Dracula vs Van Helsing: Who’s the REAL Van Helsing?
In the classic 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula, we meet the famous monster hunter Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Best known through many adaptations of the book, Van Helsing is often considered the prototype of monster hunters in paranormal fiction. He has inspired characters like Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Winchester brothers in the Supernatural series.
The original book—written by Bram Stoker—has, of course, been adapted LOTS of times. There are HUNDREDS of movies that offer some version of Dracula. And of course, Van Helsing—and his descendants—have also appeared in LOTS of stories in movies and TV and comic books and more.
Back when the original Dracula novel was published in 1897, Stoker said that Van Helsing was based on a REAL person. But who?
Coming up: We look at the creation of vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing, we examine possible inspirations for the character, and we look at some of the more interesting times the character has shown up in other stories.
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Dracula vs Van Helsing: Who is Van Helsing based on?
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Will the REAL Van Helsing please stand up?
In this article:
Van Helsing’s debut in the original novel Dracula
Van Helsing might be based on…?
Noted appearances of Van Helsing in movies, on TV, and in comic books
Van Helsing family also killing vampires
Did DRACULA copy ANOTHER vampire from a DIFFERENT book?
In the history of monster fiction, few characters have captured the public’s attention more than vampire hunter Professor Abraham Van Helsing. The protagonist of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula, occult expert Van Helsing has been an important figure in horror fiction, representing wisdom and bravery in fighting against the supernatural.
But what’s the REAL story behind Professor Van Helsing? In this article, we’ll take a look at this character—and some of the real-life people who might have been the inspiration when Bram Stoker created him.
Van Helsing’s debut in the original novel Dracula
In the original novel DRACULA, Van Helsing is a respected doctor specializing in mental illness and rare disorders. He’s a doctor with a wide range of experience: In addition to killing vampires, he is also a scientist, a professor, a lawyer, a philosopher, and a metaphysic. Seen to be a wise, courageous, and committed man, Van Helsing becomes a key figure in the battle against the vampire Count Dracula.
As seen in so many adaptations of the Dracula story, Van Helsing is often remembered as a vampire slayer, a monster hunter, and the arch-nemesis of Count Dracula. And not only is he seen again and again in adaptations of the original novel, Van Helsing—and/or his descendants—have also appeared in other monster stories over the years.
Van Helsing might be based on…?
In an 1897 interview, Bram Stoker claimed that the character of Van Helsing was “founded on a real character.” So, where did Van Helsing come from?
Although Stoker claimed that Van Helsing was based on someone famous, he didn’t actually say who he was talking about. But when we look at the historical clues, we can see that the character of vampire killer Abraham Van Helsing may have been pulled from ELEMENTS of a few DIFFERENT historical and literary figures…
Ármin Vámbéry: Bram Stoker’s great grand-nephew, Dacre Stoker, made a suggestion in his 2018 novel Dracul, which was the official prequel to the original novel. In the book itself, it is suggested that Van Helsing was actually Ármin Vámbéry. Now that was a real person. Ármin Vámbéry was a 19th century Hungarian orientalist and traveler, known for his explorations of Central Asia and Turkey. Whether Bram Stoker was REALLY inspired by him, Vambery’s renown for surveying distant and hidden territories may have been an influence.
Georg Andreas Helwing: One more possibility is that Bram Stoker may have been inspired by an 18th century Lutheran pastor from what is now known as Poland. This minister was a polymath who was interested in both the arcane and science. He would also argue against folklore, writing against monsters like vampires and werewolves.
Abraham van Riebeeck: Another suggestion is that Bram Stoker may have been inspired by the name of the Dutch governor of Cape Town in the early 1700s. It’s been said that Stoker’s interest in that man’s name could point to a connection with other historical figures from the Netherlands.
Paracelsus: Another possible influence was a man who went by the name “Paracelsus”—but his actual name was Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim. Now this guy, who lived from 1493-1541, was a Swiss doctor, alchemist, a lay theologian, and a philosopher of the German Renaissance. Called the “father of toxicology,” Parcelsus is remembered for his revolutionary ideas in medicine and alchemy. But what may have gotten the attention of Bram Stoker is that Parcelsus is also said to have been interested in the occult and the supernatural. He was said to be searching for the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life.
Characters from the novel Carmilla: One literary possibility is that Van Helsing might have been influenced by one or two characters from the 1871 novel CARMILLA by Sheridan Le Fanu. This was an earlier vampir novel—and it had a couple of characters who might have been what Stoker was thinking about. The character of Dr Martin Hesselius is an occult detective—possibly the first one of those in literature. The character of Baron Vordenburg is an authority on vampires.
RELATED: [Flashback] Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
And maybe someone—or something—else? Of course, it is possible that Bram Stoker pulled elements from one or more of these people. But it’s also possible that he pulled details found in vampire folk tales from various cultures.
Noted appearances of Van Helsing in movies, on TV, and in comic books
Although Dracula was published more than a century ago, the character of Abraham Van Helsing has endured over time and has been reimagined a BUNCH in movies, on TV, in theater productions, and in books. The idea of the vampire hunter—as represented by Van Helsing—has been inspired even more characters. This includes the like of Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Winchester brothers in the Supernatural series. The idea of Van Helsing—as a fearless defender against the darkness—has left a huge impression on pop culture.
