Dracula

Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, he defined its modern form, and the novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film and television interpretations.

The official edition of Dracula, by Bram Stoker. Presented without changes, censorship, introductions, footnotes, or anything that interrupts the original version of the text in any way. Dracula is the most known novel about vampires, as well as a book that changed literature as we know it and was adapted into innumerable movies and entertainment products. A must-have masterpiece for any literature lover.

Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count 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 women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel, and invasion literature. Stoker did not invent the vampire but he defined its modern form, and the novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film, and television interpretations.

The story is told in epistolary format, as a series of letters, diary entries, and ships' log entries, whose narrators are the novel's protagonists, and occasionally supplemented with newspaper clippings relating events not directly witnessed. The events portrayed in the novel take place chronologically and largely in England and Transylvania during the 1890s and all transpire within the same year between the 3rd of May and the 6th of November. A short note is located at the end of the final chapter written 7 years after the events outlined in the novel.

The tale begins with Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified English solicitor, visiting Count Dracula in the Carpathian Mountains on the border of Transylvania, Bukovina, and Moldavia, to provide legal support for a real estate transaction overseen by Harker's employer. At first enticed by Dracula's gracious manners, Harker soon realizes that he is Dracula's prisoner. Wandering the Count's castle against Dracula's admonition, Harker encounters three female vampires, called "the sisters", from whom he is rescued by Dracula. After the preparations are made, Dracula leaves Transylvania and abandons Harker to the sisters. Harker barely escapes from the castle with his life…

During a business visit to Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania, a young English solicitor finds himself at the center of a series of horrifying incidents. Jonathan Harker is attacked by three phantom women, observes the Count's transformation from human to bat form, and discovers puncture wounds on his own neck that seem to have been made by teeth.
Harker returns home upon his escape from Dracula's grim fortress, but a friend's strange malady — involving sleepwalking, inexplicable blood loss, and mysterious throat wounds — initiates a frantic vampire hunt. The popularity of Bram Stoker's 1897 horror romance is as deathless as any vampire. Its supernatural appeal has spawned a host of film and stage adaptations, and more than a century after its initial publication, it continues to hold readers spellbound.

Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Dracula has been assigned to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, he defined its modern form, and the novel has spawned numerous theatrical, film and television interpretations.

Featuring an appendix of discussion questions, the Diversion Classics edition is ideal for use in book groups and classrooms.

When young solicitor Jonathan Harker arrives at Dracula's castle, he is expecting a routine business visit. But he barely escapes with his life, suffering mysterious bite wounds on his neck. His ordeal sets off a series of events that will lead to chaos, death, and a vampire uprising. Told in letters, DRACULA is creepy and captivating, a classic example of Gothic horror defining the vampire genre as we know it today.

Jonathan Harker has business in Transylvania with the mysterious Count Dracula. Harker travels by train and carriage to get to Dracula's remote castle. Once there, Harker, finds, to his horror, that he is a prisoner and that Dracula has a dark, evil secret. Wandering the castle alone at night, Harker is nearly killed by three vampyric sisters. Dracula saves him from the sisters in order that Harker might finish the last of the legal necessities for his move to London. Once that work is done Dracula abandons Harker to the three bloodthirsty sisters and leaves for England. Harker barely escapes from the castle with his life. To his horror he discovers that back in London, Dracula is stalking Harker's fiancee Mina Murray and her friend Lucy. Harker struggles to get home, where he and everyone he loves will be locked in a fight for their very souls.

This telling of the story of Dracula is enhanced with 37 photographs of important locations, annotated old maps, and cultural artifacts. In addition, the book includes images of Dracula, female vampires, wolves, etc.

I first read Dracula as a young teenager. I remember it was Saturday afternoon, and both my parents and my sister were out of the house. The wind was making the branches scratch against my window, just like the bats in the novel, and the old house creaked. To preserve my dignity, let’s not say that I was “afraid”; let’s just say that I was “apprehensive.”

