Dracula

Penguin Classics

By: Bram Stoker

Narrated by: Mark Gatiss

Length: 17 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby, a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

©2020 Bram Stoker (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Epic fight against evil to save souls

The ‘evasive knowing’ writing style is brilliant and so spooky. Much better than expected and narration is excellent. Introduction is terrible, skip it.

A story worthy of the legacy

Vampire fiction is what is is today because of this book, and it absolutely holds up today. An excellent read, an excellent tale, and an awful foreword. I could not give two flying feathers for what some random dude thinks about the author's sexuality or preferences. Why this is in the narration at all baffles me, and I'm certainly glad they stuck it at the end so it wouldn't mar my enjoyment of the actual story.

Wonderful Book, Terrible Introduction

Outstanding.
Introduction however is terrible. It rails against Stoker's explicitly moralist intentions with modern arrogance.

Great narration. Gothic literature.

I’m not a fan of horror stories but this narrator made it so enjoyable I had to keep up the listening. He lent much humor to the whole experience. I’m happy I finally got around to this novel and it’s thanks to Mr. Gatiss that I finished it. Well done!

Bram Stoker was a genius in this book holds up to any author then or now

the book and the narration is absolutely amazing however the introduction is pure rubbish.

A nightmarish tale

Bram Stoker takes us on a nightmarish tale which leaves one afraid to fall asleep. From the horror of Johnathan Harker's captivity to Rinfield"s need for flies and spiders. Then the slow death of poor Lucy. if you have never fallen under the spell of Bram Stoker's story and only have seen the pale imitations of movie vampires, then you are doing yourself a disservice, and missing a story to curl your toes!

Classic and fun

Such a good listen. Such a classic story and the reader was amazing. Very well done and the voices were done well without being over done and it helped differentiate between the dialogue. Overall I would say it was very entertaining and will definitely listen again during the Halloween season this year

Classic Mystery Horror

The origins of modern vampire mythos. Bram Stoker did a great job encapsulating the fear and power that this creature creates. It's a story of a group of friends banding together to defeat the monster. The entire story is told in diary entries and newspaper clippings. I thought this was a brilliant decision. You get the dramatic irony of how the public understands the situation vs the main characters and from multiple perspectives. They all tie together beautifully to create one mystery adventure as they race against the clock before Count Dracula takes over.

My only criticism of the story is a product of its time. While there are examples in the story that challenge gender norms, the two main female characters fall flat. They're a little too one-dimensional and helpless.

Voice actor is spectacular!

I am thrilled that I chose this as an audio book rather than reading the text myself. This voice actor brought every character to life and it is splendid!