right now, I'm reading Dracula (yes, the original) by Bram Stoker, and it seems like he wrote it thinking of me. while you might be skeptical about the book (i vant to sook your blood! and other stereotypes) i think that you should hold your judgement. most of what people think is Dracula was created by movie spin-offs or parodies. (how sad! for the original to be completely concealed behind infinite reference! but i digress) the real Dracula is not scary like you would think, it is more creepy and uncertain; horrors in dreams and behind locked doors instead of standing shouting above pretty girls in nightgowns.
here is a summary of the plot so far: **SPOILERS** (and keep in mind that I'm not even halfway finished yet.)
it starts out with a man, Jonathan Harker, going to Transylvania. he has been invited to castle Dracula to talk to the count about a piece of property that the count wants to buy in England. the villagers are perfectly nice to him, but when they find out that he is going to the castle Dracula they stop talking to him and start crossing themselves a lot. then he goes in a coach to the castle, and it's the dead of night, and all these wolves come and surround the coach. but the driver does something to make the wolves stop. when Harker gets to the castle, Dracula seems perfectly nice, if a bit sharp toothed, and keeps prolonging Harkers stay. Harker's no idiot, and he realizes that something's awry pretty quickly. but dracula keeps the doors locked. Harker realizes that he is trapped, and it goes downhill from there. there's some pretty creepy stuff, but i won't get in to that now. Just when Harker realizes that he's got about one day left, it switches to his fiances (mostly vampire free) story.
one thing that kept bothering me while i was reading was that instinct, the one that say 'no, you twit! don't go into the haunted castle! it's Dracula for gods sake!' but then i realized that no, it wasn't Dracula for gods sake at the time. at the time that this was written, dracula was a normal Transylvanian name. everyone has that voice in their head, that alarm saying 'things are about to go bad'. we have very little use for it in real life, but comes in handy when reading scary stories. i've had this instinct for as long as i can remember. but did the first readers of dracula have it? because, as i am constantly realizing, this book not only follows but sets many standards for horror novels. other then frankenstein, it is one of the earliest classic horror stories. so is that voice natural? or something developed over 14 years worth of watching tv and reading books?
