Was Vlad the Impaler the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula? Did Stoker write about Transylvania from first hand experience? Has the model for Count Dracula's castle been found? Must Dracula stay out of the sunlight?

No, no, no and no.

In her latest and third book about Dracula, literary sleuth and Memorial University English professor Elizabeth Miller exposes these and other popular myths that have colored out perception of Irish-born Stoker and his famous novel published a century ago.

Dracula: Sense & Nonsense (Desert Island Books, Great Britain, $16.99, 256 pages) takes on popular misconceptions, fabrications and distortions regarding the sources for Dracula. Miller dismisses accounts that Stoker died of syphilis after he was forced into the arms of prostitutes by him wife's frigidity, and that his research for the novel included visits to Transylvania.

"It's just got to the point where I got so dismayed at the misinformation out there, I decided somebody had to write something to make an accurate record of Stoker's novel," Miller said. "I'm not out to slam the authors of the previous books on Dracula; as I say in the book, I'm just trying to set the record straight and I welcome anyone to challenge my conclusions."

Miller's tiny office at Memorial University looks more like the digs of a professional vampire slayer than that of an English professor. The walls are adorned with posters and books depicting members of the undead set. Sometimes known as the Vampire Lady - she has a habit of wearing bat earrings to class - Miller became enthralled with Draculamania about nine years ago when she introduced Stoker's novel in her 19th-century literature class.

The daughter of the late Newfoundland writer Ted Russell, of Tales from Pigeon Inlet fame, she has lectured on Dracula across North America as well as in Romania, where her scholarly stature in vampire lore has earned her the title of Baroness of the House of Dracula. "Much of the erroneous information that exists about Dracula arises from speculation about Bram Stoker's sources for his novel, and part of the reason for that is not a lot is known about Stoker's personal life," she said. "The most widespread misconception is that the inspiration for Dracula was Vlad the Impaler, which is not true."

"A lot of these misconceptions about Dracula have come from Hollywood. There have been 17 or 18 movies and hundreds of books and spinoff books that are far removed from the novel."For instance, the most recent movie by Francis Ford Coppola, Bram Stoker's Dracula, should never have been called Bram Stoker's Dracula, she said. "It was Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, but at the same time it was by far the most visually dramatic film about Dracula," she said.

It took her two years to research and write her latest book (which is available at Chapters in St. John's). That involved poring over Stoker's original handwritten drafts of the novel at the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, Pa.

Miller's previous books, Dracula: The Shade and the Shadow, and Reflections on Dracula, examined the enduring influence of the trademark gothic novel on popular culture. "Stoker's novel came out more than 100 years ago, and its appeal is riding a wave," she said. "I think the reason for that is that it gives people a way to dabble in the dark side without getting themselves in trouble.

"For me it's good fun. I get a few e-mails occasionally from wackos, but there are wackos in every line of work. People are amazed when I tell them that not once have I ever had a nightmare about any of this."