Two New Dracula Apps for Whitby

It is 125 years since Bram Stoker visited Whitby in 1890; and his visit to the town inspired him to write his Gothic classic novel 'Dracula'.

And to mark this milestone anniversary, two free apps will be released in coming weeks that inform holidaymakers about the maritime folklore and places that inspired Bram Stoker in Whitby.

The apps, released by the Bram Stoker International Film Festival and the North York Moors National Park allow visitors to retrace the author’s footsteps around 1890s Whitby.

The first app -  the Barghest Trail - is ideal for those folks who'll enjoy a good walk along a beautiful part of the National Park coastline; and it brings to life the Viking legend of the Barghest phantom (a phantom Black Dog) that Stoker wrote about in Dracula.

The starting point for the Barghest Trail is Kettleness and visitors can follow a six-mile route that Stoker walked back to Whitby.

Today, the route follows the modern-day Cleveland Way National Trail.

The app tells haunting stories attached to 13 landmarks en-route and ends on Tate Hill Beach in Whitby - a location that inspired Stoker to create the shipwrecked Russian schooner 'The Demeter' from which Dracula jumped ashore in the guise of the phantom black dog.

The second app then follows the Dracula plot in Whitby by retracing the route taken by Mina Harker (one of the novels principal heroines) from a guesthouse on the West Cliff near Spyglass 1708 towards Whitby Abbey.

The apps are available to download to android phones and smartphones from www.bramstokerfilmfestival.com and from Apple’s iTunes app store.