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    Dracula
    Dracula
    Dracula
    Ebook521 pages8 hours

    Dracula

    By Bram Stoker and Mint Editions

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    In 1897, Bram Stoker published what has now become one of the most revered horror stories of its time. Dracula has inspired the gothic genre for generations, continuing to this day to frighten and delight its readers for anyone brave enough to face the world of blood thirsty vampires in search of their next mortal victim.

    In a gripping and sensational work of classic Gothic fiction we discover the infamous Count Dracula. When English lawyer Jonathan Harker travels to an obscure town called Transylvania, the goal of his visit was most certainly not to do business with a vampire. As he makes his way through the village square, Harker is overcome with an eerie sensation that the Count is not who he says he is. Strewn with various charms and trinkets thrown at him from the local village people, Harker comes to find that the weird looks, whispers, and pointed fingers directed at him are not done so in jest at him being a tourist. Rather, they are a clear warning that the Count is perhaps more dangerous than he imagined. Brimming with observations on the eventual paradigmatic shifts of society, Stoker’s intent with Dracula extends much further than the plot of quarreling vampires. With references to the sexual politics of women in the Victorian era to the astute observations following the modernization of society, Stoker’s ideas and writings were insightfully ahead of the times. Dracula has continued to play an influential role in the canon of literature, and for a blood-curdling and frighteningly good reason.

    Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

    With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMint Editions
    Release dateApr 7, 2020
    ISBN9781513263533
    Author

    Bram Stoker

    Bram (Abraham) Stoker was an Irish novelist, born November 8, 1847 in Dublin, Ireland. 'Dracula' was to become his best-known work, based on European folklore and stories of vampires. Although most famous for writing 'Dracula', Stoker wrote eighteen books before he died in 1912 at the age of sixty-four.

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    Reviews for Dracula

    4/5

    6,926 ratings273 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I believe this was my third read of this book, but the only time I've listened to it on audio. This was a full cast performance and it was excellent. I highly recommend it to horror fans that dislike reading in epistolary form, the voicing here really brings the diary entries and letters to life.

