（五）斬不斷理還亂的四百年情緣
德古拉的全貌是什麽樣的呢？小說《德古拉》第十八章，範·赫爾辛教授把所有人的日記整合在一起綜合分析，給出了清晰的描畫：
“存在於我們中間的這個吸血鬼和二十個男人一樣強壯，比常人狡猾，因為他的狡詐是隨著歲月而增長的。他得到死靈法術的相助，正如這個詞匯暗示的，通過死靈來預知未來。所有他能接近的死者都聽命於他。他殘忍無比；他的外表是冷酷無情的惡魔，但他的心仍有熱度。他可以在自己的範圍內指揮風暴、大霧、雷聲等元素；他可以命令所有卑鄙的事物，如老鼠、貓頭鷹、蝙蝠、蛾子、狐狸和狼，他可以變大和變小。他有時會難以察覺地消失或到來。”
（This vampire which is amongst us is of himself so strong in person as twenty men, he is of cunning more than mortal, for his cunning be the growth of ages, he have still the aids of necromancy, which is, as his etymology imply, the divination by the dead, and all the dead that he can come nigh to are for him at command; he is brute, and more than brute; he is devil in callous, and the heart of him is not; he can, within his range, direct the elements, the storm, the fog, the thunder; he can command all the meaner things, the rat, and the owl, and the bat, the moth, and the fox, and the wolf, he can grow and become small; and he can at times vanish and come unknown.）
“吸血鬼一直活著，不會僅僅隨著時間的流逝而死亡，當他可以飽餐活人的鮮血時，他會煥發生機。更嚴重的是，我們當中有人發現，他甚至變得更年輕，他的身體機能更加強壯，似乎滿血複活。” “但是如果不吸活人的血，他就無法做到精力充沛，他不吃別的東西……他沒有投下陰影，在鏡子中也沒有反射。他的手勁很大…… 他可以變成狼……他可以像蝙蝠一樣……他可以躲在自己製造的大霧中前來…… 但是，據我們所知，他製造的霧覆蓋距離是有限的，僅能把自己裹住……他在月光下化作塵埃而來……他變得如此小……從墳墓門口的極小的縫隙滑過。一旦找到出路，他會從某樣東西裏鑽出來或鑽進另一樣東西，哪怕那東西被緊緊束縛或者與火熔合 - 你可以用‘焊接’一次來形容。他可以在黑暗中視物，在這個有一半時間看不到光明的世界，這是不可小看的能力……”
（“The vampire live on, and cannot die by mere passing of the time, he can flourish when that he can fatten on the blood of the living. Even more, we have seen amongst us that he can even grow younger, that his vital faculties grow strenuous, and seem as though they refresh themselves when his special pabulum is plenty. ”
……
("But he cannot flourish without this diet, he eat not as others……He throws no shadow, he make in the mirror no reflect……He has the strength of many of his hand……He can transform himself to wolf……he can be as bat……He can come in mist which he create……but, from what we know, the distance he can make this mist is limited, and it can only be round himself…… He come on moonlight rays as elemental dust……He become so small……slip through a hairbreadth space at the tomb door. He can, when once he find his way, come out from anything or into anything, no matter how close it be bound or even fused up with fire, solder you call it. He can see in the dark, no small power this, in a world which is one half shut from the light……”)
