Bram Stoker Books

Boris Karloff, equally comfortable immersed in literary horrors as he is portraying monsters and fiends on the big screen, collects his favorite ghostly tales of suspense and terror in one big volume of quivering chills. Enjoyable for fans of Karloff and classic tales of terror.

There should be this label on TALES OF TERROR: Warning: do not take before bedtime!

Out from the crypt and back in print. Just like Frankenstein's legendary monster you cannot keep this superb collection of frightful tales dormant for long. Now, if they could find a way to bring Boris back....

With an eye for the sinister and satanic, Karloff opens the Pandora's Box of vintage terrors to select the most enjoyable and eerie for his first collection of literary horrors. Unlike the horror stories books in the 60s and 70s with Karloff's name on the cover, this collection was actually selected and edited by him.

Karloff gives his seal of approval to this anthology of his most cherished and macabre ghost stories authored by some of the most influential authors of the genre. Lurking between the covers you will come face to face with unspeakable horrors; still as shocking as the day they were written. If you prefer haunting time-tested literary classics instead of some modern contrivance of blood and gore, you will not be displeased by the purchase of this fine book.

Not since Ray Bradbury's FAHRENHEIT 451 have I read such a beautifully wrought and realistic cautionary tale of what our lives might become without constant governmental oversight and vigilance. Sol Thatcher is a Guardener--a City State police operative--who has compiled a lengthy profile of Richard Thorne, a formerly good citizen who once lead an exemplary City State life, but who somehow veered into "aberrance" and anarchy. Unsatisfied by subtle degrees with his perfect marriage, home and job, Richard Thorne drifts from the institutionally mandated lock-step lifestyle. Although he's been comfortable with his easy, uncomplicated life, a constant feeling of vague dissatisfaction sends Richard on a journey of self-knowledge into the rapidly dwindling red-light areas where he discovers a sense of freedom and individuality that has been insidiously expunged from society. When he meets a free-spirited prostitute named Josie, Richard's formerly serene existence is changed forever, and he becomes a societal outlaw despite the City State's best attempt to reprogram Richard with mind-altering drugs and brainwashing techniques. This disturbing novel is a glimpse into a possible future where shiny objects and a false sense of freedom become mankind's ultimate prison. Already recommended for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel, this is visionary work from a writer of fierce conviction and a mighty talent.

This is a well told cautionary tale of the ultimate goal of governmental social engineering. When government enters the social arena with welfare, sin taxes and political largesse, this becomes the final destination, sketched in Bruce's typically bold and empathic personal strokes, all leading to a wistful but satisfying conclusion for the various characters. The writing reflects his penchent for poetry. 5 stars for another winner, Bruce!
John Cooley, author, Dear Madman

The story takes place in a future state that tries to achieve order by programming its citizens. Richard Thorne meets the bohemian, Josie, who shows him life beyond the strictures of the state. As Richard discovers himself and falls in love, he becomes an outlaw of society. In the end, the author, Bruce Boston, reveals the ultimate truth in this astonishing foray into the human psyche. This was a page-turner, and it will simmer in my thoughts for quite some time. I highly recommend it.

The Guardener's Tale comes from the personal files of Sol Thatcher, Guardener, G-21, retired. It is written semi-informally as a scholarly investigation of and reconstruction of the aberration of Richard Thorne. We're somewhere between Brave New World and the role-playing system Paranoia--no specific date is given, but tech has moved a bit beyond ours, and the society is recognizable. Wars have made large swaths of the Earth largely uninhabitable, and society has "learned from its past mistakes", has rebuilt itself, and is expanding outwards ever so slowly, with no enemy but the past--the structured and cultivated city reforming the slums. Advancement is possible from any rank, though a well-formed "flower" of a mind is required for citizenship. This flower can either be natural or conditioned in; and tending and pruning the flowers is the bailiwick of the Guardeners.

Bruce Boston has a light touch, and while neither the world nor the story are light-hearted, it is, on the surface, a simple tale and a swift read, with just enough humor to ease you through. The story follows several primary players--Richard Thorne, his chosenmate Diana Logan, Daniel DeLyon, and DeLyon's half-sister Josie. Richard is the aberrant that the story revolves around--it is his choices and actions that our narrator seeks to understand. All of the other characters are stripped down to their causes and intents, but Sol is at a loss to explain the eventuality of Richard Thorne.

As a scholar coming to the story after the fact, the narrator has full foreknowledge of events--he is seeking, through the recreation of Richard's story and all the details therein, to understand Richard's fall; and through that, how to keep others from such pained ends. We are constantly having events foretold, but where this would usually offput me no end, in this tale I find it fun, and even tantalizing.

We learn how Richard meets Daniel, and through him, Josie; see a few chance encounters grow naturally to greater things; we learn of Diana's hopes and fears, and through them learn about the society; see Richard and Diana struggle with their relationship; and Richard and Josie struggle with theirs; and eventually have to accept the consequences, and at least consider the premise that there is no perfection while free will exists.

"The Guardener's Tale" is told plainly, with simple characters that let the society shine through them. As with any dystopian story, it's a "cautionary" tale of modern society, a story about the society envisioned by the author as much as about any of the individual characters. It's a fun romp for those who love dystopias, as I do, and filled with interesting technologies and things to contemplate--bacchanalian "personal freedom nights" hearken to Brave New World, and "Halls of Expression" Star Trek's holodeck, while "virtual vacations" have more the taste of Total Recall; and glideways bring a smile to my face with memories of "The Roads Must Roll". And amidst it all is just the tale of humans struggling to exist and co-exist.

I had a very hard time setting this fast-paced, easily-read novel down. Boston takes us on a compelling ride into a frightening yet utterly believable city-state of the future, with multifaceted characters, plot twists galore, and thought-provoking social, philosophical and psychological reflections upon our lives now as well as upon future possibilities. Those who know Boston's work will expect masterful and moving use of the English language - they will not be disappointed. Those who don't will be delighted. Don't miss it!

