REVIEW: Dracula (Bram Stoker)

Book: Dracula

Author: Bram Stoker

My rating: 3.5/5.

Premise: When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes horrifying discoveries about his client and his castle. 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 imminent arrival of his ‘Master’.

As famous as this book is, I didn't really know much about it other than it involves a vampire and some vampire hunters. I was unsure at first about the writing style as the story is told through the main characters' diaries, some of which don't use complete sentences. But after the first couple of chapters, I'd gotten into the book. Overall, I enjoyed the story and it wasn't as scary as I was expecting (no nightmares here!). At times I found myself wondering how the main characters couldn't see there was blatantly a vampire around. But then I had to remind myself that this book is THE vampire book and set all those stereotypes. I think it would be interesting to have read this when it was released and vampires didn't have a place in pop culture. An apt read for this time of year!