Whitby is a resort town on the northeastern coast in North Yorkshire. It is notorious for being the English location of chapters 3 through 8 of Bram Stoker's horror classic Dracula. It is also the site of one of the oldest abbeys in England. The Coastal Path crosses through Whitby, and it is a popular stopping place before entering the North York Moors.
The myth built from Dracula does not dominate the town, but the devoted tourist can trace the path of Mina's midnight run to save Lucy from one of the Count's attacks and truly wonder at her olympic stamina.
The town is made for ocean viewing and there are benches every ten steps for the contemplative tourist to sit and watch the sea. Here is the Bram Stoker Memorial Bench. The view from this bench is reputed to be the view that inspired chapters 3-8 of his book. It's a fine wide view of the whole town as it crawls up the hill to the church and abbey.
Behind the bench and up the hill a little way you come to East Crescent Street. In one the nine small houses in The Crescent, the heroines of the story, Mina and Lucy, spend their summer holidays.
It is up these 199 steps that Mina runs to try to rescue Lucy. There are benches on the stairs for people to stop and puff a bit before continuing on up to the Church, the Abbey and the Youth Hostel.
