One of the most interesting aspects of the pervasiveness of these images (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Headless Horseman) for me, as someone who didn't grow up in an English speaking country, was how they crossed borders and were adapted (and adopted) by other cultures almost seamlessly, well before the internet or foreign film distribution. In Mexico, during the Golden Age of cinema there (between 1936 and 1956, generally), there were multiple movies that explored and used the themes, without being overt adaptations of the translated works. It could be argued that this was due to proximity with the U.S., but I don't believe that alone explains it.
