Dracula allegedly arose from a nightmare... one potentially provoked by poor seafood, as was reputedly frequent in Victorian Gothic fiction. According to historian Harry Ludlam, Stoker was inspired to write the story after having a dream about "a vampire king emerging from the dead" after eating a "serving of dressed crab at supper." While the fare had nothing to do with what he dreamed that night, Stoker's secret working notes show him revisiting the terrifying vision. "Young man goes out—sees gals," he wrote in March 1890. One attempts to kiss him on the throat rather than the lips. The Old Count steps in, his hatred and fury wicked. 'I am the owner o