Only one day a year, it is not strange if people walk down a street wearing a monster costume. It’s October 31, Halloween. Halloween, which derived from Celtic culture, is a familiar event in Western civilization, yet it isn’t a common event in Korea. However, Halloween has been popularized steadily in Korea as it is used for marketing or in SNS at the end of October every year. For young people, Halloween is no longer unfamiliar or strange. It has permeated in Korean society. CBT asked a CBNU student, Jeong Da-hyeon (’17, Mathematics), “What do you imagine when you think of Halloween?” She answered, “I imagine horror characters like witches, zombies, vampires, and people dressing up like them. I think they’re the symbols of Halloween.” People usually think of horror characters first when they imagine Halloween. Among the horror characters, there are many classic characters which are still popular even though they appeared a long time ago. Dracula and Frankenstein are the representative classic horror characters which appeared first in the 1800s and became symbols of Halloween. This article will investigate Dracula and Frankenstein and will analyze why these characters have persisted. –Ed.

Dracula

· Who is Dracula?
  Dracula is the most famous vampire character in the world, and he standardized the image of today’s vampires. Dracula is a character created in a horror novel written by the British novelist Bram Stoker in 1897. He usually stays at his castle and calls himself Count Dracula. Dracula is known for his various powers. He can control nocturnal animals like wolves or bats and can also transform into a wolf, a bat or fog. He is as strong as twenty men and can communicate with the dead. When he drinks someone’s blood, he can change that person into a vampire. However, the vampires transformed by Dracula are weaker than Dracula.
  Vlad Tepes, who was the Lord of Wallachian Palace in the 15th century, was the model for Dracula. Ţepeş means ‘skewer’ in Romanian, and it was derived from Vlad’s cruel methods of execution. It is known that he executed prisoners of war or felons by using a long skewer. Also, Vlad had another name, Dracul, which is known as the origin of Dracula.

· How has Dracula been used?
  Dracula has been used in various ways even though he was created more than one hundred years ago. The first work which used Dracula as its main character was the movie Nosferatu that was released in 1922 and directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. After Nosferatu, other movies including Dracula, directed by Tod Browning, and The Horror of Dracula, directed by Terence Fisher, were released.
  The character Dracula has also been used repeatedly in games and amusement parks. In games, Dracula has mostly been used for making game characters or Halloween costumes for game characters. For example, the game Asgard made by Nexon sold a Halloween Count Dracula costume, and there is a Dracula character in the game Ghost made by Netmarble. Also, an amusement park, Lotte World, has been performing the play Dracula’s Loving for several years in the Halloween season, and Everland sold Dracula-themed products such as Count Dracula’s Sweet Potato Latte and a Dracula cape.


Frankenstein

· Who is Frankenstein?
  Frankenstein, who has green skin and a large scar across the forehead, is the result of a scientific experiment. Frankenstein is a fictional character like Dracula. In 1818, the character Frankenstein was created for the novel, Frankenstein - The Modern Prometheus, written by British novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly. In the novel, a scientist who discovered methods of bestowing life made an 8ft (244cm) creature with the body parts of different dead men and then infused life into it, also known as Frankenstein. Frankenstein has short black hair, yellow eyes and white skin, like a corpse would have. Also, Frankenstein is described as stronger and smarter than humans. One of the interesting facts about Frankenstein is his name. Most people think that Frankenstein is the monster’s name. However, in the novel, he has no name and is just called ‘creature’. Frankenstein is the name of the scientist who made the monster. There is no definite reason why the monster has been called Frankenstein.

· How has Frankenstein been used?
  Almost 100 years after the novel Frankenstein was written, the first movie about Frankenstein was released in 1910. That movie was made by Edison Studio, which was established by Thomas Alva Edison. The image of Frankenstein that people usually picture originated from the movie Frankenstein, released in 1931. In this movie, Frankenstein had a flat head and bolts in his neck. Frankenstein appeared in the movie Van Helsing, which was released in 2004, and a musical based on Frankenstein was produced in Korea, but it recently concluded its performances. Also, in the Korean animation Spookiz, there is a character, Franky, that was inspired by Frankenstein.

  Dracula and Frankenstein were created in novels written in the 19th century. Almost 120 to 200 years have passed since their birth. Nevertheless, they have been steadily exposed to people and haven’t been forgotten. Why have these characters been so popular for such a long time?
  Han Kwang-taek, a professor of the Department of English Education at CBNU, explained why these characters have steadily remained popular. He said, “When the novels Dracula and Frankenstein were published, the UK was changing rapidly. These novels reflected the fear and insecurity of the British. It was a time when imperialism and colonialism of the UK were reaching around the world. As a result, diverse racial, cultural and social identities were spreading around British society, and the British experienced discrimination and differences that they had never experienced before, either directly or indirectly. The British recognized outlanders as monsters or infectious diseases because they thought outlanders could pollute the traditional values of the UK. Dracula was a stranger who infiltrated the UK, and Frankenstein was a strange and new creature who had not previously existed. They might reflect the social unrest and fear of the British. The reason they are still reproduced even though these characters showed up more than 200 years ago is because after the 19th century, the world went through various and unique identity changes, and unprecedented change and sensitivity to shock have become a universal experience. Because of that, Dracula and Frankenstein can still stimulate people’s anxieties and fears as representative symbols of strangers from strange new worlds.”
  Dracula and Frankenstein have been used in various mediums. At first, they were just characters who appeared in novels. However, they have become the main themes of many movies and musicals. Also, they have appeared as costumes for game characters. The reason that they have been loved for such a long time is that they stimulate people’s fears and curiosities, so they will persist as symbols of Halloween. CBT hopes to continue to experience them steadily in various mediums.

By Kim Chae-yeon | cy39@cbnu.ac.kr
By Kim Chae-hyeon | ch38@cbnu.ac.kr