Who wrote the 1897 novel Dracula?

Bram Stoker. Stoker was an Irish writer and theatre manager. A holiday in Whitby, Yorkshire, helped inspire parts of the story.

How old was Mary Shelley when she started writing Frankenstein?

18. She began it in 1816, during a ghost-story contest with Lord Byron at a villa near Lake Geneva.

In Mary Shelley’s novel, who is actually called Frankenstein?

The scientist who builds him. Victor Frankenstein is the scientist. His creature is never given a name.

Which metal is traditionally said to defeat a werewolf?

Silver. The silver bullet became the classic cure thanks to later stories and films. Older folklore had all sorts of remedies.

Which real 15th-century ruler is often linked to Dracula?

Vlad the Impaler. Vlad III ruled Wallachia, now part of Romania. His father’s title, Dracul, meant “dragon”.

Bran Castle, often called “Dracula’s Castle”, is in which country?

Romania. Bram Stoker never went there, and there’s little evidence Vlad spent much time there either.

Which Scottish loch is home to a famous legendary monster?

Loch Ness. The famous 1934 “surgeon’s photograph” of Nessie was revealed in 1994 to be a hoax made with a toy submarine.

What were ancient Egyptian mummies wrapped in?

Linen. A single mummy could be wrapped in hundreds of metres of linen strips.

In Irish folklore, what does a banshee do?

Wails to warn of a death. The name comes from the Irish “bean sí”, meaning woman of the fairy mound.

What is a doppelgänger?

A living person’s double. The German word means “double-goer”. Seeing your own was often thought to be a bad omen.

The Headless Horseman rides through which story by Washington Irving?

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It was published in 1820, and Sleepy Hollow is a real village in New York State.

Who wrote the spooky 1845 poem “The Raven”?

Edgar Allan Poe. The poem made Poe famous almost overnight, though he was paid very little for it.

Which figure from Greek myth had snakes for hair?

Medusa. Anyone who looked at her turned to stone, so the hero Perseus used a polished shield to avoid her gaze.

What is a Sasquatch better known as?

Bigfoot. “Sasquatch” comes from a word in the Halq’eméylem language of the Coast Salish peoples in Canada.

In which mountains is the Yeti said to live?

The Himalayas. Scientists have tested supposed Yeti hair, bones and teeth. Most turned out to come from bears.

Zombie folklore originally comes from which country?

Haiti. In Haitian folklore a zombi was a person said to be controlled by a sorcerer, not a flesh-eating monster.

In many vampire legends, what must happen before a vampire can enter your home?

You must invite it in. Garlic, running water and sunlight are other classic vampire weaknesses in folklore and fiction.

Which Scottish water spirit often takes the shape of a horse?

Kelpie. The Kelpies, two 30-metre horse-head sculptures near Falkirk, are named after them.

What is a group of crows called?

A murder. The name dates back to the 1400s, when crows were linked with death and bad omens.

In Japanese folklore, what animal is a kitsune?

A fox. Kitsune are magical shape-shifters said to grow extra tails as they get older and wiser, up to nine.