The prequel to Dracula, inspired by notes and texts left behind by the author of the classic novel, Dracul is a supernatural thriller that reveals not only Dracula's true origins but Bram Stoker's - and the tale of the enigmatic woman who connects them.

It is 1868, and a 21-year-old Bram Stoker waits in a desolate tower to face an indescribable evil. Armed only with crucifixes, holy water, and a rifle, he prays to survive a single night, the longest of his life. Desperate to record what he has witnessed, Bram scribbles down the events that led him here....

A sickly child, Bram spent his early days bedridden in his parents' Dublin home, tended to by his caretaker, a young woman named Ellen Crone. When a string of strange deaths occur in a nearby town, Bram and his sister Matilda detect a pattern of bizarre behavior by Ellen - a mystery that deepens chillingly until Ellen vanishes suddenly from their lives. Years later, Matilda returns from studying in Paris to tell Bram the news that she has seen Ellen - and that the nightmare they've thought long ended is only beginning.

A riveting novel of Gothic suspense, Dracul reveals not only Dracula's true origin, but Bram Stoker's - and the tale of the enigmatic woman who connects them.

Read by a full cast:

Pete Bradbury, Narrator
Vikas Adam, as Bram Stoker
Saskia Maarleveld, as Matilda Stoker
Raphael Corkhill, as Thornley Stoker
Alana Kerr Collins, as Ellen
Allan Corduner, as Arminius Vambéry

Listening Length

16 hours and 25 minutes
Author

Dacre Stoker, see all
Narrator

Pete Bradbury, see all
Audible release date

Oct. 2 2018
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Audio
ASIN

B07H3DCT2B
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
See all details

1 credit a month good for any title of your choice, yours to keep.
The Plus Catalogue—listen all you want to thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks.
Access to exclusive member-only sales, as well as 30% off your purchases of any additional titles.
After 30 days Audible is $14.95/month + applicable taxes. Renews automatically.

Learn more about membership

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

List Price: $43.86

You Save: $5.48 (12%)

By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Sold and delivered by Audible, an Amazon company

People who bought this also bought

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

The Exorcist: A Novel
William Peter Blatty
5,481
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
The Book of the Unnamed Midwife: The Road to Nowhere, Book 1
Meg Elison
2,453
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
'Salem's Lot (Movie Tie-in)
Stephen King
13,813
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson
15,212
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial
Empire of the Vampire
Jay Kristoff
4,653
Audible Audiobook
$0.00 Free with Audible trial

Related to this topic

Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1

Product details

Listening Length	16 hours and 25 minutes
Author	Dacre Stoker, J.D. Barker
Narrator	Pete Bradbury, Vikas Adam, Saskia Maarleveld, Raphael Corkhill, Alana Kerr Collins, Allan Corduner
Audible.ca Release Date	October 02 2018
Publisher	Penguin Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B07H3DCT2B
Best Sellers Rank	#56,206 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #145 in Gothic Horror Fiction #237 in Occult Horror Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #799 in Dark Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

1,101 global ratings

5 star		70%
4 star		20%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from Canada

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Shandi Byron

Great prequel

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 17, 2022

Verified Purchase

If you loved Dracula undead then this is a must read I found it hard to put down

Helpful

Ilian Flores Lerdo De Tejada

Good timing & book in good condition

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

Arrive in good time and the book was just fine as described. Very happy to have made this purchase! I’ve been looking for this book everywhere.

Helpful

Laura Vargas

Amazing!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

Amazing!!

Helpful

Aroma

So Stoker

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

Thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was as if I were reading Bram Stoker himself. Very capturing, typical Stoker tradition. Being a lover of Dracula and Stoker, devoured this book.

Helpful

Sandy

Great new twist on a gothic classic

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 1, 2019

4.5 stars

Cracking way to begin a new year of reading. This prequel to the classic is about as meta as it gets. Written by Stoker’s great-grandnephew & well known author J.D. Barker (The Fourth Monkey), it draws heavily from Bram Stoker’s childhood, journals & notes he scribbled while writing the original.

Bram, his family & real life acquaintances are the main characters. Also worth mentioning is some tall, thin, icky guy going by the name of Dracul who manages to steal a few scenes.

This is a proper horror story. The writing team has done a bang-up job of creating an original tale but in a style reminiscent of classics such as Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde & of course, Dracula. It’s gothic creepiness at its best, a story that engages all your senses as it drags you kicking & screaming from Ireland to Germany & back again. (Be careful if you read this in public…you may find yourself drawing some strange looks as you mutter things like “Do NOT touch that”.)

Be sure to read the author’s note written by Dacre Stoker at the end. It’s full of fascinating tidbits of how the original manuscript was written then carefully edited to reflect the times. It was purchased at auction some years ago by Paul Allen (cofounder of Microsoft) & he granted access to the Stoker foundation but only after they signed a non-disclosure agreement. What is known is that the first 100 pages are missing.

