Every few years I re-read Bram Stoker’s Dracula during the month of October. Why? Well, unlike the Hollywood depictions which romanticize or sexualize the story, or make Count Dracula out to be a sympathetic character (even a hero), Stoker’s story revolves around a group of friends who band together in the name of God to fight the hell-spawned, undead, fiend. The characters are devoted to one another and put aside personal concerns to pursue the welfare of the ones in danger from Count Dracula.
Far from a romantic figure, the Count is ruthless and evil, an undead corpse feeding off the living and cloaked in dark powers. The band of reluctant heroes, in contrast, must rely on the power of Christ and one another to overcome the evil that has set itself against them.
The story is interjected with prayers, religious symbols, and exhortations to faith. Take for example this admonition to courage from Dr. Van Helsing.
“Thus are we ministers of God’s own wish. That the world, and men for whom His Son die, will not be given over to monsters, whose very existence would defame Him. He have allowed us to redeem one soul already, and we go out as the old knights of the Cross to redeem more. Like them we shall travel towards the sunrise. And like them, if we fall, we fall in good cause.”
There’s enough action and drama to keep the story going, if at times the Victorian tone can be thick for modern readers. However, if you’re looking for treat and not a trick, consider reading Dracula for yourself.