Dracula
Possibly the most famous example of Gothic novels, Bram Stoker's 1897 masterpiece is the tale of Dracula, a vampire intent on increasing his tribe. The titular character, Count Dracula of Transylvania, has his arch nemesis in Abraham Van Helsing, the doctor knowledgeable of vampires and vampirism and ardent in his quest to destroy the cursed Count. After nearly escaping death in the Count's haunted castle, Jonathan Harker reunites with his fiancée Mina and their friends John, Qunicey and Arthur, who have already been beset by the Dracula's attacks on Mina's friends Lucy. Unable to save Lucy, despite Helsing's best efforts, the group decides to eliminate Dracula forever. They undertake on a dangerous mission, as Stoker invokes history, folklore, and religious stories in this epistolary novel. The group's repeated encounters with Dracula, possible death and the worst imaginable fate, becoming vampires themselves, keep the readers on an edge throughout the novel.
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Community Reviews
I first read this when living in Dublin, after my MPhil studies. I carried around the copy for almost a decade prior; my high school boyfriend gifted it to me for Valentine's one year. Sadly, I left that copy in Dublin for another boyfriend, who lost it before we broke up (yes I'm still salty about it). I bought the Norton Critical edition to reread, and later joined the Dracula Daily group on Substack. It's become an annual tradition for me.
Bram Stoker's genius lies not so much in inventing the vampire legend, but in codifying and structuring it into a perfectly organic novel. Starting from meticulous historical and folkloric research, and drawing inspiration from the figure of Vlad III, Stoker created the definitive archetype. The book's fascination for those who already know the films lies precisely in seeing each rule being born: the repulsion for the crucifix and garlic, the necessity of the native soil, the transformation into a bat. It's like holding in your hands the original document from which every director has since deviated or drawn upon.
I’m am very glad I read this! It is definitely dense and sometimes hard to make progress. I ended up listening to most of it at 1.5x speed which I never do. That being said it was worth going through. The story being told through journals and letters is really interesting and it is cool that it incorporated in the story of why it’s done that way. I thought I knew Dracula, but now I do and let’s give it up for all the men and women in the book but especially for Mina, Lucy and Quincy! Freaking all-stars!
Disclaimer: I’m not really a fan of gothic horror nor of Vampire stories.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I was familiar with some points in the tale, (it’s hard to avoid spoilers when the book was first published over 100 years ago.)
But even so I was completely drawn into the tale.
There are some parts that drag out a little, particularly in the middle, but overall I find that Stoker’s writings feel rather ahead of his time. The characters were all colorful and dynamic, and Dracula himself is such a perfect blend of monster AND human, something I find sadly missing from many modern adaptations.
Overall I was surprised to find that I genuinely enjoyed this book. Would recommend to anyone, even if you’re not a fan of vampire stories.
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