Dracula: Introduction by Joan Acocella [Hardcover]

Since its publication in 1897,Draculahas enthralled generation after generation of readers with the same spellbinding power with which Count Dracula enthralls his victims. Though Bram Stoker did not invent vampires, and in fact based his character’s life-in-death on extensive research in European folklore, his novel elevated the nocturnal creature to iconic stature, spawning a genre of stories and movies that flourishes to this day. But a century of imitations has done nothing to diminish the power of Stoker’s tale. As his chilling, suave monster stalks his prey from a crumbling castle in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania to an insane asylum in England to the bedrooms of his swooning female victims, the drama is infused with a more and more exquisite measure of sensuality and suspense.

Draculais a classic of Gothic horror, an undying wellspring of modern mythology, and an irresistible entertainment."Those who cannot find their own reflection in Bram Stoker's still-living creation are surely the undead."Abraham “Bram” Stoker (1847–1912) was born in Ireland. He was a theater critic in Dublin and then manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, as well as the author of many novels and short stories.

Joan Acocella is a cultural critic forThe New Yorker.She is the author of several books, includingMark Morris and Willa CatherandThe Politics of Criticism.She lives in New York.From the Introduction
By Joan Acocella
 
'Unclean, unclean!' Mina Harker screams, gathering her bloodied nightgown around her.  In Chapter 21 of Bram Stoker'sDracula, Mina's friend John Seward, a psychiatrist in Purfleet, Essex, tells how he and a colleague, warned that Mina might be in danger, broke into her bedroom one night and found her kneeling on the edge of her bed. Bending over her was a tall figure, dressed in black.
 
His right hand gripped her by the blĂ&