The unnamed narrator
The narrator doesn't have a name, but everyone else in the story does. She is the daughter of a professor, but does that add individuality to her identity? Not in this book, it doesn't. This book has plenty of professors, most of whom have daughters. In fact, her identity is sort of ambivalent in other ways too. She only knows what her quest has shown her, and when she discovers that she is on a quest for her own mother, then she knows she is on a quest for her own identity.
Helen's true identity
Helen is missing, and Paul tries to send his daughter back home to end her journey short. She resists and then learns that he doesn't want to introduce her to the emotional confusion of meeting Helen, because she is actually the narrator's mother. This irony is layered, because it means that Professor Bartholomew Rossi is her literal ancestor. She didn't know it, but she was secretly on her pilgrimage to saving her mother, a common literary motif.
The evil librarian
A librarian is a custodian of knowledge, but in this story, the librarian is evil. The librarian attacked Helen in the US, and they believed he died, but when she sees him in Europe, they realize they are dealing with a supernatural villain. The villain ironically positioned itself as the guardian of knowledge, and because of the mysterious books, the reader knows how important some books can be. The librarian is an anti-custodian. Instead of encouraging knowledge, he is defending knowledge that could lead to his demise.
The mysterious book
The books that arrive randomly to the professors throughout the story are ironic in two senses. Firstly, their profession involves understanding works of literature, but this is a book they don't understand. It is situational irony in that regard, a sign of their elite qualities as an educator perhaps, to have arrived at such a delightful mystery in their favorite format—a book. In another way, it is also dramatic irony, because the reader is also with the characters in their mystery. Who wrote it and where did it come from?
The undead villain
If there's one thing that unites human beings above all else, it is that humans really hate dying. Yet, in this story, death is a natural and good thing, and the evil person is the one who taints their soul in order to live forever. The Dracula narrative is shown as a warning against "selling one's soul," and the cast is constantly referring to their community for help, and also ensuring that none from their ranks accidentally end up as vampires. They are ensuring that everyone in their community lives and dies according to the natural design.
