Location from Work in Progress by Kat Mackenzie
A Gothic coastal town where Dracula came ashore and Alice has a meltdown — the tour's most dramatic stop in every sense.
Whitby is where Bram Stoker looked out at the abbey and thought 'yes, this is where the vampire lands,' and the town has been leaning into that energy ever since. The 199 steps to the abbey are a pilgrimage that leaves everyone breathless — literally for the elderly women, emotionally for Alice. This is the tour stop where things come to a head. The Gothic atmosphere amplifies whatever emotional weather Alice is carrying, and the combination of dramatic coastline, literary history, and accumulated feelings produces the kind of scene that makes the other women exchange knowing looks. Whitby doesn't do subtlety. Neither does heartbreak.
A fishing town split by a harbor, with the ruined abbey perched on the cliff above like a skeleton against the sky. 199 stone steps climb from the town to the churchyard. Narrow streets wind between old buildings, fish and chip shops compete with Gothic gift stores, and the sea is always audible. During Goth Weekend, the whole town transforms into a celebration of darkness, velvet, and eyeliner.
Also known as: Whitby