Senegal’s national dish, thiéboudiènne, is a hearty mix of rice, fish, and vegetables stewed in tomato sauce and flavored with fermented fish and snails.

As it stewed in the stagnant, acidic pool, minerals began to replace the soft tissue in the cranium, preserving it for millions of years.

These issues, combined with Stoker’s provocative sexual imagination, stewed in his mind as the foundation of his still-terrifying horror story.