Dracula
After having read the horrible Dracula The Undead by Dacre Stoker and my own mind and soul rebelling against the sparkling angsty fad that is Twilight I have decided to reacquaint myself with a true king of the night. I was not disappointed.
First, let's begin with why this is not a five star review. The only reason this is not a five star review is that I am not a fan of Epistolary novels. I never liked epistolary stile. Epistolary style is an artful attempt at realism by making a novel consist entirely of detailed journal entries, letters and fake newspaper clippings. This was a popular style in Victorian England with authors like Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker. In general if I am reading Victorian literature I prefer a straight forward narrative like Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo or Oscar Wilde. It is for this matter of preference that I give this classic novel four stars instead of five. But despite my dislike of the style I will admit this is a great horror story. This is a classic.
People take for granted just how scary Dracula can be simply because our culture is over saturated with almost cartoonish caricatures of him. The poor guy can't even introduce himself with a Romanian accent without us wanting to giggle because of what we associate with him but let's forget the cliches and modern over-saturation for a bit and think of Dracula for who and what he is.
Dracula is a pretty scary guy. He does what he likes and to Hell with the consequences. When he talks to Jonathan Harker it's civil but there's the under-current of menace. It's almost like listening to the double talk of a crime boss from The God Father. His wording seems cordial when he tells Harker that he wants him to stay for at least a month to improve his English (even though he already speaks nearly perfect English) but what he's really saying (and what Jonathan is detecting) is 'I'm not letting you leave here. I am going to make you lie to your loved ones about why and there's a very high chance I'm going to kill you.'
Dracula has incredible powers and yet, apparently for the fun of it, he climbs along the walls of his castle, up and down, like a spider. Why does he do this? He does not have to do it. Dracula can turn into mist or a bat or a wolf but apparently it amuses himself to scale a wall with the ominous quality of lizard-like motions as if on an unconscious levels he wants to prove how NOT human he is.
On his way to England Dracula kills the entire crew of the Demetre. He slaughters them one by one. He can walk about in day (though it leaves him weakened and limited in his powers). He does NOT sparkle. He has studied sorcery. He can turn into a bat, a wolf, or a foul vapor. He can also conjure winds and terrible torrential storms. He's strong as at least ten men and can defy gravity. He has the senses of a wolf and he can move like an animal and can be just as savage. He can enthrall minds and make you forget what he wills you to forget. The films always make it seem like Dracula has a LOT of limitations but if you don't have some garlic, wolfsbane, or sacred object in immediate reach you are utterly helpless!
I think reacquainting myself with Dracula was my own mind's way of rebelling against the Twilight fad to remind myself of when vampires were both dangerous, terrifying and sensual at the same time. You can be charming and suave and still pretty damn scary. Stephenie Meyers and a lot of modern writers seem to forget this.
I can recall once watching a documentary on the History channel some years ago about the real Dracula castle (I believe it was Bran Castle) and what happened was the villagers complained of strange noises up at the castle so they sent some priests to bless the place (much like in the Hammer horror film Dracula has Risen from the Grave) but as they neared the castle a terrible storm hit and they had to do the blessing from over a thousand feet away. At that moment the door to my apartment creaked open and, though I had not realized I before, I knew, at that very moment, that Dracula was probably the most terrifying fictional monster in existence.
Dracula is the only classic monster that can give me nightmares.
So if you're into vampires and miss the good old days when they were both seductive AND scary or just feel burnt out from Twilight I strongly, strongly recommend this classic. There are lot of positive things I can say about it and only two bad things.
1. Great story but I don't like epistolary novels for the style of writing. I feel it's jarring.
2. I do not like Dracula's mustache. No one ever mentions it but he has a mustache in the novel and the visual is not something I like. I keep wanting to imagine him clean shaven for some reason. I guess it has to do with the cultural collective idea that Dracula is this cleanly shaved guy in a suit (or if it's the Gary Oldman version with a mustache and goatee together).
