The Importance of Vampires

Kelsy Brown

Staff Writer

For the last few months, I have challenged myself to begin to read at least one classic novel a month. In light of Halloween, I thought there was no better timing to finally read Dracula by Bram Stocker. This novel has been sitting in my “to be read” pile for years as I was so intimidated by its length and nervous that the language would be hard to comprehend as it was published in 1897. If you are reading this and feel the same way about classic novels, I encourage you to pick up Dracula. Once I started reading, I could not put the book down and I totally forgot about how long the novel truly is as the detail and imagery completely immerses the reader into the story.

When I was reading this, it could not have been a better setting with a Nor’Easter brewing outside and with Halloween right around the corner. The novel Dracula begins with lawyer Jonathan Harker who goes to visit Count Dracula in order to sell his property and strange events begin to occur during this visit and afterwards. Right from the beginning, the novel grabs the reader’s attention as it is action-packed as it follows the stories of many different characters. One aspect I really enjoyed throughout this novel is that it is told through many different character’s points of view. In every chapter, the story of Count Dracula is told through journal entries, letters between characters, and newspaper articles. This makes the novel so interesting as from the beginning, the reader tries to piece together the connections between the characters and how they play into the story of Count Dracula. The intertwined stories of all the characters keeps the readers at the edge of their seat throughout every chapter.

To try to summarize the events of the novel without spoiling the entire ending would be an injustice to the work of art that this book is. Everyone knows who Count Dracula is, especially in his many depictions in pop culture or heavy influence in other vampire novels and movies. To truly understand Count Dracula’s story, I encourage every single person to read this amazing novel. To anyone intimidated to read classics, I challenge you to pick up at least one a month, and you will see that there is no reason to scare away from them and the more you read them the easier they become to understand.

This novel was honestly one of the best books I have ever read as the story incorporates aspects of a horror novel without making the reader scared to go to bed with the lights off. This novel is truly deserving of a five-star rating and trust me I do not give those out lightly.

So what are you waiting for? There is no better moment to read this novel than now as it is the perfect time of year to read the story of Count Dracula to get into the Halloween spirit.