Dracula's Guest

On a bright Munich morning the narrator sets out on a carriage ride that quickly turns uneasy. A courteous maître d’, Herr Delbrück, reminds the driver that night will bring Walpurgis Night, a night steeped in folklore and foreboding, and the coachman Johann repeatedly crosses himself as the road grows wild. The journey takes them onto a desolate plateau where the horses sniff the air, strange noises echo, and an old superstition about burying suicides at crossroads surfaces, hinting at hidden danger.

As the carriage hesitates at a narrow, winding valley, Johann’s anxiety spikes, his watch clutched like a talisman, and the landscape seems to pulse with an unseen presence. A distant bark‑like howl, the sudden chill of a northern wind, and the driver’s frantic attempts to steer the horses away create a mounting sense of dread. Listeners are drawn into a haunting prelude that captures the tension between rational travel and ancient, uncanny forces, setting the stage for a night that promises more than just a storm.