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Dracula

by Bram Stoker, Scott McKowen (Illustrator), Arthur Pober (Afterword)

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 289,601 ratings · 9,206 reviews

A timeless classic to be read over and over

Fearful monster Count Dracula is on the loose in London and under the cover of darkness, nourishing himself on the blood of the living. When some brave avengers unite to stop him, they fear that they too will be turned into foul monsters of the night.

Dracula, one of the oldest and best-loved vampire stories, reaches up from th...more

Hardcover, 412 pages

Published September 7th 2010 by Sterling (first published May 26th 1897)

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Sep 26, 2012 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-favourites, classic-literature, want, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, fantasy, re-read, thriller, university, fantasy-sci-fi-challenge, classic-challenge, gothic, books-with-films

Dracula: the very name instantly brings to mind visions of vampires, stakes, garlic and crucifixes. But when I bothered to read the novel I realised, sadly, how twisted modern vampire fiction has become.

Vampires are not meant to exist as heroes. Go back a few hundred years and men believed truly that the vampire was a real immortal, cursed to quench his undying thirst with a living mortal's blood. The very idea of a blood drinker inspires the very image of a villain in my mind. And that is what...more
Dracula: the very name instantly brings to mind visions of vampires, stakes, garlic and crucifixes. But when I bothered to read the novel I realised, sadly, how twisted modern vampire fiction has become.

Vampires are not meant to exist as heroes. Go back a few hundred years and men believed truly that the vampire was a real immortal, cursed to quench his undying thirst with a living mortal's blood. The very idea of a blood drinker inspires the very image of a villain in my mind. And that is what the titular character of this novel is.

I say novel, but I could also write that this is a collaboration of journals, letters and papers. For that is how Bram Stoker chose to fashion his famous novel (in epistolary form). And the different viewpoints through each journal serve to create suspense which suits the gothic tone of the novel perfectly.

In all it is a macabre novel that serves to make the reader reflect upon good and evil. The vampire to me is nothing more than an indication of man's own cursed nature and that unless he is delivered he must suck life from others around him. Ultimately only the righteous can destroy the darkness that serves to drain life.

Additional thoughts after my first re-read (this is like the appendix of a book - which you skip if you want):

The first thought I had upon re-reading this were: oh I see the annotated version's notes show some awesome things! For instance I could see the contradiction in how all along the characters had spoken of how organised their notes were and then Stoker himself made errors in logic and with the dates to indicate that perhaps the narration was not so reliable. Which interestingly is how the book ends: with the narration indicating that it did not matter who believed their convoluted story.

My second thought was that I could see all the references to other texts. Hamlet, Homer and the various poets of the time (there was some reference in an essay attached to the story that perhaps the older version of Dracula - when he has gone without blood - was based on Oscar Wilde much as how Robert Louis Stephenson based his Long John Silver on William Henley)

My third thought was that I could see why I loved this book the first time I read it. The image of a bestial vampire like Dracula sucking the life out of victims to continue his un-dead existence is so metaphoric for the very idea of evil. Evil can be seductive, it can look appealing but ultimately it leads only to a sort of un-dead experience in which you seek to gain satisfaction and purpose through draining others of their vitality. And in this case it is an evil which can only be driven out through holy means (it is interesting that there are many allusions to the Bible in the actual figure of Dracula - is he meant to be represented as a sort of anti-Christ spirit?)

My fourth thought is that this is an incredible classic that has to be read to be understood. The little flaws in it make it more appealing and humanised if anything and the tragic nature of its story causes its readers to be both appalled by the villain (who is unforgettable) and to feel sorrow for the victims. As mentioned above: vampires are not meant to be messianic figures (the true message of Dracula I think) but they instead represent the very opposite of holiness and virtue*. While Dracula is not the first vampire novel it is perhaps the greatest as it shows the vampire as a truly malevolent and brutal figure (not a sparkly heartthrob but a killer). As The Lord of the Rings inevitably altered the idea of the fantasy genre so too Dracula undeniably changed the idea of the vampire.

A later fifth thought is about religion and Dracula. I read recently in a book about fantasy how Dracula 'blasphemes' against Christianity. I disagree. I think the book reveals an aspect of what sin does to man in the aspect of the un-dead vampire. The idea that a man under a curse is doomed to suck the life out of others. Because blood is symbolic of life and ultimately life is what Dracula takes because, well, he's a selfish old devil. To be honest I don't care about the reinterpretations, the interpretations of this book. It's a solid horror story that can be read by anyone.

*used in Dracula in its true archaic form to indicate a link to spirituality(less)

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Oct 12, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, classics, horror, classic-horror, currently-re-reading

I believe this isn't the edition I read "first" but I did have it. (and now I've actually changed that picture as apparently Goodreads lost the right to use that particular cover. I wanted a cover picture there so I went with this one...oh well.)This is an amazing book. I've read reviews by those who disagree and reviews by those who hated the format. But I was swept up in it the first time I read it as a teen and have been every time since.

My advice is don't worry about all the psychological b...more I believe this isn't the edition I read "first" but I did have it. (and now I've actually changed that picture as apparently Goodreads lost the right to use that particular cover. I wanted a cover picture there so I went with this one...oh well.)This is an amazing book. I've read reviews by those who disagree and reviews by those who hated the format. But I was swept up in it the first time I read it as a teen and have been every time since.

My advice is don't worry about all the psychological baggage that has been tacked on over the years...and please don't confuse the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula" with the actual plot, story, and characters in the book. It doesn't remotely resemble the book and the title has galled me since that movie came out. The book is far, far better.
I believe it's worth noting that a lot of the psychological baggage that has been attached to this volume probably tells you more about the ones attaching it than the book.

This book creates a horror atmosphere that has been copied constantly over the years but never quite captured again. You'll be experiencing with Harker the castle and what he faces there. Battling the Count in England...and the terror of the ship's crew that carried his earth boxes across the sea, all will stay with you. Again let me urge you no matter how well any movie has been done, if the movie Dracula is the only one you know, you haven't met the proto-vampire who resides in this book. He/it still walks through literature and even more in the dark fears that lurk in back of our minds when we're alone on a stormy night or we have to walk alone past that old rundown graveyard (not cemetery) where the city has never gotten around to installing those street lights.

