Brief synopsis: Bram Stoker was an ill child who hardly left his bed during the first seven years of his life. Luckily, his nanny Ellen Crone had an odd way of making Bram feel better from the moment he was born. But when Bram and his sister Matilda find some odd items in Ellen's room one night, they decide to follow her out to the old Artane Tower - and what they see is nothing short of terrifying. Then they don't see Ellen again. Years later, Bram and Matilda, alongside their brother Thornley go in search of Nanny Ellen, only to find mysteries much more disturbing than they could have imagined.



Dracul is sort of a prequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula, if you will. Though I've never read the original Dracula, I do have a ton of interest in vampires and the folklore surrounding them. This novel is written by Dacre Stoker (something like Bram Stoker's great-great-great nephew or something) and J.D. Barker. What I never knew, until reading this novel, is that Bram Stoker believed his story of Dracula to be real, which is all sorts of terrifying. Dracul is a book written based off notes of Bram's about his famous vampire character. There's snippets of these notes at the end of this novel.

I was really impressed with this book - I struggled with it at times, but simply for the fact it was a e-book I read, as opposed to physical pages of story. The writing was enthralling and the story was chilling. I was a little bit confused with the timeline, but it cleared itself up eventually. I became easily attached to the characters. And honestly, I couldn't read the story too late at night because it kind of freaked me out.

There is gore, and the story is incredibly haunting, but this is the perfect read just in time for Halloween. I would definitely recommend - and don't worry if you haven't read Dracula. It had no influence on my understanding of the story.

Also, how gorgeous is that cover?