Plans for Yorkshire's most spooky world record attempt underway - how you can take part

Picture the scene: a dark and atmospheric night in historic Whitby. Clouds gather over the Abbey and hundreds of sinister, caped and fanged figures are traipsing up the 199 steps towards it to convene and celebrate all things vampiric.

It could be a chapter in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula - which celebrates its 125th anniversary of publication this year.

But it is actually an attempt, led by the team at Whitby Abbey, to break a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as vampires. Planned for May 26, the day the novel was published, Abbey staff are hoping for 1,897 vampires to turn up to commemorate the year of the book’s publication.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The current world record, set in the US in 2011, saw 1,039 vampires gather. Those hoping to take part will be counted up expertly by a representative from the Guinness Book of Records who will only hand over the coveted record breakers’ certificate if 1,040 or more people dressed as vampires attend.

The legacy of the connection to Dracula has long led Whitby to be associated with all things horror, and the town hosts a thriving festival twice a year which attracted thousands of people in gothic costumes.The legacy of the connection to Dracula has long led Whitby to be associated with all things horror, and the town hosts a thriving festival twice a year which attracted thousands of people in gothic costumes.
The legacy of the connection to Dracula has long led Whitby to be associated with all things horror, and the town hosts a thriving festival twice a year which attracted thousands of people in gothic costumes.

Dracula was famously partially set in Whitby after Bram Stoker visited the seaside town in 1890.

Read More
Dog stolen from North Yorkshire farm reunited with its owners - but circumstance...

He holidayed on Royal Crescent and is known to have researched a 15th century prince, Vlad the Impaler, while staying in the town, who may have inspired perhaps the most famous gothic character in literary history: Count Dracula of Transylvania.

The Abbey forms the backdrop of some of the novel’s most sinister moments, including the arrival of the Count into the town after commandeering a ship with a missing crew.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The legacy of the connection to Dracula has long led Whitby to be associated with all things horror, and the town hosts a thriving festival twice a year which attracted thousands of people in gothic costumes.

Mark Williamson, site manager of Whitby Abbey, explained why the town still attracts the imagination, 125 years on from Dracula being a sensation.

“There’s something in the air at Whitby,” he said.

“Most seaside places, you think you’ll visit on a bright sunny day. But it also feels special on a cloudy day - that small harbour, those little fisherman cottages - you literally feel harboured in.

“That legacy of things being a little bit different and dark - like with our mourning jet jewellery - it’s a real place people can come and be individuals.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But individualism will only go so far for the world record attempt. Strict criteria set by Guiness means costumes must adhere to vampiric regulations.

“For the purpose of setting the record, it’s quite standard-issue vampire, if there is such a thing,” said Mr Williamson. “It’s black capes, fangs on the top teeth, black trousers or a dress, and a cape.

“If people want to go over and above, that’s fine, but you have to meet that minimum criteria to count as a Count!”

To register, visit the English Heritage website.