      Highly recommended for fans of classic horror stories!
    • 5/5
      Fantastic!!! Just as cool reading it this second time around. Such a cool book and after reading it, when watching films about Dracula, I love to see what parts are actually taken from the book. I also love the wording in this book, because of the time it was written, people spoke differently and used other words more back then, than they do now.
    • 5/5
      Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of those classics where everyone is familiar with the story, but many people assume they can survive without reading the actual book and simply scrape by with movie adaptations. This is simply not so, my friends. Dracula is a fantastic literary creation and to only be "vaguely" aware of the basic story is to cheat yourself out of a magnificent tale. If you're sick of sparkly vampires, then return to the granddaddy of them all... and he'll show you that real vampires are not covered in glitter, sensitive, or interested in redefining "vegetarian." They're devoid of souls and they are rather intent on killing/stealing your girlfriend.This is my second reading of Dracula and it was even better than I remember. If you haven't yet had the pleasure, I'll do a very quick summary. The novel is told from several perspectives through a variety of means -- mostly diaries/journals with the occasional letter or telegram tossed in to ratchet up the suspense value. Vampires, beautiful women, blood, death, insanity! It's awesome.Unlikely as it may sound, it all starts with a business trip. Jonathan Harker is an attorney who has traveled to Transylvania to assist some Count with an international real estate transaction. Sounds fairly boring, right? (Well, aside from the fact that in the late 1800s, any kind of big travel experience is major.) Of course, it's somewhat disconcerting how all these villagers keep crossing themselves when he explains where he's going or they try desperately to dissuade him. Huh. Weird. (See the first Hark, A Vagrant comic here.) Upon arrival at Castle Dracula, Harker is totally unaware that his host is undead; Dracula just seems to keep crazy hours... and there don't seem to be any servants... and they only seem to talk at night... and soon Harker realizes he's a prisoner. Hmmm. Something fishy's going on here. Finally, when Harker sees his host crawling up the side of the castle, his growing suspicions explode into full on freak-out. His journal entry cuts off after he makes an attempt to escape (and after an encounter with three beautiful woman who clearly want to drain him of his blood and perhaps more), so we're left to wonder for a while as to what became of our somewhat dim-witted fellow.We then switch the focus of our story over to Mina Murray and Lucy Westenra (aside from this small diversion about a ship that arrives with only a dead captain strapped to the helm and a ship's log that suggests something was killing them off one by one... but surely that can't have any play in our main story, can it?). Lucy and Mina write back and forth about their lives and loves. Mina is engaged to Jonathan Harker (and is starting to get concerned when his letters drop off) and Lucy's juggling suitors before receiving three marriages proposals in one day from three friends -- though she accepts the last, Arthur Holmwood. The men remain friends, though Dr. John Seward (who heads up a lunatic asylum) and Mr. Quincey Morris (a brave American) are still in love with Lucy and hover about while Lucy seems to be falling more and more ill. Even a visit from Mina only does Lucy a little good before Mina receives word that Jonathan is in some foreign hospital and she runs to his bedside. Mina, reunited with Jonathan, marries him while abroad (otherwise it wouldn't be seemly, don't you know); meanwhile, the big guns are brought in to figure out Lucy's mystery illness -- Dr. Van Helsing arrives with a crazy theory that he refuses to tell anyone about until it's too late. Vampires.Or rather, Dracula. The man (still a man?) himself was on that cursed boat where the crew was picked off one-by-one and now he's on English shores. It's up to Van Helsing, Lucy's grief-stricken suitors, Mina and Jonathan to put a stop to the blood-sucking monster (and Lucy, btw)... but will they be able to succeed without sacrificing yet another of their own?That's all fairly simplistic, but one of the best parts of this book is watching everyone run around, wondering what could possibly be wrong with Lucy, while the modern reader fights the impulse to shake them all... but of course, how could the characters possibly know? It took this novel to essentially define an entire category of supernatural being so that we would all know the signs. Obviously, Bram Stoker didn't invent vampires, and even Count Dracula himself is based on theDracula is one of those books that proves a novel's merit does not always rest in some big reveal. You can know the ending and still have a wonderful experience with just the telling of the story. Every modern reader knows what's going on, and yet the book is still fabulous. It's full of thrills and chills and adventure. The multiple formats allow for perspective shifts that actually add something to the story rather than take away (to the point where it's almost disappointing when everyone is collaborating towards the end so everyone knows what's going on). The female characters are a bit wimpy (except for the lady vampires who nearly ravish Harker) and I find it hard to believe that Mina's excellence is so exemplary that the man fawn over her as they do, but so it goes. It also seemed a bit too easy to dispatch of Dracula the way they did, but I guess any ending would be somewhat unsatisfactory when it ends with the mega-vampire biting the dust. Still, the majority of the novel is a delightful and ridiculous ride. If you haven't read it, you're in for a treat and if you're like me and have read it... well, there's nothing wrong with going back for another bite.
    • 5/5
