Dracula by Bram Stoker

...so says Craig Ferguson, and I completely agree. While entertaining in their own rights, Anne Rice's and Stephenie Meyer's vampires simply would not be able to stand up against the grand daddy of them all, Count Dracula. There is a terror in Stoker's writing that is rarely achieved by other authors, with the possible exceptions of H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King and Thomas Ligotti. If you've seen Francis Ford Coppola's film adaptation, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and enjoyed it, this should be a no-brainer. You've got to read this book.

Incidentally, Dracula is fashioned after a real Wachallian (modern day Romania) prince Vlad the Second. He was a ruthless ruler who was feared and respected by the people, mostly due to the iron fist with which he governed. He took the name Dracul ("the dragon" or, contemporarily, "the devil"), hence Stoker's title. Everything about the book, from the writing style to the history upon which it is predicated, is terrifying. Get it.

~ R. M. Straight

You really can't beat the original Dracula story. Bram Stoker originally published the Dracula story in 1897 and we haven't been the same since. The Twilight and True Blood series would have gotten nowhere without the original legend of Count Dracula slowly seeped into our conscious. This is a shorter "reader's choice" edition but all of the eeriness that made the Count a household word is still there. Save some time and learn a bit about history with this choice title.

~ Mike Wallace