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https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/bram-stoker/dracula
Another free book, check your local public domain laws to verify. Enjoy!
"Dracula is one of the most famous horror novels, responsible not just for introducing the eponymous Count Dracula, but for laying the foundations for many of the common tropes we see in modern horror fiction."
If you are thinking of reading some classics but you think they might not really hold up to your expectations, READ this one. It's absolutely timeless and it's amazing to me how actually scary the story is.
By contrast, skip Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Oh no! Someone is walking in the neighborhood that doesn't appear to be a gentleman! Shocking!
Here's another way to enjoy it, DraculaDaily. Receive emails containing the letter, news article, journal entry, etc from Dracula on the date that it appears in the book. Starts in May.
That's an interesting idea. Thanks!
I was gonna post this. It's such a good way to experience it.
By the by, let me share my fav bit of Dracula trivia.
Bram Stoker's Dracula was ostensibly translated into Icelandic in 1901. Fast-forward over 100 years...
In 2014, the Dutch scholar Hans Corneel De Roos first noticed that the Icelandic version of Dracula was in fact not a translation, but was rather a very different novel from Stoker's version.[3] In 2017, De Roos translated Makt Myrkranna into English under the title Powers of Darkness The Lost Version of Dracula.[3] The discovery of the differences between the novels sparked much debate with three theories being offered:
Valdimar changed the story of Dracula as he translated it into Icelandic.[3]
Stoker provided Valdimar with a first draft of Dracula that he chose not to use for the version that was published in 1897. Supporting the "first draft theory" is the fact that Stoker's widow had an obsession for suing people who used Dracula without her permission, yet Valdimar was never sued despite the differences between Makt Myrkranna and Dracula.[18]
A synthesis view holds that Makt Myrkranna is the result of both Valdimar changing the book and that he used a rejected first draft of Dracula.[3]
I read Dracula for the first time about a year ago. I'm also not a big horror fan in general, but I absolutely loved it and -- even with knowing about Dracula just from popular culture -- found it genuinely creepy. It was also really interesting how Dracula was defeated not just by the heroes' actions in the conventional sense but also by the conventional trappings of modernity. Things like calendars, railway timetables, and bills of sale play a surprisingly outsize role.
I'm almost done with this book and can really recommend.
I'm not a fan of horror but thought I should read this classic and have not been disappointed.
the reader's experience (not really spoilers but might want to skip this if you really wanna go into the book blind)
The story doesn't start boring - instantly gets to the point and lets the reader know what's going on, what is the scary part and what is going to happen - but then after initial setting of the atmosphere the story slows down a bit and might even make someone put down the book.
The last half of the book, though, picks up the speed and stuff goes down so fast you feel like you can't put the book down anymore!
What really makes the book scary is that you are mostly reading the events of the past day; the book is actually a collection of diaries, letters, telegraphs, and news. I was very sceptical whether I'd enjoy this book but I have to say it just makes the story better.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I also don't really care for horror but I thought the same about classics.
Such a great book