      After reading for 55+ years, I thought it about time to read the "real" Dracula and I'm glad I did.The book is intriguing and suspensful without being gory or bloody. A lot of history about Dracula is given and also explains why he does what he does. The book is written as diary entries by all the major characters; gives great perspective.The only negative comment is that some of the journal entries use less than proper grammar (he has brain of child, he weak, etc. This detracts from the otherwise well-written book.
    • 5/5
      A re-read of a classic I’ve not touched for many years. A book of this type will always receive mixed reviews. A classic, by definition, is always a book of its time and will jar for a modern reader. Especially for a modern reader who has not read classic literature for most of their life. My childhood books included novels such as Tom Sawyer and Treasure Island so I have no problem with reading this. At such times when Dickens was popular, writers were paid by the word so if any such novels feel padded there’s a reason. This book does feel overlong, and if written/edited now would be much shorter. I’d particularly forgotten the peculiar way Van Helsing speaks which I read with a blend of irritation and amusing pleasure. In the 21st century the book has many faults, much of it reading like Victorian melodrama, and is far from horrifying, but in 1897 Dracula would have been petrifying. It’s almost impossible to review a book of this type so it’s important to understand how this novel was pivotal.Though Stoker did not invent the vampire myth or write the first well-known story, he wrote the crucial novel, bringing us a vampire who would popularise the genre and creating a legend. Like the writing or not this book deserves its pedestal. Stoker touched on the darkest fears, not only of the time, but at the heart of terror, a creature capable of overtaking the human mind, of seducing, of changing shape and appearance, of ‘infiltrating’ the home, the heart, the marriage bond. Horror novels often reflect societal fears of the moment, and Dracula is no different though many of the same fears exist more than a century later. Stoker also puts into the mind unforgettable images — a wild country of superstition, Dracula’s towering castle, Harker’s slow realisation he’s a prisoner, Dracula’s vertical crawl, his intention to take over London, the crazed incredible Renfield, Dr Seward’s asylum. And, perhaps, for women today, the book represents the ultimate equality statement. Lucy and Mina’s story both begin with them represented as something beautiful and fragile, ‘creatures’ who can do nothing without their men and who require protection. The book ends with a gun in Mina’s hand. She has become a far different woman from the shy girl who did nothing more than look forward to a life of marriage. She wishes to protect Jonathan as much as he longs to protect her, perhaps placing Stoker as a realist and/or ahead of his time. Still, there are moments that sit uneasy with me, the worst of which is the historical error that anyone can provide a transfusion without blood-matching, a fact not discovered at the time but which cannot help making even this modern reader wince.
    • 4/5
      After Twilight, True Blood, Let the Right One In and other modern vampire stories, I was eager to read the original and settle down some facts. It is a true horror story balancing between the psychological and physical world somewhere. The way it is told is surprisingly modern and structured, and you'll never drop out, as the story line is retold several times. The plot itself was like a river, some times very exiting, others quit shallow and slow. The ideology struck me as extremely sexist, which was a huge turn down for me. The dialects and accents was at times was hard to read, but it felt blooming right in some cases (not always). Over all a good book, worth it's place on the classical list for sure, but not some thing I'll reread any day soon...
    • 5/5
      Still scary.
    • 4/5
      Even nearly 120 years after its first publication, this book is scary! A true thriller. Excellent read.
    • 3/5
      Few today have never heard about the Dracula legend as first introduced by Bram Stoker. Although not the first novel about vampires, this novel is the most famous as evidenced by its impact on the American culture. This epistolary novel, told through letters, journals and recordings, is the story about a member of Transylvanian royalty who seeks a new hunting ground in London only to be hunted by a small group of men led by the physician Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. I found the first half of the novel much more suspenseful; the last half less so and more plodding.
    • 3/5
      A little longer than needed (especially if you know what happens), but it does have it's merits and the style is not bad. I really liked that the audio version used a different narrator for each character.
    • 3/5
      The opening scenes in Transylvania are by far the best parts of the book. After that it all becomes slow and bloated, with an anticlimatic ending - slow build up and then very quickly all over. However, still a good read. The fact that it's all women who seem to get it in the neck tells you all you need to know what this is all about. It would be interesting to read about how this was received at the time. 3.5 stars.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this one. I knew it wasn't going to be anything like the movies, so I was prepared for that. I will say that while I wasn't expecting so much to be about Lucy, I truly enjoyed her nonetheless. I do want to know what the heck happened to Jon Harker between leaving Castle Dracula and showing up at a hospital. Why didn't Drac kill him? The world may never know.
    • 3/5
      Dracula is a classical Victorian horror epistolary novel that centered on the narrations of Johnathan Harker, a young lawyer sent to the unknown Transylvanian territories where a curious Count Dracula lurks; Mina Murray, Harker's fiancee and a close friend to Lucy Westenra and a psychiatric doctor, John Seward who recounts the ravings of one of his patient and who had held a flame to the beautiful Lucy Westenra.

