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Stoker - Dracula: English Edition
The primary vampire novel in a special hardcover edition with silver foil embossingThe figure of Count Dracula is one of the most famous literary characters in the world. Ever since the vampire novel "Dracula" by Irish writer Bram Stoker was published in 1897, it has been hard to imagine literature and film without it. Cinema, in particular, quickly discovered vampires for itself in a visually stunning way - but this has not detracted from the genuine qualities of the literary original. To this day, Stoker's novel about the young lawyer Harker and the demonic undead Dracula is an eerily beautiful reading experience.
»The strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in him..« Van Helsing in Dracula
»The strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in him..« Van Helsing in Dracula
481 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 24, 2024
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15 people want to read
About the author
Bram Stoker
2,660 books5,878 followersIrish-born Abraham Stoker, known as Bram, of Britain wrote the gothic horror novel
Dracula
(1897).
The feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely Stoker at 15 Marino crescent, then as now called "the crescent," in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bore this third of seven children. The parents, members of church of Ireland, attended the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, located on Seafield road west in Clontarf with their baptized children.
Stoker, an invalid, started school at the age of seven years in 1854, 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, a normal young man, even excelled as a university athlete at Trinity college, Dublin form 1864 to 1870 and graduated with honors in mathematics. He served as auditor of the college historical society and as president of the university philosophical society with his first paper 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.
People cremated the body of Bram Stoker and placed his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders green crematorium. After death of Irving Noel Stoker in 1961, people added his ashes to that urn. Despite the original plan to keep ashes of his parents together, after death, people scattered ashes of Florence Stoker at the gardens of rest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
The feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely Stoker at 15 Marino crescent, then as now called "the crescent," in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bore this third of seven children. The parents, members of church of Ireland, attended the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, located on Seafield road west in Clontarf with their baptized children.
Stoker, an invalid, started school at the age of seven years in 1854, 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, a normal young man, even excelled as a university athlete at Trinity college, Dublin form 1864 to 1870 and graduated with honors in mathematics. He served as auditor of the college historical society and as president of the university philosophical society with his first paper 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.
People cremated the body of Bram Stoker and placed his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders green crematorium. After death of Irving Noel Stoker in 1961, people added his ashes to that urn. Despite the original plan to keep ashes of his parents together, after death, people scattered ashes of Florence Stoker at the gardens of rest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
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October 12, 2025Omne ignotum pro magnifico — everything unknown seems magnificent.
This phrase perfectly captures the feeling I had while reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 🦇
I spent the summers of my childhood and youth in the Carpathians. I even had the chance to visit Dracula’s castle — the real one, tied to Vlad the Impaler. Last year, I returned to the Carpathians once again, and to my surprise, the atmosphere there hasn’t changed: it’s still a little mystical, a little unsettling. People don’t joke lightly there. Against the backdrop of these personal memories, Stoker’s novel struck a particularly deep chord.
I’m a sensitive soul, so I only read the book before sunset. And with good reason: in Dracula, time of day is almost a character of its own.
Even my accidental ritual — spilling tea from my thermos onto the pages — felt like a kind of blessing, as if the book needed to be purified after such grim revelations.
After finishing the novel, I realized how much the world around us has changed. Vampires are no longer terrifying — they’ve been romanticized, sexualized, turned into teenage heartthrobs. But Stoker’s Dracula is no Edward Cullen. He doesn’t leap through trees or sparkle in the sun. He is ancient evil, something alien and terrifying, something against which humanity can only unite, pray, and fight. 💔
This is the power of the novel — it brings us back to the roots of fear.
Stoker masterfully balances between logic and mysticism: telepathy, hypnosis, faith, and science walk hand in hand. The line between what’s rational and what’s unknowable is constantly blurred.
Gender roles in the novel are drawn very clearly. Men act, protect, make decisions. Women embody purity and virtue; their role is spiritual support.
And yet, the novel is surprisingly touching. There’s a lot of attention paid to platonic relationships, tenderness, male friendship, and mutual support.
Stoker shows that men can feel deeply — they can cry, fear, care. Their emotional range is not as narrow as a toothpick — it’s real, and it’s profound. ❤️🔥
Mina is one of the most fascinating characters. Intelligent, composed, sincere — and yet her potential is limited by the era she lives in. Stoker seems almost regretful about this. Feminism was only just beginning at the time, but through the lines of the text, you can sense that he respects women’s intellect and strength — even if he can’t fully free them from the constraints of his time.
🩸Dracula is not just a story about a vampire. It’s a story about the mind battling the unknown, light fighting darkness, and humans confronting fears they cannot fully understand.
