Mike told us he is a geologist-turned-writer and local of Cruden Bay. For the non-local people; this is a small town between Stonehaven (in the north) and Aberdeen (in the south) on the east coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Like most Cruden Bay residents, Mike is proud of the fact that Dracula was written here and wanted to know more about the man who wrote it; Bram Stoker. 

It was interesting to hear from Mike how Stoker was influenced not only by a paper written by a Scottish lady, named Emily Gerard, titled Transylvanian Superstitions, but also a local shipwreck, his own travels, and his love for Cruden Bay. Apparently, although a London socialite, Stoker visited the remote fishing village every summer a month long for years. Mike showed us a photo of Slains Castle in its glory days (not far from Cruden Bay) and told us that many a part of it is described in Dracula. Unfortunately, it is now a ruin. Mike also told us that, even though Dracula doesn’t play in Scotland, there is a Doric (local dialect) sentence hidden in it!