Dracula

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).

awesome book from the very begining to the very end if you like this book and enjoy it check out these other novels iv read and enjoyed as well

Dracula The Un-Dead

'Salem's Lot

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones; City of Ashes; City of Glass

Bram Stoker's Dracula still holds up after all these years. Sure, there are all the other vampire novels out there, but why not read one of the original and one of the best? I'd originally read this in high school, but re-read it recently (yikes - 22 years later!) and I was impressed how well it was written, and how well the epistolary form works here. Stoker used journal entries and letters to create this story, and this works not only to move the story forward, but also is an interesting way to paint the different characters as they talk of their interactions with Dracula. Anyone who is a horror fan really ought to read this. Heck, anyone who wants to study the craft of writing ought to read this, too!

Joel Arnold
author of Fetal Bait Apocalypse; 3 Collections in 1

I'm not a thriller fan and don't think I've ever watched the dracula movie all the way through so it's not surprising that I don't like this book. I'm just 80% through with this book and every page is an effort. I try to read one chapter every day (about 10 pages), but it's very easy to put down before I get to the end of the chapter. It is wordy, repetitive, boring. I hate the half-page sentences and page-long paragraphs. On the plus side, it does have a story that follows logically and doesn't have daisies blooming in January. My perception is that the theme is good vs. evil although I'm aware that there are other views. The book is sprinkled liberally throughout with bits of wisdom, and it contains numerous Biblical references. The good guys are bound by a sense of duty. Count Dracula is evil personified. I think editing it and cutting half of it out would improve it a great deal. However, it is a classic and has lasted more than a century so who am I to judge.

Didn't enjoy reading this book. I don't understand all the fuss made of it over the years.