Book
- Near the start, Jonathan stays at an inn owned by a Romanian woman and her husband. When the woman finds out he's headed to Castle Dracula, she breaks down in tears and begs him not to go, not wanting this innocent man to become vampire food. Not understanding why she's so upset, Jonathan tries his best to comfort her, but insists he has to do his job. Realizing she can't dissuade him, the woman gathers herself, and then gives him her own rosary, placing it around his neck. Jonathan, understandably shaken by this, hangs onto the rosary even though he's Protestant, and ends the entry by writing a "goodbye" for Mina, just in case. Becomes Heartwarming in Hindsight when that woman's kindness and protectiveness towards a total stranger pays off; the rosary saves Jonathan's life later.Innkeeper's Wife: For your mother's sake!
- There is something heart wrenching about how Dracula circumvented Van Helsing's defenses. Lucy's mother, being unaware of Helsing's plan (he correctly assumed telling people would make them reject his advice), removed the garlic flowers from Lucy's bedroom and opened the window, believing the bad smell and air were making her daughter sicker, unintentionally removing the last bulwark against Dracula. She was indirectly responsible for her daughter's turning. Van Helsing actually breaks down in tears, despairing over how their every effort is being thwarted, even by someone who dearly loves Lucy, and they can't even tell Mrs. Westenra what's going on for fear of giving her a shock that could kill her.
- While Lucy's rejection of Quincy's marriage proposal is a little sad, it's softened by the fact that he takes it very much in stride and tells her he's happy for her and whoever it is she loves, and leaves with his head held high. Her rejection of Seward, however, is genuinely hard to read, as the poor man is obviously completely crushed. He accepts her decision immediately and tells her he's her friend no matter what, but you can tell he's having to fight to keep his composure and leave with some dignity intact. Lucy herself feels awful about it, even though she knows she did the right thing in being honest, since she knows the only thing that will make Seward feel better is time, and there's nothing she can do to help that process along except be kind. (Worse, Lucy seems to have been unaware Seward was into her—she was thinking of fixing him up with Mina!) Seward's diary entries also reveal he's extremely heartbroken, and he's been burying himself in his work to try and forget about it.
- Dracula's final attack on Lucy. Her mother looks in on her during the night and agrees to sit with her to comfort her. When Dracula breaks the window open Mrs. Westenra has a heart attack from the shock. Lucy is pinned under her mother's body until the maids finally come and remove her. Lucy sends them downstairs for a drink to calm their nerves, but the drink is drugged and the maids all pass out. Poor Lucy is left completely alone in the house with her mother's body, and the sound of wolves outside preventing her from escaping to get help.
- Both Lucy and Seward assume that her improving health and lack of word from Van Helsing mean she doesn't need to be watched in the night anymore. Unbeknown to them, Van Helsing did send an urgent telegram to Seward to remind him to stay with her... but due to a mistake in the address it wasn't delivered until it was too late. If not for this minor mistake there would have been someone at the house to defend Lucy and her mother.
- Just as the vampirism is about to overtake her, Lucy seductively asks Arthur for a kiss. Fortunately, Arthur is prevented. Instead of lashing out, poor Lucy actually thanks Van Helsing and her final request before she dies is that Van Helsing protect Arthur. A very bitter sweet moment.
- Lucy's final moments in general. Both Van Helsing and Seward agree that there's nothing more that can be done, they and Arthur can do nothing but watch as the moments pass until life leaves her. Arthur can barely even give her a final goodbye, as the vampirism is starting to take hold. When she passes, Seward and Arthur leave the room, then Arthur slumps and cries his heart out, with Seward offering what meager comfort he can to his friend, as they've both lost a woman they love. Making it even more difficult is the direct comparisons to any fatal illness, that time between when you know a loved one is a goner and the time they actually go. That feeling of utter helplessness pervades the chapter.
- Quincey Morris and Renfields' Heroic Sacrifice.
- Mina's sheer terror after getting bitten.
- Before they set out to chase down Dracula for the final time, Mina forces everyone to promise that they'll kill her if she seems to be too late to save from turning, and asks her husband to read the burial rites to her just in case. Dr. Seward, trying to record his usual phonograph diary, breaks down in stuttering tears thinking about it and has to stop recording.
- After Dracula steals a baby for the 'sisters' to eat, the child's mother makes her way to the castle, screaming for him to give her child back. Dracula promptly has her torn to pieces by a pack of wolves. Jonathan feels it's a better fate than for her to find out what happened to her baby.
Other Adaptations
- In the Disney comic version, Mina (portrayed by Minnie) removed the flowers, thinking them but gifts from yet another suitor. When she realizes her mistake, it's already too late, and she's completely heartbroken. To make it worse for the poor girl, where Van Helsing/Goofy kept his temperament in check in order to spare Lucy's mother's fragile heart in the original, here he has no such reason, and he's furious.
- Keep in mind, while generally faithful to the original novel, in this version, Dracula merely turns his victims into beets, and the spell is broken when he is defeated, allowing Lucy, and pretty much every character, to be Spared by the Adaptation. Even Dracula is implied to have survived by being transformed into a harmless ostrich. The only exceptions are Dracula's servants, the three Weird Sisters, who are implied to have been killed by Minnie off-screen. It makes just as much sense in context.
