A version of this article appeared in Knights of the Dinner Table #144 (October, 2008).
From 2006 through 2012 I was the "Off the Shelf" columnist for Knights of the Dinner Table, a magazine and comic book devoted to tabletop fantasy role paying games. I reviewed classic and modern fantasy, horror, and science fiction novels. Every October I tried to review a work of classic horror in honor of Halloween. I am trying to restart that tradition with my blog.
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| Cover of Dracula, 13th Edition, 1919 Held by the British Library. |
The air is cool and pumpkins again litter the countryside. As the leaves turn and fall, a young man’s thoughts naturally turn to witches, ghosts, and vampires. And, of course, one considers the grand-daddy of all vampire tales, Dracula. The Count is one of the most pervasive characters in popular culture, appearing again and again in books, movies, music, even poetry. What remains to be said about a fictional figure over whom so much ink has already been spilled?
Little, perhaps, but one can always find value in the original sources of cultural icons. Though many folks know the broad outlines of Stoker’s novel, the many movie and stage versions have been far from faithful adaptations. The classic’s original impact may be rediscovered and understood more deeply against the backdrop of so many variations on its themes.
Bram Stoker was an Irish novelist and playwright of modest success. His primary occupation was business manager of actor Henry Irving’s Lyceum Theater, but he produced many novels both before the 1897 publication of Dracula and after. Perhaps the best known of these later works are the horror tales: The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903), The Lair of the White Worm (1911), The Lady of the Shroud (1909), and the posthumous short story collection, Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914). Sadly, none of these later attempts match the power or style of his masterpiece.
Dracula may be examined as a work of three parts, though Stoker does not clearly organize it so. Each part is defined by Dracula’s victim, or prey. In the first, he preys on Jonathon Harker, determined to drain him of his knowledge of London, and more. The next phase shifts, so suddenly that Harker’s final fate remains unknown, to Lucy, Dracula’s most tragic victim. Within this long section all of the principle characters are fully introduced as Lucy’s friends and suitors struggle to save her from the diabolical count. In the final part of the novel, the victim is now Mina, and action revolves around the struggle to free her, and destroy the Count.
The novel is written in an unusual style, as it purports to be merely a collection of letters, newspaper clippings, and journal entries written or collected by the participants in order to record the terrible, fateful events they observed. It is an extremely effective literary device, which allows the authorial point of view to shift smoothly from character to character while increasing the sense of tension and the importance of time. And Stoker is quite aware of time, carefully knitting his plot together so that dates match up exactly.
Yet the device does not lessen the power of Stoker’s prose. Consider the following passage:
On the bed beside the window lay Jonathan Harker, his face flushed and breathing heavily as though in a stupor. Kneeling on the near edge of the bed facing outwards was the white-clad figure of his wife. By her side stood a tall, thin man, clad in black. His face was turned from us, but the instant we saw we all recognized the Count, in every way, even to the scar on his forehead. With his left hand he held both Mrs. Harker’s hands, keeping them away with her arms at full tension. His right hand gripped her by the back of the neck, forcing her face down on his bosom. Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man’s bare chest which was shown by his torn-open dress. The attitude of the two had a terrible resemblance to a child forcing a kitten’s nose into a saucer of milk to compel it to drink.
The impact of Dracula’s appearance is heightened by the first person account, yet it is clear that unlike later writers, Stoker sees the vampire as a dangerous predator, a rapist. The love story between Mina and Dracula found in so many adaptations is completely missing from Stoker’s original tale, yet the novel is filled with love stories. First those between Lucy and her three suitors: Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, and Quincy Morris, then later the love between Jonathon and Mina Harker. But these loves are the talisman against Dracula’s evil, not a means for his seductions.
Dracula’s mysteries, and subsequently his aura of fear and horror, are heightened by the literary device as well. Dracula leaves no journal entries, no record of his thoughts or feelings. We see him as the protagonists see him: a malevolent force of unfathomable evil. He appears rarely, aside from his initial introduction when Jonathon Harker spends considerable time in conversation with the Count. Then, when the introductory meetings have concluded, he becomes a shadowy figure of unknown whereabouts and means. The reader never knows more than the protagonists, and the tension increases accordingly.
For gamers, Stoker’s novel is a must read. The characters are well formed and provide potent archetypes for players in horror campaigns. Dracula himself is the icon of the ‘big bad’ or main villain in a campaign and Stoker’s masterful handling of his villain provides a GM with both inspiration and specific ideas. And the lessons do not only apply to running vampire villains. Finally, the literary device of journals and letters can be gainfully borrowed by role playing campaigns regardless of genre. Having your players write letters or journal entries between sessions is a certain way to increase roleplaying and atmosphere.
Stoker's novel has long been in the public domain and can be found in many places. Several versions are available on Project Gutenberg and on LibriVox.
Stoker’s original novel is a lush cornucopia of fear, lust, courage, and love. A rainy October day spent reading Dracula is time horrifically well spent.
All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.