      The story detailed the plight of Harker's experience with Dracula whom he noted the count's curious abilities and idiosyncracies including keeping Harker locked up in his castle and the intense forebodings of a monster playing him like a meal. The narrative often diverged from Mina's letters to Lucy and Seward's observations and the horror when Lucy started to fall ill and the introduction of Professor Van Helsing; a doctor well-informed in the paranormal studies and the effect of vampirism.

      Although, I love paranormal genre especially on vampires, I do find an intense dislike to the original work. I have suffered through bad Dracula movies and enjoyed some of the good ones and had read this book countless of times, I still find that I was quite indifferent to the tale.

      As I was older now, I do notice the eroticism subtleties that was associated to blood-drinking in this novel. The hint of polygamy which I am quite familiar with was very minimal in this book although it does bring a scandalized subject to the Victorians. I've included my essay at the bottom which I discuss some of the things related to blood in this vampiric novel.

      Another fact that this book condemns was the signs of overt "voluptuous" female sexuality and the embelished anti-feminism by men in this book does conflicted with my psyche. I do live in a society that somewhat still practice Islamic perceptions in some matters but this is clearly different that the complete overreaction of Victorians men (author and the protagonists) toward the dangers of sensual female figures (vampiress) while holding highly to the idea of a gentry society of Victorian ladies with conventional Victorian values. It does gave me a sense of irony considering there are various things that real Victorians in 19th century do that would give 19th century people in Malaya creeps against the colonials had they have internet access.

      There are a lot of contradictions in this book and philosophical discussions narrated by the point of views that are possibly self-contradicting and biased in every way. Dracula were barely prominent with his motives and such before the Van Helsing's vampire hunter team create a conclusion that leads Dracula's to his death. In fact, I always wondered if it is possible that Dracula isn't the only vampire in London especially with Lucy's case and Renfield's fascination with the undying. I do think the Renfield is someone an addition by Stoker trying to keep his foreboding apparent throughout the entire storylines. His fascination toward the cycle of life isn't new. Somehow he would have known about the immortality that Dracula can offer and the fact that Dracula was aware of his existence before this. The more I think about it, the more motives that the narration tried to portray are filled with plot holes.

      And why would Dracula need Harker's service if he had been out of Transylvania before? He should have known to cover his traces, bought the house in England and avoid the whole Harker and Demeter fiasco. I don't even think he was aware of Mina's association with Lucy and the fact that Lucy was targeted at first instead of Mina is unbelievable if you thought about how he would have claimed Mina first before Johnathan do. If you consider that Dracula can only go out at night, the space between Lucy (11th August) and the time where he came to London via Demeter (8th August) was quite short to know that Lucy was connected to Mina. In fact the whole villainy timeframe towards Dracula is an oversight. I guess, this was a sort of bias from the contradicting narrations.

      With Dracula's unrelenting blood desires on either sex, it is possible that he might have fathered several vampires in the society that might have targeted Lucy. If the brides were Dracula progeny, I'm not surprised to expect the villany is by someone other than Dracula who Stoker painted his character in a less dynamic sort of way.