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a classic among classics. Put into print in 1897, it has never been out of print. Why? Because, it is simply that good. Dracula was written for a Victorian audience with subtle nuances of sex, violence and immorality and not surprisingly what shocked audiences then still appeals to audiences now. All one has to do is look at the proliferation of vampire novels on the shelves to know that. Bram Stoker created a creature so hideous,unnatural and undead, yet so alluring that young beautiful women were unable to resist his call. His very bite is sensual yet deadly. Well done is Stoker's use of journals and diary's from his main characters to build tension and suspense as the novel moves along. The story begins with Jonathan Harker's visit to Castle Dracula and his unfortunate experience with the Count. Through his journal we learn of the Count's plans for the future. His fiance Mina who embodies in this novel, all that is good, waits patiently for him to return home. A mysterious boat lands ashore in England and the Count's plans are set into motion. His unholy meeting with Lucy Westerna, at once sensuous as it is hideous propels the story from grimness to horror as the characters slowly realize what is happening to her. Unbelievably but with the help of Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, they realize that poor Lucy is being victimized by a vampire and is herself at risk of becoming one of the undead. It is Van Helsing who guides the group who is bound together by their knowledge of who Dracula really is and ultimately propels the main characters into the exciting climax between good and evil. Readers may find the stilted language and role of women somewhat off putting until they remember what era it was intended for. As stated before, there is a reason, Dracula is still in print, it still has the capacity to make your heart beat just a little more rapidly and sleep come a little more slowly as you make sure you shut your window tightly against any breeze or whatever will blow in.

While this novel, is, of course, about the Count, it is the ghost busters in the novel that tell the story, even if that is not what they are to start with. Except in the case of the important character in the history and tradition of ghost busting and monster hunting, in Van Helsing.

Dracula is an important enough novel to include from that point of view, here, as he educates and motivates the group of poms and a yank to get down and stakey.

After getting into some The Undead and Philosophy: Chicken Soup for the Soulless (Popular Culture and Philosophy), I decided that I had been greatly remiss in not reading Bram Stoker's classic "Dracula".

Surprisingly, this was only one of many novels written by Stoker, though by far the most popular. It has not once been out of print since it was published. Not a bad achievement, really.

The book is written through documents, and covers a large range of changing viewpoints. Those documents include journals of the main characters, (such as Jonathan Harker), letters, telegrams, newspaper reports, and so on. I thought it strange, but this style of writing works exceptionally well and is a mark of Stoker's ability. It gives a greater air of authenticity to the plot, which is creepy enough, in itself.

The basic plot is a creepy tale of Count Dracula who decides to move to England and start a new "life" there. Buying up properties, Jonathan Harker has to travel to the Count with the papers. What follows is a series of strange and mysterious events that leave people puzzled and wondering. Dracula is hatching his own vile plans for the land of England.

The narrative flows along very well, and keeps the right level of tension. In some places, things just get freaky, but it all adds up to a very eerie and tense tale. This is among the best books of the type I have read.

Set in later Victorian England, the heavy duty sexuality that exudes from the book was something of a surprise. Never crossing the line into crass obscenity, Stoker weaves a sexuality throughout the vampire encounters that is almost palpable and would have been shocking in his day. One can see where the inspiration for Lestat and more modern vampires comes from, (if one had missed the obvious, that is!).

There was one thing that made the book a little tough to get through in places: the dated and very 19th century English. Of course, to change it into a more modern dialect would be verging on sacrilege, but a potential reader would need to be aware of it. Some parts I found a little tough and I had to really think about the meaning. However, in some ways, this added to the charm of the book as the language is actually quite nice for the most part.

"Dracula" is truly a classic, and definitely comes with this reviewer's unreserved recommendation. It is simply a great read and it is a pivotal book for all the immitations that it spawned.

A wonderfully written, original, and wholly different novel. 100 plus years later it is still a great read. Scary as hell too!!

There have been many books that have made impressions on me, especially when I was a young reader - I think this is the 1st horror story I read, and I periodically read it just to be reminded how really cool Stoker's story is. As a matter of fact, I used to keep a journal, in homage to the characters in the book. The movies about Dracula had never done Stoker's book proud - with deference to Bela Lugosi - until Coppolla's Bram Stoker's Dracula - this book is mesmerizing, taut, frightening. And if you are like me, will bring it out every so often and enjoy the experience all over again.
Kostova's Dracula is worthy of Stoker - still keep looking around for a notebook with a dragon burned into the cover...
Read Dracula - it is the classic of classics.

First of all, let me say that I give DRACULA, the novel, 5 stars. Unlike many "classic" works of literature, it holds up very well today. Stoker spins a web of suspense, romance and drama that has rarely been equalled in popular fiction.

And if you ever wanted to know more about Bram Stoker or his most famous story, The Essential Dracula is certainly everything its name implies. So why 4 stars instead of 5? Well, it mainly has to with the critcial asides that pepper the massive amount of footnotes in the book. As long as the editor sticks to illuminating historical facts about the time in which the story takes place, or offers helpful translations of words or phrases that are not part of our 21st-century lexicon, all is well. But he too often lapses into the role of critic, questioning characters' motivations or the logic of certain actions they take. Now, I'm not saying DRACULA is beyond criticism; it's NOT a perfect book. But I just feel too much time is spent on this, and it actually detracts from my enjoyment of the book.

The inclusion of the orginal first chapter, "Dracula's Guest," is a mixed blessing. For the hardcore fan, it's an interesting find. But it doesn't fit well with the rest of the story. Most jarring is the fact that, although it's told in first-person by Jonathan Harker, it's not done in the form of a journal entry, like the rest of the story. And I didn't learn anything that wasn't already included in Harker's first few journal entries to Mina.

On the plus side, I absolutely love the addition of recipes for the exotic meals on which Jonathan Harker dines. And the simple black & white illustrations are a welcome touch. Concise essays from famous (or supposedly famous...I haven't heard of many of them) fans speak to the novel's universal and seemingly timeless appeal.

If you can stand the absolute overkill of information, this is definitely a must-have. If Leonard Wolf will just "trim the fat," as it were, future editions might just be perfect.

