Bram Stoker

This Norton Critical Edition presents fully annotated the text of the 1897 First Edition.

Authoritative Text, Backgrounds, Reviews and Reactions, Dramatic and Film Variations, Criticism

Dracula

The novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and a woman led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing.

mia esme hsu

‘It is only when a man feels himself face to face with such horrors that he can understand their true import.’

With an essay by John Sutherland. 'Alone with the dead! I dare not go out, for I can hear the low howl of the wolf through the broken window' A chilling masterpiece of the horror genre, Dracula also illuminated dark corners of Victorian sexuality. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on a London home, he makes a horrifying discovery. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the arrival of his 'Master', while a determined group of adversaries prepares to face the terrifying Count. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Emily

'You are early tonight, my friend.' The man stammered in reply:-

'The English Herr was in a hurry,' to which the stranger replied:-

'That is why, I suppose, you wished him to go on to Bukovina. You cannot deceive me, my friend; I know too much, and my horses are swift.' As he spoke he smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard-looking mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory. One of my companions whispered to another the line from Burger's 'Lenore:'–

oh my god?? what is he?? a vampire in the making?? stefan is that you??

Atli 💗🧚🏽‍♀️

“My belief is, doctor,” he said, “that he has eaten his birds, and that he just took and ate them raw!”

He disgusted me much while with him, for when a horrid blowfly, bloated with some carrion food, buzzed into the room, he caught it, held it exultantly for a few moments between his finger and thumb, and before I knew what he was going to do, put it in his mouth and ate it. 

“Ye don’t see aught funny! Ha-ha! But that’s because ye don’t gawm the sorrowin’ mother was a hell-cat that hated him because he was acrewk’d, a regular lamiter he was, an’ he hated her so that he committed suicide in order that she mightn’t get an insurance she put on his life.

Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make! 

did he just ddlg lucy?? red flag lmaooo. good riddance, cause wdym "little girl"?? boy byee pfft

“Little girl, I hold your hand, and you’ve kissed me, and if

these things don’t make us friends nothing ever will. Thank

you for your sweet honesty to me, and goodbye.”

Why can’t they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her, and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it.

And then, my dear, before I could say a word he began pouring out a perfect torrent of lovemaking, laying his very heart and soul at my feet. He looked so earnest over it that I shall never again think that a man must be playful always, and never earnest, because he is merry at times.

I sympathize with poor Desdemona when she had such a stream poured in her ear, even by a black man

girlhood !! but ugh men suckk. if he hurts my lucy i 

Oh, Mina, couldn’t you guess? I love him. I am blushing as I write, for although I think he loves me, he has not told me so in words.

Do you ever try to read your own face? I do, and I can tell you it is not a bad study, and gives you more trouble than you can well fancy if you have never tried it.

Tell me all the news when you write. You have not told me anything for a long time. I hear rumours, and especially of a tall, handsome, curly-haired man???

 and shows you off in front of his weird friends >>>>

‘How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! This man belongs to me! Beware how you meddle with him, or you’ll have to deal with me.’

It is nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance. And yet, unless my senses deceive me, the old centuries had, and have, powers of their own which mere ‘modernity’ cannot kill.

this is written so beautifully, i actually feel what johnny feels

I feel the dread of this horrible place overpowering me; I am in fear—in awful fear—and there is no escape for me; I am encompassed about with terrors that I dare not think of…

nay, let me warn you with all seriousness, that should you leave these rooms you will not by any chance go to sleep in any other part of the castle. It is old, and has many memories, and there are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely.

this is some godly behavior lmaoo slayy i guess 

Whenever he spoke of his house he always said ‘we,’ and spoke almost in the plural, like a king speaking.

prisoner! prisoner! locked up, can't get you off my mind, off my mind sjwjwodb

But I am not in heart to describe beauty, for when I had seen the view I explored further; doors, doors, doors everywhere, and all locked and bolted.

my intrusive thoughts would've won, i'm sorry 😭😭

A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! 

But there was no reflection of him in the mirror!

I am no longer young; and my heart, through weary years of mourning over the dead, is not attuned to mirth.

“water sleeps, and enemy is sleepless.”

okaaayy Drac!! i see you with your manicure! okaayyy

The nails were long and fine, and cut to a sharp point.

Would say one of my favourite books! Really long but so worth it. 

Selin bekkaya

definitely liked the first half more than the second half 

Essence

Dracula (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics)

Maureen

"He is finite, though he is powerful to do much harm and suffers not as we do. But we are strong, each in our purpose; and we are all more strong together."

***

Finally met Edward Cullen's great ancestor! But in all seriousness, I now understand why Dracula is the progenitor of all evils. Unlike modern-day villains that saturate mass media, this vampire has no gray area. Stoker never provides an instance wherein Dracula might merit respect because the distinction is clear—he definitely belongs to the dark side. Regarding his characterization, I find it interesting how despite his heartlessness and bloodlust, Dracula is somewhat humanized. Save for his sharp teeth and red eyes, he is depicted as an charismatic, genteel, and aristocratic man.

