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Dracula (1897)

by Bram Stoker

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
32,52157876 (3.96)6 / 1759
Having deduced the double identity of Count Dracula, a wealthy Transylvanian nobleman, a small group of people vow to rid the world of the evil vampire.
  1. 260
    Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (MarcusBrutus)
  2. 272
    Salem's Lot by Stephen King (JGKC, sturlington)
    sturlington: Stephen King's homage to Dracula.
  3. 251
    Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (chrisharpe)
  4. 277
    Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (becca58203, Morteana)
  5. 190
    The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (HollyMS, HollyMS)
  6. 141
    In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu (daisycat)
    daisycat: 'Carmilla' is meant to be the inspiration for Bram Stoker's story.
  7. 120
    The Vampyre by John William Polidori (Andibook)
    Andibook: Polidori's The Vampyre is one of, if not the, oldest vampire novel. His ‘gentleman vampire,’ diverging from the more zombie-like vampire of folklore, influenced the entire genre – including the famous vampire Dracula.
  8. 120
    Renfield: Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly (Ape)
    Ape: Renfield's point of view.
  9. 110
    Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Tales by Bram Stoker (Sylak)
    Sylak: Contains the deleted first chapter removed before publication.
  10. 122
    The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (cammykitty)
  11. 80
    Dracula: A Biography of Vlad the Impaler, 1431-1476 by Radu Florescu (myshelves)
  12. 103
    The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (SandSing7)
  13. 60
    Anno Dracula by Kim Newman (wertygol)
  14. 60
    Varney the Vampyre or The Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rymer (Sylak)
  15. 60
    In Search of Dracula: The History of Dracula and Vampires by Raymond T. McNally (Booksloth)
  16. 73
    Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (mcenroeucsb)
  17. 51
    The Insidious Doctor Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer (leigonj)
    leigonj: Both are adventure/ detective stories in which the heroes must battle to stop mysterious, evil, foreign antagonists striking at the heart of the British Empire.
  18. 51
    The Beetle by Richard Marsh (jonathankws)
    jonathankws: So much better than Dracula, this Gothic horror novel was published in the same year and was initially far more successful.
  19. 41
    The Dracula Tape by Fred Saberhagen (myshelves)
  20. 31
    Winterwood by Patrick McCabe (edwinbcn)

(see all 25 recommendations)

Europe (69)
1890s (20)
AP Lit (58)
100 (13)
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» See also 1759 mentions

English (538)  Spanish (13)  German (6)  French (5)  Catalan (3)  Italian (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (2)  Portuguese (Brazil) (2)  Swedish (1)  Polish (1)  Finnish (1)  Hungarian (1)  Danish (1)  Greek (1)  All languages (577)
Showing 1-5 of 538 (next | show all)
In all my years of reading I have never read Dracula, so by borrowing the book from the library I knew I would read it. There is no introduction to this classic tale of the mysterious vampire Count from Transylvania.

There was so much I enjoyed in this book. The first being the descriptions especially of Whitby. I've been to Whitby and it is one of my favourite places here in the UK. Bram Stoker stayed in Whitby and got a lot of his inspiration for the book there. The places he mentions he has very accurately described especially around the steps and the graveyard.

The story is full of gothic atmosphere, especially I felt the beginning of the book when Jonathan Harker is at Castle Dracula. I also really enjoyed the graveyard scenes when Van Helsing and others were after the vampire Lucy. I found this very creepy and what a vampire book should be like.

Being a classic I did find the book easier to read than some others such as the Bronte novels. I did however find the book very wordy. This was the case I felt when Van Helsing was talking, gosh he could go on and on. The first half of the story I really enjoyed and this held my interest for a long time. The second part of the book I did feel dragged and went quite slowly up until the end of Dracula was close.

As for Dracula himself he doesn't feature in the story much. He is one famous character in horror fiction and the genre of all things spooky, but appears more of a presence in the background.

