‘Dracula’ is author Bram Stoker’s masterpiece of gothic horror, a legendary tale of the undead, featuring the infamous – and original – vampire, Count Dracula himself.
Adapted into dozens of stage, screen and television performances since it was first published in 1897, here is the first, blood-curdling tale of the King of the Undead.
When Johnathan Harker is sent to visit Count Dracula at his castle in Transylvania to complete a real estate transaction, he unwittingly falls victim to Dracula and his three vampiric acolytes. The Count then travels to England in order to capture and enslave the beautiful and elusive beauty, Mina Murray, Harker’s fiancé. After preying on Mina’s friend, the comely and attractive Lucy, the famous vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing is summoned and the stage is set for a cataclysmic showdown between good and evil.
Told in a series of letters, journals and newspaper clippings, Bram Stoker creates an unforgettable world of mystery and terror that spawned a century’s worth of vampire tales and would-be imitators. But here, we proudly present the story as it first appeared, in its original and unabridged format.
About the author
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known for his epic work of Gothic horror, Dracula.Stoker was the third of Abraham Stoker and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley’s seven children. He was born on the north side of Dublin (the adjacent park is now known as ‘Bram Stoker Park’) and suffered from poor health as a child. His forced leisure time to recover from his early illnesses made him a thoughtful and contemplative child, which he later claimed served as an asset to his writing career.Stoker recovered from his childhood maladies and actually went on to become a star athlete at Trinity College in Dublin. His interest in the theatre led him to become a critic for the Dublin Evening Mail, where a good review of Hamlet drew the attention of actor Henry Irving. After marrying Florence Balcombe in 1878 and moving to London, Stoker was invited by Irving to become the acting and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years.Though he had always dabbled in short story writing, it wasn’t until he began working at the Lyceum that he began writing novels. He wrote four full-length books before being inspired to create his masterpiece, Dracula, in 1897. He joined the literary staff at the Daily Telegraph in London and continued writing, including the horror novels The Lady of the Shroud (1909) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911).Stoker traveled the world with Irving and, while in America, he twice visited the White House, under Presidents William Mc Kinley and Theodore Roosevelt. During his travels, he met many of the great literary icons of the day, including his hero Walt Whitman, with whom he shared a famous correspondence.Stoker suffered a series of strokes and died in London from what is believe to be complications of syphilis in 1912.
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