It’s a novel about time, boundaries, faith, and love — not the shallow kind, but something deep and tragic.
The world has changed. But the essence of fear, the desire to understand and to survive — remains.
And that is why Dracula still lives.
This phrase perfectly captures the feeling I had while reading Bram Stoker’s Dracula. 🦇
I spent the summers of my childhood and youth in the Carpathians. I even had the chance to visit Dracula’s castle — the real one, tied to Vlad the Impaler. Last year, I returned to the Carpathians once again, and to my surprise, the atmosphere there hasn’t changed: it’s still a little mystical, a little unsettling. People don’t joke lightly there. Against the backdrop of these personal memories, Stoker’s novel struck a particularly deep chord.
I’m a sensitive soul, so I only read the book before sunset. And with good reason: in Dracula, time of day is almost a character of its own.
Even my accidental ritual — spilling tea from my thermos onto the pages — felt like a kind of blessing, as if the book needed to be purified after such grim revelations.
After finishing the novel, I realized how much the world around us has changed. Vampires are no longer terrifying — they’ve been romanticized, sexualized, turned into teenage heartthrobs. But Stoker’s Dracula is no Edward Cullen. He doesn’t leap through trees or sparkle in the sun. He is ancient evil, something alien and terrifying, something against which humanity can only unite, pray, and fight. 💔
This is the power of the novel — it brings us back to the roots of fear.
Stoker masterfully balances between logic and mysticism: telepathy, hypnosis, faith, and science walk hand in hand. The line between what’s rational and what’s unknowable is constantly blurred.
Gender roles in the novel are drawn very clearly. Men act, protect, make decisions. Women embody purity and virtue; their role is spiritual support.
And yet, the novel is surprisingly touching. There’s a lot of attention paid to platonic relationships, tenderness, male friendship, and mutual support.
Stoker shows that men can feel deeply — they can cry, fear, care. Their emotional range is not as narrow as a toothpick — it’s real, and it’s profound. ❤️🔥
Mina is one of the most fascinating characters. Intelligent, composed, sincere — and yet her potential is limited by the era she lives in. Stoker seems almost regretful about this. Feminism was only just beginning at the time, but through the lines of the text, you can sense that he respects women’s intellect and strength — even if he can’t fully free them from the constraints of his time.
🩸Dracula is not just a story about a vampire. It’s a story about the mind battling the unknown, light fighting darkness, and humans confronting fears they cannot fully understand.
It’s a novel about time, boundaries, faith, and love — not the shallow kind, but something deep and tragic.
The world has changed. But the essence of fear, the desire to understand and to survive — remains.
And that is why Dracula still lives.
November 11, 2025
Liked:
- very great atmospheric writing (the storm scene captivated me)
- dramatic
- humorous moments/one liners
- Mina is a very compelling character
- the ending was beautifully written
Disliked:
- the period typical sexism
- very great atmospheric writing (the storm scene captivated me)
- dramatic
- humorous moments/one liners
- Mina is a very compelling character
- the ending was beautifully written
Disliked:
- the period typical sexism
May 5, 2025
Igual no es buena idea escribir esto, justo después de haberme terminado el libro, sin dejarlo marinar en la mente, pero pienso que es valioso escribir las primeras impresiones.
Sin duda, es un libro denso, largo y muy descriptivo. Así de primeras tiene un claro interés en describir con detalle las relaciones románticas, casi platónicas entre los personajes.
Si bien puedo comprender las críticas que se le hace a causa de su larga extensión, no las comparto. Me parece un libro hijo de su época, un claro ejemplar de la novela gótica del siglo XIX (de la poca que he leído). Considero que si el lector afronta esta novela, sabiendo esto se disfrutará mucho mejor. Si te esperas una novela de terror moderno, con muchísimas escenas muy explícitas, sangrientas y desagradables, no es la novela adecuada (en cuyo caso te llevarás una decepción). Las escenas explícitas y brutales están presentes evidentemente, pero colocadas de forma que son muy codiciadas durante la lectura.
Quizás lo que más me ha gustado, que es yo creo lo que más crítica la gente es que Dracula aparece poco. El libro empieza potente, con una aparición mítica y legendaria de Dracula en su castillo. La tensión llega a un máximo casi con la presentación del villano, que decae rápidamente después. Precisamente este cambio de ritmo en la novela, hace sentir al lector como que realmente ha viajado y está lejos de Transilvania. Al ser una novela epistolar, el lector sabe tanto como sus narradores, la presencia de Dracula se percibe casi en primera persona por el lector, que juega muy al favor del personaje ya que le otorga muchísimo misterio y misticismo al personaje (que es toda la idea ya que es un personaje que encarna la superstición).
