A church has put up a sign pleading with tourists to stop asking staff members about the whereabouts of Dracula’s grave.
The fictional character, who was part of the famous Bram Stoker novel, which was published in 1897, has inspired many tourists to visit Whitby, and the Church of St Mary the Virgin in North Yorkshire.
The ExaminerLive reports that Stoker was inspired to write the novel after visiting the town himself in 1890 and was taken by the windswept headland and the dramatic abbey ruins.
But the popularity of the story and the Dracula character, plus various film and television adaptions has led to an increase in tourists trying to find his grave despite the fact he was a fictional character.
Many tourists visit the church because the cemetery in the grounds of the church was mentioned in the Gothic novel, but there is no grave.
The poster sticking on the door of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, next to Whitby Abbey corrects tourists' incorrect assumptions.
It reads: "Please do not ask staff where Dracula's grave is as there isn't one. Thank you."
It is thought Stoker came across the name "Dracula" in Whitby's public library and picked it because he thought it meant "devil" in Romanian.
During Stoker's stay in the town at the end of July 1890, the author was taken by the windswept headland and the dramatic abbey ruins, which he used as inspiration for his book.
It is thought he came across the name "Dracula" in Whitby's public library and picked it because he thought it meant "devil" in Romanian.
But it has also been claimed Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland was an inspiration for the novel because Stoker stayed nearby in Cruden while he wrote the book.
