Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Dracula by Bram Stoker

46 reviews

kibbles15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I have to admit I have been putting off reading this book because horror is not my favorite genre.  I wasn't at all sure what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised in that I actually enjoyed the book.  It did take a little while to get used to the epistolary format of the story, but once done, the story moved along fairly well.  With the exception of a few "academic" rants, I was engaged in the story all the way to the end. I highly recommend this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Violence, Medical trauma, and Torture

Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

veeloucagraph's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It is with grave disappointment that I arrive at the conclusion that the second half of the book was tiring, repetitive and not thrilling. The first half was clouded in mystery and horror, which I much preferred and enjoyed. Nevertheless, an important read, that I feel pleasant about finishing, especially during October, at the spookiest season of all.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Sexism, Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

emilywemily6's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I can definitely see why this is a classic and how it has shaped literature and pop culture from its time period and onward. While more approachable than other books of the era, it still sometimes lost me in its phrasings and meanings. Some parts were utterly horrific and eerie while large portions of the book were very slow and repetitive. I enjoyed this cast of characters and feel that if this book was written in 2023 I would adore them even more; their faults were mostly in the gender stereotypes of the era. I liked the various perspectives of the characters and enjoyed the audiobook narration a lot! Often the perspectives felt redundant though. The ending happened way too quick after so much build up (the last 15 minutes of listening to a 15 hour audiobook) and I wish this climax was drawn out. Overall, I’m glad I’ve read it and feel educated in both vampires and classic horror, and I look forward to seeing how this book has influenced later horror.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism

Moderate: Racism, Animal death, Stalking, and Grief

Minor: Cursing

alex_blackveil's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

It was a heavy read for me. I mostly read one chapter per day (≈20–30 pages/day).

It is a collection of journal entries, mostly, describing the first of Jonathan Harker's encounter with the Count, the latter's “invasion” in UK, Lucy's sickness and death and the hunt for his head by Dr Van Helsing and his new friends that the Count had hurt so much.

It's written, mainly, from Jonathan Harker, Dr Steward and Mina Harker's point of view. Count Dracula isn't as present as the title makes you think, but what is present is the pain and grief he's inflicting to the main characters, as well as the traits, characteristics and weaknesses of vampirism. 

Much to my surprise, the hunt was only in the much later chapters and the fight lasted only a few pages.

My favourite character was Quincey Morris… I should see the ending coming, it's always the same with the characters I like…

Masterpiece for its time.

Be warned, he Vampire race described in this book has nothing to do with pop culture vampires. It's more on the superstitious and traditional side than the today's aesthetic one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Violence, Stalking, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Death of parent, Murder, and Child death

stalfos's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Stalking, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Alcohol

tifftastic87's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Obviously a classic, but very hard to get through. The writing in journal style is intriguing and adds to the mystery. Its very much a product of it's time and that made it hard to get immersed. 

The characters however, have much more depth than I expected and it has made me question the later interpretation of some characters. If you are a horror fan and haven't read this one, I recommend putting it on your list just to understand some of the beginnings of our supernatural tales. 

I do want to add that for the times Mina seems to be a particularly strong female character. The way she is described by the men is annoying "fair but having the brain of a man" but I understand that for the time that was likely a huge praise. It is her and Van Helsing that put it all together, find all the pieces and track down Dracula. Without her the men would have been lost and that is proved in a major plot point when they try to lock her away for her safety. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Sexism

Moderate: Ableism, Cannibalism, Medical content, Child abuse, Death of parent, Body horror, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, and Gun violence

calamityin's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Animal death, Body horror, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Stalking

hanniquinn's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Death

Moderate: Grief, Stalking, Blood, and Forced institutionalization

foxclcves's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death, Xenophobia, Murder, Racism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Blood

Minor: Sexism, Stalking, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Body horror, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Forced institutionalization

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Dracula's horror has a kind of slow burn that makes it very hard to capture in movie form. This also makes it, for those of us who are used to more thriller-like horror, or for those who are already aware of vampires as a concept, a bit of a slow read. There are times when the book drags on, most notably the newspaper sections and legal proceedings. It is rife with that classic British brand of racism, which while expected, is no more pleasant than it would be now. It also has a good bit of that 19th century sexism which is annoying, if only because of how repetitive it becomes, and how much of a hindrance to the plot it is.
All in all, an interesting read, but a good bit of the charm and suspense is lost to the changing principals of time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Sexism, and Classism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Mental illness, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Murder, Blood, Stalking, Violence, Ableism, Cannibalism, Death, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Drug use, Misogyny, Colonisation, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, and Child death