This book was SO long, though, and it was honestly draining to read. Some parts were overtly redundant, and I felt that the ending was quite anticlimactic. After all those pages of intense buildup, Stoker capped it off so quickly. Nevertheless, it was an entertaining and gruesome read; the author did not shy away from portraying bloodlust. I also found its epistolary rendering effective because we witnessed the story unfold through the perspectives of different characters. 

Dracula being a hallmark of Gothic fiction is well-deserved.

Rocío de la Hera

Amo fuerte, pero igual, si estuviéramos comparando, Frankenstein le pasa el trapo en todo sentido.

Paoovi

Drácula siempre será uno de los mejores títulos, el mítico vampiro de Transilvania (desde mi perspectiva) en cada lectura y aún con El Paso del tiempo se regenera.

The Penguin English Library Edition of Dracula by Bram Stoker 'Alone with the dead! I dare not go out, for I can hear the low howl of the wolf through the broken window' A chilling masterpiece of the horror genre, Dracula also illuminated dark corners of Victorian sexuality. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on a London home, he makes a horrifying discovery. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the arrival of his 'Master', while a determined group of adversaries prepares to face the terrifying Count. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Anna 

Greta Keller

I really liked the story, but found the form quite hard to get through

Lili

I understand that it’s iconic but the diary entries are sooooo tiring I mean just stick to one pov or two if you want but I got so confused in the end 

Ahsoka

Didn't know it was a series of journal entries going in, so that was a fun surprise. A lot of flowery diatribes, but tis the season. Good background for the other vampire books I will be reading soon.

Jenny Engel

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries in his client's castle. Soon afterwards, disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and a lunatic asylum inmate raves about the imminent arrival of his 'Master'. In the ensuing battle of wits between the sinister Count and a determined group of adversaries, Bram Stoker created a masterpiece of the horror genre, probing into questions of identity, sanity and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

For this completely updated edition, Maurice Hindle has revised his introduction, list of further reading and notes, and added two appendices: Stoker's essay on censorship and his interview with Winston Churchill, both published in 1908. Christopher Frayling's preface discusses Stoker's significance and the influences that contributed to his creation of the Dracula myth.

mina harker deserves just as much attention in the modern dracula/vampire/monster zeitgest as van helsing.

Acadia

Molly M

i love this book so much
i think i will read it hundreds of times before i die

"if it is to be that I must meet death at any hand, let it be at the hand of him that loves me best"



yes i get a lil tired of The Perfect Woman but hehe i love the story sm

The classic tale of the bizarre Carpathian count, who drank human blood to stay alive, and the Englishman who knew his secret.

Kiersten

Dracula (The Classic Collection)

Village folk: don’t go there, you’ll die, the devil will take you

Jonathan: mmmh damn this chicken paprikash so goood

Eugene

Village folk: don’t go there, you’ll die, the devil will take you

Jonathan: mmmh damn this chicken paprikash so goood

If you read contemporary reviews of Dracula, you'll find it was critically panned by the average reader. Some of the other names of the day considered it a sleeper classic but otherwise the real cultural value of Dracula comes from its Hammer incarnations. Which is entirely understandable, as the weight of Stoker's laborious prose prevents any sort of impression to form in the reader's mind beyond the desire to sleep -- or strangle the heroines for their stupidity. 

In some sense I wish Dracula from the page had had more of an impact than the cinematic Dracula. The heavy mustache, the fierce Stygian features...they make for a much for evocative vampiric archetype than what we've in fact been left with.

The Essential Dracula

Rebecca C Wright

This is one I skip around in just to read the annotations. Wolf is one of my favorite Dracula writers.

Tobias V. Langhoff

I recently went on a week-long stay in different parts of Transylvania, and of course chose this classic as my travel companion. It was great to visit small villages in the foggy Carpathian mountains and other landmarks mentioned in the novel while reading it. It’s a beautiful country. Most English-speaking Romanians we met had read the novel or were at least intimately familiar with it and the folkloric legend of Vlad the Impaler on which it is based, which made for some interesting discussions. I also returned home with a fair amount of mosquito bites, which I guess are kind of miniature vampires in their own right. All in all I recommend reading the book in Transylvania for an authentic experience.

Not too long ago I also read 'Salem's Lot, which is more or less a modern retelling of this classic tale. Its nosferatu character seems to succeed a bit more easily than Count Dracula does here, however; for a centuries old supernatural noble man, Dracula sure didn’t lay down fool proof plans when intending to conquer England.

