Friday Fiction: Dracula by Bram Stoker

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I was surrounded by vampires… Not literally, but some of the best vampire media was released in those two decades. TV shows like Forever Knight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Movies and books such as Once Bitten, Lost Boys, and Interview with the Vampire. Of course, they were all preceded by one of the greatest, Dark Shadows. So, it’s no surprise that vampires are easily one of my favorite monsters. It’s also no surprise that I loved Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Dracula is one of the most renowned horror stories of its time and beyond and is told as a collaboration of journals, letters, newspaper articles, and ships’ log entries. It opens with Jonathan Harker’s journal detailing his trek from Exeter to the Carpathian Mountains to work as an estate agent for Count Dracula. Harker recounts many odd and frightful events along that journey such as howling wolves, strange dreams, frightened horses, and several people crossing themselves when they hear of his destination.

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“I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul.”

Upon Harker’s arrival, things are immediatly not what they seem. Jonathan not only witnesses the Count’s ‘wickedly blazing eyes’ but believes the man is up to some sort of depravity. He is consumed by this notion and ventures out at night and stumbles upon Dracula’s three brides. There are several moments in Stoker’s novel that are heavily steeped in morbid sexual undertones and this is one of the most prominent.
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“Once again…welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring.”

This epistolary format tells the story of Dracula’s efforts to move from Transylvania to England in hopes of finding new blood and creating new vampires. Once the Demeter docks in Whitby, England, he encounters Lucy Westenra and she quickly falls under his spell. Eventually, Dracula is confronted by a group of men and women led by Abraham Van Helsing.

Bram Stoker laid the foundation for both gothic fiction and vampire culture and the Count himself is the benchmark of what all gothic villains should be. Though never captured, the grim atmosphere of Dracula has been copied many times since the novel’s release. While modern day vampires may sparkle, burst in flames on a sunny day, or die by a stake to the heart, Bram Stoker’s notorious villain is much more horrific in his gothic overtones and cunning actions. All this and I still haven’t discussed the insane sycophant, Renfield. Maybe I'll save that for a later date. 
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“How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.”

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A.S. Hardin

Builder of worlds, creator of people, aspiring author or more realistically an avid reader and skilled procrastinator. From sci-fi to horror, I've explored it all. As of late, I find myself diving into the depths of rare and out-of-print sci-fi and fantasy. Join me on this literary journey!