      As a classic, one should always do try to read the book first before drawing the conclusion by simply watching the Dracula movies. I do think it appeal to men more than a woman. The descriptive can be annoying until you realize photographs are rare and descriptive in journals does help when the character reread his older journals in the future. As a modern woman, I still dislike the one-dimensional character of Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra and the three brides. The bodily descriptive details by the male narrators on vampires does confounded me about the male protagonists characters. Overall, the book make me question everything about everything and its quit shallow when you simplified it.
    • 4/5
      The strangest thing about this book is that when you read how much dialogue Dracula actually has you see that it isn't much. It's still very good after all these years. A true literary classic.
    • 4/5
      Anyone who is a vampire fan just can't miss this. This is the book that started it all - our fascination with Dracula. There is no extensive blood and gore as one normally anticipates in such a book. But the story itself keeps you on the edge and in no time you would be jumping at the slightest sound or movement. Count Dracula is a debonair, suave creature. Sophistication just dripping from every sentence that he utters or writes. But the terror he instills is terrifying and bone- chilling. This classic is entertaining and exhilarating to the last letter.
    • 5/5
      Dracula movies told me what the original story was like, I thought - mistakenly. From the first page, I was as amazed at the skill of Bram Stoker in writing his story as I was at another time in opening Richard Nixon's autobiography and being stunned by the clarity of thought and excellence of perfection that he had achieved.I read Dracula for a university course. Had I know it was as excellent a story as it is, I would have read it much earlier. I consider the book a true classic, something has already lasted for a short time, but will likely last a lot more time. A few weak points were pointed out to me. But as long as I must engage my "suspension of belief" for the book as a whole, I have no problem excusing such errors. I've thought of other authors I've read and tried to decide where Stoker's Dracula fits in among them. I don't think he does! I think Bram Stoker's Dracula is somehow unique. If I am able to read other tales of mystically powered, soulless masters of men's minds, then I may have a home for Dracula. Until then, his is a lone story that starts nobly apart from the other fictions there are - of Asimovian robots, Burroughnian warrior kings, C.S. Lewis' adventures in Pereland', and even Twilight.
    • 3/5
      3-1/2 stars. I decided to round down this time. I did however like Dracula a lot. It was way overboard with the melodrama which, it turns out, didn't bother me as much as it does in other forms of entertainment. I haven't read anything else that measures up to it in that regard so maybe the 19th century use of the language softened the eye-rolling effect for me. I'm wondering how common the melodrama is in novels from the romantic period and how different authors from the period differed. The only other thing I recall at this moment having read from the period, so far, is Jane Austin (pretty much 100 years earlier) and I can't consider that a good comparison as I consider her to be genius on several levels. Dracula may drag in parts for a lot of people. It's not exactly a page turner for some stretches. It held my interest all the way through but I wasn't compelled to carry it with me through the day and I read other books during the reading of it as a result. The multiple points of view and the telling through the various journals was a great choice for this and used to excellent effect. That became even more pronounced after all parties had all left England and the novel started building toward its climax. There were several points where the story became quite exciting including pretty much the whole last quarter or so of the book. The difference in the use of the language between now and then combined with the broken English of Professor Van Helsing with all the mixed up tenses and cases was an experience - one requiring some patience sometimes and funny sometimes but not a problem. i have a few other gothic novels picked out for the very near future and am looking forward to them.
    • 4/5
      Dracula is one of my favourite classics, and Scarlett Parrish's version enhances the text. I imagine if Stoker had written such a text a hundred years later, he might have included some of the scenes that Scarlett has added. The original text only hinted at the seduction and sexuality; Scarlett has read between the lines.
    • 4/5
      Everyone knows the story of Dracula, right? I mean, vampires, Transylvanian castles, bats, stakes through the heart in creepy tombs at the dead of night and all that. Except the original story isn't quite the same as it's generally presented nowadays: Dracula isn't a good looking guy in an evening suit for one thing and Van Helsing is definitely not some vampire hunting superhero.In this original, Jonathan Harker, an English solicitor, travels to Transylvania to assist his firm's client, Count Dracula, with his plans to buy a property in London. Ensconced in Castle Dracula he soon realises that things are not as they seem. Why does his host appear only at night and why does Jonathan never see him eat? It soon becomes apparent that Jonathan is in fact a prisoner, a prisoner who will be not be needed alive for much longer, and as the full horror of his situation becomes clear to him, all his ingenuity is needed for escape to be even a remote possibility.Meanwhile, back in England Jonathan's fiancée Mina is holidaying in Whitby with Lucy, an old school friend. But after the mysterious arrival of a Russian ship in port, with no crew left alive and the Captain's log talking of a demon on board, Lucy starts to act oddly. As her condition deteriorates, and she becomes paler and weaker by the day, her doctor calls in his old Professor Van Helsing to consult on her condition, and Van Helsing has some very unusual ideas about her condition ...One thing I really took away from the book was the sense that when it was written the supernatural was being superimposed on the very modern world (to its readers anyway) of nineteenth century London. A world of trains running on time, efficient post and telegram services, detailed Ordnance Survey maps, typewriters, shorthand and where the role of women is definitely changing. That's a juxtaposition that it's easy to miss at a distance of over a hundred years, but it makes the story much more powerful. The first part of the book I think is the best, and a real sense of horror and foreboding is generated. It does get a little repetitive towards the end, and the main protagonists do seem to miss things that are blindingly obvious to the reader. And Van Helsing gets very irritating at times with his pronouncements that all will be revealed, just not yet. But overall a good read.
    • 4/5
      The writing is so vivid, it literally gave me chills, and yet it also isn't overdone. There is just enough left to the imagination to make your imagination run wild. I can certainly understand why it is considered a horror classic. Some of the writing is dated, of course, but it overall remains incredibly strong for a modern reader as well. I really do not know what else to say in a review, especially for a book that virtually everyone knows at least part of the story of, except that this is one classic that certainly shouldn't be passed up. I won't even go into the dreams I had due to the influence of reading the book, but they were certainly interesting.
    • 3/5
      The first and last portions of the book are the most compelling. I felt as though the middle portion would never come to a conclusion. The format was difficult for me to become accustomed to as it is mostly compromised of journal and diary entries, newspaper clippings, and telegrams.That said, I do find it to be a worthwhile read as it is interesting to read the book that so much has been based upon since. The characters, although two-dimensional in some respects, provide interesting glimpses into the concepts and stereotypes of the time. The deep conviction shared by the main group of characters towards the accomplishment of a most important goal is compelling.Give yourself plenty of time to finish this as rushing through it will only lead to frustration due to the format used to tell the story.
    • 4/5
      For me the telling of this story in letters and diary entries did a disservice to the whole, but it's a chilling and suspensful read. Too episodic for 5 stars.
    • 3/5
      Dracula. Bram Stoker. Modern Library Paperback Edition. 2001. The first time I read Dracula I was at home between sophomore and junior years at Montevallo, I think. I had nightmares about vampire cats that were so real I crawled in bed with Mother and only read the book during the daylight hours. This time it was more uncomfortable, not because I think vampires are real, but I was shocked by the evil personified that the book described and surprised by the Catholicism that permeated the determined search to destroy the evil. It was long and not as suspenseful as I remembered more of it as I read. It is much deeper than the modern vampire books and movies.
    • 3/5
      It's a pretty interesting tale, told by extracts from a series of contributor's diaries. But it looses something in the style. Although there are 5 main characters who tell this story, they all sound the same, there's no personality in their text. It also makes the story a little disjointed at times, but whereas it works as a narrative device in some instances, here it isn't really exploited fully.

