Dracula, Frankenstein and the Ripper gothic comes to the British Library

Terror and Wonder: the Gothic Imagination is UKs largest exhibition devoted to the literature of fear, blood and darkness

Christopher Lee played him with a certain glamour, Bela Lugosi with a horrible magnetism. But the actors famous portrayals of Dracula are a long way from the very first illustration of Bram Stokers creation, a bat-like, ancient, barefooted creature crawling down a wall that is far closer to the authors 1897 description of the notorious count.

Part of the British Librarys new exhibition Terror and Wonder: the Gothic Imagination, which opens on 3 October and will be the UKs largest showing of gothic literature, the image is from a 1901 edition of the novel the first to include an illustration of the character. It shows Jonathan Harker looking down in horror at the count as the vampire crawls down the castle walls.

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