Kitty Pryde Fact — November 3, 2026

Today's Fact

A borrowed holy symbol did nothing for the youngest X-Man in the room, while the necklace she actually wore did the job.

KITTY PRYDE'S CROSS FAILED AGAINST DRACULA — BUT HER STAR OF DAVID BURNED HIS HAND AND SAVED STORM!

The Featured Fact

In Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #159 (1982), 'Night Screams!', Dracula stalked Storm through a Greenwich Village weekend, fed on her, and came to claim her as his undead bride. Kitty Pryde figured out what nobody else would believe, phased through the wall in a makeshift vampire-hunting outfit, and thrust a cross at the count with total confidence. It did absolutely nothing.

The issue, by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, states the rule out loud: a holy symbol only repels Dracula when the person holding it genuinely believes in what it represents. Kitty, who is Jewish, had no faith invested in that cross, so Dracula laughed it off and lunged for her throat. His hand closed instead on the silver Star of David pendant she wore at her neck, and it seared his flesh, driving him back.

That burn bought the moment that mattered. Storm, still fighting the thrall from inside it, broke free in the sky battle that followed and Dracula, conceding that the will which had drawn him to her had also beaten him, withdrew on his own terms. The youngest X-Man had walked into a vampire's lair with the wrong symbol in her hand and the right one, entirely by accident of identity, around her neck.

Why It's Obscure

Night Screams! is only the start of it.

1982

Night Screams! — Uncanny X-Men #159 sends Storm home for a quiet weekend and gives her Dracula instead, in a one-issue horror story by Claremont and Sienkiewicz.

The rule

Belief is the ammunition — the story establishes that holy symbols work on Dracula only for true believers, which is why Wolverine's improvised cross also fails elsewhere in the tale.

The burn

Silver and conviction — Dracula grabs for Kitty's throat, touches the Star of David she actually wears, and burns his hand on it.

The retreat

Beaten by his own prize — Storm shakes off the thrall, chases Dracula across the sky, and he leaves voluntarily, beaten by the strength that attracted him.

Gallery

Dracula courting Storm on the original issue's pages, the count's thrall breaking, and Kitty herself with the Star of David pendant visible at her neck in the third image.

Uncanny X-Men 159 comic page showing Dracula hypnotising Storm — **The bride of darkness**A page from Uncanny X-Men #159 itself: Dracula works his hypnosis on Storm above Greenwich Village, promising her immortality as his bride.

Comic panels of a thrall-bound Storm with fangs beside Dracula while fallen X-Men lie nearby — **Slay them**Storm under the thrall, fangs bared at Dracula's command, moments before her will reasserts itself and she turns on him instead.

Kitty Pryde in her blue and black costume reaching forward, wearing a small Star of David pendant — **The pendant, up close**Kitty in action, and there at her throat is the detail this whole story turns on: her small silver Star of David necklace, plainly visible against the blue costume.

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against at least two independent sources before publication.

Bullpen Bulletins

Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 159 — Marvel DatabaseIssue synopsis: Kitty phases in holding a cross that has no effect, Dracula attacks and burns his hand on the silver Star of David pendant Kitty wears, and Storm ultimately breaks his hold.
Something Spooky: 'Uncanny X-Men' #159 — Comicon.comRetrospective confirming Claremont's belief rule for the issue: a Jewish Kitty wielding a cross does nothing, while her Star of David necklace repels Dracula.
The Uncanny X-Men #159 — UncannyXMen.netDetailed issue summary describing Kitty's failed crucifix, Dracula spelling out that she does not believe in it, and his hand burning on her Star of David pendant.