“他可以做所有這些事情，但他不是自由的。是的，他比戰船裏的奴隸和他的地窖裏的瘋子還不自由。他不能隨心所欲地去任何地方，他不屬於自然界，但必須遵守自然界的一些法則，什麽原因我們並不知道。一開始他不可以隨便進入一個地方，除非那裏的某位家庭成員邀請他去，盡管之後他可以隨心所欲地去。和所有邪惡的事物一樣，一旦白日到來，他的能力就停止了。”（He can do all these things, yet he is not free. Nay, he is even more prisoner than the slave of the galley, than the madman in his cell. He cannot go where he lists, he who is not of nature has yet to obey some of nature's laws, why we know not. He may not enter anywhere at the first, unless there be some one of the household who bid him to come, though afterwards he can come as he please. His power ceases, as does that of all evil things, at the coming of the day. ）
“他隻在某些時候才能享受有限的自由。如果他不在自己的領域內，他隻能在中午、或精準的日出或日落時刻變化自己……因此，當他擁有自己的土房，棺材房，地獄房，某個汙濁之地時，他可以在自己的極限範圍內盡力而為……但在其他時候，他隻能在時機成熟時變化自己。據說，他僅可以在水流平緩或漲潮的時候才能穿過波流。某些物件對他造成困擾，使他失去能力，如我們所知道的大蒜，還有神聖的物件，如這個符號，我的十字架，迄今仍是我們這些人的寄托。在這些東西麵前他什麽都不是，隻能躲得遠遠的，並保持沉默……”
"Only at certain times can he have limited freedom. If he be not at the place whither he is bound, he can only change himself at noon or at exact sunrise or sunset……Thus, whereas he can do as he will within his limit, when he have his earth-home, his coffin-home, his hell-home, the place unhallowed……still at other time he can only change when the time come. It is said, too, that he can only pass running water at the slack or the flood of the tide. Then there are things which so afflict him that he has no power, as the garlic that we know of, and as for things sacred, as this symbol, my crucifix, that was amongst us even now when we resolve, to them he is nothing, but in their presence he take his place far off and silent with respect……”
如何徹底毀滅德古拉呢？範·赫爾辛教授認為隻能依靠傳統和迷信。他建議：“在他的棺材上放野玫瑰花枝，可將他困在裏麵，向棺材裏射出一枚神聖的子彈，可以把他真正殺死。至於穿過他身子的木樁，我們已經知道它能帶來安寧，或者砍下他的頭一了百了……”
("The branch of wild rose on his coffin keep him that he move not from it, a sacred bullet fired into the coffin kill him so that he be true dead, and as for the stake through him, we know already of its peace, or the cut off head that giveth rest……”)
為了保持永生，德古拉必須堅持三樣生活方式：避免陽光、吸血、在裝著故鄉特蘭西瓦尼亞的泥土的箱子裏睡覺。不過傳統文化裏大夥兒普遍認為：德古拉一旦接觸到太陽光並被一根木樁穿透心髒，必死無疑。
小說結尾，德古拉的死法與傳說不盡相同：喬納森·哈克用庫克力彎刀刺進了德古拉的喉嚨，吸血鬼獵人昆西（Quincey）用布伊刀（Bowie knife，一種特殊風格的美國匕首，刀尖上翹並且帶護手的直刀）刺中他的心髒，吸血鬼化作了塵土。
德古拉伯爵的原型取自1456年至1462年間統治羅馬尼亞地區的弗拉德三世（弗拉德·采佩什·德古拉），其人驍勇善戰，多次擊敗土耳其人，但喜愛酷刑“穿刺”，將大量俘虜用木樁穿刺而死。斯托克在大量民間傳說的基礎上重新塑造了德古拉，吸血鬼形象豐滿生動，小說情節詭異，但書中幾位主人公的性格刻畫卻略顯單薄，他們全是集各種高尚品質為一身的理想化人物，沒有複雜的中間派。
1992年，好萊塢殿堂級別的導演弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉（《教父》三部曲的導演）將斯托克的吸血鬼小說搬上大屏幕，該片眾星雲集，包括“狗爹”加裏·奧德曼、意大利電影女神莫妮卡.貝魯奇、安東尼·霍普金斯，以及正值顏值巔峰期的基努·裏維斯。電影版改動了許多，淡化了原著中正義戰勝邪惡的主題，突出了愛情元素。原小說中的女主之一米娜變成了德古拉400年前的妻子的轉世，他們相會於倫敦，彼此認出了對方，情難自禁。劇終，他倆明白了愛不是占有而是成全的道理，米娜忍痛用刺刀砍下作惡多端的德古拉的頭顱，期望在下一次的生命輪回裏，兩人還能義無反顧地墜入愛河。