And please, do avoid the so-called "Official" sequel by Dacre Stoker. It's not worth it.
First, let's begin with why this is not a five star review. The only reason this is not a five star review is that I am not a fan of Epistolary novels. I never liked epistolary stile. Epistolary style is an artful attempt at realism by making a novel consist entirely of detailed journal entries, letters and fake newspaper clippings. This was a popular style in Victorian England with authors like Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker. In general if I am reading Victorian literature I prefer a straight forward narrative like Charles Dickens, Victor Hugo or Oscar Wilde. It is for this matter of preference that I give this classic novel four stars instead of five. But despite my dislike of the style I will admit this is a great horror story. This is a classic.
People take for granted just how scary Dracula can be simply because our culture is over saturated with almost cartoonish caricatures of him. The poor guy can't even introduce himself with a Romanian accent without us wanting to giggle because of what we associate with him but let's forget the cliches and modern over-saturation for a bit and think of Dracula for who and what he is.
Dracula is a pretty scary guy. He does what he likes and to Hell with the consequences. When he talks to Jonathan Harker it's civil but there's the under-current of menace. It's almost like listening to the double talk of a crime boss from The God Father. His wording seems cordial when he tells Harker that he wants him to stay for at least a month to improve his English (even though he already speaks nearly perfect English) but what he's really saying (and what Jonathan is detecting) is 'I'm not letting you leave here. I am going to make you lie to your loved ones about why and there's a very high chance I'm going to kill you.'
Dracula has incredible powers and yet, apparently for the fun of it, he climbs along the walls of his castle, up and down, like a spider. Why does he do this? He does not have to do it. Dracula can turn into mist or a bat or a wolf but apparently it amuses himself to scale a wall with the ominous quality of lizard-like motions as if on an unconscious levels he wants to prove how NOT human he is.
On his way to England Dracula kills the entire crew of the Demetre. He slaughters them one by one. He can walk about in day (though it leaves him weakened and limited in his powers). He does NOT sparkle. He has studied sorcery. He can turn into a bat, a wolf, or a foul vapor. He can also conjure winds and terrible torrential storms. He's strong as at least ten men and can defy gravity. He has the senses of a wolf and he can move like an animal and can be just as savage. He can enthrall minds and make you forget what he wills you to forget. The films always make it seem like Dracula has a LOT of limitations but if you don't have some garlic, wolfsbane, or sacred object in immediate reach you are utterly helpless!
I think reacquainting myself with Dracula was my own mind's way of rebelling against the Twilight fad to remind myself of when vampires were both dangerous, terrifying and sensual at the same time. You can be charming and suave and still pretty damn scary. Stephenie Meyers and a lot of modern writers seem to forget this.
I can recall once watching a documentary on the History channel some years ago about the real Dracula castle (I believe it was Bran Castle) and what happened was the villagers complained of strange noises up at the castle so they sent some priests to bless the place (much like in the Hammer horror film Dracula has Risen from the Grave) but as they neared the castle a terrible storm hit and they had to do the blessing from over a thousand feet away. At that moment the door to my apartment creaked open and, though I had not realized I before, I knew, at that very moment, that Dracula was probably the most terrifying fictional monster in existence.
Dracula is the only classic monster that can give me nightmares.
So if you're into vampires and miss the good old days when they were both seductive AND scary or just feel burnt out from Twilight I strongly, strongly recommend this classic. There are lot of positive things I can say about it and only two bad things.
1. Great story but I don't like epistolary novels for the style of writing. I feel it's jarring.
2. I do not like Dracula's mustache. No one ever mentions it but he has a mustache in the novel and the visual is not something I like. I keep wanting to imagine him clean shaven for some reason. I guess it has to do with the cultural collective idea that Dracula is this cleanly shaved guy in a suit (or if it's the Gary Oldman version with a mustache and goatee together).
And please, do avoid the so-called "Official" sequel by Dacre Stoker. It's not worth it.