Dracula by Bram Stoker

I've continued my recent spate of fiction reads with the classic Dracula by Bram Stoker.  I had always loved the movie with Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing.  And now that vampires are cool, it's typical "me" to go back to the beginning and start off with the original.

I absolutely loved the book.  It was interesting to read the differences between the original Dracula and modern day interpretations of vampire lore, especially the "rules" that govern the undead.  For instance, Stoker's Dracula can absolutely go outside in the daytime.  Rather than killing him, the daylight simply reduces his powers to that of a normal human.

Also, anyone fed upon by a vampire automatically turns into a vampire his/herself, albeit over time.  If the original "maker" ever dies, then the vampires that he/she made return to their human state.

Because vampires are so omnipresent in pop culture today, reading the original Dracula reads a little bit like entertainment history.  There are many instances of "Oh, that's where they started doing that..."

The story is clever and darkly charming.  And so I'm adding more classic novels to my queue.  Maybe some Dickens?