This isn't Twilight, nor is it Buffy the vampire Slayer, there aren't any friendly, helpful vampires here. There is quite probably a reason (or maybe more than one) why we wish so badly to laugh at this book. It does what it does very, very well...and that's be frightening.

This book is a classic that has been around for over a hundred years..there's a reason for that.

"We" just read this in the Supernatural Readers group...and I still like it. LOL (less)

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Mar 06, 2013 Paquita Maria Sanchez rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

This was neither as bad as I assumed it would be or (nor?) as good as I eventually started thinking it could be. Much as I love receiving real mail, whether it's a letter, present, post card, or even just a book I ordered (Shucks, for me? Thanks, me!), the epistolary form just doesn't generally jiggle my jolly parts. This is especially true when a lot of what you're reading is the journals of a bunch of people you'd never even want to have passing conversations with, Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Sewa...more This was neither as bad as I assumed it would be or (nor?) as good as I eventually started thinking it could be. Much as I love receiving real mail, whether it's a letter, present, post card, or even just a book I ordered (Shucks, for me? Thanks, me!), the epistolary form just doesn't generally jiggle my jolly parts. This is especially true when a lot of what you're reading is the journals of a bunch of people you'd never even want to have passing conversations with, Dr. Van Helsing and Dr. Seward being obvious exceptions. Regardless, this is one of those books that fall under my largely arbitrary and completely self-imposed "Must Read Before I'm Dead" list. In the midst of being asphyxiated by Proustian self-reckoning, I decided to take a break from being challenged and read something light. You know, like a Gothic novel about an immortal Vlad Tepes and his baby-eating whore-beasts.

It's funny what pop culture'll do to ya. I'd heard over and over again that this was like the Book of Genesis for the whole Twilight romancing the undead thing that weirds me out anew with each internet-drenched day. I took this "Bram Stoker's Hawt Vampires Makin' Tender Love" idea at face-value because I've seen the Coppola flick. Remember? A lovelorn Oldman, a sexually-repressed and reincarnated Ryder, absinth, slow-dancing in a castle with candles and string-music and shit, vampire nipple-sucking, orgasm-inducing illnesses, etc.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong again. Turns out, the movie's entire romantic twist on the story was really just artistic license on roids, and all Mina is to Dracula is a leisurely Sunday brunch. There is straight-up NUUUUTHING saucy here, unless you count Mina and Jonathan Harker's relationship which is about as sexy as a box of Quaker Oats. I don't mean to insinuate that I was disappointed by this difference between book and screen as, needless to say, I have yet find myself reaching for the 19th-century literary fiction shelf when I feeeeeel like maaakin' lurrrrve. Still, I think it's a distinction which inquiring minds may appreciate knowing before committing to this occasionally exciting but largely sloggy story. The good parts were great, but the last 60-ish pages-- appropriately set on a bunch of fucking boats just inching their way along the river--moved so slowly, became so tedious that I just felt like screaming "Christ Almighty, Dracula, would you just eat these fuckers already?" If you want to know whether he does or not, you'll have to suffer through the end like I did. The first half is fun, though! (Twss!!)

Oh, and how dare you keep Tom Waits locked up in a cage. That's it, I'm calling your mother.(less)

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Feb 01, 2013 Emma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, books-from-my-yoof, i-like-you-a-normal-amount, ace

I first read Dracula as a teenager and it had a big effect on me. Stoker's suave monster fascinated me and sparked an interest in all things gothic and supernatural. After finishing the book for the first time I promptly ditched CS Lewis, bought some kohl eyeliner, decided to dress in black for the foreseeable future and devoted myself to studying Dracula. I don't think this book left my side for the following year.

Good-times.

Looking through my annotated notes in my copy from the 90s, the enth...more

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Mar 18, 2010 Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Vampire fans

Shelves: started-but-put-down, classic-horror, favorites, owned-copy, epistolary-narrative, vampire, occult-detective, heroine-i-adore, hero-to-die-for

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I highly recommend reading this to any fans of the vampire genre. It is a commitment and investment for the reader, but it is worthwhile. While Dracula is not the 1st vampire novel/story, it has firmly established many of the conventions of the vampire genre. I must say that no movie version I have watched does this justice. Bram Stoker's Dracula might have been a somewhat faithful rendition, but it took unforgivable liberties with the relationship between Mina and Dracula, and downplayed the de...more

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May 13, 2013 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

I want to make a confession. This is the first vampire book I've ever read. I've never been interested in vampires, ghosts, werewolves and other manifestations of superstition and the supernatural. Indeed, for as long as I can remember, I've avoided horror - gothic and otherwise - in both literature and film, basically because I hate being scared. So I've not read Dracula before. I've never seen a Dracula film. The closest I've come to watching anything featuring vampires on television was an ep...more
I want to make a confession. This is the first vampire book I've ever read. I've never been interested in vampires, ghosts, werewolves and other manifestations of superstition and the supernatural. Indeed, for as long as I can remember, I've avoided horror - gothic and otherwise - in both literature and film, basically because I hate being scared. So I've not read Dracula before. I've never seen a Dracula film. The closest I've come to watching anything featuring vampires on television was an episode of Doctor Who a couple of years ago.

Given that I've consciously avoided all things vampire-related, it was a surprise to realise, as I listened to this audiobook, just how much I knew about the species. If I and not Jonathan Harker had been sent on legal business to Transylvania, I would have known that peasants making the sign of the cross and giving me garlic when they became aware of my destination was not a good sign. I also would have known that if a man dressed in black with a pale face and sharp canine teeth protruding over blood red lips opens the door of his isolated castle and invites me to come inside, it would probably be wise to turn tail and run. That I know this without having voluntarily exposed myself to vampire lore is a testament to the pervasiveness of Dracula as an icon of popular culture.

This makes me wonder how the average reader reacted to Stoker's tale when it was first published in 1897, given that the characters and the story came to them freshly minted, as it were.* My guess is that they must have been properly terrified. All the more so because they probably wouldn't have found the melodrama and verbosity of the Victorian sensationalist novel faintly amusing, as do so many contemporary readers.

