“Why are you hiding, Nanna Ellen? You’re frightening me!”

The peculiarities of Ellen Crone, oh yes, is the perfect place to start this creepy novel. Written from the notes, missing pages, remnants of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, there is an eerie intimacy in this prequel, sharing the inspiration behind his dark creation. It seems fitting that Stoker’s great grand-nephew carries on his legacy, co-authored by J.D. Barker (a horror and thriller fiction writer himself). That is turned out so good is simply an early Halloween treat for your bucket.

We begin with Bram, a sickly ill-fated child (how gothic) until a peculiar Nanny ‘monster, wraith, friend’ (sounds about right if you think about Nannies of bygone days) cures him. Spending miserably sad, mounting days from his attic room wondering if it’s to be his last, with his older sister Matilda for company, watching life outside his window. There from the time of his birth, lending her strength to his being and disappearing for days at a time always returning restored again (cheeks flush with color, life) his nanny (Nana Ellen) is a force. Ellen of the changing eye color and strange mysteries is it imagination that brother and sister let run wild, or is she something ‘other’? Is it just his illness, playing games with his mind? Feeling her, but not seeing her when at his worst? Curing him when leaches fail him? The cure, that strange beastly overpowering… did she truly save or change him?

interrupting these journal entries, Bram of the present is being stalked by a presence on the other side of the door, trapped in a room, engulfed by the awful stench of this monster, wondering if he’ll ever leave alive. Back to the past, brother and sister snooping through Ellen’s room, when they aren’t watching her strange nightly encounters, looking for evidence of something. Being children, they know not what but why is there a box of dirt, with a body impression, as if someone sleeps there in her room? Why isn’t her bed as clean as their own? Well, the ‘help’ is often busy and exhausted, is it so bizarre to be a messy nanny? Shoo, children, what does your Ma care so long as Ellen watches out for you and the house is clean?

Naturally they don’t give in, they continue to hunt, stalk their Nanny who disappears into mist. Maybe their feet just aren’t as fast? Are they really chasing her? Is he dreaming? Bram wakes with an itch. Could siblings share the same dream, or is it the sinister games of Ellen? If there was nothing unholy about her, nothing monstrous, why has she left in the night, without a word, leaving nothing of herself behind?

The monster means to seduce him into opening the door. After all, he owes it his very life, he wouldn’t have reached adulthood without it. Come on, open the door! Let’s get to the bottom of this!

They will find Ellen again, and discover the origins of her monstrous heart. What is great about this prequel is the knowledge shared about Stoker’s childhood, life. There is folklore and I love folklore but I wish there was more heart pounding terror. What you will find is the undead, plagues, murders and a strange love for the very thing he fears. It is a solid read and perfect for fans of Dracula, and old horror stories. We’re to believe that Stoker encountered the very sort of ‘evil’ he wrote about. It is part horror, thriller, mystery and Stoker family history, fictionalized (or is it) mwwwwaaaaa…

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Penguin Group

G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for a fair review.


Through diaries and letters the Stoker family tells us the true story of Dracul. When Bram was a young child he was very sickly, but one night when all seemed lost and in a feverish haze Bram remembers his Nanna Ellen saving his life. So begins the tale.


Bram tells us the whole story as he waits armed in a desolate tower while he waits to fight an unspeakable evil. Bram's brother and sister find out the truth about Ellen after a number of strange deaths occur near the family. Plus Bram has a strange injury after the Nanny saves his life.



Can Bram and Matlida figure out the whole truth before it is too late?



Look I am not going to lie, the moment I saw Stoker as the last name and it was about Dracula and Bram Stoker I was sold. I mean it was so easy it was ridiculous. I didn't honestly pay attention to what it was actually going to be about. So I a little surprised when I realized it was about Bram sort of like a prequel to Dracula. Actually that isn't right let's say it is the true story that inspired Dracula.



I mean it was almost as masterful as Bram Stoker's Dracula is. If you can't tell that is one of my favorite books of all time. I could not stop reading this, and I loved every freaking minute of it. I thought that there was no other way to do vampires. I mean honestly besides Dracula I am so over Vampires that I rarely read books about them anymore.



This was brilliant there can be no better way to pay homage to Bram's masterpiece than to add him to the story and make like he told you a true story but change some details because his family really lived it. Mind Blown.

