The short stories in Dracula's Guest were compiled by Bram Stoker's widow and published in 1914, two years after his death. Nine stories are included. In my view, they range widely in quality, and in general, they do not reach the heights of Stoker's masterpiece, "Dracula". Of the stories, I found "The Judge's House" and "Burial of the Rats" to be especially notable. Understandably, they are widely reprinted in short story collections. Below are the stories, along with my rankings.

Dracula’s Guest 3*
The Judge’s House 4.5*
The Squaw 2*
The Secret of the Growing Gold 3*
The Gipsy Prophecy 3*
The Coming of Abel Behenna 2*
The Burial of the Rats 4*
A Dream of Red Hands 3*
Crooked Sands 2* ( )

El huesped de Dracula sigue en su viaje a un caballero ingles (cuyo nombre nunca se menciona en el relato pero se supone que es Jonathan Harker, uno de los protagonistas de Dracula) mientras vaga por la ciudad de Munich antes de dirigirse a Transilvania. Es la Noche de Walpurgis, y a pesar de las advertencias del cochero(Johan), el joven ingles deja temerariamente su hotel y da un paseo por el bosque solo.

I confess that I have an embarrassing habit. Once every year, I devour Stoker's 'Dracula' like my very life depends upon it. As if the Prince Of Darkness, himself, sits perched upon my bedroom wall with an insidious smile lighting up his red lips.

What mortifies me is the fact that Francis Ford Coppola's envisioning of 'Dracula' amalgamates with Stoker's written word in my mind to produce a hideously malignant imagery. Who would have thought that Gary Oldman would become firmly entrenched as Dracula whenever the novel is mentioned?

But while Coppola stereotyped Dracula as a lovestruck soul looking to rip your throat (Ladies, any takers?), the beauty of Stoker's narrative lies in what you take from it. Indeed, who is Dracula? What made him a vampire? How did he convert his brides? We have a generation of films to fill in the blanks with directors providing their own compulsive take. But rarely do we form our own opinions.

While as a novel 'Dracula' is more tedious than summer school at a beach (the diary narrative is akin to walking on chipped glass-a tedious torture), it compels one to reflect on the escotericism of the unknown. Dracula enters our world through our blind spots, through our unknown to present us with a terrifying spectacle: that we are not omniscient. Despite our advances we still confront mystery after mystery.

Is Stoker than infecting us with nihilism if the unknown is so compellingly strong? I believe not. He reinforces the eventual triumph of morality over immorality (as we fear the unknown for it's absence of tangible/intangible elements we acknowledge), and the defeat of ignorance when one earns enough wisdom to confront the fear of the unknown.

This is what makes 'Dracula' timeless. Not the tedious narrative but it's semi-apocalyptic overtones and-let's be honest-Dracula himself. A specter loaded with infinite horrors. A product of the unknown.

And while Keanu Reeves massacred the role of Jonathan Harker in the Coppola retelling, it is the simplicity of Stoker's characters which makes the horror all the more petrifying.


( )

Amazing suspense, and the essential vampire novel, a must read for sure.
The way it tells it's story(by diaries, paper, letters, etc) is really innovative for it's time and fits extremely well with the horror theme. ( )

Short story collection. The tales are nicely gruesome in general but a bit flat or too obvious. The last story might be the best and thats more of a horror comedy, but not enough to get it to 3 stars overall. The title story is a discarded piece of Dracula and a good decision to cut it in my opinion. ( )