Dracula

Stoker, Bram. Dracula. 1897. 392p. ISBN 0-307-74330-6. Available at FIC STO on the library shelves.

From its first publication back in 1897, Dracula has inspired a whole sub-genre of gothic horror fiction, giving the shivers to those who would see vampires flying around in the dark nights looking to feast on the blood of their victims. To this day Dracula remains synonymous with the malevolence of vampires and their ilks.

In the story that inspired it all, Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to meet with Count Dracula, who has made arrangements to move his estate to England. Harker is to finalize all paperwork and prepare the shipment of the Count’s personal possessions, but on his way there he encounters many people who have misgiving about the Count. Through interactions with the old man, Harker eventually realizes that the Count is a vampire, a creature of legend so horrific and violent he knows he will die here.

When a strange Russian ship grounds ashore near the town of Whitby, people are amazed to discover that all of their crew has disappeared, save the captain who tied himself to the wheel and died at his post. A large animal is seen escaping the ship and disappearing in the farmlands around Whitby. Boxes of earth are then discovered in the ship’s hold, and the fate of the crew is detailed in the captain’s log.

Lucy and Mina, friends and women in their prime, are witness to the strange happenings, and soon Lucy’s nights become filled with nightmares. Her fiancé cannot keep her safe, and she begins wasting away. Dr Steward, who along with the American Quincey Morris and Lord Arthur Holmwood had proposed to her, contacts an old friend and mentor, Abraham Van Helsing. Soon, with the good doctor Van Helsing on the scene, it is clear that what they are dealing with is not a sickness any of them can solve, but that of a vile vampire.

Lucy’s death precipitates the matter, and soon the men, accompanied by Harker, who managed to escape Transylvania, and Mina, his wife and Lucy’s friend, agree to bring the fight to the Count, who seeks to implant himself in London and find new victims to feed on. Can this small group manage to thwart an ancient evil before it is too late?