Well, I wasn't properly terrifed by Dracula, although I did find the narrative quite suspenseful. At least, I did until towards the end, when the hunt for Dracula slowed down to the speed of Victorian-era public transport. And then the climax, when it finally came, was over in a flash. The over-the-top melodrama made me roll my eyes from time to time and I found the verbosity a little trying, even though as a general rule it's a feature of Victorian literature which doesn't particularly bother me. More than once I found myself wishing that they would stop talking and just get on with it.

Overall, though, I found a lot more to like than to dislike in this novel. I particularly like the expanded epistolary format, which uses not only letters, but diary entries, memoranda, a ship's log and newspaper articles. It provides an interesting way of telling the story from the perspective of multiple characters. Admittedly, the device has its weaknesses. For example, the newspaper articles are not particularly convincing and the explanation for why various characters record the minutiae of their lives - including conversations set out vebatim - in times of great danger and stress, feels rather forced.

I'm glad I listened to this particular audiobook edition. It's a full cast narration, which includes well-known narrators Simon Vance and Katherine Kellgren and actors Tim Curry and Allan Cumming. They're all very good, even though none of them make Dr Van Helsing sound Dutch. But then the syntax and grammar Stoker used in creating Van Helsing's character is not that of a Dutchman speaking English, so I don't suppose the vaguely Eastern European accent the various characters give him is that much of a problem.

Overall, this was lots of fun. It hasn't exactly converted me to vampire fandom, although I'm thinking about reading its predecessors, Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla and John Polidori's The Vampyre: A Tale. Not anytime soon, though. For now I'll happily go back to avoidng horror.

*I know that Dracula wasn't the first vampire novel, but it hadn't been preceded by that many. (less)

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Apr 24, 2009 Martine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british, film, gothic, nineteenth-century

'Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely. And leave something of the happiness you bring!'

These are pretty much the first words spoken to Jonathan Harker, one of the heroes of Bram Stoker's Dracula, upon his arrival at Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania, just minutes after a nightmare journey through the landscape of gothic horror: darkness, howling wolves, flames erupting out of the blue, frightened horses. Within a few days of his arrival, Harker will find himself talking of the Count'...more 'Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely. And leave something of the happiness you bring!'

These are pretty much the first words spoken to Jonathan Harker, one of the heroes of Bram Stoker's Dracula, upon his arrival at Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania, just minutes after a nightmare journey through the landscape of gothic horror: darkness, howling wolves, flames erupting out of the blue, frightened horses. Within a few days of his arrival, Harker will find himself talking of the Count's 'wickedly blazing eyes' and 'new schemes of villainy' and have some hair-raising encounters with the man who is now the world's most famous vampire: 'The last I saw of Count Dracula was his kissing his hand to me, with a red light of triumph in his eyes, and with a smile that Judas in hell might be proud of.' Several adventures involving sharp teeth, mirrors, garlic, crucifixes, bloody-mouthed corpses and big stakes will ensue.

The above quotations should make it abundantly clear what kind of book Dracula is. It's sensation fiction, written nearly half a century after the heyday of that genre. It's a cross between an epistolary novel, a detective novel and a save-my-wife story, and it's full of scares, horror and disgust, all described in a lurid tone that befits the subject: the living dead. Or the Un-Dead, as the book's other hero, my countryman Van Helsing, calls them.

Sadly, Van Helsing is one of my main problems with the book. While I love his heroism, his 'Let's-do-it' attitude and his unceasing struggle for Mina's soul, I find him entirely unconvincing as a Dutchman. I wish to God (with a crucifix and everything!) that I could switch off my inner linguist and appreciate the story for its narrative qualities rather than its linguistic aspects, but Stoker has Van Helsing indulge in so many linguistic improbabilities ('Are you of belief now, friend John?') that it quite took me out of the story, again and again and again. I'm aware this is not a problem that will bother many readers, but I for one dearly wish Stoker had listened to some actual Dutchmen before making the hero of his story one. Then perhaps he also would have refrained from making the poor man mutter German whenever he is supposed to speak his mother tongue. ('Mein Gott' is German, Mr Stoker. I mean, really.)

Linguistic inaccuracies aside (there are many in the book), Dracula has a few more problems. For one thing, the bad guy doesn't make enough appearances. Whenever Stoker focuses on Dracula, the story comes alive -- menace drips off the pages, and the reader finds himself alternately shivering with excitement and recoiling in horror. However, when Dracula is not around (which is most of the second half of the book), the story loses power, to the point where the second half of the book is actually quite dull. In addition, the story seems a little random and unfocused. Remember the 1992 film, in which Dracula obsesses about Mina Harker (Jonathan's wife) because she is his long-lost wife reincarnated? That conceit had grandeur, romance, passion, tragedy. And what was more, it made sense. It explained why Dracula comes all the way from Transylvania to England to find Mina, and why he wants to make her his bride despite the fact that she is being protected by people who clearly want him dead. In the book, however, Mina is merely Jonathan's wife (no reincarnation involved), a random lady Dracula has sunk his teeth into, and while this entitles her to some sympathy, it lacks the grand romantic quality the film had. I guess it's unfair to blame an author for not thinking of an improvement film-makers later made to his story, but I think Stoker rather missed an opportunity there.

And then there's the fact that Stoker seems to be an early proponent of the Robert Jordan School of Writing, meaning he takes an awful lot of time setting the scene, only to end the book on a whimper. The ending to Dracula is so anticlimactic it's rather baffling. Did Stoker run out of paper and ink? Did he want to finish the story before Dracula's brides came and got him? I guess we'll never know.

Still, despite its many flaws Dracula is an exciting read (well, the first half is, anyway), and Stoker undeniably left a legacy that will last for centuries to come. In that respect, Dracula deserves all the praise that has been heaped on it. I still think it could have been better, though. Much better.(less)

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Apr 19, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read a hundred so-called "classic" books for the first time, then write reports on whether or not I think they deserve the label

Book #13: Dracula, by Bram Stoker (1897)

The story in a nutshell:
To best understand the storyline of Dracula, it's important to imagine yourself as a...more

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Oct 12, 2010 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2010-reads, gothics, spookies

Rating clarification: 4.5 stars

Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely. And leave something of the happiness you bring!
Sounds like something fine living maven Martha Stewart would say, doesn't it? Or perhaps the Persian poet Omar Khayyam? Well, you'd be wrong on both counts, as this lovely little welcome speech is from none other then the Count of all counts: Dracula.

