Dracula Chapter 27 Summary

Mina's Journal, November 1

Mina says that they're traveling quickly.
She loves what she sees of the countryside and its people.
She notices how superstitious they all are. (Hard to blame them, given that the local nobleman is a vampire.)

Van Helsing is worried about Mina. She seems lethargic and has lost her appetite. The weather is also bitterly cold.
He's writing down what happened because Mina isn't feeling up to it. Van Helsing is afraid she's getting more vampire-y.

They're within sight of Castle Dracula, so Van Helsing stops the carriage. He makes a fire so that they can camp there and arrive at the castle in the morning.
Van Helsing is worried about Mina, still, so he draws a ring around her in the dirt and puts some Holy Communion wafers in the ring.
That night, the horses become frightened and start whinnying.
Van Helsing calms the horses down, and sees the three brides of Dracula—the sexy vampire ladies that tried to seduce Jonathan Harker—arrive in a mist.
They can't approach because of the ring Van Helsing drew earlier.
Mina is asleep the next morning and he can't wake her.
The horses are dead.

If it weren't for the accident on the rocks, Jonathan and Arthur would have caught up to Dracula's boat long ago.

That morning, they see a group of Szgany loading up a wagon by the river and hurrying away. They must be carrying the Count's box the final distance to the Castle.

Van Helsing leaves Mina sleeping within the protective circle and goes to the castle by himself.
He knows from Jonathan's diary where the chapel is.
He finds the three vampire brides and disposes of them the same way he killed vampire-Lucy. It's pretty grisly, but he reminds himself that he's releasing them to rest in peace.
He also finds Dracula's empty grave and puts some holy wafers in it so that Dracula will never be able to sleep there again.
He goes back to Mina and finds her awake.

Mina and Van Helsing wait at the bottom of the mountain where Castle Dracula is perched, in the shelter of some overhanging rock.
They can see the river in the distance, and they see a group of Szgany and a wagon coming up the hill.
They know the box in the wagon must contain Dracula.
Then they see four guys on horses chasing the wagon.
The whole group gets closer and closer to where Van Helsing and Mina are hiding.
As they approach, Arthur calls out to the Szgany to stop the wagon, but the leader refuses.
Quincey, Jonathan, Arthur, and Seward force their way through the ring of Szgany around the wagon.
The Szgany are armed only with knives, while the vampire-hunters have Winchester rifles.
Quincey catches a knife in his side, and is bleeding profusely.
In the struggle, the box is knocked from the wagon, and the top comes off.
Dracula is lying there, in human shape, completely vulnerable until the sun sets.
Jonathan Harker slashes at Dracula's throat, while Quincey stabs him in the heart.
Immediately, Dracula's body turns to dust and blows away.
Mina says that in that final instant, she saw a look of peace come onto Dracula's face.
The Szgany are terrified and run off.
Dr. Seward and Van Helsing rush to help Quincey, who is still bleeding badly. Quincey lives long enough to see that the red scar has disappeared from Mina's forehead, and then he dies.

The novel concludes with a note from Jonathan Harker, written seven years later.
Mina and Jonathan have a son who was born on the same day of the year that Quincey Morris died, so they like to imagine that some of Quincey Morris's spirit and bravery went into their son.
They named their boy after all the men who helped them kill Dracula, but they call him Quincey.
Arthur and Dr. Seward are have both married, and Van Helsing is like a kind uncle to their little boy.

READ THE BOOK: Chapter 27