I read Dracula so many years ago that only faint details from the book linger in my mind. I do remember that it was different from anything I had ever read before. Since then, I have not become one of the people who can’t get enough of the current stream of books that seem to glorify vampires and make so many young girls swoon. I’ve stayed away from them; however, when I saw that there was a prequel to Dracula, I really wanted to read it.

I quickly became transfixed by the story of a young Bram Stoker, and his family members that were brought to life with details that gave me a realistic glimpse of what his childhood was like. As a young child, Bram, had health problems that seemed to bring him close to death, and a nanny who would bring him back from the brink. The book is so atmospheric that it has malevolent undertones, and yet the authors showed threw actions and conversations the clueless and tenderhearted actions of a mostly caring family. There is a also a brother, Thornley, who rather resents that he has so many difficult chores and Bram seems to live a life of ease, a sister, Matilda, he was close to and a baby brother.

The book moves seamlessly from the early childhood days to adulthood. Matilda and Bram still have a close relationship and after a series of mysterious encounters they enlist the help of their brother who has also had some strange things happen in his life.

The story is told through journal entries, notes and letters. This was an extraordinary undertaking and was very well done. If you like the book Dracula, you will appreciate how carefully this was done.

Fascinating look at the story behind the story of Count Dracula. Bram Stoker's early journals detailing these events are a compulsive read. Don't neglect to read the author's notes at the end.

The narrative of Dracul, like its' inspiration, Bram Stoker's Dracula, is told through multiple viewpoints. Through the journals of Bram and his brother Thornley, through Matilda's letters, we see events unfold. These are interspersed with short "now' moments: Bram trapped in a tower, with something evil trapped on the other side of a door. It takes until there are about 100 pages left in the book before the "past" catches up to "now" and we find out why Bram is in the tower and what is going on.

The first two-thirds of Dracul focused on trying to building up suspense. While is shorter bursts this works, I have to admit that more than 300 pages of it seriously lowered my feelings of suspense, instead making me feel like I was being dragged through the book. Is it Ellen who's threatening the Stoker family, or the mysterious, tall, dark stranger? What exactly are they being threatened with? Who's on the other side of the door in Bram's tower? While the writing is clever enough to keep us guessing, I would have found the build up of suspense more satisfying if these questions had been answered earlier. Instead it felt like an interminable build up that I was getting more bored by than anything else. I also found the "now" writing- a present tense "he is doing this and seeing that" style- to be one I particularly detest (though that may be solely my own problem and not one that bothers other readers).

The last 100 or so pages of Dracul do make up for the crawling pace of the rest of the book. Once we are finally in the "now" time and all the pieces are put together for us by Ellen, things start racing. Hoping to outrace the evil Dracul, the Stokers and their convenient ally who just happens to know all about vampires travel to Germany. Now suspense pays off and I found myself interested to know what would happen next. By the very last page you are left with the rather creepy and confused questions of how much was fiction and how much fact in this version of Bram Stoker's life- a clever ploy by the authors to leave you thinking about Dracul long after you've finished the book.

Advertised as a prequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dracula himself plays little part in the book and no additional questions about him are answered. This is not his origin story but more a fictionalized origin story of how Stoker came up with the idea fo the book. With the idea that this fictional 'biography' is the true story behind Dracula, readers will see plenty of parallels between the original book and this one. The characters themselves, despite telling the story in their own words, are flat and one-dimensional; the writing style usually a rather over done mimicking of the classic gothic style of the original. A much more streamlined book with stronger character development would have made it much more enjoyable for me. While the ending bit left me liking Dracul more than I expected to (considering the slowness of most of it), I didn't find it a book I could overwhelmingly recommend to any but perhaps highly obsessive Stoker fans.

5 Nefarious stars to the much anticipated supernatural historical thriller and prequel to the well loved horror novel, Dracula. I enjoyed every minute of it and highly recommend it!

The author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, is a major character. At the beginning of the novel we find he must confront indescribable evil! We also go back in time and meet him as a young and sickly boy. He is not expected to live past age 7. However, his nanny, Ellen, steps in quietly and somehow he emerges healthy and full of life. No one really knows quite how this happens. CREEPY!

Bram grows up and we find him fighting a dark evil. Ellen disappeared from his life soon after his healing. Yet, Matilda, Bram's sister thinks she spots her when traveling. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Ellen and her disappearance. And what was/is her connection to Bram? Because he still feels her after all of these years. Is she evil or friend? Does she care about Bram and his siblings or does she use them for her own evil desires? What is her connection to Dracula, if any?