I'm sorry it took me so long to read this book. Gotta admit that after the Epic Fail that was Frankenstein, I was leary of pi...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spooky-ookums, novels

If I was Bram Stoker I’d remake the old Melanie hit – remember this one?

Look what they done to my song, ma
look what they done to my song
well it's the only thing that I could do half right
and it's turning out all wrong ma
look what they done to my song

Which the Count would have sung as

Uite ce au facut sa ma cantec, mama
Uite ce au facut cintecul meu e singurul
lucru care i s-ar putea face jumatate
dreptate si e intorcandu-se in toate regula mama
uite ce au facut sa ma cintec

Reviewing Dracula in...more If I was Bram Stoker I’d remake the old Melanie hit – remember this one?

Look what they done to my song, ma
look what they done to my song
well it's the only thing that I could do half right
and it's turning out all wrong ma
look what they done to my song

Which the Count would have sung as

Uite ce au facut sa ma cantec, mama
Uite ce au facut cintecul meu e singurul
lucru care i s-ar putea face jumatate
dreptate si e intorcandu-se in toate regula mama
uite ce au facut sa ma cintec

Reviewing Dracula in this twilight age of loin-thrustingly pert young vampettes and vamparistas is like extolling the sexual allure of Clara Bow and Jean Harlow.

Dracula was the first “grown up” book I ever read. Hey, 12 year old PB, good choice! It made my pulse pound and my skin horripilated madly. But I do not think this would happen to a modern reader. Poor old recycled Dracula, rewritten, cartooned, parodied, Buffyfied, sliced, diced, crimped, carved, and ripped off in every one of a million ways, undead you were and undead you still are, if only as a Halloween costume and a footnote to an essay about Stephanie Meyer.

Given all of that, and given the high Victorian never use one word where a bucketful will do style of Mr Stoker, I still think it's worth five of my stars. It seethes with that wonderful sexual hysteria the Victorians loved writing about, from Wuthering Heights to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. They couldn't mention anything directly so they did their best with linguistic nodding and winking, and much mention of purity, and chasteness and its opposite unchasteness. Bosoms were okay, anything beneath waist level was absolutely not, until you got to shapely ankles and well-turned feet. So you can see they were gagging for it, and the writers were ferociously finding metaphors for writing about sex; and Bram Stoker found vampires. The strong sick pall of sexual dread which suffuses Dracula like a London pea-souper is seduction. This is what Stoker wants to write about - seduction and sexual enslavement, or, why do good girls fall for such very bad men? The Count is the embodiment of all seducers. He comes around at night and he gets into your fiance's bedchamber, so naturally you have to drive a big phallus right through his heart. I get that. Bram Stoker is practically frothing about all of this.
Bram Stoker invents most of the trappings of vampires right here and throws in a handful of the most outrageous scenes (three beautiful young female vampires in the dead of night overheard squabbling about who should get the baby they have got in the bag they're holding up; three men all giving one woman a blood transfusion using only a rubber hose; the Count scrabbling up a castle wall as fast as a man could run, all great stuff).

I say read Bram Stoker, read Let the Right One In, and step delicately around Twilight.(less)

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Jan 11, 2013 Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: smilingdamnedvillain, horrifié, undeadandmonstrous, better-than-i-thought, classics, 1001, 501, 19th-to-20th-cent, a-little-noir

I read this in the Frankfurt International Airport during a five-hour layover. In retrospect, it was fitting because I was pretty much among the living dead, operating on close to 20 hours of no sleep after being kept awake the entire flight from the US to Germany by my goddamn seat refusing to lean back for the first half of the trip, and then by a goddamn crying baby for the last half. It was a bright and early morning when I mercifully stepped out of the Lufthansa jet, and I was abnormally pi...more

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Nov 15, 2010 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, horror, 2010, classics

Now here's a novel that is perfect reading for autumn, and added a delicious tremor to the chill air and overcast sky, leaf-littered ground and rotting plants. Which is interesting, considering it's largely set over a long summer.

The story begins with Jonathan Harker, a young lawyer, travelling to Transylvania at the request of his company's client, Count Dracula. The previous lawyer, Renfield, had some kind of breakdown and retired from the business (otherwise known as, being locked up in an in...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: speculative-fiction

I've never been a huge goth/horror fan. I suppose werewolves and undead and all that are okay, as long as the heroes get to smack them good before the story's over. But if it gets too scary, I don't like it. I don't like being seriously scared, I guess. Suspense, that's great, and adventure, but not horror.

Anyway, I really loved this novel. I was a little leery at first, for the reasons mentioned above, and also because of the sometimes association of vampires with sex. I wanted to read it becau...more I've never been a huge goth/horror fan. I suppose werewolves and undead and all that are okay, as long as the heroes get to smack them good before the story's over. But if it gets too scary, I don't like it. I don't like being seriously scared, I guess. Suspense, that's great, and adventure, but not horror.

Anyway, I really loved this novel. I was a little leery at first, for the reasons mentioned above, and also because of the sometimes association of vampires with sex. I wanted to read it because I wanted to see the source material that many modern vampire stories come from ("Van Helsing", undead in D&D, "Vampire Hunter D", vampires in other video games and movies, etc).

The novel is written as a series of diary entries by the different protagonists, which allows for a lot of emotion and different points of view, even if sometimes you wonder, "If all this stuff is really happening to you, how do you have time to write 50 pages in your diary?". Though the story started out a little cheesy (probably because it's been used over and over as the source for most vampire stories), after the first section, I was riveted.

It has that characteristic of horror stories where you want to shout at the main character, "Idiot! Don't open the window! It's so obvious you're going to be attacked!", but the naivete on the part of the good guys is believable. Van Helsing, the German doctor/lawyer/scientist/archaeologist/gunman is pretty awesome, and the married husband and wife act refreshingly real. I wasn't expecting to find realistic interpersonal relationships in a Victorian horror novel, but I was refreshed by how people, most of the time, were nice and reasonable and polite, letting most of their emotions be private, unless they feel really strongly. I guess I relate to that a little more than the present trend of just telling everybody everything that you feel.

