Dracula: 10 References And Easter Eggs You May Have Missed
3. All Work And No Play Make Jack Pick Out Bad Wallpaper
On top of referring back to other Dracula and vampire stories, Gatiss and Moffat's Dracula also tips its hat to other horror classics. The final episode, for example, includes a reproduction of what may well be the most famous interior design pattern in all of cinema.
Just like the rest of the movie it comes from, the carpet from the corridors of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining has been endlessly referenced, discussed and dissected. Does its hexagonal geometric pattern represent being trapped in a maze, a game of chess, or (according to one theory in the documentary Room 237) the launchpad for the Apollo 11 mission, a subtle confession that Kubrick faked the moon landing?
The carpet's notoriety is such that it and its pattern crop up repeatedly in other works even those far removed from the horror genre, most notably as the carpet in Sid's house in Toy Story.
In Dracula that same hexagonal pattern can be seen in Episode 3. In that episode Jack Seward, here as in Stoker's novel a protege of Van Helsing and suitor to Lucy Westenra, can be seen in his bedroom worriedly trying to phone the object of his, and Dracula's, affection. His room is given a decidedly oppressive atmosphere, though, by his decision to use the Shining carpet pattern as his wallpaper.
Still, given that the series's first episode involved a character trapped in a maze-like building and the second episode was themed around a chess game, maybe it's an entirely appropriate choice. Wait, did Gatiss and Moffat fake the moon landing too?