Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula was first published in 1897. Ever since, the book’s vampire hunter, Van Helsing, has been often overshadowed by the Count in terms of recognition. For more recent generations, Van Helsing is rivalled by Buffy Summers as the preeminent vampire slayer. Yet Stoker’s Dutch professor has proved resilient. Van Helsing’s ongoing screen career suggests there is more at play than the mere recycling of a well-worn character.
This book examines the numerous screen versions of Van Helsing, showing the range of the character and its portrayals, and shedding further light on a neglected cultural figure. It also explores how the archetypal ‘warrior savant’ came to be adopted and adapted by film and television over the decades, progressing from supporting player to leading role. Van Helsing has been played by a variety of distinguished actors, including Edward Van Sloan, Peter Cushing, Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins, David Suchet, Hugh Jackman, and Dolly Wells, in varying forms and styles.
The book also looks beyond the name and explores screen depictions that feature the essential characteristics in veiled form, or reconfigured for productions that bear little relation to the original Dracula. Ersatz Van Helsing types appear in films from the early 1930s onward and if some are no more than carbon copies, others exhibit fascinating variations of the classic savant figure.
Join us as we go vampire hunting …
306pp. 6×9 paperback
ISBN: 978-1-84583-273-5
Published 18 September 2026
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel O’Brien is a part-time lecturer and tutor in film studies. Since 1989, he has worked as a freelance writer, largely in the field of cinema, producing articles and reviews for journals such as Film International and Shivers. His books include Clint Eastwood: Film-Maker (1996), The Frank Sinatra Film Guide (1998), SF: UK – How British Science Fiction Changed the World (2000), The Hannibal Files (2001, 2008), Spooky Encounters (2003), Daniel Craig: Ultimate Professional (2007, 2008), Classical Masculinity and the Spectacular Body on Film (2014), Black Masculinity on Film (2017), and Muslim Heroes on Screen (2021).
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