivered at the edge; and the white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood-dripping mouth, champed together like those of a wild beast. With a wrench, which threw his victim back upon the bed… turned and sprang at us. But by this time the Professor had gained his feet, and was holding towards him the envelope which contained the Sacred Wafer. The Count suddenly stopped, just as poor Lucy had done outside the tomb, and cowered back. Further and further back he cowered, as we, lifting our crucifixes, advanced. The moonlight suddenly failed, as a great black cloud sailed across the sky; and when the gaslight sprang up under Quincey’s match, we saw nothing but a faint vapour. —Bram Stoker, Dracula
My vampire story, Trancing Miranda, will be out before the end of the month. While the magic is mostly fun, other parts of the book may be triggering for some readers. I’ll be sharing trigger warnings and more details about the content when I launch.