I'm glad that I have now read Dracula, enjoyed the story, myth, folklore but found the book slow at times but full of gothic creepiness. ( )
  tina1969 | Apr 13, 2023 |
Hardcover
  Snowplum85 | Mar 18, 2023 |
It was good but dragged on a bit in some places. Still worth a read. ( )
  ilsevr1977 | Mar 4, 2023 |
This book is one of my favourite books of all time. It kickstarted by obsession with literary vampires, and it’s remained in one of my top spots for books that I love since I first read it at nineteen years old. I went as far as writing a university assignment about the novel at one point. I do have to say, however, that my opinions on the book have changed since I last read it and watched any adaptations of it.
(Speaking of adaptations, my recommendations are the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula starring Keanu Reeve, Winona Ryder and Gary Oldman; and, NBC’s Dracula which aired in 2016.)
If you don’t know what this book is about, you’re probably not the only one. Not many people know the story of the novel but are very familiar with the name. It is, after all, the first mainstream popular vampire novel although a lot of people mistake it for the first ever, which it definitely isn’t (see: Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu, and The Vampyre by John Polidori). A very interesting TED-Ed video actually covers why Dracula is so popular in the public consciousness. But we’re here to talk about the book.
The novel is told through five different narrators, four of whom appear through most of the story, while one tragically doesn’t make it past the second act of the novel. The five narrators are all involved with a mysterious Count Dracula, a man who has decided to buy property and move to England from his native Romania. This mysterious count brings with him sickness, death, and demonic creatures that terrorize London and Whitby, and the male narrators take it upon themselves to destroy him and bring him to justice once and for all, believing that he is a spirit that needs to be put to rest and they can only do that by destroying his sinful demonic self.
The book, for its time, is heavily steeped in religious sentiment, being that vampires are considered (as most Un-Dead are) to be godless creatures who are full of sin and demonic energy and must be purified in the name of the Lord. But my favourite thing about the book isn’t that it’s about vampires. The thing that strikes me about his book is its narration style.
The book is told through a series of letters and journal entries that all five of the narrators contribute, creating a wonderful web of story telling where narration goes from one person to the other very naturally. Each character obviously experiences the vampire in their own way, and so the narration comes from the person who it would be most fitting to see at that moment, considering the circumstances. It switches point of view very smoothly, with the book never forgetting that it is, at the end of the day, a compilation of journals and letters (and one or two newspaper clippings). The book never tries to turn away from the fact that it is the story of a bunch of people who are experiencing something supernatural together, and while they are trying to be brave, even the honourable Doctor Van Helsing, a man we all know in popular culture as a brave demon hunter, shows fear. The characters are amazingly human, except for one of them.
If you had asked me at twenty years old who my least favourite character in Dracula was, I would have said Jonathan Harker. I would have told you about how annoying he is, and all he does is whine and do nothing and just cry.
But reading the book now, I see that Jonathan is just very emotionally and mentally scarred after what he witnesses and is just exhibiting post-traumatic stress. He isn’t the annoying one in the book. The annoying one is Mina Murray.
Mina is, honestly, too good to be true. And not in a good way. Mina’s character completely revolves around her being this woman who is completely pure, innocent, and loving. So much so, that every single person who meets her in the book is completely enveloped with love for her and wants to protect her. All the men in this book do is talk about how amazing and beautiful she is and how they will protect her to no end and it makes me want to vomit. She is so boring and plain, and nothing about her screams ‘brave warrior’ like the adaptations have made her out to be. Mina Murray is not the feminist hero people want you to believe she is, because in all truth Mina does…nothing. Mina is just there to be sad and worried for the men around her and try to convince them to let her help and all the men do is pat her on the head and kiss her cheek and tell her she’s amazingly gorgeous and sweet and an angel on earth and that they will protect her at all costs.
Reading this book as a twenty-six year old, I wish the book was just about a bunch of vampire hunters led by Van Helsing, and not a book about a bunch of men protecting a woman because they thought that just maybe the vampire might target her next (I mean, he does, but that’s beside the point).
My final rating of this book is a 4/5, because I still love this book a lot and it will always be one of my favourites, though.
( )
  viiemzee | Feb 20, 2023 |
I mostly wanted to read Dracula because I wanted to know what were the "true" facts about Dracula vs what had modern pop culture created. I did learn a few things (like the fact that Dracula crawls down the walls like a lizard). The book itself was a little difficult and boring to read at times. There were certain parts that I wondered why they were included. On the bright side, why they were included was usually explained in a later section. Still, it made it tough to want to finish the book. ( )
  BarnesBookshelf | Jan 29, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 538 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (223 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Stoker, BramAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Abreu Baptista, Maria Olívia deTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Adams, SusanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Allen, BrookeIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ó Cuirrín, SeánTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Banville, JohnIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bickford-Smith, CoralieCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bing, JonAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bischoff, UlrikeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Carling, BjørnTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Claypole, JontyAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Cloonan, BeckyIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Corbett, ClareNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Crossley, StevenNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Cumming, AlanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Curry, TimNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Duerden, SusanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Duerden, SusanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ellmann, MaudEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Faini, PaolaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fletcher-Watson, JoEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Foley, JohnNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Frayling, ChristopherPrefacesecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Glassman, PeterAfterwordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gorey, EdwardIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hagemann, MichaelCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hildebrandt, GregIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hindle, MauriceEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Horovitch, DavidNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Humphries, TudorIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Judge, PhoebeNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kaye, MarvinIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kellgren, KatherineNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kloska, JosephNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kull, StasiTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Laine, JarkkoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lee, JaeIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lee, JohnNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Luckhurst, RogerEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Malcolm, GraemeNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Moser, BarryIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Myers, Walter DeanIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Oliver, Francisco TorresTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Parker, JamieNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pettitt, AlisonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pilo, GianniEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Reim, RiccardoContributorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rogers, DavidEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rorer, AbigailIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Schwinger, LarryIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Shallenberg, KaraNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Spencer, AlexanderNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Stade, GeorgeIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Straub, PeterIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Thorpe, DavidNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Toman, RolfHerausgebersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Valente, JosephIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vance, SimonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vietor, MarcNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Whitfield, RobertNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wolf, LeonardIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Epigraph
How these papers have been placed in sequence will be made manifest in the reading of them. All needless matters have been eliminated, so that a history almost at variance with the possibilities of latter-day belief may stand forth as simple fact. There is throughout no statement of past things wherein memory may err, for all the records chosen are exactly contemporary, given from the standpoints and within the range of knowledge of those who made them.
Dedication
To my dear friend Hommy-Beg
First words
3 May. Bistritz.—Left Munich at 8:35 P.M., on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was an hour late.
Quotations
I have learned not to think little of any one's belief, no matter how strange it may be. I have tried to keep an open mind, and it is not the ordinary things of life that could close it, but the strange things, the extraordinary things, the things that make one doubt if they be mad or sane.
No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and dear to his heart and eye the morning can be.
Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain.
I heard once of an American who so defined faith: ‘that faculty which enables us to believe things which we know to be untrue'.
Denin die Todtem reiten schnell. For the dead travel fast.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
This is the main work for Dracula. It should not be combined with any adaptation, children's version, abridgment, etc. If this is your book but you have an abridged or adapted version, please update your title and/or ISBN, so that your copy can be combined with the correct abridgment or adaptation.

