What is really known about the link between the story of Dracula and Slains Castle? Locally it’s widely believed that Bram Stoker may have taken some of his inspiration for the tale of Dracula from a visit to Slains Castle, after all Slains Castle is a dramatic and awe inspiring place, but what real evidence is there to support this?

Well, it is documented at Cruden Bay’s village hotel; the Kilmarnock Arms that Bram Stoker was a visitor who stayed with them in 1894 and in subsequent years and eventually bought a holiday home in the nearby tiny fishing village of Whinnyfold. A number of the author’s works are said to have been inspired by his numerous visits to the picturesque and fascinating village of Cruden Bay.

It is said that on one such visit where Bram Stoker witnessed the truly dramatic appearance of Slains Castle in harsh weather where churned up in a storm the sea crashed violently against the rocks and the wind howled and swirled, that the inspiration for Dracula came upon Bram Stoker. In the book though, rather than connect Dracula with Scotland, Bram Stoker placed the Count’s character at a Romanian castle in the suitably dramatic sounding Transylvania and took further inspiration from the historical Romanian character of Voivode Drakula, also known as Vlad III and Vlad the Impaler, who was reputed to be a blood thirsty cruel man.

Others say that Bram Stoker’s inspiration came from his Irish heritage and the stories he was told that so inspired him as a child.