Book Review: Dracula

It's about time I read this classic, so I was happy that it was my book club's latest pick.  Had I not been given that push, I probably never would have picked it up.  I am particularly glad I read Bram Stoker's Dracula now, in the height of vampire frenzy (Twilight, True Blood, etc), to best understand the origin of the phenomenon.  I also liked that the entire story is written as journal entries or letters by the story's characters.  It was an interesting way to expose information and kept the story moving.

That said, it was not my favorite read.  I was expecting a book that would make me scared to turn my light off at night, considering most consider this title the authority on the horror genre.  The beginning was interesting, but it seemed to slow down in the second half.  It just was not as exciting as I would have liked and I found it difficult to relate to the characters.  The letter/journal perspective should have given the reader a stronger connection to the characters but by the end of the novel, I didn't feel like I knew them as well as I should have after 444 pages.  Now I can say I've read it.  Moving on.