In the movies, we have several examples, including…
Edward Van Sloan played Van Helsing in the 1931 movie Dracula. One of the earliest of the Universal Monsters films, this is the movie that starred Béla Lugosi as Count Dracula. In fact, these two actors has previously played these two characters together on stage. And Van Sloan also returned as Van Helsing for that movie’s sequel, the 1936 movie Dracula’s Daughter.
Peter Cushing played Van Helsing a few times in the horror movies from British movie studio Hammer Film Productions. He started with the 1958 movie Dracula—also known as Horror of Dracula—opposite Christopher Lee as the Count. Cushing played Van Helsing a few more times—including variations of the character—in several related movies over the 1960s and 1970s. This includes the what-the-hell-was-that 1974 movie The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, which was like a vampire kung fu movie made as a British-Hong Kong co-production between Hammer and Shaw Brothers Studio.
Laurence Olivier played an elderly version of Van Helsing in the 1979 version of Dracula, this time with the Count played by Frank Langella.
Anthony Hopkins played Van Helsing in the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992. That film’s cast included a lot of well-known actors, including stars Gary Oldman as Dracula.
Director Mel Brooks—following up on his hilarious horror movie Young Frankenstein—created the 1995 parody Dracula: Dead and Loving It. This time the Count was played by Leslie Nielsen, and the part of Van Helsing was played by the director himself, Mel Brooks.
By the way, I did a whole video about Dracula: Dead and Loving It and how it has grown in popularity in the years since its release. One thing I found during my research is this quote from SF Debris: “This film does have a lot that I like about it. One thing I find so funny is that this film has the most accurate portrayal of Van Helsing in any media.” (SOURCE)
Another actor who has played Van Helsing is Christopher Plummer. He played the character in the movie Dracula 2000—which actually hit theaters IN the year 2000. One of the most interesting details of this version of Van Helsing is that he is still alive all these years later. Since Dracula is essentially immortal, Van Helsing wants to keep going until he can stop the vampire—so he has actually been injecting himself with Dracula’s blood all these years.
Hugh Jackman played an action hero version of the character in the 2004 movie Van Helsing. This version of the character is like a Victorian James Bond, where he works for. Secret organization and uses all these gadgets. That movie, by the way, was written and directed by Stephen Sommers, who started that Mummy movie series with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. With the Van Helsing movie, he grabbed onto the chance to do one of those Monster Rally type movies with several classic monsters, so this one had Dracula and the Frankenstein’s Monster and werewolves and more.
RELATED: Monster Mash: 13 Movies Where Frankenstein Meets Dracula Meets The Wolf Man
On television, David Warner played Van Helsing on the 2014 TV show Penny Dreadful. The character was pulled onto the show to be a consultant for Victor Frankenstein.
In animation, Van Helsing appeared in a couple of the Hotel Transylvania movies. He was voiced by Jim Gaffigan for 2018’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and 2022’s Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. This version of Van Helsing is still alive all these years later because of these weird cyborg additions. (You have to see it for yourself.)
The Van Helsing character has also made some comic book appearances…
A couple of examples from Marvel Comics include the comic book mini-series X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula as well as the legendary 1970s comic book series Tomb of Dracula. Another character in Tomb of Dracula was Van Helsing’s great-granddaughter.
Other comic books in recent years include the graphic novel Bram Stoker’s Dracula Starring Bela Lugosi (which adapts the novel with the likeness of the actor from the classic 1931 Dracula movie) and the retelling Universal Monsters: Dracula (a project between Univeral and Skybound, co-founded by Walking Dead writer Robert Kirkman).
Van Helsing family also killing vampires
Speaking of Van Helsing’s family, there are actually several examples of stories where the vampire killer who showed up was actually one of his children or other descendants. This includes some of the Hammer movies, like Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, Dracula A.D. 1972, and The Satanic Rites of Dracula. This also includes the 1979 comedy movie Love at First Bite, the 1989 movie Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, the movie Dracula 2000, and the 2013 movie Dracula: The Dark Prince.
The Syfy channel TV show Van Helsing features Vanessa Van Helsing, said to be great-great-great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing.
In the 2019 TV show What We Do in the Shadows, the human servant named Guillermo—who serves as the Renfield for a group of vampire roommates—found out through a DNA test that he is a descendant of Van Helsing. Given his relationship with the vampires, he was not happy to find this out. (And, yes, it did make things complicated.)
And in the 2012 animated TV movie Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire, the guest character Vincent van Helsing is the great-great-grandson of Abraham Van Helsing. It’s also worth noting that this Scooby-Doo movie was the first time they put out a movie that was a musical.
My final example of a Van Helsing story is kind of a twist. It’s the 2017 Sherlock Holmes novel A Betrayal in Blood by Mark A. Lathan. In this story, Holmes is investigating Van Helsing following the death of Dracula. And it is said where this story goes is NOT where you expected. (By the way, I just found out about this book while making this video—and I am totally putting this on my reading list.)
Did DRACULA copy ANOTHER vampire from a DIFFERENT book?
Earlier, we were talking about how the original novel DRACULA has been adapted HUNDREDS of times into movies and TV productions and comic books and more. But there’s something about those adaptations that a lot of fans have NOT noticed.
Is it possible that the version of Dracula you have in your head is actually based on a completely different book by a completely different author? But to dig deep into that story, you gotta watch THIS episode …
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Monster Complex™ weekly newsletter: CLICK HERE!
My author column on Substack: https://chriswell.substack.com/
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Related to stuff I talked about in the video:
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