It's kind of funny, the back of the novel talked about how it was about sexual power and seduction, and the introduction was basically an essay on how it was all about sex, but there was actually no sex in the novel at all. Yes, I agree that there are some undertones relating to sex (kind of obvious, since Dracula seems to only choose young female victims), but that's not the whole point of the novel. Deconstructions like that that ignore the whole point of the novel make me mad.

It was also interesting to see how all the characters, at one point or another, questioned their sanity, and you kind of wonder if they are really just making this all up. But, if so, it's a pretty good shared hallucination.

Anyway, if you like adventure stories, and are curious as to what The Real Dracula (tm) is, or just want a book that you will stick to like a Wacky Wall Walker until you finish it, I recommend it.(less)

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Mar 13, 2012 Henry Avila rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Children of the night what music they play". Jonathan Hawker hears those words from Count Dracula, in Castle Dracula ,in Transylvania.What started out as a simple real estate deal by an English solicitor and a foreign nobleman,becomes a blood sucking nightmare. Jonathan is imprisoned by the Count.Three strange, but beautiful women appear in his room looking not quite human.When Dracula arrives also, they fade away....Next day the Englishman can't decide if what he saw last night was real .The t...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Paul marked it as to-read-novels · review of another edition

Oh wow, this majestic volume arrived just the other day and is utterly magnificent, quite dractastic. I have reviewed Dracula-the-Novel elsewhere and I'll be gladly reviewing Dracula-the-New-Annotations when I can get to it (there is a small but urgent tranche of books to read before I can get to it).
Why New? Well, in 1975 there was a previous Annotated Dracula by a different guy, a Mr Wolf (I kid you not). That is also a handsome volume which I have. But this one is a completely different thin...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Sunny in Wonderland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1305-read

November 8, 2012
Happy 165th birthday, Mr. Stoker!

September 12, 2012
I was recently reading another book written from multiple perspectives, and it reminded me of this book. And then I realized that it was several years ago that I read Dracula - back when I got my first e-reader - and so I never actually wrote a review about it.

I'm still not going to write a proper review, because it's been too long since I read it and I won't remember the details. But, for my own benefit in the event that this bo...more

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Jul 20, 2007 Eric Althoff rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

All cliches were once new. Yet even in Bram Stoker's day, vampire lore had already been around for centuries (indeed, Stoker plundered earlier, though more forgotten, writers on the subject). It is all here in "Dracula": the dark and stormy night, the castle, the funny Eastern European accent, the sexualized nature of vampirism. We've seen it so many countless times by now that we forget that the horror of it all was once fresh...and still is.

"Dracula" remains fresh. Told as an epistlery through...more

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Nov 26, 2010 F.R. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’ll be honest, I’ve only actually read ‘Dracula’ once before – when I was twenty or so – and didn’t really think much of it. Jonathan Harker’s opening narrative seemed to me, then, slow and uninvolving and I believe I thought the rest of the book not much of an improvement. One of the joys of art – be it books, films or music – is that you can come back to something with fresh eyes at a later point in your life and appreciate it in a whole different way. ‘Dracula’, this time around, has been a...more I’ll be honest, I’ve only actually read ‘Dracula’ once before – when I was twenty or so – and didn’t really think much of it. Jonathan Harker’s opening narrative seemed to me, then, slow and uninvolving and I believe I thought the rest of the book not much of an improvement. One of the joys of art – be it books, films or music – is that you can come back to something with fresh eyes at a later point in your life and appreciate it in a whole different way. ‘Dracula’, this time around, has been a fantastically entertaining surprise. So much so that I wish I could go back to my twenty year old self, peel back his skull and try to work out what the Hell he was thinking.

Written in 1897, the book can be seen as very much part of an English ‘fin de siècle’; art created at the end of the glorious Victorian age which nevertheless reveals anxiety about the world around it. ‘Dracula’ actually sees the old and the new come together, with a member of the aristocracy working hand in hand with gentlemen of the professions (doctors, a lawyer), as well as an American gentleman, to stop a threat facing London. The Upper Classes and the new Middle Classes joining so harmoniously together without comment on their distinctions, is something quite modern for the Victorian novel. (The Working Classes also put in an appearance, although they are pretty much illiterate and drunk, however they do recognise their betters. Other writers would create books for them). There are also new fangled inventions like the phonograph, and the great wonders of transport created in the Victorian age are put to great use.

And yet, there is a constant threat of the unknown. A visitor from a country at the far edge of Europe reaches in and disrupts the harmony of this secure world. He is something beyond the great achievements of science, a creature who is old and bloody and threatens to take this civilised and ordered world back to the dark ages. He is also decadently sensual, having no respect for the morals of vulnerable young women. Evidently this is the type of monster who needs to be stopped, but can even the greatness of the Victorian age stamp him out?

Undoubtedly Stoker did his research into Victorian folklore, as his knowledge is smeared across the pages. Indeed there are numerous scenes of gore and violence which stand up even now (particularly the fate of Lucy in the graveyard) and it all builds to a genuinely exciting chase sequence. Like ‘Frankenstein’, it isn’t perfect: the character of Dracula himself vanishes to the background a little too much; some of the melding together of the differing narratives is extremely clunky; and, once Mina is chosen by Dracula for his prey, would these people really not suspect what was happening? However, I will write every one of those off as quibbles. My twenty year old self was wrong, ‘Dracula’ is a scary and thrilling read, which still deserves to stand as the Daddy of vampire fiction.
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Aug 02, 2012 Gwen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1000-book-challenge, fantasy-science-fiction-candy, literary-spinach

I think I have something of a thing for epistolary novels. The conceit that the scenes of this book were transcribed from the characters' own personal journals, letters, and even phonograph recordings, and the mention of Mina transcribing the materials of the novel from shorthand being part of the plot were really nice touches.

There are some things which stretch credulity of this being a series of real letters and journal entries, however. Such as the idea that the characters would write down wo...more I think I have something of a thing for epistolary novels. The conceit that the scenes of this book were transcribed from the characters' own personal journals, letters, and even phonograph recordings, and the mention of Mina transcribing the materials of the novel from shorthand being part of the plot were really nice touches.

