The Hauntingly Excellent Range
Count Dracula
Since it was published in 1897, Bram Stoker's Dracula has never gone out of print with the book also translated into multiple languages. This ironically - considering the subject matter - puts it on a par with the bible in terms of popularity. There have also been over 200 movies to date featuring the Count in a major role.
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What many people don't know however, is Dracula's connection to Derby!
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On May 15th, 1924 the world premiere of the stage play adaptation of Dracula - essentially the forefather of every Dracula film ever made - took place at the Grand Theatre on Babington Lane, Derby.
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Sensibilities were of course very different back then, and the premiere saw nurses patrolling the aisle of the theatre in case people fainted due to the 'shocking' performance they were seeing!
Related places to visit in Derby
LOCATION: 9 Babington Lane, Derby DE1 1TA
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CONNECTION: The former Grand Theatre building on Babington Lane, Derby was built in 1886 and was the brainchild of Andrew Melville. It is actually the second building on that site built in 1886, as the very first Grand Theatre built there was destroyed by fire after only six weeks with two people perishing in the fire. Determined not to let his dream die Andrew Melville ordered an immediate rebuild.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
LOCATION: 80 Green Lane, Derby DE1 1RT
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CONNECTION: Now derelict and in a state of disrepair, the former Derby Hippodrome was opened as a rival theatre to the Grand Theatre in 1914. It was here in 1951 during a Dracula stage play renaissance, that the famous Dracula actor Bela Lugosi finally decided enough was enough and that his time in the cape was over. Thus in many senses Derby hosted the birth and death of a famous Dracula.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
Derby History Walks
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Come and join us for a 90-minute walk full of revelations, curses, deaths, superstitions, evil doers and much more!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
Learn all about Derby's most notorious murders and murderers on Derby's murder walk - not for the faint-hearted!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
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True, but weird, Derby history including frogs falling from the skies, ghouls roaming the town, historic hot dogs, mummified cats & more.
VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
A walk full of tortured spirits who met a grisly end including both the murderers and their victims
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