6305078181 is for the 1979 movie directed by John Badham.

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Having deduced the double identity of Count Dracula, a wealthy Transylvanian nobleman, a small group of people vow to rid the world of the evil vampire.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
A rich selection of background and source materials is provided in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. Also included are a discussion of Stoker's working notes for the novel and "Dracula's Guest," the original opening chapter to Dracula. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. "Dramatic and Film Variations" focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel's unwavering appeal. David J. Skal, Gregory A. Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. Checklists of both dramatic and film adaptations are included.

Criticism collects seven theoretical interpretations of Dracula by Phyllis A. Roth, Carol A. Senf, Franco Moretti, Christopher Craft, Bram Dijsktra, Stephen D. Arata, and Talia Schaffer.
Haiku summary
Estate agent gets
It in the neck. Should avoid
Transylvania.
(abbottthomas)
Dinner at the Count's.
Should be fun. No, don't bother
to bring any wine.

(Carnophile)
Dracula could teach
Edward not to sparkle so.
He hates those books too.
(hillaryrose7)

Legacy Library: Bram Stoker

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See Bram Stoker's author page.

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Average: (3.96)
0.5 4
1 67
1.5 20
2 231
2.5 81
3 1130
3.5 371
4 2205
4.5 261
5 1769

Penguin Australia

8 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 014143984X, 0141024976, 0451530667, 0141325666, 0141045221, 0451228685, 0143106163, 0141199334

Hachette Book Group

An edition of this book was published by Hachette Book Group.

» Publisher information page

Urban Romantics

2 editions of this book were published by Urban Romantics.

Editions: 1907832521, 1907832653

Tantor Media

An edition of this book was published by Tantor Media.

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Recorded Books

An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.

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