Why is Whitby linked with dracula?

Whitby is closely associated with Dracula because Bram Stoker who wrote the original novel spent time in the town while on holiday there during the summer of 1890. While he was there he was researching and writing a novel that would eventually become Dracula. The most important piece of information Stoker found while staying in Whitby was in a document he found in Whitby library, An Account of the Principalities of Wallacia and Moldavia by William Wilkinson. This document contained a reference to a 15th Century prince who had earned himself the nickname 'Dracula'. In a way, Whitby can be seen as Dracula's birth place.

Not only did Stoker spend time in Whitby himself, he also set a significant part of Dracula in the town and used it as the place Dracula first steps ashore in England in the form of a big black dog which jumps from a ship called The Demeter which had run aground in Whitby.

If you are interested in Dracula, I suggest you take a trip to Whitby and see it all for yourself!