The themes in Scarborough’s essay Science or Séance?: Late-Victorian Science and Dracula’s Epistolary Structure are central both in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Victorian life. In Dracula, the cutting-edge scientific techniques of the day are shunned in favor of both regional and religious superstitions. This is especially evident when Harker and Van Helsing kill the vampiric incarnation of Lucy, as they stuff her mouth with garlic, which is a traditional Transylvanian way to ward off vampires. Furthermore, they seal her tomb off with fragments of a communion wafer, once again representing their use of religion in order to prevent the vampire from ever rising again. The use of religion is once again prominent later in the novel when it is discovered that Mina Harker is a vampire. She is pressed with a communion wafer, which burns her, showing that she is unholy, a damned soul. Upon this discovery, she begins reciting scripture, saying “unclean”, a word which is constantly used in the book of Leviticus to refer to any unholy being, be it non kosher food, a dead body or a menstruating woman. This is clearly a rebuke of the wealth of scientific discoveries that were made throughout the Victorian era. These discoveries pushed the people of London away from religion, in favor of using science to explain natural phenomena. However, many people in Victorian London, especially members of the clergy, felt that the use of science, and the multitude of scientific advancements of the time, were blasphemous, and punished or shunned those who favored science over religion. Because of this conflict, the points in Scarborough’s essay ring true to the conflicts presented both in Victorian life and in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.