Why do I like this so much? Maybe because it is a classic? Hard to say why, just really enjoy how that is done, the cast of hunters, etc. It is the one I have multiple versions of, including a hardback annotated, so that certainly says something. The style, told in letters and journals to large degree just seems to work for some reason, when it can be horrible elsewhere. Highly recommended.

Apart from that, the Essential Dracula has annotations and notes for each page, which are quite interesting. If you just want to concentrate on the novel, you may find this setup distracting, so try a plain version just for that.

Tells how about a Dracula walking tour in London, and other fun things.

Loved the Stoker's two-dozen spectacular line drawings and some interesting background on Bram and the legends of his subject!
 

"The Essential Dracula" is the latest edition of "Dracula" to be annotated with copious footnotes by renowned "Dracula" scholar Leonard Wolf. In 1975, Wolf published the first thoroughly annotated edition of the novel, called, appropriately, "The Annotated Dracula". "The Essential Dracula" has retained and augmented the thousands of comments and explanations offered in that book, but lacks "The Annotated Dracula"'s more than 100 illustrations, most notably full-page artwork by the artist Sätty. Instead, the artwork of Christopher Bing introduces each chapter in "The Essential Dracula". There are also small illustrations scattered throughout, but "The Essential Dracula"'s illustrations are more decoration than material. Don't be misled by the blurb from Ingram on the back cover that oddly refers to the 1975 edition's "100 photos, maps, and drawings", not to this edition. Comments on "Dracula" by 19 writers and artists are an interesting addition between the chapters. Leonard Wolf or his publisher have perfectly chosen a handsome, modern, black and red cover to announce this novel's arrival in the 21st century.

Leonard Wolf's copious footnotes provide the reader with an ongoing lesson in social history. He addresses every imaginable allusion in the text, sometimes with short essays. The notes are more elaborate and cover a broader variety of subjects than the footnotes in the Norton Critical Edition of "Dracula". Some intriguing notes include: recipes for the Romanian dishes on which Jonathan Harker dines, population demographics for Transylvania in the late 19th century, translations of old Mr. Swales' dialect, explanations of Victorian figures of speech, and the particulars of Victorian typewriters that Mina employs so frequently. Leonard Wolf's annotations are blessing to "Dracula" fans. My only reservation about them is that the notes in "The Essential Dracula" cannot be easily read. Unlike its predecessor "The Annotated Dracula", which placed its sizable notes in the margins, "The Essential Dracula"'s notes are truly footnotes. They are written in a miniscule font at the bottom of the pages. One cannot simply peruse the notes, as I so enjoy with "The Annotated Dracula". It is too difficult to determine what text is being referenced. So you really do have to read these notes as you read the novel, which I find impractical and not as enjoyable as studying them later.

"The Essential Dracula" offers 3 Appendices. Appendix A is the legendary and entirely superfluous deleted first chapter of "Dracula", entitled "Dracula's Guest". Appendix B provides a selected Dracula filmography and a list of notable theatrical dramatizations. The filmography includes title, alternative title, director, studio, country, and leading performers for 71 Dracula films, 1920-1992, that feature Count Dracula but are not necessarily based on Bram Stoker's novel. Appendix C is a bibliography.

This book is an amazing classic full of romance, suspense, and horror. Everybody from 11 to 111 should read this awesome classic! Take my word for it,after you start this book, you won't be able to put it down(litterally!).

I first heard of David Skal from the Universal Classic Monster series of DVD's. David was on the accompanying documentary and did the audio commentary for Tod Browning's 1931 classic, Dracula. If you own the set and have run the documentary and, particularly, the commentary, then you've already experienced about three chapters of this book. What remains is a rich mine of details about every aspect of Dracula, the book, movies, and culture. And what a lot there is.

David's writing, like his speech, is precise, educated, and loaded with literary allusions. While no dilettante, I consider myself well read and was still left with the occasional "what the hell is talking about?" moment. The language is rich and occasionally reminds me of the mental images drawn by Anne Rice at the height of her powers. However, David is no snob and is not merely parading his impressive intellect - it's just that he knows so darn much about the subject.

And if I had any criticism of the book that would be it - David seems driven to exhaustively document every possible aspect of Dracula's existence. The detailed (and seemingly never ending) battles between Florence Stoker and the makers of "Nosferatu" is described in such detail that I wanted to scream "OKAY!! We get it! Nosferatu was a Dracula rip off and Flo didn't like it!!" But eventually the tale moves on and sets the stage for intricate negotiations between the Stoker estate and Universal. In retrospect (and considering how handsomely the studio profited) it's interesting to see that Universal bought almost unlimited use of the vampire for the paltry sum of $25,000.00 and is still making oodles of money hand over fist today. David covers all aspects of vampire lore from Byron's "The Giaour" (1813) to Mel Brooks' "Dracula, Dead and Loving It" (1995). And everything in between. Trust me, if it can be construed to be in any way connected with Dracula, it's in this book.

If you have any interest in gothic culture, or the movies that spawned it, this is a must have. Reading it is like enjoying an evening of conversation with a much beloved, if slightly eccentric, old friend, preferably over brandy in front of a glowing fireplace on a cold, cold night.

Down deep, we all agree with the fly-eating Renfield. That's why we can't get his Master out of our system. David J. Skal's book Hollywood Gothic explains a lot of the reasons why.

Hollywood Gothic is like David Skal's Screams of Reason: Mad Science and Modern Culture. Hollywood Gothic and Screams of Reason both take horror motifs we know mostly from movies and trace them back to literature, where they originated.

Screams of Reason looks at the mad scientist figure in fiction, from central European vivisectionists like Dr. Frankenstein to postwar American A-bomb scientists. Hollywood Gothic is more narrow - - it covers Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, the plays adapted from it, and then the movies inspired by it - - F.W. Murnau's silent film Nosferatu, then the Universal and Hammer horror films.


Skal goes into detail about Bela Lugosi's career as Dracula on stage and film. He also digs up a lot of interesting information about the Spanish-language Dracula made simultaneously with the Bela Lugosi movie by producer Paul Kohner and cinematographer George Robinson - - who was responsible for the look of later Universal horror films like Dracula's Daughter and House of Dracula.

