Dracula Daze

Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula was published on May 26, 1897. To honour the publication of this iconic and enduring work of literary art, May 26 is now celebrated as World Dracula Day.

Dracula is an epistolary novel. It is written as a series of correspondences which drive the story forward. Diary entries, letters, newspaper articles, ship logs, telegrams and phonograph recordings are used to express different events from different characters. The reader is taken on a vampiric journey as the narratives slowly bleed together culminating in a heart-stopping end. The action begins in May and ends in November, with an epilogue written seven years later, signifying the end of the Dracula journey. For some of us, the Dracula journey has never ended!

I’m continuing my Dracula journey this year by reading Dracula Daily by Mark Kirkland. Every event in Dracula has a date, but the events are not told in chronological order. In Dracula Daily, Kirkland reorganises the novel chronologically. This way you get to read Dracula in the order the events are happening. If you subscribe to draculadaily, you’ll get an email on the day something happens in the novel, or you can buy the book. I’ve both subscribed and bought the book.

The novel begins on the third of May with a diary entry by Jonathan Harker. When that day finally arrived, I grabbed the book, made a warm drink, and began reading. I’m following the rules and only reading the entries for each day as they occur. On the dates when there are no entries, I stop myself from reading ahead. It takes discipline, but it’s worth the effort.

The first four chapters in the novel feature Jonathan’s slow, life-draining and terrifying experiences in Castle Dracula. You can read these chapters in one day, but reading them in the same time frame that Johnathan lives them is enlightening. The fact that the chapters are taking weeks rather than hours to read, brings with it an element of pleasure/pain. I’m also enjoying the fact that by following a chronological order, characters whose stories are introduced later in the novel are now appearing earlier. I’m only a few weeks in but I am loving this new way of reading Dracula. The Daily Dracula has certainly breathed new life into this classic novel.

What better drink to have while reading a novel about a vampire who travels to England than a London Fog! I can almost feel the cold presence of Dracula as he wanders the fog-shrouded streets of London in search of victims. The fact that we are in Autumn/Winter here adds an extra chill to my vampiric evening reading.

London Fog

Ingredients
1/2 cup strong, freshly brewed Earl Grey tea
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup freshly steamed milk

Instructions
Pour the tea into a heatproof cup.
Stir in the honey and vanilla.
Top with steamed milk.

* Make the Earl Grey tea with 1/2 a cup of water and either 1 teaspoon of leaves or 1 teabag.
* If you don’t have a milk steamer or frother, pour milk into a small saucepan and whisk over medium heat until hot but not boiling.