Dracula's Story

Dracula's Story

by Bram Stoker
Dracula's Story

Dracula's Story

by Bram Stoker

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Overview

Jonathan Harker, a young London solicitor (a lawyer) travels to Transylvania (modern-day Romania) to help a rich nobleman, Count Dracula, purchase an estate in England. Dracula is planning to immigrate to England, and wants Harker to help him hammer out all the legal details. Harker is at first impressed by Dracula's suave politeness, but is soon creeped out by the Count's uncanny ability to communicate with wolves and by the lack of servants (or anyone else) in the Count's huge castle. Soon after, Harker realizes that he's a prisoner in the castle.

One evening, he tries to find an escape route – only to be discovered and almost seduced/devoured by three sexy vampire ladies (the brides of Dracula). Dracula rescues him at the last minute, and Harker realizes that Dracula is only keeping him alive to finish the real estate transaction. Harker decides to make a break for it and only barely escapes from the castle alive. He's not able to head straight back to England, though. He comes down with a severe case of brain fever because of the shock and spends many weeks recuperating in a convent in the countryside in Hungary.

Meanwhile, back in England, Harker's fiancée, Mina, is hanging out with her best friend Lucy in a seaside town. Mina's worried about Jonathan and wonders why she hasn't heard from him in so long, but Lucy can only think about her own suitors. She gets three marriage proposals in the same day by three friends: Dr. John Seward, a doctor who runs a mental hospital; Quincey Morris, an American; and Arthur Holmwood, the son of Lord Godalming (an English gentleman). She accepts Arthur Holmwood. Even though Quincey Morris and Dr. Seward are disappointed, they still stay friends with Arthur.

Meanwhile, Dracula has arrived in England, but hasn't shown himself yet. A patient in Dr. Seward's hospital, Renfield, continually captures and eats insects, spiders, and birds and says that the "Master" is coming soon. Lucy starts acting weird – she seems to be losing blood, but no one knows where the blood's going. Her fiancé, Lord Arthur Holmwood, gets worried, and Jack Seward sends for his friend and mentor, Van Helsing, to check her out.

Van Helsing realizes that there's a vampire involved. He's a scientist and doctor, but he's also well versed in ancient superstitions and philosophy, so he knows what to do to kill vampires. Even after giving her multiple blood transfusions, they're not able to save Lucy, and she dies. But Van Helsing knows she's not really dead. The four men break into her tomb and catch vampire Lucy coming back from a foray in the neighboring village. They stab her in the heart and cut off her head to make sure she's really dead, and not just mostly dead.

Mina finally hears from Jonathan and goes to Budapest to pick him up. They get married at the convent where he's been recovering from his illness, and come back to England. Harker, Van Helsing, Seward, Morris, and Holmwood all swear to get rid of Dracula once and for all. Mina has to hide in Dr. Seward's office at the hospital while the men go vampire hunting. Unfortunately, Renfield knows about Dracula and invites him into the building (vampires can't enter unless they've been invited, so don't go inviting any vampires into your homes), and he starts drinking Mina's blood. The men come back in time to find her being force-fed some of Dracula's blood.

The case is now extremely urgent – if they don't catch and kill Dracula quickly, Mina will turn into a vampire, like Lucy. Dracula leads them on a spectacular chase back to Transylvania, where they finally catch up to him and kill him. Mina is saved, and they all live happily ever after. Except for Quincey Morris, who gets stabbed during the final fight

Product Details

BN ID: 2940016777368
Publisher: Romeo Publications
Publication date: 04/05/2013
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 847 KB

About the Author

About The Author
Stoker, Bram (born Nov. 8, 1847, Dublin, Ire.
died April 20, 1912, London, Eng.
author of the popular horror tale Dracula.

Although an invalid in early childhood he could not stand or walk until he was seven , Stoker outgrew his weakness to become an outstanding athlete and football (soccer) player at the University of Dublin. After 10 years in the civil service at Dublin Castle, during which he was also an unpaid drama critic for the Dublin Mail, he made the acquaintance of his idol, the actor Sir Henry Irving, and from 1878 until Irving's death 27 years later, he acted as his manager, writing as many as 50 letters a day for him and accompanying him on his American tours.

Turning to fiction late in life, Stoker published The Snake's Pass in 1890, and in 1897 his masterpiece, Dracula, appeared. Written chiefly in the form of diaries and journals kept by the principal characters Jonathan Harker, who made the first contact with the vampire Count Dracula; Mina, Jonathan's wife; Dr. Seward; and Lucy Westenra, a victim who herself became a vampire. The story is that of a Transylvanian vampire who, using supernatural powers, makes his way to England and there victimizes innocent people to gain the blood on which he lives. Led by Dr. Van Helsing, Harker and his friends, after many hair-raising adventures, are at last able to overpower and destroy Dracula. The immensely popular novel enjoyed equal success in several versions as a play and as a film.

Stoker wrote several other novels among them The Mystery of the Sea (1902), The Jewel of Seven Stars (1904), and The Lady of the Shroud (1909) but none of them approached the popularity or, indeed, the quality of Dracula.
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