Kohner fell in love with and married the real star of the Spanish-language Dracula, Lupita Tovar as Eva - - the Mina Harker character - - and who could blame him. Skal calls her a "truly ingenuous ingenue." In Mexico she could barely go out in public without being mobbed.

Except for Bela Lugosi himself, almost everything about Kohner's Spanish version is better than Browning's. (That's my opinion from watching the movies, not just reading Hollywood Gothic.) Skal quotes people who worked on Tod Browning's Dracula that Browning was barely paying attention to the movie he was making.

For instance, when Dracula welcomes Jonathan Harker to his castle from the top of the staircase, in the English version a huge spider web is off to the side behind Dracula, but in the Spanish version Dracula is framed in the center of the web. We see Dracula rise from his coffin in the Spanish version where Browning just shows him suddenly standing there. (Seeing Christopher Lee rise from his coffin, or be destroyed in it, was always a high point of the Hammer movies for me.) Every night Kohner's director George Melford looked at the film Browning's crew shot during the day and improved on it for their version.

But there was (and is) something in the idea of the vampire that makes readers and audiences forgive hack storytelling.

If you haven't seen them already, you should watch the films before reading Hollywood Gothic. The Universal Legacy Collection of Dracula contains the Lugosi film, the Spanish-language version, Dracula's Daughter, and Son of Dracula. (There's more, but those are the best. Universal's release of the Legacy Collections of Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man are the only good thing to come from the marketing of the movie Van Helsing.)

Hollywood Gothic has a lot of illustrations, many of which are theatrical and film ephemera from Skal's personal collection. (Yesterday I saw The Aristocrats - - Penn Gillette's documentary about the world's filthiest joke - - and one of the comedians was wearing a T-shirt with Dracula's face from the cover of the first Modern Library edition of the novel. SIDE NOTE: See The Aristocrats - - it's about how to tell a story and keep an audience hooked as much as it is about the history of blue humor.)

Reading Hollywood Gothic made me finally read Bram Stoker's novel. Because I've seen so many movies that tell the story I never read the book. While the writing style isn't great, at least it moves along, and you're introduced to Dracula right away.


I read over half of the 600-page novel The Historian - - apparently foredoomed to be a bestseller and a blockbuster movie - - and the character Dracula still hadn't made an appearance. I skimmed to the end and read the climax, but I was disappointed. When you build Dracula up as such a powerful being, it's hard to destroy him in a way that doesn't seem anticlimactic. (That's one of the reasons Kim Newman has given for why he started writing his Anno Dracula series - - if Dracula is such a terrible force, how could he be tracked down and killed so easily by an insane Dutch doctor and three upper-class twits who belong in the Drones Club with Bertie Wooster?)
And why do characters in The Historian struggle to find copies of Bram Stoker's novel at university libraries? It's been out in paperback all over the world since the early 1900s. Go to any W.H. Smith.

Filmmakers who've told the Dracula story understand something novelists sometimes don't - - Dracula shouldn't be just a menace offstage, he's the protagonist of the story. Dracula is the hero. He's the one we want to see - - and be. That's why our mothers were displeased when they caught us watching monster movies on TV when we were kids. Mom knew what we were thinking. The reason Stoker's novel works at all is because we're introduced to Dracula at the beginning, when Harker comes to Translyvania. What makes the novel disappointing is that we hardly see Dracula again after that.

But Skal reminds us that "La sangre es la vida." Dracula isn't going anywhere.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATION: Check out Vampires: Los Muertos (see my review), the sequel to John Carpenter's Vampires, and an underrated movie. To me, it's a vampire movie that shows the monster as a Third World victim of globalist Van Helsings. (A rich white American woman can get the medicine she needs to stay alive (un-undead), while the brown vampire, stolen from her peasant family by a rich landowner, has only one way to get the sangre she needs. (I also like vampire movies that show how vampires might experience time differently than mortals - - Queen of the Damned also does this in an interesting way.) There's a scene of slow-motion slaughter in Los Muertos that the monstrous child in me responded to. Los Muertos also has the most sexist line I've every heard in a vampire movie, but you still identify with the female master vampire.

David J. Skal is as readable as ever is this newly revised edition of the definitive Hollywood Gothic as he covers the history of Dracula from his creation by Bram Stoker to the various and multiple version on screen and stage. The thrust of the story is, of course, on the novel and the iconic Bela Lugosi movie, with an additional nice, but smaller, chunk on Nosferatu. The author is particularly effective in combining, in an interesting fashion, the creative, financial, and legal elements. His analysis is always clear and interesting and will definitely send the reader on a viewing frenzy. Vampire movies seem always to be streaming forth from Hollywood and Dracula is and always will be the most tempting of the bunch. This book brings this fascination to life, as it were. A very good job.

In "Hollywood Gothic" David Skal tells the story of "Dracula" that came after the classic of gothic horror was published in 1897. It's a fascinating, fact-filled tale of colorful personalities, legal battles, Hollywood politics, and a culture still captivated by the King of Literary Vampires. The book's seven chapters begin with author Bram Stoker, end with the Count's recent incarnations on stage and screen, and include the most insightful analysis of "Dracula"'s origins that I have read in the course of my minor obsession with the novel.

Chapter 1 explores "Dracula"'s literary and theatrical predecessors before moving on to discussion of the intellectual and sexual climate into which the book was published in 1897, the life and elusive character of its author Bram Stoker, and how the novel was received in its own day. David Skal does an impressive job of pulling together the relevant details, from diverse perspectives, of the novel's birth.

Chapter 2 details the legal battle waged by the Bram Stoker's widow, Mrs. Florence Stoker, to suppress the first cinematic adaptation of her husband's novel, 1922's "Nosferatu", the unauthorized German production directed by F.W. Murnau, now recognized as a masterpiece of silent cinema. Chapter 3 sees Mrs, Stoker finally authorize an adaptation to British dramatist Hamilton Deane, whose wordy, plodding "Dracula" play nevertheless achieved great financial success, attracting the attention of American theatrical producer Horace Liveright. Liveright enlisted journalist John Balderston to rewrite the play for Broadway and make it a smash hit on this side of the Atlantic.

