 Diekmann and Grau gave Henrik Galeen, a disciple of Hanns Heinz Ewers, the task to write a screenplay inspired by the "Dracula" novel, although Prana Film had not obtained the film rights.Galeen was an experienced specialist in dark romanticism; he had already worked on "Der Student von Prag" ("The Student of Prague", 1913), and the screenplay for "Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam" ("",1920).Galeen set the story in the fictional north German harbour town of Wisborg.