Because Stoker's novel focuses on hunting down Count Dracula, the weapons utilized by the characters in this novel take on a role of importance. Multiple characters carry specific types of knife that lend meaning to their purposes or serve to amplify their character traits. Additionally, Stoker's use of the Winchester rifle indicates an attention to technological innovation within firearm manufacturing. The weaponry used in Dracula helps highlight a new world vs. old world tension that exists in the novel.

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While the weapons explored in this section are the Kukuri knife, the Bowie knife, and the Winchester rifle, the stake, the weapon which is used to kill Lucy, is not included. The stake is described by Stoker as “a round wooden stake, some two and a half or three inches thick and about three feet long. One end of it was hardened by charring in the fire, and was sharpened to a fine point. With this stake came a heavy hammer, such as in households is used in the coal-cellar for breaking the lumps.”

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The stake is not explored first because we get a more detailed description of it's physical appearance from Stoker than we get of other weapons. Additionally, the stake is situated in vampire tales, such as Joseph Le Fanu's Carmilla, as one of the few ways to kill a vampire. Because of the likely familiarity for readers with the stake and its purpose in Dracula, it is not included in this resource.

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