From the back cover:
"There he lay looking as if youth had been half-renewed, for the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey; the cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck. Even the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood; he lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion."

Started this one today. I'm only a few pages in so far, but these couple of lines made me giggle:

(from Chapter 1: Jonathan Harker's Journal)
"The women looked pretty, except when you got near them, but they were very clumsy about the waist."

What the...??? I don't think you'd see anything like that written in a book nowadays. A bit of a sign of the times, me thinks! :-)

Finished this wonderful book. I was expecting to spend most of my reading time with it scared, but that didn't actually happen. :-) It was spooky all the same. The Victorian language was a surprise although I probably should have expected it if I'd really though about it as the book is, after all, a classic. The story kept me reading all the way. It was quite exciting most of the time with just the odd section that dragged a little. I'll probably have some more thoughts later...

Claimed on the Oz VBB. Enjoy!

Thank you very much!

I have read many vampire stories, from the scary (Salem's Lot) to the romantic (Twilight) but, despite it's age, this is by far the creepiest vampire novel I have read. In fact, this is the only vampire story that has ever disturbed my sleep. The old-world language and diary format lend it an air of tension to this novel that is lacking in other vampire books that I have read. Most horror books are scary, but fairly predictable. Not so, Bram Stoker's Dracula. I found this story to be intriguing and enthralling and I found myself unable to put it down. This is the original vampire novel and, in my opinion, still the best.