The story itself is at times very gripping and exciting. It has its lull moments, however, The epistolary format is interesting, but sometimes it results in info dumps where one narrator recounts another narrator’s explanation of some events, even though we’ve already heard them from that other narrator first hand, for example. Mostly it works well and gives us insight into characters who, because of Victorian culture and customs, are described by others in only superficial and positive tones.

While Professor Van Helsing and his pupil Dr. Seward take a 19th century scientific approach to the whole matter, to the extent possible when dealing with the supernatural, it’s funny how they still remark that Transylvanian people are so extremely superstitious when it comes to vampirism, even though vampires are totally real and all the classic folkloric means of repealing them actually provably works – all the while the main cast are all devoutly Christian. Another element that clearly dates this book is how none of the characters realize that their adversary is obviously a vampire! I mean, all the signs are there. Do they not follow popular culture at all? I jest, but it’s interesting how the concepts from this book are pretty much all still present in contemporary vampire fiction. Stoker pretty much created the lore of an entire horror sub-genre single-handedly.

After contracting an eye infection in Transylvania, however, I had to finish the book as an audiobook. I picked 22543648, which has a full cast. It was pretty good! Tim Curry does a great Abraham Van Helsing (which must have been one of his final performances before suffering his stroke?). His accent is believable and he comes across as a sage old man full of wisdom. Because of the epistolary format, however, Van Helsing has as many accents as there are narrators, as he features pretty heavily in all chapters, not just the ones he narrates himself. All the narrators do a fine job – I didn’t much care for Lucy Westenra as portrayed by Susan Duerden, but I think it’s more the ditzy and naive character I dislike, and Duerden gets that across well. Simon Vance (Jonathan Harker) and Katy Kellgren (Mina Murray) in particular impressed me when they lapsed into rural British accents when narrating conversations. I wish Marc Vietor had more narrating chapters as the American character Quincey Morris, though, as the British narrators didn’t really manage a believable American drawl.

Dracula (Classic Collection (Brilliance Audio))

Ah yes, two out of the three things the British are the most afraid of - the LGBT community and Eastern Europeans <3

There were bits of the novel I really enjoyed but overall it felt so very long; it nearly put me in a reading slump and this was an audiobook. It is clear why the novel is such a key text in British literature and has provoked such enduring interest and obsession. But at the same time I cannot help but feel it could have been more tightly plotted out and written. I know Stoker did a lot of research on it which makes me think he just got a little carried away writing it.

I am glad I picked this up as a full-cast audiobook as this made the novel that much easier and more interesting to follow.

For me, worth noting is also that the female characters often seem to be done a disservice in the discussion around the novel, I feel. I found both Lucy and Mina to be interesting characters and I believe I enjoyed their entries the most (alongside Jonathan's).

Ah yes, two out of the three things the British are the most afraid of - the LGBT community and Eastern Europeans <3

There were bits of the novel I really enjoyed but overall it felt so very long; it nearly put me in a reading slump and this was an audiobook. It is clear why the novel is such a key text in British literature and has provoked such enduring interest and obsession. But at the same time I cannot help but feel it could have been more tightly plotted out and written. I know Stoker did a lot of research on it which makes me think he just got a little carried away writing it.

I am glad I picked this up as a full-cast audiobook as this made the novel that much easier and more interesting to follow.

For me, worth noting is also that the female characters often seem to be done a disservice in the discussion around the novel, I feel. I found both Lucy and Mina to be interesting characters and I believe I enjoyed their entries the most (alongside Jonathan's).

I didn't finish it because it was so slow and perhaps it's my expectations that led me through the pages unsatisfied. Dracula wasn't even 

in most of the book. The suspense was dragging and thus, DNF'd. 

Lana Andrea

I didn't finish it because it was so slow and perhaps it's my expectations that led me through the pages unsatisfied. Dracula wasn't even really in most of the book. The suspense was dragging and thus, DNF'd. 

Ayla Hawthorne

goodbye to jonathan harker from my emails <3

reading this in chronological order was interesting. i'll never forget the solid six weeks of radio silence interspersed with ship logs as all the crew slowly disappeared.

i literally don't care about any of these people's diary entries

Virginia L

Brutto rapporto quello con Dracula. Molto più ridondante e solenne di quel credevo.

Kath

If you want to know more about Van Helsing and the other characters who were lost in the re-interpretations and adaptations of this novel into other forms of media, then give this a try. Surprisingly, this isn't a tale of the world's most infamous vampire - its focus is on the consequences of his existence: how his victims lived through life after coinciding paths with the titular creature.

Also, I really love Renfield. It's a shame Stoker did him like that.

Marie

Well, actually not as bad as I remember from 10 years ago. It's certainly very verbose and the truly interesting events are few and far between. But it does a good job at establishing the mysterious atmosphere.

Dracula Authoritative Text, Backgrounds, Reviews and Reactions, Dramatic and Film Variations, Criticism

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