The historic town, the sea, coves of beaches, cobbled streets and cramped cottages in the dark shadows of Whitby Abbey were perfect inspiration for the Gothic genre of writing sweeping over Victorian literature and Stoker famously used it for the book.

So to mark the occasion, English Heritage, custodians of the Abbey, set about beating the previous record, set in 2011, when 1,039 people attended an event organised by theme park Kings Dominion in Virginia, USA.

Adjudicated by a Guinness World Record official, Whitby set a new record last night with 1,369 vampires standing together for five minutes, yet several hundreds more had queued and flocked to the site to take part in the event.

A new world record has been set in Whitby for the largest gathering of people dressed as vampires to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the publication of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula.

Whitby vampires: 1,369 gather at Whitby Abbey to break world record on anniversa...

“Dracula has had a phenomenal cultural impact and we get visitors from all around the world. They fall in love with its atmosphere, history and sea views.”

Fans of Dracula, Whitby and gothic culture had travelled for miles as well as locally for the record breaking attempt - which even for adjudicator Jack Brockbank from Guinness World Records was a first.

He said: "There is never a dull moment in my job but it is certainly a first for me. The level of effort that has gone into it is impressive to say the least. Whitby is incredible, the venue is perfect and there is a great spirit."

Whitby Abbey sets new Guinness world record for vampire gathering to mark Dracula's 125th anniversary