So how many people here know or read Varney The Vampire? Castlevania pretty much references the main vampire from the book with Death disguising himself as a vampire and the name he gives himself. A reference to a vampire who is overshadowed by Dracula even though he came first, and introduced many of the powers vampires are known for today.

James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest's The Varney Vampire was written and published before Bram stoker's Dracula novel.