There are some things which stretch credulity of this being a series of real letters and journal entries, however. Such as the idea that the characters would write down word for word quotations of various persons speaking with a heavy accent as a phonetic spelling of what the accent sounds like, in shorthand. Or the idea that Mina or Lucy, while tired and weakened from loss of blood, would be able to write some of the longer entries that they seemed to be capable of. Or that a person beset by wolves in a camp would think to be recording impressions of what the snowfall looked like in their narrative. But I like the idea in concept.

The first hundred pages of the novel were very good. I was a bit inclined to question why Harker was ignoring the somewhat blatant warning signs given to him by the people he met on the way. I mean, the moment that creepy carriage pulled up, I'd probably have turned around and gone home. But I have to keep in mind it was his first job in a new position in a conservative firm, so I could maybe see why he felt a fire under his feet, because we've all had that feeling with a new job, that we don't want to screw this up, right? Once he got there, he seemed to catch on pretty quickly that things were not right and did do a decent job at trying to escape.

Then, the part where Dracula comes to England in the middle of a storm at sea was probably the best prose in the entire book.

The second hundred pages are where the novel really starts to drag. Mina's friend Lucy is slowly being drained dry by the relocated Count, and Dr. Seward's patient Renfield seems to be suffering bouts of madness whenever his vampire master comes around. The irritating part about this section is that, while the people witnessing the odd changes in their friend/patient's behavior spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what is wrong with them, we've already been informed a good deal about the voyage of Dracula, so there's no suspense for the reader about what is happening, and this section of the plot idles in place while the health of the afflicted characters gets cyclically better, then worse.

I had too many questions about this part of the plot. Why did Dracula keep coming after Lucy when Mina and the others keep making it so difficult for him to feed on her? He seems to have a his eye on few other women in town who are probably easier targets. Why, once Van Helsing comes along and recognizes the signs of a vampire attack, did he not propose to move her to someplace safer, maybe someplace far, far away from Exeter, possibly taking her ill mother with her? Even though Mina was not aware of the existence of vampires, why did she still seem to be so blasé about so many of the important, unusual details she keeps noting in her journal night after night, like, oh, say, "Why is there so often a bat that keeps flapping steadily outside of my friend's window every night while she sleepwalks over to sit with it? Isn't it weird that I saw a man leaning over her in the graveyard one night, and I caught another glimpse of him around at sunset on another occasion?"

You know, things a normal person would quickly write, "That's really weird, and maybe I should be very worried, especially since my friend is also acting weird and looks ill." I guess what I'm trying to say is watching unaware characters fail to respond for a period of time when you already know what's really going on is frustrating. And what gets me is that later on, when Mina herself starts looking pale every evening, everyone, who by this time knows very well about Dracula's true identity, is chalking it up to stress until he pretty much attacks her in front of them. :facepalm:

The action does pick up in the third act, and there are some very satisfying moments when the characters discover things and act on them, but there's also a lot of filler in the form of long exposition, repetition of information, details about stretches of travel where little important is actually happening, and so on. I admit I found myself skimming a lot through this part of the book because I was eager to get it over with at, and my paltry 2 star score reflects my impatience with the latter two-thirds of the novel.

I think I'd have liked to give the first 100 pages 4 or 5 stars, because they were definitely worth reading, with some nice prose and storytelling. For the rest of the book, I'd think reading a Cliff's Notes synopsis would do just as well, considering how verbose and drawn-out it is. I was disappointed that the storytelling did not hold up until the end, because it was quite good up to a point.

At least now I can say I've read the original vampire best-seller. Without it, we would just be up to our knees in werewolves and zombie apocalypses instead.(less)

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Nov 04, 2011 Terence rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Gothic horror fans; vampirophiles

Shelves: horror-gothic, audio-books

I first read Dracula in the tenth or eleventh grade; I still own the Signet paperback edition (which makes it almost 30 years old). It started a love affair with the vampire that had me reading some really crappy stuff in my late high school/early college years. It also had me reading some very good stuff - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Suzy McKee Charnas, Les Daniels, etc.

When I saw that one of my libraries had it in a Playaway version (read by Robert Whitfield), and I was looking for something to list...more

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Oct 03, 2011 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

This mighty volume should stand apart from all the thousand editions of Dracula because of its great beauty and because of the many interesting, witty, alarming and plain bonkers annotations which would the the main reason it's called The Annotated Dracula.
In 2008 an even more annotated edition was published, by some other people entirely, and that too is gorgeous and devoutly to be requested as a Christmas present. It's called The New Annotated Dracula, to distinguish itself from this one.
So,...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Yomna hosny rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this up out of obligation, I confess. I didn't expect it to hold my attention but it did!

The story begins when Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania on business with Count Dracula. And pointedly ignores several signs that seem to point him in the opposite direction. He becomes Dracula's prisoner as he slowly begins to uncover the horror of his situation.

When you read this book, keep in mind that people in 1897 were not as vampire saturated as we are. So the things you might expect fro...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this book for sale at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, CA for a great price in late September and decided to take the Dracula challenge. It is a large textbook style edition, filled to the brim with annotations and more reference material then you would ever need about the the world that is, Dracula. The vampire myth had already been established to readers by the mid 1890's but this was the first time the world was introduced to the Count. Not sure what to expect, I jumped in with reckless...more I found this book for sale at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, CA for a great price in late September and decided to take the Dracula challenge. It is a large textbook style edition, filled to the brim with annotations and more reference material then you would ever need about the the world that is, Dracula. The vampire myth had already been established to readers by the mid 1890's but this was the first time the world was introduced to the Count. Not sure what to expect, I jumped in with reckless abandon and traveled through the fog and darkness into the castle.

The book is told as a series of journals, retelling the experiences of it's characters. We start with Jonathan Harker, a young lawyer coerced see the count to negotiate a property purchase in London. You see the locals have gotten wise to the Count's manipulating and destructive ways so he needs to expand his reach to entice unsuspecting victims. What follows is a tail of bleakness and woe unparalleled to any other reading experience I have had outside of Demons. Poor Jonathan suffers the utmost by way of psychological torture by the Count who relentlessly draws suffering to the people he loves most.

