Dracula, Bram Stokers Gothic thriller recounting the exploits of an aristocratic vampirehas transfixed and haunted generations of readers. Perhaps the most seductive villain in Western literature, bloodthirsty Count Dracula has inspired countless movies, books, and plays. Few of these, however, have been fully faithful to Stokers original best-selling novel of mystery and horror, love and death, sin and redemption.
Written in the form of letters, diary entries, and news bits, Dracula chronicles the vampires journey from his Transylvanian castle to the nighttime streets of London. There, he searches for the blood he needs to stay alivethe blood of strong men and beautiful womenwhile his enemies plot to rid the world of his frightful power. The now-famous cast of characters includes the English solicitor Jonathan Harker; his fiance the enchanting Mina Murray; and Van Helsing, the mysterious Dutch doctor and expert vampire killer.
Though Draculas undertones of dark sexuality have always been of interest to the readers of the novel, todays critics see it as a virtual textbook on Victorian repression of the erotic and fear of female sexuality. In Dracula, Stoker created a new word for terror, a new myth to feed our nightmares, and a character who will undoubtedly outlive us all.
