Dracula by Bram Stoker: The Original Vampire Classic

by Bram Stoker

364 pages, Paperback

Published August 23, 2024

About the author

Irish-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

Reviews

[Sassy Mystic Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my all time favourite stories

[Anne-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first time reading this absolute mammoth of a book, published in 1897. This was 80 years after Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which I also recently read. Dracula is a true gothic novel and far creepier than Frankenstein, with its incessant and persistent underlying tension. Frankenstein is a story of man's arrogance and a warning about science. Dracula looks at the perennial struggle between good and evil.

Dracula falls into three sections. In the first part, Jonathon, an English lawyer, stays at Count Dracula's Castle in Transylvania to discuss property deals in London. His unease and anxiety grow as he realizes he is a prisoner and all the hallmarks of Dracula are slowly revealed; he sleeps during the day, he does not appear in mirrors, blood drives him wild, he changes form and so on. The castle, the darkness, and the supernatural elements all create an ambiance of fear and suspense, setting the tone of the book from the outset.

The second part of the novel felt like a sudden jump. A new cast of characters are introduced through a series of journal entries and letters that they write to each other. (apparently this is known as the "epistolary format") We meet Mina, the girlfriend of Jonathon, and Lucy, her sleepwalking friend. Dr Seward appears to be treating Renfield, a mentally ill patient, who eats flies and spiders. Morris, Holmwood and Van Helsing are all introduced as suitors of the beautiful innocent Lucy. Mayhem breaks out when Dracula dramatically arrives in London amidst a storm.

This leads to the third part of the story where this motley crew of characters hunt Dracula down. This part did feel drawn out and I had to fight hard to put a few things aside, such as repeated references to women being delicate creatures (it was of its time I told myself) and Van Helsing’s accent. He is meant to be from The Netherlands. Stoker writes his lines with ‘an accent’ but this is nothing like how a Dutch person would speak English and that bugged me. Anyhow, hardly the point to critique a classic on!

It is a masterpiece, it is laden with brilliant quotes (language), loaded with deep and expansive imagery (visuals) and is a truly scarry and thrilling narrative (story) It has it all in spades and is absolutely definitely worth reading.

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusta que la historia trate de ser real presentándose en cartas y registros de diarios de los personajes; pero, quizás por la forma de escribirlo y el ritmo, no logró meterme completamente en la historia y sentir el miedo que sentían los personajes. El final me gustó y el ritmo se acelera, aunque es un final "meh"