      It's a fascinating story, and even if you think you know it, there are elements that are probably not in the many retellings. That includes the ridiculously far-fetched blood giving, which had me scrathing my head, waiting for someone to die. However it takes a very long time to get going, then seems to slow down in the middle before speeding up dramatically towards the end a finishing in a flash. It may be a classic book, but it's certainly not a brilliantly written story.
    • 4/5
      I've visited the shrine where vampire horror all began, and I happily pay homage. The Dracula novel surpasses all the old movies, in my opinion. To enjoy it throughly, I set aside modern jade and prejudice and simply enjoyed the story with as fresh eyes as was muster-able. Dark forests and mists and wolves. Red eyes, sharp teeth, mists and seduction. Chilled as terror-cicles in the blood. To Stoker's credit, his novel, now over 100 years old, remains creepy, and page-turningly-bold.

      One observation, or point of discussion, is the evolution of villains and evil in culture. In Dracula, evil is straight forward: the vampire is dead/unclean, repelled by sacred objects, repulsive, and, any attraction is sexual in nature--but here, sexual attraction to be fought against-- its allure is a trap that leads to the soul's death and destruction. Upon defeat, Dracula gains a moment of peace, perhaps grateful for having been staked and beheaded.

      In modern times, from Interview with a Vampire to Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, et al, evil is allowed to speak to the reader directly. Evil has a story, can love, can be loved, hey--the monster's not all that bad if you don't mind a little gore and carnage. Our culture desires romance with vampires. We want to be vampires, live forever, be as strong as superman--lose our fear of the night. The shade of evil is less clear. Some vampires play the role of bad guys, others are warm, fuzzy and heroic. The world is more complicated, you see.