Al ir narrando tan lentamente los acontecimientos, centrándose, tanto en las impresiones y pensamientos como en los sentimientos y emociones de los personajes, la presencia de Dracula conforme se va acercando es muy real. Se te comunica siempre indirectamente, a través de testimonios de terceros, entradas de periódico etc (si se ha escapado un lobo o han descrito a un hombre delgado pálido con nariz aguileña que trae mal rollete, sabes que es Dracula, sabes que se acerca, sin realmente enfrentarte a él hasta muy dentro de la novela).
Después de haber comparado este libro con las películas, me doy cuenta que el libro nunca tuvo el componente romántico en Dracula como tal. El Conde es la personificación del mal, es un monstruo incapaz de amar. En las películas se le humaniza un poco más. (Que no me parece mal, pero cambia considerablemente al personaje, que da más miedo en el libro, aunque sí que es verdad que no se explica muy bien por qué atormenta específicamente a Lucy y a Mina, o por qué se toma las molestias en llegar a Inglaterra). Molan mucho también las escenas de terror más crudo, sobre todo el bautismo del Vampiro, es una escena que se me quedó grabada, y que viene muy repentinamente.
En conclusión, obra maestra sin duda, creativa a más no poder, se nota que Stoker se curró el estudio de la mitología y superstición del Nosferatu, que se nota muchísimo. Extremadamente recomendable, solo le quito una estrella por ser un poco lento efectivamente en algunos tramos.
Sin duda, es un libro denso, largo y muy descriptivo. Así de primeras tiene un claro interés en describir con detalle las relaciones románticas, casi platónicas entre los personajes.
Si bien puedo comprender las críticas que se le hace a causa de su larga extensión, no las comparto. Me parece un libro hijo de su época, un claro ejemplar de la novela gótica del siglo XIX (de la poca que he leído). Considero que si el lector afronta esta novela, sabiendo esto se disfrutará mucho mejor. Si te esperas una novela de terror moderno, con muchísimas escenas muy explícitas, sangrientas y desagradables, no es la novela adecuada (en cuyo caso te llevarás una decepción). Las escenas explícitas y brutales están presentes evidentemente, pero colocadas de forma que son muy codiciadas durante la lectura.
Quizás lo que más me ha gustado, que es yo creo lo que más crítica la gente es que Dracula aparece poco. El libro empieza potente, con una aparición mítica y legendaria de Dracula en su castillo. La tensión llega a un máximo casi con la presentación del villano, que decae rápidamente después. Precisamente este cambio de ritmo en la novela, hace sentir al lector como que realmente ha viajado y está lejos de Transilvania. Al ser una novela epistolar, el lector sabe tanto como sus narradores, la presencia de Dracula se percibe casi en primera persona por el lector, que juega muy al favor del personaje ya que le otorga muchísimo misterio y misticismo al personaje (que es toda la idea ya que es un personaje que encarna la superstición).
Al ir narrando tan lentamente los acontecimientos, centrándose, tanto en las impresiones y pensamientos como en los sentimientos y emociones de los personajes, la presencia de Dracula conforme se va acercando es muy real. Se te comunica siempre indirectamente, a través de testimonios de terceros, entradas de periódico etc (si se ha escapado un lobo o han descrito a un hombre delgado pálido con nariz aguileña que trae mal rollete, sabes que es Dracula, sabes que se acerca, sin realmente enfrentarte a él hasta muy dentro de la novela).
Después de haber comparado este libro con las películas, me doy cuenta que el libro nunca tuvo el componente romántico en Dracula como tal. El Conde es la personificación del mal, es un monstruo incapaz de amar. En las películas se le humaniza un poco más. (Que no me parece mal, pero cambia considerablemente al personaje, que da más miedo en el libro, aunque sí que es verdad que no se explica muy bien por qué atormenta específicamente a Lucy y a Mina, o por qué se toma las molestias en llegar a Inglaterra). Molan mucho también las escenas de terror más crudo, sobre todo el bautismo del Vampiro, es una escena que se me quedó grabada, y que viene muy repentinamente.
En conclusión, obra maestra sin duda, creativa a más no poder, se nota que Stoker se curró el estudio de la mitología y superstición del Nosferatu, que se nota muchísimo. Extremadamente recomendable, solo le quito una estrella por ser un poco lento efectivamente en algunos tramos.
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