We follow a riveting story which switches back and forth between present day and when Bram and his siblings were young. We also learn more of Ellen's origins, which could really encompass a whole book all it's own!! (she may or may be a Countess!) Fascinating! Castles, body parts, bogs, midnight rides, vamps, , virgins, night crawlers, coffins, skeletons., mausoleums, cemetary romps...what else?? All are included.

This is a chunky book at over 500 pages and I rarely commit to a book of that length this time of year due to personal obligations. I am so glad I made the time for this one and I believe you will be too. I am an audible member and will use one of my credits to purchase this because I enjoy a good audio book and I believe this one will be 100% worth the price. I feel certain a re-read is in my future.

I am thankful to the publisher, Penguin Publishing Group, for providing me a digital ARC via NetGalley, to read for review. Thank you Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker as well. Truly loved every bit of this book! I think it might be made into a movie and I sure hope so! This will be one of my favorite reads of 2018. Thrilling, intense, dark, part love story, full of gothic suspense. It's release date is Oct. 2, 2018. Grab a copy! Come back and tell me what you think.

"Won't you stay and play with me?"

Is there nothing that J.D. Barker touches that isn't purely sensational? If you read the author's notes, you'll find that this story bears truth. What Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker have done here is tell a story that has been long buried. These are events that Bram Stoker himself has stated to be factual. It's said that Dracula was never meant to be a work of fiction, but rather a warning... an ominous warning for all.

"The peculiarities of Ellen Crone. That is, of course, where I should start, for this is as much her story as it is mine, perhaps more so. This woman, this monster, this wraith, this friend, this... being."

In the prequel of Dracula, Dracul, we learn of young Bram Stoker and his family. We learn of the beginning, when the evil and the undead entered the Stoker family in the form of his nanny, Nanny Ellen Crone. From Bram's birth he was afflicted with an illness, one that was sure to be fatal, yet years go by and Bram is still with the Stoker family. It's very clear early in the novel that the beloved Nanny Ellen, while always endearing, is harboring many disturbing secrets. It's not until Bram takes a turn for the worse and is suddenly brought back from the brink of death that Bram and his older sister, Matilda begin to question exactly how Nanny Ellen may be involved. I have to be honest, at the young ages of seven and eight I found their inquisitive nature to remind me a lot of Colin and Mary from The Secret Garden. There was something very endearing about their relationship. It's soon clear to Bram and Matilda that Nanny Ellen is different, she is unholy. As the children begin to get closer to the truths of Nanny Ellen, she mysteriously leaves into the night.

Years pass, and the children have grown. While Nanny Ellen may have left them, she has never been far from their minds. The mysteries surrounding her, always rising to the surface of their thoughts. For Ellen, she too has never forgotten the children, always keeping a close eye on them. Protecting them from afar, because what they don't realize, something evil lurks about, something evil that wishes to do them all harm.

As the story unfolds, we learn of Ellen's tragic past, and why Dracula has been hunting her all these years. The Stoker family finds themselves caught up in a love triangle with grave consequences. While it may seem cliché, the heart wants what it wants. You can't force love.

Some could argue that for the time period the writing may appear too modern, but to heck with that. I for one appreciated that while Stoker and Barker kept many things factual for the time period, they told the story in such a way that would appeal to today's readers. The journal entries were enlightening and told the story... rather than offering ramblings that add nothing to the storyline as you might often see with older literature. Barker has a knack for epistolary novelization though, which is why I think Dacre made an excellent choice when selecting Barker as his co-author when writing this novel.

Let us consider that this is based on true events, given that, I found that the level of suspense was spot on. It wasn't over the top with fiction, it was terrifying at times because you could imagine living in that fear.

"The ring of a little bell came from my left, and I spun to meet the sound. I was faced with nine occupied beds. My eyes quickly followed the strings tied to the hand of each body to the little bell hanging above each bed, but none betrayed the stillness. Another bell sounded, this one behind me, and I spun yet again only to find more motionless beds, more bodies lying in wait. Another bell rang out at my right, then two more on my left, more yet behind me. Within moments, the room came alive with dozens of chimes, all ringing out louder and louder. I threw my hands upon my ears and spun in circles, for the sound grew horribly loud; bells, bells, all around."

For the time period, this would have been anyone's greatest fears inside a morgue without a doubt!


I could go on and on about how excellently written this novel is, but I'll stop, I think I've rambled on enough. Do yourselves a favor and just read it already!


