Stalking the count: Dracula, Fandom and Tourism

Large numbers of tourists travel to Transylvania every year, looking for traces of Count Dracula. This article investigates why people feel the need to connect fictional stories, such as Dracula, with identifiable physical locations, and why they subsequently want to visit these locations. Based on field work, it is concluded that the experience of the Dracula tourist is characterised by a dynamic between two partially contradictory modes. First, Dracula tourists are driven by a desire to make a concrete comparison between the landscape they are visiting and their mental image. On the other hand, this rational approach to trace reality is contrasted with a more intuitive, emotional desire for a temporary symbiosis of both worlds.

Research highlights► The inner experience of Dracula tourism is characterized by two contradictory modes. ► Imagined worlds are contrasted with sensory impressions and historical narratives. ► Dracula tourists want to overcome this division between reality and imagination. ► Dracula re-enactments serve as the basis of a liminal experience.