GHOSTLY INSPIRATION

My husband's grandmother lives in Yorkshire, a beautiful part of England's countryside. I've been there a few times but, recently, I got to fulfill an ambition. My parents-in-law took us to Whitby for the day and I finally got to see the ruins of Whitby Abbey, up close and personal.

I think most people know Whitby Abbey was Bram Stoker's inspiration for Dracula.

Standing inside its gothic beauty, I can understand why. In Stoker's day there must have been even more Abbey to see and wandering along footpaths he may have travelled before me, gave me chills!



Here are a few more of the photos my hubby took to record our day. I got a bit emotional at some points as my imagination ran away with me. I definitely came back with a few plot bunnies I can tell you!

You can imagine monks walking the grounds, taking holy orders, watching from the cliffs as the sea pounds the rocks below.

You can also see why Dracula would have found it so appealing in its ruined state to set up his English base 😱😱

The carving on the towers and arches was absolutely beautiful.

The time it must have taken and the quality of painstaking craftsmanship just blew my mind.

It's almost heartbreaking to think that all that work has been beaten back by the elements.

Of course I looked first!

Wouldn't you??????

My Father-in-Law!

While we were there, they were having one of their Dracula plays. There were only three actors, two men and a woman, but they played several parts each while they moved around the Abbey. The woman was brilliant, she hid behind a pillar and did the wolf noises for the "Children of the night" line. Kelvin and I were the only ones who could see her so she very proudly informed us that it was her howling. I gave her a thumbs-up, she seemed more than happy with that. I can imagine that in better weather the crowd would be huge. I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially when a rather rattled Jonathan Harker wrote to his darling Mena that he wasn't entirely sure he liked it at Dracula's castle!

I would love to go back, hopefully in the sunshine, take a picnic and a notepad and soak it all in. I highly recommend a visit.