Dacre Stoker

What if the dark tale of Dracula was not just a flight of fancy for author Bram Stoker? What if the origins of the story came from Stoker's own life? Dracul is a prequel of sorts for the classic novel, spinning a dark tale of death, evil and monsters.

OMG....I love this book! This isn't a re-telling of the Dracula story, but an imagining of the origins for the vampire story. Bram Stoker left diaries and notes behind, detailing mysterious happenings revolving around a Stoker family servant, show more Nanna Ellen. The story switches back and forth in time, alternating from Bram's sickly childhood in Ireland to his facing down unimaginable evil 12 years later as an adult. I was completely engrossed in this dark tale from beginning to end. Easily as horrific and well-written as the classic Dracula, this new tale of the undead is darkly disturbing and mesmerizing.

Like the classic Dracula, this book relies mostly on psychological horror, rather than more in-your-face type scary. The dark and bleak atmosphere, horrific discoveries and mysterious occurrences build suspense, revealing just a little bit of the truth at a time. The pacing is perfect. I don't usually like books that skip back and forth in time, but for this story it worked perfectly. Jumping from Bram and his sister discovering secrets about a beloved family servant to his facing evil lurking outside his locked, barricaded door years later just made the suspense stronger. The characters are awesome. The writing is descriptive, and the horror....chilling.

Full stars from me! Loved it!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Penguin via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** show less

Clearly, the authors thought the story was clever and engaging, and they were mostly right. The twist on the OG story of Dracula and its author is clever, and this book has been on my TBR pile for some time. Stoker's Dracula is one of my all-time favorites, and I've read it numerous times. In 6th grade, my first oral book report was about Dracula. (My teacher wouldn't let me do a book report on The Exorcist and I'm pretty sure my mom got a phone call.)

The chase and fight scenes are good, show more particularly when they stick to the established mythology. Ellen's story, which is the heart of the tale, is fantastic and would have made a great novel on its own.

The problem was the engagement.

Verbose and overwrought, the story suffers from too much information that's simply not needed. The descriptions of dirt are a great example of this. Once is enough.

Then there are the characters who strangely have 21st Century values. They are all slotted neatly into their modern fairy-tale squirrel holes as enlightened good-guys/girl bosses or throw-back baddies/uneducated idiots. I suppose I should have expected this.

So, this one was a mixed bag for me. I was glad to come to the conclusion, but it wasn't a waste of time. I liked it, but I would have enjoyed a solo tale about Ellen more. show less

I wanted to like this book. Oh, you have no idea how badly I wanted to like this book. And I do, sort of, kind of, in a funny way.

I think I would like it if it was a movie and all the names were changed. Because that's what it read like: a movie. I could see each scene in my mind, the dramatic moments, the cinematic special effects... But to me, that wasn't what the original Dracula was about to me.

The characters, the original Band of Heroes, have fallen onto hard times. This is completely show more understandable; they went and fought a monster that shouldn't exist and had to kill a dearly beloved friend. I can see how the authors decided to make certain characters have certain vices. But some of them seemed to have just changed fundamentally. I don't like what they did with Mina (but then again, after reading the original novel, I didn't think there was that separate romantic interest there. Coppola's movie was the first time I saw that and I did a double-take). Or with her husband, Jonathan.

I think the biggest insult was what they did to Van Helsing and Dracula himself. I could never see the expert vampire hunter succumbing to what he did. It just doesn't seem right, the way his story ended. I would have rather him have a heart attack.

And I believe I read it in a review here, they did Twilight-ify Count/Prince Dracula. The impression I got of him in the original novel was completely overturned for this dramatic antihero who really never meant to do any harm that wasn't justified. He lost everything about him that made him effectively scary and it was replaced with something I could see girls swooning over (I rather liked swooning over the dark scary one, thanks ;)). And if his origins were supposed to be secret, then the authors failed. As well as their big "shocking secret" at the end.

I found the book was just without the subtle and gothic-y horror that made Dracula so famous. It took it down an action-packed, romantic, hyped up novel that really, to me, reads like it was written to go straight into film, sometimes being too sparse. It's not that it wasn't worth reading - I did finish in a day - but it was not what I think I expected (nor what a lot of Dracula-fans did). show less

Initial thoughts: “Goddess bless the Stoker family. Bram’s Dracula story is a gift that keeps on giving. There is nothing I did not love about this collaboration between Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker. As a prequel, it has everything I love about the original Dracula story without messing with it. As a stand-alone, it is cleverly and convincingly portrayed to be the real story behind the story with the reasons for the 102 missing pages of Bram’s original manuscript abundantly clear. show more Creepy, intense, gory in the right places, great characters – it is the perfect blend of storytelling elements. Plus, like his previous novel, the Stoker family authorizes this prequel. I am most definitely a fan!”

Now: I stand by my gushing. Dracul is a genuinely entertaining and scary story that works for both Dracula fans and those who may have never read the original story. Personally, because I am a superfan, I love the idea of Bram Stoker meeting vampires and that his personal experiences are what fueled his novel. I love that a distant relative attempted to fill in the gaps of the missing manuscript. I love the “Is it true?” aspect of the authors’ notes. I especially love how formidable Bram’s sister is. Seriously, that girl did not let convention dictate anything she did. I adore how Mr. Stoker and Mr. Barker turned on their head the characteristics of the original cast of characters and played with all of the roles. Plus, I had way too much fun with the little nods to the original; it felt like my own Easter egg hunt. Still, I do think that someone who is not as familiar with the original tale will find Dracul intense and enjoy it just as much as I did. show less