Chapter 4 moves to Hollywood for the protracted negotiations over "Dracula"'s film rights. "Dracula"'s path through the early 20th century was mined with legal battles, and it is a credit to author David Skal that he is able to make interminable and constantly mutating negotiations into absorbing drama. Chapter 5 follows the winding road to the production of the first Hollywood "Dracula", the 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi, which, although made cheaply and lazily, was the first horror talkie and a financial life preserver for Universal Studios. Happily, Skal has dedicated Chapter 6 to the superior Spanish language version of "Dracula" that was filmed simultaneously, on the same sets, as the English version of the 1931 film, but with a different producer, director, cinematographer, and cast.

Chapter 7 tells us what became of the principle person's associated with the two 1931 films. Then it follows the legacy of "Dracula" from the 1930s forward, through its incarnations in film, plays, musicals, ballets, and other performances. Appendix A is a list of notable stage performances of "Dracula", 1897-2003. Appendix B is a list of about 200 films, 1921-2004, which feature the "Dracula" character or name. Thankfully, there is an index.

In outlining the contents of "Hollywood Gothic", I may have made the book seem dry. But the story of "Dracula"'s continuing life in film and on stage is as lively as the novel that inspired it -and it is written a good deal better. David Skal's tireless research and engaging style never fail to impress. "Hollywood Gothic" is an absorbing literary and cinematic history that "Dracula" fans shouldn't miss.

I read this book years ago. It's good to see it's coming back into print.

Skal charts the history of Stoker's book, beginning with early drafts extant, following the tangled film history, including the legal battles over Murnau's "Nosferatu", Universal Studio's struggle to get the rights for the Lugosi pic, and everything that happened after.

It won't change your life, but its fascinating stuff. Skal's style is quick, clean, and to the point. This book is a lot of fun, giving insights into publishing, film, theater, and the audience reaction to and participation in all of those mediums. A must for all vampire buffs, film students, and those who are curious about the inner workings of popular culture.

Leonard Wolf may be the world's most revered "Dracula" scholar. A native of Transylvania who left "the land beyond the forest" as a child, Wolf has taught and written about Bram Stoker's immortal novel for decades. In 1975, Wolf published "The Annotated Dracula", which remains to this day the most elaborately annotated edition of the novel.

"The Annotated Dracula" is a large book whose many illustrations and interesting notes are a pleasure to peruse. The text of the novel, itself, is taken from the second printing of the first edition, with typos in tact. The annotations include over 100 illustrations -drawings and photographs. 15 full-page drawings by artist Sätty (Wilfried Podreich) are featured. These are captivating expressionist interpretations of scenes from "Dracula", not to be missed. All illustrations are black-and-white.

In his introduction to "The Annotated Dracula", Leonard Wolf takes the reader on a tour of the traditions and circumstances from which "Dracula" eventually emerged at the hand of Bram Stoker. He discusses Gothic Romance literature, the vampire literature that preceded "Dracula", Eastern European vampire folklore, Vlad "Dracula" Tepes -the 15th century Wallachian Prince from whom the Count Dracula takes his name, and, finally, the life of the novel's enigmatic author, Bram Stoker.

Annotations in the form of margin notes are found on most pages of the novel. Wolf has included explanations for every imaginable allusion in the text, as well as interesting personal comments. The reader gets quite a history lesson just reading the notes. Some of the most intriguing notes include: recipes for the Romanian dishes on which Jonathan Harker dines, population demographics for Transylvania in the late 19th century, translations of old Mr. Swales' dialect, explanations of Victorian figures of speech, and the particulars of Victorian typewriters that Mina employs so frequently. I find that reading straight through the abundant notes is a bit much. Reading them with the novel is distracting. They are ideal for fans and students concentrating on one chapter or passage at a time and add to the enjoyment of the novel when absorbed in small doses.

The Appendixes contain some useful information and interesting trivia, as well. Maps of Transylvania, Europe, England & Wales, Whitby, London, and the Zoological Gardens in London are provided, with places from the novel marked. A Calendar of Events charts the events of the novel from May to November 1887 (the supposed year "Dracula" takes place) in coherent form. Students and aficionados may appreciate "Dracula Onstage", a chart of Count Dracula's appearances in the novel, with page numbers. There is a Selected Filmography that includes notable Dracula films, 1922-1974, including films featuring the Dracula character, not necessarily based on Stoker's novel. British, American, and Foreign-language editions of "Dracula" from 1897 to 1973 are listed. There is an Index for the novel that is helpful but not comprehensive.

"The Annotated Dracula" has been out of print for some time. Its latest incarnation is "The Essential Dracula", a handsome softcover edition released in 2004. "The Essential Dracula" retains and, in some cases, augments the footnotes found in "The Annotated Dracula", but dispenses with most of its illustrations, all of the Sätty drawings, and the Appendixes. If you simply want the information contained in the notes, "The Essential Dracula" is excellent -although the notes border on microscopic and can be trying to read. "The Annotated Dracula", with its maps, charts, and abundant illustrations, is a more elaborate edition.

Excellent information. Background information details nearly line by line the orginal novel. Get your hands on a copy of this book if you can.

First read this when I was in college. Great illustrztions and liner notes. Even on page one, as Jonathan HRKER STOPS FOR DINNER IN THE HOTEL BEFORE GOING ON TO DRACULA'S CASTLE, HE DINES ON CHICKEN PAPRIKOSH. In the margin, they have THE RECIPE!!!! for this dish! Awesome. Hope it returns.

Vampire stories have been told and retold with fascination. However, there are few that match the power of the novel by Bram Stoker. This book contains the original version with thick margins filled with footnotes, anecdotes, vampire lore, and insight into every aspect of this fascinating story.

This book has been readed as a homework from my teenagers school.She like the story and recomend the book for other classes with english litterature as a second language in school.

