Book Review: Dracula – by Bram Stoker

 

Book: Dracula, a mystery story

Author: Bram Stoker

Original Publisher: Archibald Constable and Company (UK)

Original Date: May 26, 1897

Genre: horror, gothic, mystery

Pages: 408

Price: Kindle currently $0.00 on Amazon; paper $10.51 (sale)

My Rating: WOW! Read this book! Captivating, exciting, spooky.

 

For some time I had considered reading Dracula, but not being interested in the modern vampire and zombie movies and television programs I avoided it until a year ago.  I decided to read some of the classics and chose this one because I had seen the Dracula movie long ago and wanted to be able to say I had read the book. I found it on YouTube and began by listening to it, but then found it for free on Kindle so finished it that way – which was better for me.

This story so captivated me I had to keep reading. Bram Stoker’s writing style and beautiful use of language is thrilling to read, and the characters he created made for such a good story. The only problem was that I had to put the book down when it got late into the evening. It freaked me out a little! Not that I believe Dracula to be real but Stoker’s brilliant writing and settings really spooked me! I couldn’t read it after dark. Now that is good writing. I am so glad I read this book.

The story is written like a diary but with each person writing from their own perspective. If that sounds boring or as if it would be hard to follow, it isn’t at all. It makes it very interesting. The reader wants to keep reading to know what is going on since last hearing from each character, where is Dracula in his plotting, who else is going to meet with trouble at his design, how are they going to defeat him.

Points of interest:

• Other titles Stoker had for this book were The Dead Un-Dead, and The Un-dead, before deciding on Dracula
• His main character was called Count Wampyr until Stoker came across the name Dracula while researching for the book
• Dracula is an old story, but not quite the original vampire story since Stoker borrowed some details from a couple of previous authors, but he built on that and made it better.

Vampire stories told now could not be what they are without Bram Stoker’s Dracula. If you think you know about vampires from what is currently written, do yourself a favour and read Dracula for the ‘real’ story, even though it’s fiction. 🙂  I don’t believe you will be disappointed.

You can find Dracula listed on my BUY THE BOOK!

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