Recently I decided to read the book again. As I read, I had difficulty visualizing some of the locales and cultural artifacts that the characters mentioned. What do the Carpathian Mountains look like near dusk? Is there really an English town called “Whitby” with a ruined abbey? What did the harbor look like? What is a Kukri knife?

Accordingly, I have researched and inserted into this version of Dracula many photographs of important locations, annotated old maps, and cultural artifacts. I also considered it worthwhile to insert images of Dracula, female vampires, wolves, etc. to add a bit of color to the text.

Furthermore, I was disappointed that there were many historical, geographic, and cultural references in the text that were lost on me. As I researched these, I found that they enhanced my appreciation the story. For that reason, I have added appropriate hyperlinks that you can ignore or investigate if you are so inclined.

Dracula is in the “public domain”, which means that the copyright has expired. Anyone can download the text from several websites. Consequently, the text in this book is pretty much the same as the text you will find in other versions of Dracula. I say “pretty much” because I have taken the liberty to correct spelling errors, change a few confusing pronouns to the actual names of the characters who are speaking, and break apart long and confusing paragraphs with multiple speakers.

I had a lot of fun enhancing my appreciation of this book. We hope you enjoy it as well!

Daniel D. Ferry, Editor

The classic Bram Stoker novel about the vampire Count Dracula and the vampire hunter Van Helsing who is out to destroy him.

Bram Stoker’s classic Gothic horror novel about a vampire’s search for new blood…

Perhaps the most famous vampire story of all time, Dracula is an awesome tale of a thrillingly bloodthirsty vampire whose nocturnal atrocities embody the dark underside of an outwardly moralistic age. As he searches for new prey, desirous to spread the undead curse, Dracula looks toward England. There he is met with resistance from a small band of men and women, led by the intrepid Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Will the people be able to keep the fearsome Dracula from terrorizing their community?

This novel is part of Brilliance Audio's extensive Classic Collection, bringing you timeless masterpieces that you and your family are sure to love.

Le Meridian Collectors Edition

Dracula

The Le Meridian Collectors Edition brings you the unique and exclusive version of the original text of Dracula by Bram Stoker, accompanied by expressive cover art. The cover is crafted in a special way to visually and energetically capture the chilling essence of this gothic classic. Dive deep into its haunting details and the enthralling tale of Count Dracula.

This edition masterfully blends classic horror with a modern aesthetic, making it a striking addition to any collection. The intricate cover art hints at the eerie atmosphere and dark allure of Stoker's masterpiece, drawing readers into the shadowy world of Transylvania and Victorian England. Whether you are a longtime fan of gothic fiction or a newcomer to the tale, this collector's edition invites you to experience the timeless battle between good and evil, light and darkness, as never before.

Count Dracula sleeps in a lordly tomb in the vaults beneath his desolate castle. His stony eyes are open. His cheeks have the flush of life beneath their pallor. On his lips – a mocking, sensuous smile and scarlet-fresh blood. He has been dead for centuries, yet he may never die… Here begins the story of an evil ages old and forever new. It is the story of those who feed a diabolic craving into the veins of their victims, into the men and women from whose blood they draw their only sustenance. It is a novel of peculiar power, of hypnotic fascination. The reader is warned that he who enters Castle Dracula may not escape its baleful spell, even when he closes this book.

Of the many admiring reviews Bram Stoker&rsquos Dracula received when it first appeared in 1897, the most astute praise came from the author's mother, who wrote her son: 'It is splendid. No book since Mrs. Shelley's Frankenstein or indeed any other at all has come near yours in originality, or terror.'

A popular bestseller in Victorian England, Stoker's hypnotic tale of the bloodthirsty Count Dracula, whose nocturnal atrocities are symbolic of an evil ages old yet forever new, endures as the quintessential story of suspense and horror. The unbridled lusts and desires, the diabolical cravings that Stoker dramatized with such mythical force, render Dracula resonant and unsettling a century later.