My Review for Dracula by Bram Stoker, Narrated by Mark Gatiss

⭐⭐⭐⭐ When a Facebook Group I’m a member of, suggested reading Dracula, coming up to Halloween, I thought I’d give it a go. Never having read it before and not having a lot of time, I thought I’d try it as an Audiobook. I searched through Audible for one I fancied and an abridged version (although not very abridged - it was still almost 18 hours in length) came up, narrated by Mark Gatiss and had excellent reviews. I downloaded it and, for the next few days, I was in another world.

I obviously knew the general idea of the story - it’s about a vampire - right? Well yes, it is, but there is so much more to it and I wish I’d picked it up years ago! 

No, it’s not very fast-paced and yes, Stoker could have probably written it in half the number of pages, but I thought the story was told well. Gatiss was an excellent narrator. I’m not sure some of my friends across the pond would understand the Yorkshire accent in parts (hell, I’m not sure I got all of it) but it added it to the authenticity of the location.

Initially told from the point of view of Jonathan Harker’s journals, Dracula follows several characters as they are immersed in the story. Mina is Harker’s fiancee, Lucy is Mina’s closest friend and Art is her fiancé. Each one is drawn into Dracula’s world in their own way, and Dr Van Helsing and Dr Seward set out to solve the mystery.

The story is descriptive and entertaining, with a wide variety of characters. Some you will warm to and others are just plain boring. As Dracula’s ship comes into Whitby harbour, the story of its journey across the seas put me on board with the crew to experience what they did. Was I scared? No, not at all, I have read much more terrifying stories of vampires and suchlike but this was just a well-written and often warming story.

Should you read it, if you haven’t already? Yes, of course, because it’s a classic and everyone should know the story. I’ve added it to my list of books to buy and I’d like it as a Penguin Clothbound to add to my collection! It will look good on my shelves!