Multiple characters points of view are explored, who's journals tell of their investigation into the horrific behavior they begin to see exhibited by the people around them. Of course their investigation leads to the inevitable conclusion that you must stab evil through the heart then chop it's head off. Some of the characters are more interesting than others. I particularly enjoyed the Dr. Steward and Dr. Van Helsing sections because they seemed to always propel the narrative, which can be a bit slow at times.

It's hard to give this story anything but a perfect score because it truly lives up to the hype and established many of the myths we now hold true about the bloodsuckers we love. Not sure this particular edition is worth reading for anyone not interested in a complete historical retrospective on this character but it's information was quite helpful in giving context to an era I was not that familiar with. It was the perfect October companion but I'm happy to have escaped the clutches of Dracula... for now. (less)

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Jul 09, 2008 Concannon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: srs-bsns-aka-literature, classics, vampires, own

[Please note that this is not so much a review as it is a collection of my various thoughts upon finishing the book.]

Okay, so, here's the thing. I was just browsing through other reviews, and most of them start with, "I don't usually read horror novels..." or something to that degree. But I feel like Dracula isn't really horror, even though it is categorized as such. Classically it is, of course it is. It's a prime example of a Gothic novel. But never at any point while I was reading it was I ho...more [Please note that this is not so much a review as it is a collection of my various thoughts upon finishing the book.]

Okay, so, here's the thing. I was just browsing through other reviews, and most of them start with, "I don't usually read horror novels..." or something to that degree. But I feel like Dracula isn't really horror, even though it is categorized as such. Classically it is, of course it is. It's a prime example of a Gothic novel. But never at any point while I was reading it was I horrified. I'm sure part of this is due to being steeped in the modern genre of horror, slasher movies and their dime store paperback equivalents - I've been desensitized to the subtleties of a novel over a century old. The most distressing thing I encountered in reading was the description of Dracula himself, and that was only enough to make me curl my lip in distaste.

Though really, I gotta say, man am I glad that the hairy palms thing never found a home. Because ew.

Anyway.

Something else that I find interesting about Dracula is its epistolary frame. It allows for close observance of the events within the novel, while not promising anything regarding the ending, and I give Stoker props for that. But I feel that such a frame is also an ideal way to explore characterization, which Stoker does not do. I understand that the point of Dracula is not the individual characters, but I vaguely resent the fact that he has this fantastic way to dig into the workings of these different people and he doesn’t utilize it. He could go into their different methods of coping with the situation, what they’re specifically afraid will happen, whether they feel this is retribution for something or if it’s just fate, and so on.

Instead, they’re like cookie cutter people. One of them will present an idea, and everyone else will chorus, “Jolly good!” and back the idea one hundred percent. I think there’s one occasion when Godalming suggests something, and Van Helsing immediately reprimands him, at which point Godalming says, “Oh, yes, you’re right, I was being a dumbass, I shan’t have an original idea ever again.” THIS IS NOT HOW PEOPLE WORK. Van Helsing is a strong leader, yes, and can rally them to him. But they’re not going to behave like sheep up until that point – they should get angry, they should argue. All we get are sad, tired people; did Stoker forget that when people are backed into a corner, they fight?

Despite my nitpicking, it’s a good book and definitely worth reading.
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Nov 17, 2011 jzhunagev rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Horror fans!

Recommended to jzhunagev by: the "Voice"

Shelves: award-winning-best-seller, classics, dark-chest-of-wonders, fiction-contemporary, from-book-to-film, horror, drama, mystery, romance-love-story, supernatural, 2011-reads, historical-fiction, suspense

More Than Bats, Castles, and Fangs
(A Book Review of Bram Stoker's Dracula)

Conceivably, no other single work in horror fiction has had a greater impact than Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Published in 1897, Stoker’s vision of the vampire, based from a Romanian folklore, has experienced repeated resurgence from time out of mind and had been imitated countless times in books, films and television (even video games) making Count Dracula probably one of the most iconic villains apart from Satan. As the Undea...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, gothic, own-book-form

4.5 stars

It's easy to see why this book made such an eternal impression. From the gothic ambience of the fog, castle, wolves, the Victorian language and repressed times melding with the twisted foreign dangers, the courageous men surrounding their "protected" and somewhat sheltered women, Dracula wasn't the first vampire book but it was the more influential and memorable.

The first half left me riveted. There were genuinely eerie moments, which is surprising to me since it's 18th century literatu...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Fatima rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, crime-mystery-thriller

