Dracula

“But Dracula is very explicit. That’s what’s so surprising about it. We know the story so well, but until you actually read the novel, you’re not quite aware. It’s quite a sophisticated novel that gets kind of short shrift because it is written in an adventure style, and because it is so culturally well-known. But the scene you’re describing is one of the great scenes in erotic representation in Victorian literature.” Read more...

The best books on Sex in Victorian Literature

Claire Jarvis,

“Personally, I like to read Dracula as one of the great novels of London. Stoker himself was an Irish immigrant to London. The Count is a central European immigrant to London. He initially moves to Carfax Abbey, in the suburbs, before gentrifying himself and moving to Piccadilly. In some ways, the Count is a symbolic representative of the many central and eastern European Jews who immigrated to London at this time.” Read more...

Darryl Jones recommends the best Horror Stories

Darryl Jones, Literary Scholar

“Vampirism is a growth industry. Dracula is bigger than Jesus now. Halloween has overtaken Christmas. All this came from the imagination of an Irishman, Bram Stoker, who never went to Transylvania, but pored over maps and stories” Read more...

The best books on Fantastical Tales

Andrei Codrescu, Novelist

“When you read the physical description of Count Dracula, he does not resemble the handsome vampires we see on television; rather, he looks like a thug. He has one continuous eyebrow across his forehead, thick hands, pointy teeth and pointy ears.” Read more...

The best books on The Pioneers of Criminology

Douglas Starr, Science Writer

“It’s a good old-fashioned blood and guts melodrama designed to be frightening.” Read more...

The best books on Horror

Kim Newman, Novelist