Surprisingly "Denn die Toten reiten schnell" or "For the dead travel fast" is more than an opening line to this tale of love in the dangerous moon light. After watching several Drac movies and a few Nosferatu's, I pretty much though I had a handle on the genera. Little did I know what a wonderful world of mystery and suspense that Bram Stoker opened up for me.

The story is told mostly third party though the papers, diaries, and phonograph recordings (on wax calendars) of those people involve in a tale so bizarre that it almost defies belief. The general story line is that of a Count that plans to move to a more urban setting (from Borgo Pass to London) where there is a richer diet. There he finds succulent women; something he can sing his teeth in. Unfortunately for him a gang of ruffians (including a real-estate agent, asylum director, Texas cowboy and an Old Dutch abnormal psychologist) is out to detour his nocturnal munching. They think they have Drac on the run but with a wing and a prayer he is always one step ahead.

Of more value to the reader is the rich prose chosen by Stoker as he describes the morals and technology of the time. We have to come to grips with or decide if we can perform the rituals that are required to eliminate vampires verses the impropriety of opening graves and staking loved ones. The powers in the book differ from the movie versions in that they are more of persuasion and capabilities to manipulate the local weather. At one point the Dutch Dr. Van Helsing, is so overwhelmed by a beautiful vampire laying in the grave that he almost for gets why he is there and may become vamp chow.

All in all the story is more in the cunning chase. And the question as to will they succeed or will Dracula triumph. Remember "For the dead travel fast."

Dracula

"Dracula" was not the first vampire novel, nor was it Bram Stoker's first book. But after years of research, Stoker managed to craft the ultimate vampire novel, which has spawned countless movies, spinoffs, and books that follow the blueprint of the Transylvanian count.

Real estate agent Jonathan Harker arrives in Transylvania, to arrange a London house sale to Count Dracula. But as the days go by, Harker witnesses increasingly horrific events, leading him to believe that Dracula is not actually human. His fiancee Mina arrives in Transylvania, and finds that he has been feverish. Meanwhile the count has vanished.

And soon afterwards, strange things happen: a ship piloted by a dead man crashes on the shore, after a mysterious thing killed the crew. A lunatic talks about "Him" coming. And Mina's pal Lucy dies of mysterious blood loss, only to come back as an undead seductress. Dracula has arrived in England -- and he's not going to be stopped easily.

"Dracula" is the grandaddy is Lestat and Jean-Claude, but that isn't the sole reason why it is a classic. It's also incredibly atmospheric, and very well-written. Not only is it very freaky, in an ornate Victorian style, but it is also full of restrained, quiet horror and creepy eroticism. What's more, it's shaped the portrayal of vampires in movies and books, even to this day.

Despite already knowing what's going on for the first half of the book, it's actually kind of creepy to see these people whose lives are being disrupted by Dracula, but don't know about vampires. It's a bit tempting to yell "It's a vampire, you idiots!" every now and then, but you can't really blame them. Then the second half kicks in, with accented professor Van Helsing taking our heroes on a quest to save Mina from Dracula.

And along the way, while our heroes try to figure stuff out, Stoker spins up all these creepy hints of Dracula's arrival. Though he wrote in the late 19th-century manner, very verbose and a bit stuffy, his skill shines through. The book is crammed with intense, evocative language, with moments like Dracula creeping down a wall, or the dead captain found tied to the wheel. Once read, they stick in your mind throughout the book.

It's also a credit to Stoker that he keeps his characters from seeming like idiots or freaks, which they could have easily seemed like. Instead, he puts little moments of humanity in them, like Van Helsing admitting that his wife is in an asylum. Even the letters and diaries are written in different styles; for example, Seward's is restrained and analytical, while Mina's is exuberant and bright.

Intelligent, frightening and very well-written, "Dracula" is the well-deserved godfather of all modern vampire books and movies -- and arguably among the best.

I first read this book in school, but didn't finish it. The next school year I read the novel in it's entirty, and was amazed at Stoker's talent for creating a story so gripping and emotional that years after it's first publication, it's still remembered as one of the greatest stories in the histiory of mankind.

But any book can have a strange moment, and this book contains one of those. I found it disgusting when Dracula burst that vein on his chest and forced Mina to drink the spurting blood. MAN, THAT'S REPULSING!!!!!!!!

I would suggest this novel for anyone looking for a tale that will be remembered for eternity.

PARTY ON, DUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dracula is a classic that is worth the price of admission by itself. But when you add Carmilla, Vampyre, and the other little extras then it becomes a must buy for any fantasy or vampire fan. Pick it up. You wont be sorry.

There was John Polidori's The Vampyre and Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla. This book has all THREE plus chapters that trace early appearances of vampires in literarty works and chapters that focus on Stoker's research into and his creative use of vampire sources. Also the cancelled chapter never used in Dracula, called "Dracula's Guest", which is a story all by itself. To wrap up the book there is a list of vampire films, listed by year, in the back. Very detailed, very complete - perfect as a gift or just an addition to any vampire library.

A note from the editor (Anne Williams): This volume brings together the texts needed to follow the evolution of the vampire through the nineteenth century. The vampire first appears in Lord Byron's "The Giaour," a bit of folklore he picked up when traveling in Greece. The first vampire tale in English emerges from the ghost-story-writing contest in 1816 that also produced "Frankenstein." Sheridan LeFanu's novella, "Carmilla" describes the dangers of a female vampire, a story which in turned influenced Bram Stoker, whose "Dracula" provided the archetype of the monster that has influenced countless movies and novels. This edition also contains an introduction speculating about the enduring appeal of this monster, a filmography, and critical and literary excerpts establishing the cultural context out of which the fantasy emerged.

"Three Vampire Tales" is a collection of 19th century vampire literature that follows the increasing popularity of vampires in English literature, from Lord Byron's 1812 poem, "The Giaour", to the culmination of that century's vampire tales in Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel "Dracula". The three featured stories are: John Polidori's "The Vampyre", the first vampire short story in English, published in 1819; "Carmilla" by Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu, published in 1872 as part of Le Fanu's "In a Glass Darkly" collection; and Bram Stoker's mythic 1897 novel "Dracula". All three works are included in their entirety.

