Rediscovered: Dracula - monster, villain and sex symbol

Discover Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1897 is one of the most iconic horror novels in literary history. Maybe even most iconic novels, period. But before the Count took up his castle in Transylvania, John Polidori had written The Vampire (1819), turning the vampire into a seductive aristocrat, while Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla (1872) explored (lesbian) lust, intimacy and the female vampire. For this event at Copenhagen's Main Library, we delve into the stories that helped shape Dracula.

And Dracula has certainly not been forgotten. On the contrary, he is the literary figure who has been filmed the most times — more than 500 film adaptations! From Claes Bang's charming Count Dracula in the Netflix series Dracula to Robert Eggers' recent Nosferatu, the vampire myth lives on on screen.

But why do we keep returning to Dracula? What is it about the vampire that continues to fascinate us — and what does our fascination with darkness, lust, death and seduction tell us about ourselves? Join us as we rediscover Dracula and the tales that have made him immortal.

About Bram Stoker Bram Stoker (1847—1912) was an Irish writer who wrote a number of works of fiction, of which only the horror novel Dracula (1897) became a worldwide hit.

After his education at Trinity College, Dublin, he married and moved to London, where he had a long career as director of the Lyceum Theatre in London's West End. Among his friends in London were Oscar Wilde, whom Stoker had met during his time studying in Dublin, as well as the writer Arthur Conan Doyle, whom we know as the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Stoker's main work Dracula is a keystone of the Gothic genre and has become one of the most cinematic literary works of all time. Meet Jakob Levinsen Jakob Levinsen has worked as an editor, critic and reviewer for a number of the country's largest publications throughout his career. He has written numerous books on, among others, everything from the music of Richard Wagner to J. R. R. Tolkien's Heroes and Hobbits. As a diligent translator, Levinsen has also recently translated Bram Stoker's Dracula, which was published by Lindhart and Ringhof earlier this year.

Anders Jørgen Mogensen Anders Jørgen Mogensen is a writer, translator and editor at Forlaget Eshoo, who deals with Danish and foreign niche literature. Among their publications are John Polidori's The Vampire and Sheridan le Fanu's Carmilla (both in the Foreign Bird series, which focuses on translations of gothic and horror fiction), both of which have been inspirations for Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Christian Monggaard Christian Monggaard is the film and television editor at Dagbladet Information. He is also a writer, speaker and podcast host and writes and talks about everything from Steven Spielberg and David Cronenberg to Matador and The House at Christianshavn. He has additionally followed and written about the modern life Dracula tales still have in film and television.

About Rediscovered In the Rediscovered series, the Main Library focuses on classics. We have selected a number of authors and works that for various reasons have been overlooked at home or forgotten for a number of years, but which we think deserve a lot of new readers and attention.

Practical info The event takes place at LIVE at Copenhagen Main Library, 4th floor, Store Scene.

The event begins at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 6:30 p.m.

The event is free and without seat tickets. Please note that the view of the stage is restricted from certain seats. Therefore, we recommend that you arrive in good time. We open for the hall seating at 4:30 p.m.