It’s a gripping & skeery read that seamlessly combines fact, fiction & folklore. A must-read for fans of the original or Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s “Cemetery of Forgotten Books” series & Lauren Owen’s “The Quick”.

Helpful

Marcel Eichmann

Much better than the sequel

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 1, 2019

This prequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula is a much better novel than Dacre Stoker's somewhat lackluster sequel to Bram's original novel . For one in this novel Dracula or Dracul is wisely presented allot like he is in Bram's Stoker's original novel rather than the somewhat cheesy anti-hero he became in Dacre's sequel novel . Aside from that the book is genuinely suspenseful . Truly a great read , recommended .

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Good spooky read

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 27, 2021

Verified Purchase

I got this to help get in the Halloween spirit. If you liked Dracula, then you’ll like this. It’s well written and creepy. Would recommend!

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer

It's okay

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 23, 2018

Verified Purchase

After Dacre Stoker's previous attempt at a further chapter in the 'Dracula' tale, the 'official' sequel 'The Undead', with its' copious amounts of gratuitous violence and sex that seemed more to titillate the author than provide any proper narrative, and rather clichéd Hollywood type twists, I wasn't holding out much hope for this novel.
Firstly, it is better than 'The Undead', which was a relief (one could argue that if I disliked it that much then why read this - what can I say, I'm a Dracula fan!)
However, it never reaches the heights of Bram Stoker's original tale. Dacre Stoker may be well versed in Dracula lore and history, but it doesn't lend itself to being a good writer.
The original novel dripped with atmosphere, and was so clever with its subtle suggestion of violence rather than graphic descriptions. This is sadly lacking in 'Dracul', which doesn't conjure up any atmosphere. There are some rather dramatic scenes of snakes appearing out of nowhere, but these seem out of place in a book of this nature - the big draw of the original was that a lot of it was suggested rather than described.
The vocabulary is extremely jarring - the story is (mostly) set in 19th century Ireland, but uses modern words and Americanisms such as 'okay', 'guys' and 'right?'. It is not an articulate book, and very basic with its language. One of the features of the original 'Dracula' novel was that it had a repression that was expressed through formal language - this is severely lacking in this version, which is why the atmosphere is not as it should be.
The 'twist' that other reviews have mentioned didn't seem that dramatic to me. There are some points of merit, however, - the bond between the Stoker siblings is done well, and without wishing to give away too much there is a nice tie to the excised chapter of 'Dracula'.
That said, if one is a fan of Dracula and the surrounding mythology, then this is an interesting addition. It is not written well, but shows a lot of promise and give pause for thought in several instances. As with 'The Undead', this seems more to be written with the idea of a film in mind rather than written word, and that is detrimental to the engagement of the reader.
I doubt I would re-read this, but there is enough for anybody who is curious about a tale endorsed by the Stoker family and who wants a continuation of the original story. Just.

33 people found this helpful

Polly Dactyl

Very Poor

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

Unfortunately, I am unable to give this book a good review. As a long-time reader of not only Dracula but other examples of gothic period literature, I was hoping that this - with the strong Stoker connection - would be an interesting elaboration on the well-known story. Sadly, I was disappointed on just about every level.
As at least one of the other reviews mentions, this is a very poorly written book, with both normal words and phrases being used out of context, making many sentences nonsensical. It is also full of anachronistic language, both in the narrative and the dialogue; examples would include jarringly modern words, phrases or idioms, and obvious Americanisms.
It is painfully obvious that the authors have no real understanding or knowledge of the time period in which they have set their story, and their attempt to emulate the period detail and match the atmosphere of the original is reminiscent of a troupe of schoolchildren trying to write and perform a play in the style of Shakespeare, and unfortunately this is sometimes laughable.
The attempt to present the story through the medium of diaries, journals and correspondence - like the original novel - is also unsuccessful. Each entry is basically a first-person narration of the story in progress, rather than a measured retelling, and all the characters speak with the same, mostly unconvincing voice. Unlike another reviewer, I do not find the relationships drawn between the Stoker family members to be well-written, and many of their actions/reactions are clumsy and difficult to accept .
The worst elements of this book are that it is over-long for such a slight story, and this makes it surprisingly boring. There are so many jarring mistakes in tone and detail that on almost every page one is jolted out of the 'willing suspension of belief'. And worst of all, instead of making Dracula an even more interesting character, by revealing previously unknown details, it actually diminishes him to a boogie man with all the depth of a Scooby Doo villain.
Sadly, I can not recommend this book in any way.

15 people found this helpful

Brida

A Gothic tale offering a prequel to an iconic legend

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

I read "Dracula" by Bram Stoker years ago, whilst in my teens. To this day, it remains on my bookshelf, having earnt a permanent place there. When I saw this novel last year, I was intrigued. Marketed as a prequel to the infamous horror story, I was keen to find out if it would live up to the legend that is Dracula.