"The Vampyre" concerns a taciturn, enigmatic vampire called Lord Ruthven, and Aubrey, a young naive aristocrat, who is at first pleased to have Ruthven as a traveling companion. In the course of their adventures on the Continent, Aubrey comes to understand Ruthven's predatory character. But Ruthven requests an oath of secrecy on his deathbed, to which Aubrey agrees, only to find himself in a dire predicament when Ruthven turns up again, very much alive. This is a good story once you acclimate to the somewhat overburdened prose style.

Sheridan Le Fanu is the most accomplished stylist of these three authors, and "Carmilla" has a crisp, delicate style. It shares with "Dracula" the technique of "authenticating" the story by making it out to be a first-person documentation of the events in question. A prologue explains that the story was written more than a decade after the events described, by the woman who experienced them in her youth. The story tells of 19-year-old Laura, who lives on an estate in Styria, Austria, with her widowed father and 2 governesses. The family takes in a lovely, but oddly languid, young woman named Carmilla who was shaken up in a nearby carriage accident. Soon after, women in the surrounding countryside begin to die mysteriously, and Laura experiences strange visitations in the night.

I won't say much about "Dracula" here, because I have said so much elsewhere. The novel has never gone out of print since its publication in 1897, and its continuing influence on literature, film, and popular culture is incalculable. "Three Vampire Tales" is not as limited as the title implies, however. After an informative introduction by editor Anne Williams, the first part of the book addresses other 19th century literary vampires and their influence on Polidori, Le Fanu, and Stoker. This is interesting, because that century's vampire stories are closely related.

For those who aren't familiar with the legend, I'll briefly describe the events of July 1816 at the Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva to which so much of the 19th century's vampire literature can be connected by some means: Lord Byron, his personal physician John Polidori, poet Percy Shelley, and his wife-to-be, Mary Godwin were staying at the Villa and, on one rainy evening, entertaining themselves by reading poetry aloud. After the recitation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Christabel" provoked some sort of panic attack in Shelley, Lord Byron proposed that each member of the party write a ghost story. "Christabel" was the inspiration for Le Fanu's "Carmilla". Two notable works of fiction emerged from this writing exercise. Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein". John Polidori wrote "The Vampyre", based on a fragment that Lord Byron wrote but never finished. Polidori published the story under Byron's name to boost sales, and Byron subsequently fired him.

Part One of "Three Vampire Tales" includes a fragment of Lord Byron's poem "The Gaiour", the story fragment upon which Polidori based his story, the introduction that Polidori wrote to "The Vampyre", most of the poem "Christabel", an except from the penny-dreadful "Varney the Vampyre", 3 excepts by "Dracula" scholars Christopher Frayling and Elizabeth Miller about Bram Stoker's sources for "Dracula", including a source list from Stoker's notes, and the "lost chapter", "Dracula's Guest", which Stoker at one point intended to be "Dracula"'s opening chapter. Emulating "Carmilla", it takes place in Styria. So this is a nice selection of the works that led up to and influenced the more prominent "Three Vampire Tales". There are also chronologies for Polidori, Le Fanu, and Stoker in the back of the book. And there is a vampire filmography that lists title, date, and director by year. I don't know if this is supposed to be a comprehensive list of vampire films, but there are about 200, so it might be.

Journalist Jim Corrigan presents The 48th Pennsylvania In The Battle Of The Crater: A Regiment Of Coal Miners Who Tunneled Under The Enemy, the true story of a battle of the American Civil War. When Grant attempted to claim the Confederate railway nexus of Petersburg, Virginia, the resulting stalemate should have been broken by Union commander General Ambrose Burnside's plan to allow the 48th Pennsylvania, a regiment from the mining town of Pottsville, to tunnel under Confederate entrenchments and apply explosives. Yet bickering among the Union leadership, and superb cooperation among the Confederate leadership, led to the Union's downfall at Petersburg and cost an opportunity to bring an early end to the war. The 48th Pennsylvania In The Battle Of The Crater examines the details of this historic conflict with black-and-white photographs, a list of forces in the Battle of the Crater, a table of casualties, a list of soldiers decorated for gallantry, and a wealth of research and detailed notes supporting the meticulous accounting of details. An index rounds out this scholarly and welcome addition to Civil War and military history shelves.

The 48th Pennsylvania in the Battle of the Crater is an interesting, engaging and well-written book. Author Jim Corrigan tells the story in a clear and easy to understand manner. I didn't know much about the Battle of the Crater when I started the book, but my interest never waned. Corrigan keeps you turning the pages with a well-paced style. I enjoyed the background he provided about the major characters, his "big picture" view of the battle, and his presentation of the controversies related to the battle. Additionally, his maps are well done and a valuable aid to readers, particularly those who may not be familiar with the Battle of the Crater. I believe this book will appeal to Civil War aficionados as well as those with a casual interest in this time period. I highly recommend it.

Students of the American Civil War are well aware that General Ulysses Grant called the battle of the Crater the "saddest affair" he had witnessed during the war. On that July day in 1864, Union hopes for a breakthrough at Petersburg dissipated with a bungled and tragic attack on the Confederate lines that had been torn apart with the explosion of some 8,000 pounds of explosives. The battle was the culmination of one of, if not the, most daring and remarkable exploits of the war's eastern theatre: the tunneling under the Confederate lines by a regiment of Pennsylvania troops recruited from Schuylkill County and composed largely of coal miners.
With the 48th Pennsylvania in the Battle of Crater, author Jim Corrigan paints a thoroughly engaging and very fair portrait of the events that led up to the battle and the battle itself. The work is well-balanced in portraying both the Union and Confederate side. Corrigan has done a great job in telling of the remarkable feat performed by the 48th PA in the face of great disadvantage and has made sense of all the complicated military, social, and political factors that occured both before and during the battle.
I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn more about the war in the East and about the 48th Pennsylvania Regiment. This book is an excellent work of history told in a clear and easily understandable manner, despite the many complexities involved in the tunneling and in the battle. Very well-done.

