PLANS are already well advanced to commemorate the centenary of the publication of Dracula next year.
According to Mr Dennis McIntyre, director of the Bram Stoker Project in Clontarf, 1997 is significant for Dracula fans for two other reasons: "It is the 150th anniversary of Stoker's birth and the 75th anniversary of the release of the first film about Dracula a German version called Nosferatu."
There will be celebrations in Clontarf during the first week of July. An Post is producing a series of stamps, and Bram Stoker Heritage tours of Dublin will be available from Easter.
"Our long term aim is to open a Bram Stoker visitor centre in Clontarf," said Mr McIntyre.
He has just finished running this year's Bram Stoker Summer School in Clontarf, which attracts speakers and visitors from as far afield as the US and Canada.
Mr McIntyre said the Bram Stoker Project is also planning to publish a book about the multifarious history of Dracula: "It has inspired over 700 films alone since it was first published.
The centenary will be marked throughout the world. Dracula galas and historical and literary congresses will be held in Whitby, where Dracula landed in England, New York, Los Angeles and, naturally, Transylvania.
Among the organisations involved in the celebrations are a network of vampire clubs, the Count Dracula Fan Club in New York and the Transylvanian Society of Dracula.
Vincent Hillyer, an American author, has offered £5,000 to anyone who can bring him a vampire.
Ms Jeanne Youngson, director of the Dracula Club in New York, said a major part of the celebrations would be an international ball in Los Angeles. One of the invited guests is Christopher Lee, well known for his role as the Long Toothed One.
International merchandising to usher in the centennial celebrations includes Drak Paks, Undead postcards and blood coloured Iiqueurs, as well as a range of silver jewellery.
Stoker aficionados consider that the writer, whose book has never been out of print, is not given the recognition his achievements merit.