Professor Abraham Van Helsing is the main protagonist from the Gothic horror novel Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is an aged Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "MD, D.Ph., D.Litt., etc., etc.," indicating a wealth of experience, education and expertise. The character is best known throughout his many adaptations as a vampire hunter and the archenemy of Count Dracula.
On a vampire-hunt in London, Abraham Van[1] Helsing acquired some unlikely allies when a man named Jerome (J.) approached Van Helsing after mistaking him for someone else. As J apologised, he was joined by his friends George and Harris. Van Helsing, seeing an opportunity, convinced all three to accompany him on his quest against a vrkoslak. While J and George were dubious, Harris seemed more thoughtful. J nonetheless volunteered to bring his dog Montmorency, and van Helsing agreed, welcoming all the help he could get. After the picked up the dog, Van Helsing informed the group they were headed for Abney Park Cemetery.[2]
As they walked to the cemetery, Harris confirmed that a vrkoslak was indeed a vampire. Van Helsing warned all three men that while they were on this hunt, they accept what their senses were showing them and act on them.[3] Not long after they entered the cemetery, Montmorency slipped his leash with a snarl and ran off into the darkness. The group heard a screech, and the dog returned to the group. However, under Van Helsing's Döbereiner's lamp, the group found a dead man, naked, his throat torn out. Van Helsing explained that the man, whom he identified by the name Stivvings, had been in rat form, a step on the path to vampirism, when Montmorency dispatched him. Van Helsing urged them on, congratulating J. for Montmorency's actions. J. was more disturbed.[4]
After further searching the cemetery, the group finally came upon Van Helsing's quarry, a particularly terrifying vampire. When it lunged at Van Helsing, he shot it with a water pistol full of holy water, causing it intense pain. At Van Helsing's urging the group tackled the vampire; the three men held it while Van Helsing stabbed it with a stiletto until he finally pierced its heart and it vanished in a puff of ashes and dust. When George commented that it was not the worst way to spend the "small hours", Van Helsing applauded his English equanimity.[5]
↑In the story's first printing in Some Time Later, van Helsing was spelled with a lowercase v. When the story was reprinted in Other People's Playgrounds, Van Helsing was changed to a capital V, consistent with Stoker's canon and most other pastiches.
↑Some Time Later: Fantastic Voyages Through Alternate Worlds, pgs. 13-17, TPB/Other People's Playgrounds, pgs 31-35.
