Having recently finished a couple of H.P. Lovecraft Audible books, I went back to one of the first horror novels I ever read, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and started the audio delights it had to offer. What put me back in touch with Dracula (not literally, that would be terrifying) was a friend of mine, John Reppion and his wife Leah Moore who adapted the Dracula novel into a graphic novel (available here) which was available to download recently. When I originally downloaded it (officially, not a blag copy!), I’d been confused by the cover because Dracula has a moustache. I’ve nothing against moustaches (other than I can’t grow a very good one), but it’s been so long since I read the novel, that I couldn’t remember him having one. Also, Christopher Lee and Max Schreck didn’t have half a moustache between them, and since reading the novel, they were the only Dracula’s I’d had the pleasure of.
So, it was with great pleasure, that the audiobook confirmed the appearance of Dracula’s moustache, and everything was good with the graphic novel (definitely worth reading, it’s superb!).
The Audible book is brilliant. I can’t sum it up any easier than that. With a number of people in the cast (Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, Katherine Kellgren, Susan Duerden, John Lee, Graeme Malcolm, Steven Crossley) it made it a pleasure to listen to. Rarely was there a male character’s recollection where he was doing a Monty Python female voice (like Pickwick Papers – review here – though in PP’s case, it added to the entertainment of the novel). Each playing different parts, and narrating the diary entries, letters, records and personal logs of people’s recollections and thoughts about the whole affair. It really was a great listen, and with 15 hours of vampire filled horror, it’s worth the credit you spend on it.
The narration by Simon Vance, Kelly Kellgren and Tim Curry were my favourites throughout, although I don’t have any issues with any of the others, these struck me as the most memorable, though Alan Cumming is also worthy of note as Dr Seward. Each article and entry of this unabridged version straight from the novel adds suspense to the story, which draws to it’s conclusion in a way I couldn’t remember. Suffice to say, while I was waiting for Dracula to get slack with his sunrise knowledge and be vaporised while draining the blood of a young lady, it never occurred, and left me with the surprise original ending which I couldn’t remember from about two decades ago.
If you have Audible, DEFINITELY get this and have a listen. It’s superb.
The (W)rites of Rob Knipe 