Book Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker

About the book

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on a London home, he makes a horrifying discovery.

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 arrival of his 'Master', while a determined group of adversaries prepares to face the terrifying Count.

Find it in this month's Bucket List Book Box

Why we love it

Originally published in 1897, few books are so deeply seeped into public consciousness as Bram Stoker's iconic tale of the mysterious Count Dracula.

Inspiring innumerable adaptations, some inevitably closer to the original source than others (anyone else remember Count Duckula? Showing my age now!), it's one of those rare novels where you probably think you know the story before having read the book. 

Blending myth, folklore and superstition, the story is told through a series of journal entries and letters between various characters, starting with Jonathan Harker as he travels to Transylvania to help Dracula with the purchase of a home in England.

It's a narrative technique that adds weight to the story, giving the reader a sense that this is historical record-keeping and not mere fantastical story-telling.

From the start, the tense build-up to Harker's initial meeting with Dracula, with multiple warnings to turn back from frightened locals, sets the tone for the rest of the novel - that creeping sense of dread and a growing paranoia building up until the inevitable conclusion.

On the one hand, it's a fairly typical good versus evil story but under-lying that are much more complex themes - repression and desire, xenophobia and fear of the unknown - with the unchecked wildness of Count Dracula acting as a stark contrast to the much more sober, restrained society of Victorian England.

A must-read book for any fan of classic fiction or gothic horror.

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