Bram Stoker, Dracula

Grosset and Dunlap, New York 1927.
Stageplay edition.

Dracula is a name everyone is familiar with and all the vampire lore we see today stems from this book. First published in 1897, the story is a familiar one, particularly to anyone who has seen the 1992 film version. With Coppola’s slightly bawdy additions stripped away, this is an altogether starker tale, imbued with a dark, folkloric eeriness. It’s not a book with a deep underlying philosophy (such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) but a very simple David versus Goliath, good versus evil theme. Stoker’s Dracula remains a surprisingly rich and unnerving read – all the richer, indeed, for the cultural resonance it has picked up since it was first published.