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Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula

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In our modern era of DVD and Blu-ray movies, we are often treated to a special features section after the film, in which one can find interviews where the director describes his thought process and journey of creation, as well as various alternate and deleted scenes. What a DVD's special features section does for a great movie, "Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula" does for Stoker's literary masterpiece. During the many years it took for Bram Stoker to write "Dracula," the author accumulated over a hundred pages of notes. In those pages can be found early character concepts and plot threads, many of which never made it into the published novel. Until recently, one had to travel to the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia to see those notes, and then had to attempt to decipher Stoker's notoriously sloppy handwriting. But now, thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth Miller and Robert Eighteen-Bisang, anyone can read through a printed (and thus legible!) transcript of the Notes, as well as gain further insight into Stoker's journey of creation through the transcribers' annotations and commentaries. Being an author myself, and having personally studied Stoker's original notes at the Rosenbach, I can say from experience that anyone who wishes to enjoy "Dracula" beyond a superficial level should seriously consider picking up a copy of "Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula." --- Joel H. Emerson The Un-Dead: The DRACULA novel, rewritten to include stoker's characters and events

Robert Eighteen-Bisang has spent an extraordinary life devoted to vampire lore and especially to Dracula.

Now, he and Elizabeth Miller, in a beautifully produced volume, annotate and transcribe Bram Stoker's notes for Dracula.

This book is a must-have for anyone interested in this seminal work of fiction and in how novels are put together.

Bravo!

Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller have accomplished the almost impossible - to present a new milestone in Stoker scholarship which will be indispensible reading for anybody seriously interested in the world's most important horror novel. The beautifully presented volume was obviously a labour of love.

First, we are presented with facsimile reproductions of Bram Stoker's original notes which, until now, were only available at the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia. The handwritten notes have been meticulously transcribed, no small feat if you take a look at Stoker's original handwriting. Stoker's typed research notes are also included.

But what makes this book a must for Dracula fans and scholars are the extensive, insightful annotations. They present many new insights and settle a number of long debates surrounding the novel, and make for a fascinating read. To complement the notes and annotations, there are also various appendices, ranging from the construction of the novel, the mysterious "Dracula's Guest", the novel's characters, an 1888 Encyclopedia Britannica entry on the term 'vampire', to literary influences, and more. A wonderfully stimulating read, fascinating, enlightening, and of course, always frightening.

Reading through this book brought back to me the wonder and feelings of mysterious otherness that I felt the first time I read Stoker's novel as a child. It is so fascinating to see his creative processes at work, the way the novel developed from his first notes, etc. There is a familiarity to the process, of course. Any writer should recognize similar processes in their own work as it develops from an idea to a finished book. The authors have done a wonderful and invaluable service to scholars and fans of Dracula! Like Stoker's novel itself, this is a book to read more than once. I read Stoker's novel again when I finished this book, and then reread the notes again. Best of all, for me, it has inspired me to work further on my own creations involving Dracula, begun in the novel, CRIMSON KISSES, published in 1982, and revisted in I AM DRACULA in 1993. So, thank you, Robert and Elizabeth, for this stupendous achievement! Anyone who has ever been touched by the mystery of DRACULA's power will read and treasure this book, throughout the nights of time!

The Authors, Miller and Eighteen-Bisang, have done a wonderful job in demystifying these mostly handwritten notes, that my great grand uncle
Bram Stoker, created as his notes for the book Dracula. I had access to the notes myself for research, but the form that Elizabeth and Robert have put them in, as well as the comments and perspective that they have added,
make this a must have for anyone interested in Dracula.

I ordered Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula to share with my Gothic novel class, but of course, I read it cover to cover myself--great fun for any Stoker fan. The notes vindicate Stoker, who has often been accused of sloppy research. In this facsimile edition the reader learns just how thoroughly Stoker prepared the background for the novel. This volume is really a must for any serious student of Stoker.

After 25 years of reading and collecting vampire books, I have a pretty narrow definition of what I consider 'essential' in a collection. "Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition" is one of these essential books.

Over the past few decades there have been numerous books that analyze, discuss and annotate "Dracula," but none come this close to giving you true insight into Bram Stoker's thought process as he developed the novel. Eighteen-Bisang and Miller decipher Stoker's messy and often cryptic handwriting from his original research and plot notes, presenting it alongside facsimiles of the actual notes held in a collection at the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia.

To anyone studying the novel, or simply reading it for pleasure, "Notes for Dracula" is a must-have companion piece. Although the handwritten notes play a big part in this book, it also includes Stoker's typewritten notes, background information on the author, and much, much more. What I found of special interest are the sections "The Novel vs. the Notes" and "The Novel We Could Have Read."

I can't think of any other creature that has so deeply ingrained itself into world-wide culture. Dracula is the most famous vampire there is...and for the first time, we get a real glimpse into the creative process that brought him to light. -- Brad Middleton, vampyres.com

Bram Stoker's Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition
Excel·lent edició. Treball d'edició acurat. Imprescindible per a qualsevol interessat realment en la novel·la Dràcula.

This is a long awaited first-rate material for Dracula studies as well as for the studies in fin-de-siecle English literature and culture. Complete with the facsimile of original holograph of Stoker and his type-written material, it is sure to give you precious glimpses of the author's secrets.

This book has the notes that Stoker used when writing Dracula. For me the most important piece of information that comes from them is: Stoker did not base the blood-sucking count on the historical figure of Vlad the Impaler. Therefore those scholars that pushed the Dracula-Vlad connection in the 70's were, at best, mistaken. And the movie "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is anything but Bram Stoker's Dracula. The book does cost enough that anyone not serious about Stoker's greatest novel might want to pass on it. But if you consider yourself a true Dracula enthusiast, it may be worth the price to peek into Stoker's creative process.