Dracul: The bestselling prequel to the most famous horror story of them all

by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker

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'Reading Dracul is like watching a classic vampire film . . . a terrifying read that gave me hours of fun.' R. L. Stine, author of Goosebumps

Shortlisted for the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards for Best Horror Novel

Dracul reveals not only the true origins of Dracula himself, but also of his creator, Bram Stoker . . . and of the elusive, enigmatic woman who connects them.

It is 1868, and a 22-year-old Bram Stoker has locked himself inside an abbey's tower to face off against a vile and ungodly beast. He is armed with mirrors and crucifixes and holy water and a gun - and is kept company by a bottle of plum brandy. His fervent prayer is that he will survive this one night - a night that will prove to be the longest of his life.

Desperate to leave a record of what he has witnessed, the young man scribbles out the events that brought him to this point - and tells an extraordinary tale of childhood illness, a mysterious nanny, and stories once thought to be fables now proven true.

BBC/Netflix adaptation of Bram Stoker's original Dracula is coming this Winter, by Steve Moffat and Mark Gatiss - the team behind Sherlock
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Inspired by the notes DRACULA's creator left behind, Dracul is a riveting, heart-stoppingly scary novel of Gothic suspense . . .

• ISBN10: 0593080106
• ISBN13: 9780593080108
• Publish Date: 18 October 2018 (first published 2 October 2018)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 11 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Bantam Dell Publishing Group, Div of Random House, Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[brokentune]

Dracul was a wonderfully Gothic read that includes many of the elements that we know from Dracula, the original story and the adaptations.

However, this re-assembling of the different elements of the Dracula story, unfortunately, did not work for me: the familiar elements somehow just felt old when in Dracula they felt novel.
And the inclusion of Stoker himself and his family in the story of Dracul, just did not work for me, even if there are some interesting twists with respect to the motivation of the "undead".

I'd this is more a fault in this reader than it is of the book. I just have never done well with fiction that tries to hard to come across as "historical fiction", even less so with fiction that tries to come across as "faction".

I also struggled with the writing itself, which at times felt gimmicky, overwrought, and not particularly of its time. I.e. if this was supposed to be a prequel to Dracula, I would have expected a closer resemblance to the language used in Dracula. This is a minor quibble, tho. My main issue was that I was just bored for about 250 pages until the conclusion of the story.

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

Admission: I’ve read Bram Stoker’s Dracula three times throughout my life and I still don’t like it. I find that it drags. But Dracul looked so enticing, I had to give it a go. I was not disappointed.

While Dracul is written in the vein (pun intended) of Dracula, I found it to be much more interesting. Its gothic atmosphere and slow build worked in its favor, making it eerie fun. The authors chose to follow firmly in the Dracula mythos, eschewing Anne Rice’s additions to the genre (she’s a brilliant author, by the way).

Why did I enjoy this book, when I don’t like Dracula? Honestly, I think it’s because the female characters in this book have spunk. They aren’t helpless at all, and they move the story along. In fact, without Ellen, there would be no story.

The switch-off between different character’s points of view was a fascinating choice, and the fact that some parts were told as letters made it easy for pertinent information to be included without boring the reader to death (again-pun intended. I’m having way too much fun with this).

I found the Author’s Note at the end to be extremely interesting. It talked a lot about the Stokers, and gave the most enthralling information. If you enjoyed The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, chances are you’ll want to sink your teeth (Bwahaha!) into Dracul.

[littleread1]

OK, that ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it would be. That author's note at the end really sealed the deal.