Books Like Dracula
Since its publication in 1897, Dracula by Bram Stoker has thrilled and terrified readers with its Gothic fiction depicting the evil vampire count. It has gone on to become one of the most famous pieces of English literature, and its influence on popular culture is undeniable. Even before the novel entered the public domain, it played a significant role in how other authors depicted vampires in fiction. There has also been plenty of other authors who offered readers their own take on the centuries-old vampire from Transylvania. For more stories that draw inspiration from the undead bloodsucker, check out the following books like Dracula.
Carmilla
by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Unlike the other novels on this list, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu actually predates Bram Stoker’s Dracula by almost 30 years. The story is presented as a casebook of Dr. Hesselius and is narrated by a girl named Laura. She befriends another girl named Carmilla after a carriage accident, and while the two become very close, Laura can’t help but notice some strange things about her. The story turns even darker when girls from the nearby town begin dying from an unknown malady. Carmilla shares many similarities with Dracula, such as the first-person narration and characters like the vampire expert Baron Vordenburg matching Stoker’s Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.
Fevre Dream
by George R. R. Martin
Before going on the pen, the hugely successful A Song of Ice and Fire series George R. R. Martin wrote Fevre Dream, which was published in 1982. The story is set in the 19th century and tells the story of a Mississippi River steamboat captain named Abner Marsh, who is approached by a wealthy aristocrat named Joshua York. The two become business partners after York approaches Marsh with a lucrative offer to finance the construction of a new riverboat. However, Marsh has second thoughts about this partnership after Joshua and his friends come on board, and a string of unusual deaths begin occurring along the boat’s route.
The Historian
by Elizabeth Kostova
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova offers an interesting take on Dracula by combining his story with the history and folklore of Vlad Tepes, the 15th-century Romanian noble. The tale is told through letters and oral accounts, similar to the epistolary way in which Dracula was written. However, the story also spans three separate narratives, set in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s, as the unnamed narrator delves through her family’s past secrets to find a connection to Vlad the Impaler.
Power of Darkness
by Bram Stoker and Valdimar Smundsson
Power of Darkness is a unique book because it was initially thought only to be a translation of Dracula by Icelandic publisher and writer Valdimar Smundsson. It was published in Iceland in 1901, but Dracula scholarship only discovered in 1986 that the book had a preface by Bram Stoker himself. Even more astonishing, it took until 2014 for a literary researcher to uncover that the book was not merely a translation but that the author actually created an entirely new version of the story. In addition to all new characters, Power of Darkness also featured a reworked plot, which makes it particularly interesting for fans of Dracula.
Dracula’s Demeter
by Doug Lamoreux
In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the vampire leaves its homeland for England via a ship called The Demeter. Dracula’s Demeter by Doug Lamoreux is set in 1897 and chronicles this perilous journey to the misty shores of England. It features a valiant sea captain, a clever fugitive, a deceptive cook, and a beautiful stowaway, as well as the ancient predator hidden in the hold of the Russian schooner. Fans of the original story will know what fate awaits the doomed crew of the Demeter, but this novel fills in all the horrific details.
Dracul
by J.D. Barker and Dacre Stoker
Dracul by J.D. Barker and Dacre Stoker is a prequel to Bram Stoker’s novel inspired by the notes and text he left behind. Stoker’s great-grandnephew Dacre teamed up with American author J.D. Barker to write the story, which sees a sickly young Bram suffering from some unknown ailment. He spends his days bedridden while his nanny, Ellen Crone, cares for him and his siblings, Matilda and Thornley. However, the children become suspicious of their nanny after several deaths occur in nearby towns. Dacre Stoker also teamed up with another author to write a sequel to Dracula, called Dracula the Un-dead.
The Dead Travel Fast
by Scott Cook
The Dead Travel Fast is the first novel in the Immortal Dracula series by Scott Cook and offers a more contemporary take on the vampire legend. The story sees Veronica Balle, an average young woman aspiring to become a horror writer, choose the seaside town of Potter’s Neck to inspire her. At first, she questions her choice as it doesn’t seem to be helping her, but then she meets the handsome, charming, and successful world-famous vampire author Vince Drake. Things begin to ramp up in town with a bloody vandalism, grisly murder as well as a growing string of sicknesses and disappearances. Veronica soon discovers that there’s more to the town than meets the eye and that monsters are very real.