      I believe this comes from our wanting to weaken evil, make evil not so scary as all that. Reduce our fears by showing a 'human' side to evil, beyond the motivation of Dracula which was to simply survive, reap a little vengeance now and then, or take on a few servants as needed.

      Humanized evil is popular now. Zombies, werewolves and vampires are not that much different than us. Perhaps this is a positive view, if we apply it on foreign people and cultures -- less demonizing and more tolerance of, er, different appearances and lifestyles. If such is the case, I'll praise the modern horror trends. Fear is a rotten motivator of worldly action.

      As for straight out horror in literature, the more alien, unknown, and unknowable the slimy, dark-hearted critter is, the more I'm likely to keep the light on and the covers pulled up to my chin after a night of reading. This frightful feeling is fun in fiction, but for real life, I prefer tolerance and cute vampires who can handle crosses and garlic, yet struggle with morality and the pursuit of meaning in life. I think Stoker might not mind the variety and abundance of nightmares his work helped spawn. He may even have enjoyed Buffy, who, come to think of it, is not all that different than Mina--without all the Victorian dressage.
    • 4/5
      Young London lawyer Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to conduct business with Count Dracula, a mysterious and very sinister-looking man who reveals himself only at night. When their business is finished, Dracula seems intent on keeping Harker in Transvlvania while he travels to England. Harker soon figures out Dracula is not just an ordinary man but a vampire and manages to escape only to suffer a mental breakdown, delaying his marriage to Mina, a woman Dracula becomes fixated on. To the rescue comes Van Helsing, a doctor who knows about vampires and how to kill them. But their efforts to find Dracula are hampered by the fact that Dracula has Mina under his power and is able to stay at least one step ahead of them as he flees back to Transylvania.This classic is written in an interesting style with the plot relayed through diary and journal entries of the people surrounding Van Helsing. Readers might find it interesting that Stoker based Dracula on Vlad the Impaler, a Romanian ruler during the mid 15th century known for his cruel impalements of men, women and children. The plot lags at times, especially during lengthy discourses by Van Helsing, but it's an interesting look into the period (late 19th century) and the mindsets and interactions of men and women of that time. The story is at times thrilling and suspenseful and Dracula a most evil character.
    • 5/5
      - Too Sensual to Ignore -“Dracula” by Bram Stoker relays the tales of an up-and-coming realtor, Jonathan Harker, who travels from England to Transylvania to meet a client; Count Dracula. In the classic interpretation of good versus evil, Jonathan and several of his acquaintances seek out the monster that killed one of their beloved companions. Their journey is filled with superstition, which is seen within the very first chapter of Jonathan’s diary during his journey to the Count’s home; many community members warn him of the dangers that awaits, and some even beg that he returns to his home. The book fashioned a new era within the literary field alongside such works as “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley and “The strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is a collection of reminiscences, transposed in diary entries, victrola recordings, and recounts of events throughout the time period. It dives into the parasitic indulgence so deftly hidden within Victorian London. There is a certain theme found in each of the novels I mentioned; the human form, when molested, may unleash a creature reeking with God’s defamation. I would recommend this book to readers with an interest in folklore/urban legends, gothic fiction, classics, horror novels, and the victorian perception of evil. It is definitely worth picking up if you are curious about the beginnings of these kinds of books, as well. It is an excellent subject to use for a case study of the genre.
    • 4/5
      Quite good, and surprisingly funny in spots. It really was a "technothriller" of sorts in its time.
    • 4/5
      By turns melodramatic, contrived and repetitive it is, nonetheless, a spine-tingling tale - a classic.
    • 3/5
      While I liked this book, I felt like the last half of it really dragged as Van Helsing and his group of willing accomplices made arrangements to travel to finally find and rid the world of Count Dracula. The pace really bored me at some points and I think that is the reason I could put this book down over a six-week period in favor of something else.

    Book preview

    Dracula - Bram Stoker

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