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm sorry to say that I found major disappointment in this book. More and more disappointment as I went on reading. When I first started reading, I was extremely intrigued and excited about finally reading this classic. I thought I would find suspense, mystery and intrigue in every dusty corner, every angle, every scenario. But man, was I wrong!
It was suspenseful at the beginning.. I was exceptionally curious about Seward's patient, Renfield. I found that he had a psychological depth. He intrig...more I'm sorry to say that I found major disappointment in this book. More and more disappointment as I went on reading. When I first started reading, I was extremely intrigued and excited about finally reading this classic. I thought I would find suspense, mystery and intrigue in every dusty corner, every angle, every scenario. But man, was I wrong!
It was suspenseful at the beginning.. I was exceptionally curious about Seward's patient, Renfield. I found that he had a psychological depth. He intrigued me so and I wanted to know more about him. More about his weird beliefs and mysterious, whacko actions. But the overly descriptive, overly drawn out writing ruined even that for me. The plot is in-arguably genius, of course. It's one of the most imaginative, kick-ass plots I've ever come across. But Stoker just didn't deliver. I found the writing incredibly *emphasis on the 'incredibly'* drawn out. I have read a few books of the sort, but not one of which was as drawn out as this one! I found myself yawning during the parts that would've normally sent a chill up and down my spine. Sad, isn't it? The plot is an incredible masterpiece.. It just saddens me to a great extent that hardly any justice was done to it.
Then, I started to notice something that I found very disturbing. Not really surprising, for it still exist, and will hardly ever cease to do so.. Still, it was disturbing. You see, I was looking forward to this book very much. Even though I knew almost everything that would happen, since I knew the whole story. I kind of wish that I didn't know anything about it, though. I'd like to Read the whole book with fresh, brand new eyes and a mind completely blank and unknowing to the word 'Dracula.' But unfortunately, that can not be done! Back to the point. The thing I found very disturbing, was... *Dun dun dun*... An amount of sexism that I didn't think I would find. I mean, I knew there would be a certain amount of sexism. (Of course there would be, if I thought otherwise I would've been labeled disillusion.) But the amount that I found.. The amount that I gradually started to notice... It was extremely disheartening and appalling. It was so out-right. The female characters were so weak. They both were described as innocent and pure. Especially Mina. I always liked the character of Mina. I thought her to be tough and brainy. She is, but she was given zero slack or opportunity. She was shut out and excluded from everything because her puny, weak, little girl brain would burst into flames if she were to undergo any significant amount of stress. Because she, unlike her male counterparts, can not cope or deal with monsters or any amount of evil. Why? Because she has a puny, fragile little girl heart. Well, that puny girl ended up solving everything, and aiding 'the band of male heroes' to victory. She was the one who found out almost everything. She collected the information and put together every hint and clue. But still, she was completely excluded, for her own protection, allegedly. Mina has so fucking much potential! She could be the heroin and take over the whole story. But she was given no shot. I kept waiting for her to burst out and take action.. Let shine through her inner kick-ass warrior! But that Jonathan.. That whiny, spineless little twerp. He was the one described as being courageous when all he does is whine while Mina keeps up a brave face. What I think is.. Stoker made Mina the perfect representation of a perfectly obedient, submissive woman. Because I think that's what he believed to be a perfect woman. A woman who does all the work, and helps with everything.. But submits and gives the credit to her male counterparts in the end of the day. I guess I shouldn't blame him. For she was supposed to be a Victorian, domestic woman. But still, you can see why I find this whole thing incredibly unjust, right? (You fucking better! Har, har.. I kid.) No, in all seriousness. At one point Mina says, "I went to bed when the men had gone, simply because they told me to." That is not just submission, but crazy, unwavering submission. She obeys and submits without giving it a second thought in the previous line, as if she has zero free will or mind of her own to make her own decisions. This happens throughout the book!
Mina was constantly patronized by the men. She, of course, agreed and thought it perfectly fine and nothing but the truth, which is the saddest part. They kept constantly saying things like, "too great a strain for a woman to bear." The repetition of such lines was so frequent that I thought it possible for me to lose my mind. *Melodramatic*
Oh, and Lucy. I actually liked her much better Un-dead. She was no more the pure, innocent, submissive little girl. Stoker made that sound bad, and characterized her as a cold-blooded demon, which I admit she was.. But that doesn't change the fact that he made a connection between the strength that she gained, and evil. You see where I'm going with this?
I never really thought of Dracula in such depth. I never thought twice about the stereotypical female characters. Never even imagined there would be an amount as that which I found of sexism. I didn't really hate the book. I appreciate it, but I was extremely let down by it. I expected greatness.. I expected there to be some blowing of minds! But, this goes to show that a lot of things are over rated. One should try to limit one's expectations and not let them run wild.(less)

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Apr 10, 2013 Christine Grant rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For the life of me I can't understand why anyone would like this book. It is one of the most tedious reads I've ever read! First I should say that after reading Twilight I though I'd better read the original, really just for fun.

The first part of the book is exciting, and shows promise of a good story. Count Dracula is evil, secretive, and clever. Jonathon Harker, from London on business to Count Dracula, visits him in Transylvania. He sees first hand what the Count is like and that part is inte...more

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Apr 11, 2008 Werner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Any fan of vampire fiction, or of supernatural fiction in general

Shelves: classics, supernatural-fiction, vampires

Actually, I read Dracula in a different edition than the Norton one (and so can't comment on that edition's critical features). I'd read a dumbed-down kid's adaptation of it as a child; but when I was in the process of writing my own vampire novel, I wanted to read the real thing, just to experience the roots of the literary tradition. I'm glad that I did!

Of course, Stoker's isn't the first treatment of the vampire theme in literature, though it became the first one to have world-wide popularity...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Dhawa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a literary genius. It is dark, has romance, an underlying love-story, is layered, much better than the tweenage vampire novels of today. It takes guts to read.

Although, some say the style of the writer is a bit hard to follow, I think it suits the storyline as is. For the story is hard to follow and has layers of information that can only be discerned by reading and re-reading. A HP style of adventurous writing would certainly do it no justice.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a...more

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About Bram Stoker

He was born Abraham Stoker in 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent – then as now called "The Crescent" – in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Abraham Stoker and the feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely. Stoker was the third of seven children. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Clontarf Church of Ireland parish and attended the parish church (St. John the Baptist lo...more He was born Abraham Stoker in 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent – then as now called "The Crescent" – in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Abraham Stoker and the feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely. Stoker was the third of seven children. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Clontarf Church of Ireland parish and attended the parish church (St. John the Baptist located on Seafield Road West) with their children, who were both baptised there.

Stoker was an invalid until he started school at the age of seven — when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."

After his recovery, he became a normal young man, even excelling as an athlete (he was named University Athlete) at Trinity College, Dublin (1864 – 70), from which he graduated with honours in mathematics. He was auditor of the College Historical Society and president of the University Philosophical Society, where his first paper was on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society".

In 1876, while employed as a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote a non-fiction book (The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, published 1879) and theatre reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theatre led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. He also wrote stories, and in 1872 "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock.

In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager (at first as acting-manager) of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker got the chance to travel around the world.

The Stokers had one son, Irving Noel, who was born on December 31, 1879.

Bram Stoker died in 1912, and was cremated and his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders Green Crematorium. After Irving Noel Stoker's death in 1961, his ashes were added to that urn. The original plan had been to keep his parents' ashes together, but after Florence Stoker's death her ashes were scattered at the Gardens of Rest.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker (less)

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avg rating	preview: Dracula Goodreads rating: 3.92 (289601 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8385426-dracula?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328767044l/8385426.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8385426-dracula?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Dracula by Bram Stoker[/url]

Dracula

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