Customer Reviews

The Illustrated Dracula (Penguin Illustrated Classics)

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"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 -- and here, his immortal story is enhanced by the creepy, jagged art of Jae Lee.

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.

Jae Lee has done work for other creepy, grimy stories like Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series. And those shadowy, sharp-edged pictures are well-suited for this story; a few are in muted colours, but most are black-and-white. Lee creates chilling portraits of the looming vampire, his brides, ships in the mist, and Renfield eating a giant beetle; the most shocking is a bloody-mouthed Lucy clutching a baby.

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 know that the detail about this book says its for junior level reading, but I'm 20 and absolutely love it. I'm not going to take the time to tell you about the story itself, seeing as it IS Dracula through and through. The illustrations in this book are amazing. True, there aren't a million of them (and more would be fantastic), but the artist's renditions of Dracula are like none I've ever seen. The mood of the novel is reflected perfectly within the paintings. The point: BUY THIS COPY OF DRACULA! and bring it home...FOREVER! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

I have read Dracula many times, so my old edition took some damage. I replaced it with this and was very satisfied. The classic story is augmented with Jae Lee's fantastic illustrations for an great overall package.

This is the first time I've ever read Dracula and wow this book has aged very, very well. It get a little slow toward the end but that's probably just because after so many movies I knew what to expect.

Now we all know the story of Dracula, so this review is for those who haven't read the story yet.

The story begins with a young Jonathan Harker, a certified solicitor from Exeter, London, traveling to Transylvania to discuss the acquisition of property in London to a Count Dracula. As Harker finally reaches the Count's Castle following a very interesting trip (which sets the atmosphere of the book excellently) he is met by an elderly, tall and pale man who introduces himself as Count Dracula. The Count beckons Harker to "enter freely and of your own will".

Harker decides to enter, ignorant to the fact to what he got himself into, and how deeply Count Dracula would control his life.

I won't say much more of the story, lest I give out any spoilers, but I will say one thing.

Forget everything you think you may know about Dracula.

I found myself ohh-ing and ahh-ing at nearly every turn of the page. I was gripped from start to end.

The book was very well written, you felt like you truly were in the story. That said, I did have some qualms with, albeit, minor parts of the story.

At a few stages Stoker attempts to write in the style of a newspaper clipping. I don't know if it's because Dracula was written in 1897 and the styles of writing in newspapers were different, but it just didn't seem real. It was far too personal and not nearly objective enough to be a newspaper article. But, like I said, this may have been how it was done in 1897.

My next qualm also, most probably, stemmed from the period the novel was written in. It was far too religiously toned. Now, I understand that Christianity was the law of the land back then so my gripe is over cultural differences which can not and, in my opinion, should not be remedied. It gives us, the readers, an insight into the world of yester-year and allows a greater appreciation of what the world was like back then.

My final qualm was with the ending. It didn't fit with what it was suppose to be like (not just my expectations, but the 'laws' laid down in the novel) and was far too anti-climatic. But all gripes aside, this is a marvelous book and most definitely worth the reading.

There is a reason this book is touted as a classic, it truly is an epic read and, with the way mainstream reading (such as Twilight) is going these days I'd be surprised if they don't do a port from book-to-movie for Dracula (though hopefully a closer translation than the previous, popular one was).

It got here in good time, the book was in nice condition, and the price was incredible.