Five stars for Dracula, which is genuinely gripping, and told in a way that seems to bridge from the Romantic-type epistolary novel to the modern assembly. Unfortunately, the short stories in the second half of the book, Dracula's guest, abandon any interesting form or plot in favour of a pretty standard setup-middle-payoff which gets pretty tiring after a while. Where Stoker deviates from this, like in 'The Crystal Cup', the result is painfully self-conscious and overwritten, making four stars pretty generous for the collection as a whole.

This is a deleted scene from the original Dracula book released by Bram Stoker's wife after his death and it provides the chills and tension that you would expect. A brief yet descriptive short story that would have fit perfectly into the novel.

Romantic Horror

This wasn't terrible but because it is a passage that was cut from the original Dracula it just feels incomplete.

Técnicamente no lo lei, escuche a alguien (el canal de “Maven of the Eventide” en youtube)
leerlo mientras explicaba mas cosas sobre esta época y la hisoria detras de porque este “primer capítulo” no es realmente eso.

Resumiendo lo que dijo seria algo asi como: Stoker tardo 7 años en escribir Drácula, asi que hay muchas revisión y cosas editadas. También dijo que si bien por ahi el pretendía que este fuere su primer capítulo no es que simplemente no lo uso o lo dejo de lado, porque cosas que cuenta aca si estan en la edición que terminó publicando del libro. Asi que tecnicamente no es un primer capitulo que fue eliminado, mas bien es uno que fue editado.

Hay diferentes versiones de Drácula, porque el mismo autor escribió varias versiones del libro, asi que no todos los traductores tenían la “misma” historia para trabajar.


Okey, fin del resumen. Hablemos de que es esta historia en si.

Es oscuro, misterioso, creepy y sobre vampiros (no necesariamente Drácula, son otros los que estan aca). ¿Qué más tengo para decir? No esperen que pasen muchas cosas, después de todo es un capitulo de 20 paginas, mas bien tómenlo como otra “introducción” al mundo de Drácula con otra versión de los personajes que ya conocemos.

Sigue siendo interesante y entretenido por si solo.

‘Dracula’s Guest’ by Bram Stoker is a short story that serves as a prequel to ‘Dracula’. It has been speculated that this short was actually the omitted true first chapter of said novel.

If you like Dracula, gothic and spooky themes, vampires and the such; then you’ll love this brief tale.

It follows a young Englishman, believed to be Jonathan Harker as he travels through Munich, before making his way to Transylvania. It is Walpurgis night, and the coachman transporting the young man refuses to take him down a road towards an ‘unholy’ village. Against the coachman’s protest, the man unboards the carriage and sets towards the village.

After walking for hours he finds himself in the middle of a storm, and seeks shelter within a structure in a dark cemetery. Within it he finds a tomb, with a large stake through it. Obviously he felt uneasy, but had no choice but to stay there or tough out a storm of hail, snow, and lightning.

Accidentally, he pushes open the tomb revealing a beautiful woman with blood red lips. She should have been bones and dust if the date of death carved to the tomb was anything to go by.

I’m not going to give more away, since the story is quite short, and it’s best if you read it yourself. But I will say that this short was fantastic! The suspense, the dark atmosphere, the panic, and the feeling of pure terror was impeccable. Definitely recommend this to everyone interested in this genre.