:D:D I think, your thoughts are also right. This is one of the first, if not THE first novel about a vampire. But the knowledge about garlic and co, the one's in my age have it from the narrations (in pop-culture for example). But the origin of that knowledge could be the Dracula Novel anyway. Just that nowadays, if you read the book for the first time, you might yawn because you already know what is going on
RE: Saving Dracula: How to Explain the Classic Vampire Story's Enduring Popularity