Dracula

I like horror stories. It is hard to make a good horror movie because, no matter how good the effects are, they look like effects, and that makes it difficult to suspend disbelief. In print, it is much easier to let your mind roam free.

There are some fine horror stories: Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, Poe's Fall of the House of Usher, Henry James' Turn of the Screw, Lovecraft's The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward, King's The Shining. But, there has been none better than Bram Stoker's Dracula.

The novel, posted in the 1890s, is written as a series of diary entries and letters, and they lead you slowly, allowing your mind a chance to turn off the overly critical logic we live with. Slowly, but relentlessly, it draws you into European society of the era, complete with the hyper-rational, scientific modernity that dominated.

At the same time, we are presented with more and more data that shows that there is something, a monster lurking, a remnant of older times. And, given the era the novel is set in, it is not surprising that there is a sexual element in the monster's activities.

One of the things I like about Dracula is its presentation of the monster, not as a drooling idiot, or a raving lunatic, but as a rational, sophisticated, highly intelligent being. Heartless, cruel, yet somehow charming, at least when the blood lust is not ruling him.

There have been countless retelling of the basic vampire story throughout the near century and a quarter that has passed since Stoker wrote Dracula. Some have been pretty good, most have not. The movies have been pretty good but none, with the exception of Francis Ford Coppola's attempt (which was fairly good and fairly faithful) have come close to following the original plot line.

Dracula's prose style may put readers off as it is far more ornate than say, Stephen King's, but you get used to it quickly, and, in fact, such a style is crucial to the story of such a creature. The different style is why Stoker's Dracula is a far more effective tale of horror than King's 'Salem's Lot ( an entertaining story but not in Stoker's league. Dracula is a great novel to curl up with on a rainy evening. Just, leave the lights on and remember; a vampire cannot enter your house unless you give the monster permission.