Dracula

Written by Bram Stoker in 1897 and having been made into numerous films, Dracula is the thrilling tale of noble men fighting a devil on earth.

"We all recognised the Count - in every way, even to the scar on his forehead. With his left hand he held both Mrs Harker's hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension; his right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood."

Whilst staying with the nobleman Count Dracula in his castle in Transylvania, Jonathan Harker discovers that a hellish nightmare walks the earth in the form of the nobleman.

Meanwhile, in London, Harker's fiance, Mina is becoming distressed having not heard from Jonathan in quite some time. And when her friend Lucy suddenly falls ill with strange puncture marks on her neck, a nightmare begins. As Lucy's doctor brings his old friend Van Helsing in to help cure the poor girl, rumours and mysterious killings set wheels in motion, and Van Helsing takes it upon himself to rid the world of a hellish devilry. With the help of Jonathan Harker, Mina, and three other brave men, the hunt begins for the Un-Dead Count Dracula.

The book is set as a collection of diary entries and newspaper articles, which was a really interesting way to read a story like this. It causes you to really empathise with the characters, as the entries are all personal and outline the emotions the group members have for one another.

The book does provide a bit of a challenge, as some of the entries are written with interviews and the words and phrases are written with accents. An example of this is Dr Van Helsing. European and still struggling with the English language, many of the words seem out of place in their sentence structure. Then there are cockney and rougher local Londoner accents where the words are written and then abruptly cut off with the use of numerous apostrophes.

I did find that there were periods in the story where it was anti-climatic and almost dull. There are chapters that rope you in and you feel the anxiety and anticipation, but then there is a space of maybe 3 or 4 chapters where seemingly nothing happens. It took a fair amount of persistence on my part to get through book, and the experiences of anticipation and excitement are somewhat short-lived.

Aside from that, Dracula was an original story with wonderful imagery. Similar to Frankenstein, although I found it not nearly as thrilling.