Dracula

Title: Dracula

Author: Bram Stoker

Pages: 350

Genre: Horror

Synopsis:

Dracula (1897) begins with a young solicitor, Jonathan Harker, on his way to Transylvania to meet Count Dracula, who is buying property in London. Harker endures a nightmarish stay at Dracula’s Castle, which foreshadows some bizarre events in England.

First, a huge wolf-like creature is seen to leap from the deck of a Russian ship which has run aground on the shores of Whitby, its captain dead at the helm and its crew mysteriously absent; and then Lucy – a friend of Harker’s fiancée, Mina – develops a strange wasting disease and red marks on her throat.

Vampire expert Professor Van Helsing convinces Harker and his friend that if Mina is not to have the same fate as poor ‘undead’ Lucy, Dracula must be caught and ritually killed.

(from the back cover of Dracula)

My Thoughts:

This book is a classic so I can’t get too mad but this book really gives me mixed feelings. This book is written very interestingly as instead of it being just one continuous story, this story is written from people’s diaries, letters, newspaper clippings. It almost has a found footage feel to it, which definitely helps to stand it apart from other books.

The first part with Jonathan Harker in Transylvania was gripping as there was a sort of mystery as to who Dracula is and what are his intentions. The part with Mina afterward did kind of lose me a bit, but when I realized that it was all an important part of the story during Lucy’s sleepwalking scenes.

There were definitely some creepy and memorable scenes in this book such as when Dracula climbs the walls at night and the shipwreck scenes. I also liked the lore about vampires, and this book definitely establishes many tropes in vampire-related stories: garlic and crucifixes can ward off vampires, vampires are more powerful during the night and weaker during the day (little known fact Dracula can go out during the day as seen in one part of the book!). The association with mists, bats, and wolves is also established in this book.

There’s quite a bit that I didn’t like about this book though. One thing I felt at times it was quite repetitive such as the same mysterious thing that happens more than once night after night, Van Helsing’s speeches about Dracula being evil and that our protagonists are on the side of good. It kind of got repetitive quite fast.

While I do think Dracula started being a mysterious character and definitely turns into a very scary evil antagonist by the end. The main issue I had though with Dracula as he wasn’t in the book enough. I know he definitely causes most of the trouble and manipulates the events in the book, he does most of this though off-screen. I just wish we had a few more scenes with Dracula to help establish his character more.

My last criticism I have for this book: is what was up with that ending? The climax just felt rushed. When I got to the last 20 pages, when they were still chasing Dracula, I was starting to get nervous as there was still a lot to resolve. The climax was completely rushed and did not feel satisfying at all. The ending was disappointing to me.

As it is a classic, I definitely do recommend you at least give this book a chance as there definitely are some really creepy scenes. And with it being the month of October and Halloween it is the perfect read for this time of year. Give the book a try for yourself!

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