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"This night our feet must tread in thorny paths or later and forever the feet you love must walk in flame."
I loved it!!!!
Classic Tale of Horror Falls Short
A pretty good book but...
Not extremly scary but interesting

Dracula (Broadview Literary Texts)
Bram Stoker
Manufacturer: Broadview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1551111365

Book Description

Dracula is perhaps almost as interesting regarded historically as the product of a specific time as it is engaging to continuing generations of readers in a 'timeless' fashion. In her introduction Byron first discusses the famous novel as an expression not of universal fears and desires but of specifically late nineteenth-century concerns. At the same time she is entirely attuned to the ways in which, however much Dracula is a Victorian text, Dracula is a very twentieth-century character, a representative of modernity and of the future.

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A popular bestseller in Victorian England, Stoker's hypnotic tale of the bloodthirsty Count Dracula, whose nocturnal atrocities are symbolic of an evil ages old yet forever new, endures as the quintessential story of suspense and horror. The unbridled lusts and desires, the diabolical cravings that Stoker dramatized with such mythical force, render Dracula resonant and unsettling a century later.

Customer Reviews:

"This night our feet must tread in thorny paths or later and forever the feet you love must walk in flame.".......2007-03-18

Written in 1897, Stoker's Dracula is a classic of British fiction, fascinating for its subject matter and still the subject of films a hundred years later. Count Dracula, the epitome of evil, is exotic enough to keep even the most jaded reader of his exploits interested in their outcome, and grounded enough in the reality of evil to make even doubters wonder whether evil can be transmitted from one person to another against one's will.

The novel begins with the arrival of Jonathan Harker, a lawyer representing a London real estate agency, at the Transylvanian castle of Count Dracula to clinch the deal by which the count will move to a British estate. Details about Harker's arrival by coach, his greeting at the castle, which has no doors except the front door, his reception by the count (who has hair on the palms of his hands), and his instructions regarding where he may go or not go within the castle set the tone and establish the mysterious background of the count and a sense of dread regarding the outcome for Harker.

By the time that Harker recovers from a long and mysterious illness and returns home, the count, already in London, has turned Lucy, a lovely ingenue, into a vampire. Dr. Van Helsing, a German expert on vampires hired by her family, saves her several times from what appears to be severe anemia and recommends ringing her room with garlic and making sure that she has crucifixes around her. When Dracula then turns his blood-thirsty attention to Mina, fiancée of Jonathan Harker and friend of the unfortunate Lucy, the scene is set for a showdown regarding Dracula's power vs. the power of goodness and traditional religion.

Stoker takes his story beyond sheer melodrama, eliciting sympathy for the afflicted victims of Dracula while also recreating the religious atmosphere of the period and the beliefs and doubts of average citizens. The novel is far more compelling than I expected, creating suspense at the same time that it develops the character of the count with his supernatural powers. The climax in which the forces of good are ranged against the forces of evil in the shape of the count, whose long history is detailed in the novel, is truly a conflict between traditional religion and evil in the form of Satan personified. Fun to read and surprisingly affecting. Mary Whipple

I loved it!!!!.......2007-03-15

This is now one of my favourite books! It was great. I liked how suspenseful it was, even if the story got a bit slow between the important parts. Bram Stoker does a great job at descriptions with lots of nice details. It was pretty creepy. It didn't think it would be, but it was.
Something else I liked was how the women in the book weren't all...flimsy. It's a nice change how Mina actually plays a big part in the story and she's a strong character.
Great book! Love it! I definately reccomend it!

Classic Tale of Horror Falls Short.......2007-02-19

There is no doubt that Dracula is one of the most popular horror stories to ever be written. It has been adapted into numerous movies and plays. The story is intriguing which is what caused me to pick up the book in the first place. However i feel that the book left more to be desired.

The book starts off with the fascinating and many times frightening experiences of Jonathan Harker in Dracula's castle. Afterwards, however, i feel that the novel loses focus. The story line slows and focus seems to be on Lucy instead of Mina, the herione. Overall the book was good although it seems to be slow at times it is still worth the read.

A pretty good book but..........2006-12-10

Dracula by Bram Stoker was a brilliant novel. It tells the story of a young lawyer named Jonathan Harker, who travels to Translyvania to work for a man named Dracula. Through Jonathan, Dracula travels to London and preys upon the people there--including several who are of importance to Jonathan and the people he loves. Dracula, in all honesty, was the scariest book I have ever read. I could never read it at night because of the intense desciptions and even during the day I found myself at the edge of my seat. It is a very captivating and is very thought provoking on the matters of goodness in man. But in all of that, there was something that was missing. I felt that the climax of the story could have been better and more dramatic--or maybe something believable could have happened. Dracula was just one of those books that you read where everything is so great in the beginning and middle, and you expect so much from the end, but you end up getting nothing. I still recommend it to classic horror fans, though. And I do warn people who tend to be on the sqeumish side. There are parts that can be quite graphic.

Not extremly scary but interesting.......2006-11-03

The complete story is not really scary because most people are aware of the vampire folklore. As it flows fast at major events but slows down between the major parts. The beginning catches your mind but in the middle you think "this is boring" but at the end somewhat satisfied. I would say it is a classic but not in the same sense as Jane Austen or Charles Dickens.

Most people want speed, excitement and gore in horror novels. You will not be that satisfied if you are looking for death and gore. It is more of a drama mystery but is slow in some parts. The speed is what gets annoying. In some parts its just a bunch of nonsense and long winded. It takes somewhat patience and devotion to complete the book.

I would not classify it as a true horror. Frankenstein is more of a horror and this doesn't have too much death but more of a tale. Also it is not a straight clear story it comprises of journal and diary entries. That is what makes it more of a drama because of the various perspectives.

If you get this book beware you must have some patience to keep pushing yourself to complete the book. But if you complete it you will be somewhat satisfied on how the whole vampire folklore came about.

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