The dracula book of great vampire stories 9780806507040. This is an easy read and the main character, dracula is featured as a rational, fallible and an introspective being. Abraham stoker 1845 1912 the irish writer who wrote the classic horror story dracula in 1897. Although carmilla came first and influenced bram stoker, the most famous of all the vampire stories remains stokers dracula. Later influential works include the penny dreadful. Bram stoker 18471912 dracula tells the tale of a sinister transylvanian aristocrat who seeks to retain his youth and strength by feeding off human blood. This is probably the last vampire novel that i got really. Dracula is the ultimate horror story, producing one of literatures most lasting villains. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle.
Every vampire book on this list after stokers classic, and most every other vampire story in any media, has been influenced to some degree by dracula. In the vengeance of the vampire bride, glynis learns to embrace the title of countess dracula as she sets into motion her plans to seek revenge on those who betrayed glynis and her family to. The book presents several colour illustrations, and these certainly does add to the narrative, as the art usefully depicts the most important aspects of the story. Over a hundred years after his creator was laid to rest, dracula lives on as the most famous vampire in history. The novel tells the story of draculas attempt to move from transylvania to. First published in 1897, the novel was influenced by a history of vampire myths and stories, but stoker shaped all those fragmented tales to create a literary legend that was just the start of what we know and understand about vampires in current literature. A harrowing, memorable, and enduring story about the worlds most famous vampire. The dracula book of great vampire stories open library. The dracula book of great vampire stories thriftbooks.
Score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. Both books are recognized classics of horror, but also exemplary texts in the study of late 19thcentury sexuality, xenophobia and racism. To be fair the plot loses steam at various moments and the characters are fairly flat, but the vampire and transylvania as a setting have had so much impact on twentieth century culture that this book. The 1897 novel put vampires front and center on the cultural map, providing direct. How did dracula become the worlds most famous vampire. The vampire count dracula is trying to relocate from transylvania to england. In this gothic tale, seduction of the forbidden and the bounds of societal mores are explored as the young woman carmilla is seduced by a female vampire. The story will make you reflect on the good and evil in the world as there are religious undertones included. The best vampire adaptations to watch right now book riot. There were vampire books before dracula but it is stokers gothic epic. It introduced the character of count dracula and established many conventions of subsequent vampire fantasy. Dracula is a story with a gothic theme, a relentless pace, and a host of exciting characters. Dracula is a gothic novel written by bram stoker and first published in the year 1897. The real dracula is a detective storyand an incredibly.
So it starts with vlad iii, from his early childhood, and tries to give him a character one can relate to, until the moment he was killed and how he was transformed into dracula. The dracula book of great vampire stories internet archive. Overall the first book is a delightful retelling the classic story narrated from the vampire point of view. It tells the story of a vampire named count dracula who tries to move from transylvania to england in pursuit of new blood. The worlds bestknown vampire story begins by following a naive young englishman as he visits transylvania to meet a client, the mysterious count dracula. Buy a cheap copy of the dracula book of great vampire. Some aspects of the character are believed to have been inspired by the 15thcentury. The 1922 silent film nosferatu stole much of its plot from stokers book. The dracula book of great vampire stories book, 1979. As mina begins the slow change into a vampire, the men sterilize the boxes of earth, forcing dracula to flee to the safety of his native transylvania. The theme of the vampire was brought back to modernity by the short story the vampyre, by john polidori, which inspired stoker. Sure dracula is great, but dont overlook florence marryats the blood of the vampire. It follows the vampire count dracula from his castle in transylvania to england, where he is hunted while turning others into vampires. The vampire lovers is exactly what youd hope a hammer adaptation would be, and the web series is honestly pretty dang greatwatch that trailer and tell me it isnt basically buffy season 4 episode 1.
The dracula book of great vampire stories by leslie shepard. Victorian readers enjoyed dracula as a good adventure story like many. Most people associate vampires with count dracula, the legendary, bloodsucking subject of bram stokers epic novel, dracula, which was published in 1897. This book is available for free download in a number of formats including epub, pdf, azw, mobi and more. Vampire literature covers the spectrum of literary work concerned principally with the subject of vampires. Though it might have you think otherwise, the epistolary victorian monster novel dracula is a detective story written by bram stoker in 1897, it tells the story of six middleclass professionals who track down an outoftouch easterneuropean vampire on his feeding frenzy throughout london. You can also read the full text online using our ereader. He is also depicted in the novel to be the origin of werewolf legends.
So much of the plot, in fact, that bram stokers widow won a lawsuit against the makers of the film. The author, bram stoker, a young victorian theater professional, was probably inspired by the strange epidemic of vampirism that occurred in remote parts of eastern europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Regardless of the true history of dracula, the creation of bram stokers novel could not be confined to the printed page. A modern book thats a goody is the vladimir tod series, although the main character is kinda emo and there is a lot of that kind of culture in it, so if thats not your style, you might wanna skip out on it. Movies and other pop culture interpretations usually miss the mark when it comes to the novels central character. Carmilla by joseph sheridan le fanu this 1870s classic is one of the original vampire novels that set off the trend, but is often overshadowed by dracula. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Dracula, novel by bram stoker, derived from vampire legends and published in 1897, that became the basis for an entire genre of literature and film. The authors use of imagery and detail make the novel complete and help to further the readers understanding. Stoker visited the seaside town of whitby in england in 1890 and found inspiration for his excellent novel dracula. The dracula book of great vampire stories by leslie. Bram stokers classic vampire story was very much of its time but still. Read this book now dracula the vampire count dracula is trying to relocate from transylvania to england. Famous for introducing the character of the vampire count dracula, the novel tells the story of draculas attempt to move from transylvania to england so he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and the battle between dracula and a small group of men and women led by professor abraham van helsing.
The basic story of dracula is probably familiar to most, but it is the central concept that stays longest in the mind after readinglistening. Professor abraham van helsing and his group battle with count dracula to prevent him from spreading the curse. Benson, algernon blackwood, bram stoker, jan neruda, victor roman, dr. By and large, these vampires are pretty much your standard vampire. In the tale of the vampire bride, lady glynis suffered great horrors at the hands of her evil vampire master, count vlad dracula, and vowed she would one day escape him. For anyone interested in taking a first, tentative step towards understanding the plot of dracula then this is a useful book. Unlike your average novel, dracula can be said to be a. New york, the modern library, 19 download cover image. Van helsing takes mina with him, and they cleanse castle dracula by killing the three female vampires and. Dracula is an epistolary gothic horror novel written in 1897 by bram stoker, an irish author who became famous after writing about the vampire named count dracula, who later on had many interpretations theater, movie and television. The literary vampire first appeared in 18thcentury poetry, before becoming one of the stock figures of gothic fiction with the publication of polidoris the vampyre 1819, which was inspired by the life and legend of lord byron. The men pursue the count, dividing their forces and tracking him across land and sea. The dracula in bram stokers book is not the vampire you might expect. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction.
A true masterwork of storytelling, dracula has transcended generation, language, and culture to become one of the most popular novels ever written. I often think of dracula in terms of the later episodes of murder, she wrote stay with me now, please. Dracula is an 1897 gothic horror novel by irish author bram stoker. The real history that went into bram stokers dracula time. Dracula, by bram stoker, is a wellthought out, complex novel that leaves the reader pageturning into the late hours of the night. Few characters have seized readers imaginations quite like count dracula of transylvania, the hero of bram stokers classic.
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