| Summary: | Vampires abhor various repellents, which the text of Dracula treats as fetishes. Vampires mysteriously shun garlic, roses, ash wood, and the crucifix. They need their home dirt and human blood. Blood fetish is an element of BDSM play, and Stoker’s vampires show how it should be done. The kinky sexual connotations are obvious, but the realm of fetishes is, in fact, much wider and more problematic. What is a fetish? A material object serves significant interests and satisfies a desire, which non-intended audiences successfully ironize because fetishes have powers that do not belong to them. A crucifix is a religious fetish, but it works against monsters in Dracula. Roses are beautiful flowers vampires abhor. Traditionally, English people eschew strong garlic, and so does the Count.
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