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maddustkitties's review against another edition
3.0
Dracula's Guest was referenced in Dracul, in the Author's Notes, so I thought I would check it out. It was removed from the original novel (Dracula) by the editor. It's a creepy little story. I like it, but I think it would have done better in it's original place, in the book, rather than a stand alone story.
bobanbang's review against another edition
2.0
First half of short stories was not bad, but the second half, the lair of the white worm, was horrendous—
pages of exposition where mid-conversation the characters would just decide to stop and “wait for another time” or unnecessary timeskips where there are paragraphs dedicated to just explaining that the characters had lunch, went to bed, and woke up just to continue the conversation. I’ve lost count of how many times this happens?? Also lines and paragraphs worth of unnecessary purple prose and explanation (ie. a whole chapter describing the full expanse of the countryside which doesn’t amount to much later on)
And oh my god I don’t even want to fully talk about the plot it was just so frustrating like character A kills someone in front of character B and then almost kills character B and a few pages later character A and B are together and chatting like everything is normal??? There’s also some dude who keeps going into this woman’s house for “tea” and then attempts to stare at her oddly?? (The same thing happens THRICE, and the third time he somehow KILLS her just with his stare????!!!)
pages of exposition where mid-conversation the characters would just decide to stop and “wait for another time” or unnecessary timeskips where there are paragraphs dedicated to just explaining that the characters had lunch, went to bed, and woke up just to continue the conversation. I’ve lost count of how many times this happens?? Also lines and paragraphs worth of unnecessary purple prose and explanation (ie. a whole chapter describing the full expanse of the countryside which doesn’t amount to much later on)
And oh my god I don’t even want to fully talk about the plot it was just so frustrating like character A kills someone in front of character B and then almost kills character B and a few pages later character A and B are together and chatting like everything is normal??? There’s also some dude who keeps going into this woman’s house for “tea” and then attempts to stare at her oddly?? (The same thing happens THRICE, and the third time he somehow KILLS her just with his stare????!!!)
chaydata's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Dracula's Guest
3/5 Cool to have more Dracula from the original author! But I found it hard to follow, hard to understand, so a bit frustrating! Maybe it's the old writing style, but some of the other stories were easier.
The Judge's House
4/5 It's a bit cartoonish and silly. It felt quite Poe to me, but I'm no expert. Still had some unique creepy imagery and it was pretty short. Rats and an old house. I enjoyed it =)
The Squaw
3/5 Isn't this a bad word? I checked Merriam Webster and yes, it's a "dated, derogatory, and offensive" word for Indigenous women of North America. In addition to the unfortunate title, I'm too sensitive for (mild spoilers) <the brutal death of a k**ten.> Still, this seems to be a popular and (I'll admit) satisfying! gory revenge tale. If that's your thing. I guess it's also pretty sexist since the wife is portrayed as weak and fainting.
The Secret of the Growing Gold
2/5 A long lead-up for a pretty silly ending, I thought. I guess it had a couple of fleeting creepy moments. Spoilers: the growing gold is not metal but hair - I feel like this was intended to be an interesting revelation but I felt it fell flat.
A Gipsy Prophecy
3/5 I enjoyed this one! It's a light, even funny, little story. The blunted knives. But I have some criticism. Another unfortunate title - "Gypsy" is an offensive term for the Romani people - I've learned this now after looking it up, with some initial uncertainty. As in other cases, Bram Stoker's apparent sexism shows, as unfortunately women are presented as either a sort of evil mystic or (again) a stupid wife who faints too much.
The Coming of Abel Behenna
1/5 A long lead-up for a pretty quick and uninteresting ending. Two guys fighting over a girl.
The Burial of the Rats
5/5 What makes this one so scary is, to me, how realistic it felt. It is not supernatural at all. It plays on the rich fearing the poor, something like "Us" by Jordan Peele or probably countless other tales with the same theme. It is a bit slow, but creeps up on you, and has probably the longest chase scene I have ever read.
A Dream of Red Hands
4/5 I really enjoyed this one, though it is maybe a little short and simple. A man suffers from a terrifying dream that won't stop repeating. Ultimately a story of atonement.
Crooken Sands
5/5 A little slow at the start, and then predictable, but then it actually has a few twists I wasn't expecting. It's got one side character who is hard to understand due to their written accent, which I find a bit annoying personally. The story is more intriguing than scary, though it has some jolting moments, and I thought the shifting mood across scenes was really enjoyable (from peace to horror - not really scary horror, but Gothic horror I guess). I haven't heard of many stories about cursed clothes (not exactly cursed clothes in this case, but kind of). Reminds me of "In Fabric" by Peter Strickland, but of course the actual stories and even the tones are very different between the two.
The Lair of the White Worm
This is a long story (apparently sometimes distributed as a novel itself) that actually takes up the second half of the page count of this collection... I decided not to read it. I was curious and looked it up, and apparently it is racist and sexist, which actually makes sense from the other Bram Stoker stories reviewed above. And it is apparently a slog to get through and not a rewarding read. Life is short - carpe diem! Skip the garbage.
3/5 Cool to have more Dracula from the original author! But I found it hard to follow, hard to understand, so a bit frustrating! Maybe it's the old writing style, but some of the other stories were easier.
