Elementary, My Dear Sherlock.

Before Van Helsing’s boiz were trying to outsmart Dracula, an iconic detective was already outsmarting criminals.

I am of coarse talking about the famous Sherlock Holmes.  

You might be asking yourself, why bring up Sherlock Holmes? He has NOTHING to do with Dracula at all, does he?

These excellent questions my readers.   

I bring up the Consulting Detective and Dr. Watson to for a very specific purpose.

They are the same characters as John Seward and Abraham Van Helsing.

I know you must think I’m BS-ing here, but stay with me.

Time for some character background:

Sherlock Holmes is a character driven by logic and reason. He is a man of science, who often scoffs at people who believe in the supernatural. When a case appears to be based in myths and legends, and Dr. Watson actually begins to believe it, Sherlock scolds him for believing superstition could solve anything. Even when all the clues point to the supernatural, Sherlock was always confident there was a rational explanation.

Science and Reason vs. Superstition and Myth is one of the overarching themes in Dracula. England represents the modern world where the dark superstations of the past are replaced by the light of scientific discovery. In contrast, Romania represents the unexplained that science can’t prove or disprove. These two perspectives of superstition vs. science, just so happen to be the same as Van Helsing and John Seward's mindsets. In the novel, Van Helsing is quick to believe in the supernatural while Seward is less inclined to believe. Seward notices the mysterious red marks on Lucy’s throat, but much akin Sherlock, he is so set in his logic and reason, he is unwilling to admit they could have been caused by a supernatural being.

So. 

Based on this evidence, is Van Helsing John Watson? I mean, he does rush into things like John Watson. Where Sherlock would have outsmarted the Count, and Dracula would have never seen him coming, Van Helsing and his boiz are just like:

(Essentially the ending of the book) 

In addition to this, Van Helsing does jump to the supernatural conclusion rather quickly. Almost the second after he sees Lucy, Van Helsing already has the house decked out with garlic, crucifixes, and other vampire fighting stuff. But unlike John Watson, whenever Van Helsing claims the culprit is a supernatural being, he is absolutely right. If it wasn't for Van Helsing, the other characters wouldn't have reached the conclusion they had a vampire in their midst so quickly. So if Seward is supposed to be Sherlock in this situation, then why does his ‘John Watson’ (Van Helsing) figure out the ‘case’ before he does?

Sherlock is characterized by the fact he is always 10 steps ahead of every other person in the room. Isn’t this Van Helsing in the book? Not Seward. Just as Sherlock wields his knowledge of science and reason, Van Helsing proves himself to be the expert on myth and the supernatural.

So could it be John Seward is John Watson with a 'Sherlock' mindset and Van Helsing is Sherlock with a 'John Watson' mindset?

Is it the other way around?

Who knows.

All in all, I think it is an interesting concept to think about, considering Dracula came out only 10 years after Sherlock made his debut in A Study in Scarlet. Maybe I could be reading too much into it and these connections could all just be coincidences. But, you know what they say about coincidences: