Raymond T. McNally (1931-2002) was an American author and professor of history at Boston College, renowned for his scholarly work on the history of Vlad the Impaler, the Romanian prince often associated with the Dracula legend, and for his research into the origins and evolution of vampire folklore. Along with co-author Radu Florescu, McNally helped popularize the connection between Vlad the Impaler and Bram Stoker's fictional Count Dracula in their influential book, "In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires" (1972), which played a significant role in the development of Dracula studies and in bridging the gap between historical fact and literary fiction regarding the Dracula narrative. McNally's work contributed to the scholarly and popular understanding of vampirism and its historical antecedents.