The Judge's House
4/5 It's a bit cartoonish and silly. It felt quite Poe to me, but I'm no expert. Still had some unique creepy imagery and it was pretty short. Rats and an old house. I enjoyed it =)
The Squaw
3/5 Isn't this a bad word? I checked Merriam Webster and yes, it's a "dated, derogatory, and offensive" word for Indigenous women of North America. In addition to the unfortunate title, I'm too sensitive for (mild spoilers) <the brutal death of a k**ten.> Still, this seems to be a popular and (I'll admit) satisfying! gory revenge tale. If that's your thing. I guess it's also pretty sexist since the wife is portrayed as weak and fainting.
The Secret of the Growing Gold
2/5 A long lead-up for a pretty silly ending, I thought. I guess it had a couple of fleeting creepy moments. Spoilers: the growing gold is not metal but hair - I feel like this was intended to be an interesting revelation but I felt it fell flat.
A Gipsy Prophecy
3/5 I enjoyed this one! It's a light, even funny, little story. The blunted knives. But I have some criticism. Another unfortunate title - "Gypsy" is an offensive term for the Romani people - I've learned this now after looking it up, with some initial uncertainty. As in other cases, Bram Stoker's apparent sexism shows, as unfortunately women are presented as either a sort of evil mystic or (again) a stupid wife who faints too much.
The Coming of Abel Behenna
1/5 A long lead-up for a pretty quick and uninteresting ending. Two guys fighting over a girl.
The Burial of the Rats
5/5 What makes this one so scary is, to me, how realistic it felt. It is not supernatural at all. It plays on the rich fearing the poor, something like "Us" by Jordan Peele or probably countless other tales with the same theme. It is a bit slow, but creeps up on you, and has probably the longest chase scene I have ever read.
A Dream of Red Hands
4/5 I really enjoyed this one, though it is maybe a little short and simple. A man suffers from a terrifying dream that won't stop repeating. Ultimately a story of atonement.
Crooken Sands
5/5 A little slow at the start, and then predictable, but then it actually has a few twists I wasn't expecting. It's got one side character who is hard to understand due to their written accent, which I find a bit annoying personally. The story is more intriguing than scary, though it has some jolting moments, and I thought the shifting mood across scenes was really enjoyable (from peace to horror - not really scary horror, but Gothic horror I guess). I haven't heard of many stories about cursed clothes (not exactly cursed clothes in this case, but kind of). Reminds me of "In Fabric" by Peter Strickland, but of course the actual stories and even the tones are very different between the two.
The Lair of the White Worm
This is a long story (apparently sometimes distributed as a novel itself) that actually takes up the second half of the page count of this collection... I decided not to read it. I was curious and looked it up, and apparently it is racist and sexist, which actually makes sense from the other Bram Stoker stories reviewed above. And it is apparently a slog to get through and not a rewarding read. Life is short - carpe diem! Skip the garbage.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Gore, Racial slurs, and Racism
fl0ralaura's review against another edition
4.0
Stoker manages to create unsettling scenery and imagery even after reading the original Dracula. The story adds to Jonathan’s experiences before he reaches the castle and cements his status as a damsel in distress
sue_eastvalley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
bookishliz_'s review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
blueyorkie's review against another edition
5.0
Dracula's Guest (Bram Stoker, 1914) is a minor curiosity. English publishers amputate the novel's first chapter for length reasons. However, this text, together with other short stories, will be published two years after the death of Bram Stoker by his widow.
Before his stopover in Budapest, Jonathan Harker stopped in Munich at the Hotel des Quatre Saisons. He decides to walk and discover an abandoned village where dark legends circulate. Surprised by the storm at nightfall, he takes refuge in the cemetery and enters the vault of a certain Countess, Dolingen of Gratz, in Styria. This nightfall will be our solicitor's first contact with an "undead" and a first encounter with a sympathetic wolf darned interested in… her neck… We are indeed Walpurgis night!
For the curious, note that if the widow of the author saved the truncated introduction of the novel, it was not the same for the conclusion, which the publisher also deleted. To my knowledge, this text was utterly unpublished. It appeared in the original manuscript sold at auction on April 17, 2002, at Christie's (New York) for the modest sum of one million euros. Let's hope that the wealthy collector will make us benefit from it one day: this "alternative" chapter tells how the vampire was destroyed during a volcanic cataclysm.
Before his stopover in Budapest, Jonathan Harker stopped in Munich at the Hotel des Quatre Saisons. He decides to walk and discover an abandoned village where dark legends circulate. Surprised by the storm at nightfall, he takes refuge in the cemetery and enters the vault of a certain Countess, Dolingen of Gratz, in Styria. This nightfall will be our solicitor's first contact with an "undead" and a first encounter with a sympathetic wolf darned interested in… her neck… We are indeed Walpurgis night!
For the curious, note that if the widow of the author saved the truncated introduction of the novel, it was not the same for the conclusion, which the publisher also deleted. To my knowledge, this text was utterly unpublished. It appeared in the original manuscript sold at auction on April 17, 2002, at Christie's (New York) for the modest sum of one million euros. Let's hope that the wealthy collector will make us benefit from it one day: this "alternative" chapter tells how the vampire was destroyed during a volcanic cataclysm.
heathergstl's review against another edition
3.0
Overall I was disappointed with this collection of short stories by Stoker. Having thoroughly enjoyed Dracula and The Jewel of the Seven Stars I had expected great joys to be found within the pages. Instead I found, on Stoker's part, what I believe to be an obsession with Edgar Allen Poe. The first and last stories were by far the best of the collection. The rest of the stories, while superbly written, were less than original and only mildly entertaining.
starlightxs's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0