These are the monsters that made history.
The Best: Dracula
The Worst: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dracula
Dracula is one of my favourite books ever. I found Dracula a compelling and truly fascinating character, and I loved the mode of storytelling. I thought the letter-writing format was very cool. You get the perspective of each character, and you almost forget you’re reading something made up because the characters speak so naturally. When Mina is attacked by Dracula and retells what happened – I honestly get chills. I think Stoker does a terrific job of showing things when he needs to, and concealing things when he needs to just enough to let your imagination run wild. Sure, there are graphic scenes, but I find there are multiple moments where Stoker backs up from the narration at just the right moment to let you fill in the scary details – and I think that’s brilliant. When Mina can’t help but stop telling her story out of the sheer horror of the event, you know already what happened but Stoker doesn’t spell it out entirely because you get the picture…and he lets you ponder it on your own.
It’s weird, though, that I’ve actually never seen or read a vampire story that I’ve liked – other than Dracula. I think there’s something about the “vampire” that is just too big an idea for any one author to perfect. There’s a million different varieties of vampire, and I don’t think any of them are the “right” one. Even the Dracula in this story I don’t think is perfect – seeing him as an old man when you first meet him, with hairy hands and a unibrow – it just doesn’t feel right. Obviously for me that’s because when I picture Dracula I picture the old school Bela Lugosi’s Dracula…and that’s not what Stoker envisioned, but that’s what I’m getting at. The vampire is such a major mythological figure that looks so many different ways to so many different people, I wonder if there’s ever going to be one definitive vampire. But if ever there was one, I think it’s the original – Bram Stoker’s.
Frankenstein
I’m certainly not the first person to say this, but Frankenstein reads almost as more of a tragedy than a horror novel. You really feel bad for the Monster as you see all the terrible things he goes through. Sure, it’s a scary story, but the novel raises a very cool question. Who is the real monster – Victor Frankenstein, or the creature he makes? I’d definitely recommend this book. It was fun, a bit spooky, and very interesting.
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
It’s a shame that I already knew the twist before I got to that point in the book, because much of the book’s fun is trying to solve the mystery. This book is a short read so if you’re looking for a quick Halloween-themed read, this isn’t a half-bad idea (see what I did there?). My favourite part was the final chapter where you figure everything out but you also figure out the motive and process behind Dr. Jekyll’s transformations. It was almost like a sermon on the effect of habitual sin or addiction. That part was really cool.