Despite being a modern novel, part of what I loved about "Dracul" was the language. It feels as though it was written in the 1800s. It is also incredibly atmospheric - right from the very beginning, this book sucked me in and did not let go; I read it whenever I was able to. It is creepy as well, as it should be. Just like the classic, "Dracul" is told in a variety of ways. Bram is one of our narrators, but through journal entries, and transcripts of letters, we are also able to 'hear' from other major characters within this tale. This technique adds to the feeling of authenticity, as it echoes Dracula's previous story.

I would also encourage you to read the afterword, as it provides details regarding Stoker and the notes that he left behind/ context of this novel. It really is fascinating, and in some ways, it does make you stop and think... As mentioned in the novel itself, all myths have some nugget of truth in them. It is for us individually to decide where that nugget may lie with this iconic legend.

9 people found this helpful

MM Reviewer

A fantastic and timeless book just like the sequel.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 28, 2021

Verified Purchase

As Dracul's sinister grin and evil piercing eyes focus on Bram, his words will echo for generations to come “With the final beat of your heart you will take your place at my side”.

Dracul is the most haunting story narrated through the journals and letters of Bram, his brother and sister, and as a prequel to the legend that is Dracula it doesn’t disappoint in creating a story of love, loss, pain, sacrifice, and horror.

Bram was a child of poor constitution and from the age of seven is isolated from life and living as a recluse in fear of his prevailing health. Devoted to his sister, but cared for by Nanny Ellen, Ellen Crone, Bram makes the most unexpected and miraculous recovery from his longstanding illness, after treatment from Nanny Ellen. The only ailment is an ever-present itch on his wrist and two small pinpricks an inch apart just below the wrist bone over the vein. His fate is sealed.

After several mysterious deaths and the disappearance of Nanny Ellen, we find Bram at 21 locked inside a tower with darkness looming outside. However, it was ugly blackness and the sounds of evil that engulfed him amidst the worst of fears night after night, alone with his holy water, mirrors and crucifixes as the only means of protection and his journal to keep him sane. The force of evil was closing in.

“I felt the forces of nature in the night air, the delicate balance of life and death.” He says

I have not read a book that creates such suspense on every page, there is an endless expectation that something is about to happen, and it does. The drama was intense, the writing dark, lingering, and haunting. I think Dacre Stoker did an amazing job (in conjunction with the co author J.D Barker) of picking up this golden thread from his great uncle Bram Stoker and spun it into the black haunting and ghoulish tale that is Dracul and the birth of Dracula.

It is believed that Bram Stoker, told some publishers that the book was not a work of fiction, to stoke up interest, which generated a cult following that lasts to this day and piqued the interest of many people then and over the years, and because the tale of Dracula has been around for so many years, some forget it is only a work of fiction or is it?

“Some would say it was chance she found me now, as I am about to take my leave and begin work on a new novel a new novel about something very old – an evil amongst us, a truth of the most incomprehensible sort. Coincidence others would say.

I would disagree with both, for I believe in neither”.

Ah honest tip of this one. I know a lot about Dracula, as my favourite horror character I have read the books and watched every film I think available. I believe this enhanced my overall reading experience here, and when some of the chapters lingered I was able to conjure up images that helped when the content was lacking. I would suggest maybe watch a film so you know what the book is creating - a monster, with or without a soul?

A fantastic and timeless book just like the sequel.

Charlie Hasler

A superb Gothic tale

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

I wasn't expecting to be moved by this gothic tale, but I genuinely was in parts. The story, for me at least, transcended all that I thought it would be. The story of Bram, Nanna Ellen, Patrick, Thornley and Emily, all so tragic but yet so timeless and epic. I was moved especially by Thornley and Ellen, mainly because I had a bad time with my mental health and my beautiful, and forever rock fiancé, stood by me and I know, through hell or high water, she always will and I her. I feel I understand Thornley, I would love to have met him.
In terms of ghosts, ghouls, and indeed, vampires, I am sadly, unlike Bram, a sceptic, I never used to be, the blandness of life made me so in this age of instant google explanations, I wish I wasn’t because it is far less interesting. As I say, in an age of Facebook and science it is hard not to be sceptical and dismiss the shadows and bumps in the night. However, we have all had those moments when we have felt eyes on us, turned, and no one has been there, followed by a slight uneasiness we can’t quite put our finger on, yes, we can dismiss and walk on, but it still happened.
This book is truly frightening and gripping, I loved it, it put a lump in my throat a times, made me shudder at others, and took me back to a few bumps in the night.

A beautiful, beautiful story, of life, unconditional love, pain and death, which happens to involve vampires.

4 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	Amazon Business Everything for your business	Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands

Warehouse Deals Open-Box Discounts	Whole Foods Market We Believe in Real Food	Amazon Renewed Like-new products you can trust	Blink Smart Security for Every Home

Dracul Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Free with an Audible trial $0.00$0.00

Buy with 1-Click $38.38$38.38

People who bought this also bought

Related to this topic

Product details

Customer reviews

Top reviews from Canada

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Free with an Audible trial

$0.00

Buy with 1-Click

$38.38