Dracula is one of those books that everyone knows but few probably actually read much anymore.

The details of Castle Dracula, Transylvania, Count Dracula, bats, wolves, sleeping in a coffin, casting no reflection in a mirror, fear of garlic and crucifixes, stakes through the heart, and all the others vampire cliches are well known. They have been regular features in a thousand movies and stories now since Bram Stoker first introduced Dracula to the world, in the 1890s.

The actual novel itself–made up as it is of various journals, letters, newspaper reports, telegrams, and other fictional “primary sources”– is admittedly a slow read. For my third (or fourth?) rereading of it recently, I decided to try something different. I checked out an audiobook version from my local library to listen to on my iPhone.

Listening to a book with so many different “narrators” (and actors’s voices) is an interesting experience. With my hearing issues, I do not listen to a lot of audiobooks. But I will say, in this case, I really enjoyed the experience of “hearing” the novel again. It also kept me from doing, what I inevitably do on most re-reads, skipping the slow parts.

The inclination of skipping parts is inevitable when reading Dracula. It is a book that needs to be tightened up quite a bit. But, having said that, I think everyone interested in Horror or English Literature should read the original as-is at least once.

In Dracula, Stoker created one of the rarest things any writer can ever create. He created, not a great book, but a great character and great Myth (capital “M”).

What other literary characters are as “real” as Count Dracula? What other literary characters have become as mythic, as iconic? Sherlock Holmes. Elizabeth Bennet. Ebenezer Scrooge. Juliet.

Rereading Dracula, I was reminded of how different the actual novel is at times from the movie version. The basic plot we think we know from countless movies is slightly different. The characters a bit different. Van Helsing is an “older” man (a professor and doctor) and plays a different part. The part that Mina plays is more central to both the action and to the true heart of the story.

This difference is inevitable given the form Stoker chose for telling his original story. How do you take journals, telegrams, letters, newspaper articles, and long conversations and make them work in a medium like film?

Everyone one should read Dracula at least once. I count it as one of the essential works of literature because it is impossible to imagine a world now without Count Dracula and Transylvania.

Dracula is in the Public Domain, making it free to anyone who wants to download and read it. Here is a link to Dracula on Project Gutenberg.

Enjoy!