Reading of the Month -Dracula

Here is one of the most well-known myths ever created by literature. The nightmare that an Irish author had one night after a heavy dinner, turned into one of the best works in English literature, that has gone beyond the mere horror genre.

Dracula was written by Bram Stocker and published in 1897. It deals with the famous story of a group of pure and white souls facing the dark presence of devil, dressed here in the myth of the vampire. Stoker didn’t invent this myth, but he was responsible for the spread of this creature in almost all artistic fields, including theatre and cinema.

If you think you know everything about the old Count because you’ve seen lots and lots of film and TV adaptations, you are wrong. The novel is not only quite different from most adaptations, but it is also beautifully written, it creates an eery atmosphere that has not been exceeded in the horror genre, and it shows the true face of Dracula, so often distorted by cinema adaptations.

If I had to recommend one of this adaptations I would choose «Bram Stroker’s Dracula». I don’t know if it is the best version ever done, probably not, buy it shocked a whole generation (my generation), perhaps because we hadn’t never seen this story told in such a powerful, colourful and frightful way.

My only objection to the movie: the love story between Mina and Dracula, which of course, doesn’t come from the novel.