With all the fiction masquerading as fact in the world of Dracula studies and the unsubstantiated rumors about what Bram Stoker knew and didn't know, Miller's book should be required reading for any "serious Dracula scholar." There is much unreliable information about the novel "Dracula" and its author and Miller's book is about questioning the assumptions of many of the most relied-upon "Dracula" works. Miller argues that there is an "anything goes" attitude toward "Dracula," as though the novel is not worth serious consideration. She contradicts this argument and manages (with much humor) to weed through many popular misconceptions and trace them to their sources, refuting them most convincingly. From the idea that Dracula cannot walk around in daylight to the notion that Stoker's novel was inspired by a nightmare to the belief that Stoker based many elements in his novel on actual people and places to the linking of Count Dracula and Vlad Dracula, Miller explores a wide variety of mistakes, rumors and misleading statements. Miller points out that a statement of fact regarding the novel, or its author, requires proof to support it. Her's is the scientific approach to Dracula studies: if it isn't in Stoker's Notes, you have to prove it some other way. If you cannot do this, you should not state an argument as a fact. Bravo! Through more than two hundred pages, Miller takes us on a journey of discovery and we find that anyone researching information about Dracula must be aware that the source they rely on may be riddled with inaccuracies. With a copy of Miller's book at your side, however, you can approach these sources with a critical eye and avoid perpetuating the nonsense. This is a wonderful book, extremely well researched and a great resource for anyone interested in "Dracula."

For fans and scholars of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" who don't know what to make of the abundance of contradictory and possibly fanciful information about Stoker and his novel that is floating around, Elizabeth Miller offers a solution. "Dracula: Sense and Nonsense" attempts to address, piece by piece, the pervasive unreliable information about "Dracula" that has been passing as fact for the past few decades.

Miller doesn't challenge interpretations of the novel in this book, only outright errors and unsubstantiated propositions. Each piece of "information" that Miller has identified as a misconception is quoted, then followed by an explanation of the error and the facts of the matter, when they are verifiable. Much of the misinformation about "Dracula"'s origins can be cleared up by referring to Stoker's Working Notes for the novel, housed in the Rosenbach Museum & Library's collection in Philadelphia. Miller makes extensive use of the Notes and has also done impressive detective work tracking down sources of misconceptions. "Sense and Nonsense" addresses misinformation and unsupported supposition from a variety of scholarly and popular books on "Dracula", as well as the occasional documentary film.

"Dracula: Sense and Nonsense" is organized into 6 chapters, each of which addresses a different topic of misinformation: "The Sources for Dracula", "Stoker and the Writing of Dracula", "The Novel", "The Geography of Dracula", and "Vlad the Impaler". Miller feels a particular need to dispel the popular idea that Stoker's Count Dracula character was based on the 15th century Wallachian Prince Vlad "Dracula" Tepes. The last chapter is a "Source Alert", in which Miller critiques a number of works of "Dracula" scholarship -annotated editions, bibliographies, biographies, and miscellaneous studies- in terms of their accuracy and value to researchers.

"Dracula: Sense and Nonsense" is readable, interesting, and probably essential to obsessed "Dracula" fans. It's great to get the facts and to know their sources, which Miller documents meticulously. You may agree or disagree with some of the suppositions that have been made about the novel, but at least now you will know where they came from. Considering the ever-increasing popularity of all things Dracula in the popular press and academia, and all of the hype that comes with it, this book is indispensable.

Elizabeth Miller's latest book is a welcome relief for people like myself who are continually annoyed by the unsubstantiated theories and just plain incorrect facts that have (and continue to be) passed off and have become generally accepted as "facts" over the years. In Dracula: Sense And Nonsense, Miller (to use her own words) "...challenges dozens of errors and misconceptions about Bram Stoker and his famous novel..."

The book is divided into five main chapters which cover: the sources for the novel, Stoker's writing of his classic, the novel itself, the geography covered in the book and Vlad the Impaler. A sixth chapter covers the strengths and weaknesses of other (non-fiction) books that deal with the novel Dracula in some form (bios of Stoker, studies of the novel, etc.) Each chapter is also extensively annotated.

In each of the first five chapters, Miller quotes an error or misconception surrounding the chapter subject, gives the source for the quote and then presents her evidence as to why the quote is "poppycock" (one of my favorite expressions used in the book).

Ms. Miller sprinkles some welcome humor into the book with her initial reaction(s) against given quotes. Also, you can tell that every explanation was carefully and thoroughly researched. One comes away with an immense respect for the time, effort and thought that she put into presenting her case. Her writing is succinct and scholarly, although never written above the heads of her readers.

To truly appreciate the importance of this book, a little explanation is in order. Bram Stoker kept an incredibly comprehensive record concerning the origins and sources for the writing of Dracula, many times known as his "working notes and papers". These notes were discovered in the Seventies. Thus, to establish any true facts concerning the novel, one need only look at the novel itself and Stoker's notes. Any information or "facts" that do/did not make use of these notes (since their discovery), can truly only be considered theories or assumptions.

In debunking the myths and errors related in her book, Miller uses Stoker's notes as her evidence. If the proof for one of the quoted "facts" cannot be found within said notes, Miller (correctly) identifies it hearsay, improbable, misinformed, or just plain incorrect.

Of the many inaccuracies Miller corrects, perhaps no other will cause more controversy than her severing the ties between the fictional Count and the real-life Vlad Tepes. According to the author, Stoker merely borrowed the name Dracula and any statement of fact that Stoker based his vampire Count (or even had much knowledge) on the bloodthirsty Vlad is irresponsible. Many more deep-seated, but less shocking assumptions and beliefs will likely be shattered by this book.

This won't be an easy book for many devoted fans of the novel. Old established beliefs can be hard to shake and many may simply dig in their feet and refuse to accept Miller's rebuttals. But serious fans of the novel owe it to themselves to give this book a reading. Miller only presents the best possible evidence: what Stoker himself wrote concerning the origins of his book. If it isn't in the notes, where's the proof?