Dracula, by Bram Stoker

‘Dracula’. A classic horror novel with many retellings, each unique in its own way. ‘Dracula’ shares one thing in common with other books that have many versions – that the original is the best by far. Bram Stoker caused the horror genre to be as we know it by writing ‘Dracula’. When I first started the book, seeing how it was written from multiple POVs and in a journal format (mostly), I didn’t have high expectations. The twists and turns that the plot used however, made me practically addicted to it. ‘Dracula’ doesn’t bring that spine-chilling effect that other horror books bring – rather, it has so much suspense and the thrill factor is so high that the line between horror and thriller disappears. The entire story surrounds the character of Count Dracula, a vampire who’s very rich and has connections everywhere. Jonathan Harker, Dr. Seward and a few other fine gentlemen (and lady) essentially team up to eliminate the threat that is Dracula. The book can be divided in three parts; the first being the emotional part, the second being the hunt for Dracula, and the final part being the demise of Dracula and what came after that. The story has its fine share of emotion as well – the death of Lucy Westenra was expected yet unusual (the part where she tells Van Helsing thanks while she’s almost dead is one of the most emotional parts in this play) and so is the death of Quincey (it was a nice and sweet gesture for Stoker to include the fact that Mina and Jonathan name their child Quincey in memory of their dead friend). All in all, a great book. 9/10, I would recommend this to others.

“We learn from failure, not from success!”

― Bram Stoker, ‘Dracula’