I want to thank NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, Dacre Stoker, and J.D. Barker for allowing me the opportunity to read this wonderfully written novel in exchange for my review.

There are few books that I’m unable to get through, but unfortunately this was one of them. I found the story muddled and unfocused. Sorry...

This book was a perfect prequel. The writing blended really well and the story line makes sense as to why they say Dracula is based in true accounts told.. its a must read for Dracula Fans

"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 twenty-one-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."

If there's one thing that screams October and Halloween, it's Dracula!

Warning! Proceed With Caution…
First, lock the nanny in the closet, check under your bed and sleep with the lights on. Prepare the wild white roses, holy crosses, communion wafers and sharpen the wooden stakes because Dacre Stoker & J.D. Barker deliver some bloodsucking goodness in Dracul.
This Dracula prequel is a pulse-pounding supernatural thrill ride and a pleasant “treat” just before Halloween. Highly recommended for all horror book fans who love good ol’ tales of vampires, the un-dead and things that go bump in the night.
Thank you very much to Penguin Group Putnam via NetGalley for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks go to Stoker and Barker, Putnam, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.<br />I don’t think any vampire story can top Dracula by Bram Stoker, but if anyone is situated to give it a run for its money, this Stoker is it. He’s written a few other books, but this was my first to read, and I was greatly impressed with his depth of description and imagination. Creepy doesn’t cover it. His picks for characters were genius. I’m going to buy more of his books.

This may be the most important book to literature to come along since Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I have been waiting to read this book. Dacre is an extremely talented writer and is joined by JD Barker who has become one of my favorite authors. This book is a must read!

I really wanted to enjoy "Dracul" more than I did, but I definitely enjoyed the original "Dracula" more.

While the conflict and characters were interesting at first and I liked the overall premise, the writing just isn't really compelling and it gets rather repetitive, especially towards the end. The first part of the novel, where it follows a very similar narrative structure to the original, was definitely more interesting than the second part where the narrative follows a more conventional structure.

Overall, I liked the idea more than the execution and would definitely rather recommend reading the original "Dracula".

While a little hard to get into at first, this book proved to be an interesting and entertaining read. I'll admit it was jarring at first to suddenly go between the journal of Bram and the "Now" with Bram but I can see how the authors used this to build suspense. I felt that the authors did an excellent job of building suspense in the book as well as the horror elements. Being able to see events from the different character's points of view helped keep the novel interesting and it was fitting for a prequel to Dracula. I would recommend this book to people interested in vampires and Dracula, but perhaps not to die-hard fans of Dracula. This was a fun read for someone like me who liked the original novel, but I feel that people who are die-hard fans of the original would have preferred that Bram Stoker's descendant just let the story rest in peace.

Dracul is a great book in the best Gothic tradition and with truly scary moments. Described as “the prequel to Dracula” it tells the story of Bram Stoker, the author of the original novel and ancestor of Dacre Stoker, and how he and his family are forced to face a being of pure evil. The plot starts when Bram is a small sickly child, who only seems to get better when his mysterious Nanna Ellen tends to his illness. We also get glimpses set in the present moment, when Bram is twenty one and guarding something scary behind a door. As with Dracula, the story here is told through journal entries and letters and all the twists are slowly revealed to the reader. The author paces himself and yet, at moments the suspense was unbearable. I must say that, as much as I like the Coppola movie, I’ve never completely loved Dracula. But Dracul keeps all the good things about it and tailors it to a more modern sensibility so that it makes it quite enjoyable. For starters, where Mina and Lucy were weak, clueless women, Dracul has Matilda, Bram’s sister and a strong, resourceful woman. Even the enigmatic Nanna Ellen is a well-defined female character. At the end of the novel it says how the original prologue to Dracula stated that it was based on facts, so the incidents in Dracul could very well have happened. Lastly, I have to say that the Gothic locales were all very creepy: abandoned abbeys, unconsecrated cemeteries, ruined castles and an insane asylum; but it was a chapter set in a morgue that gave me gooseflesh. Bonus points for the original creatures the bad guy turns into – no boring bats here. This is an excellent novel, even for people who don’t like vampires.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/PENGUIN GROUP Putnam!

I’ll start by giving credit for evident research into the biography of Bram Stoker and a plot that moves well, neither bogging down nor skipping around. However, I couldn’t wait for this one to end.

The quality of writing is uneven. The use of multiple viewpoints through journals and letters as well as third-person narrative feels gimmicky and unnecessary, as does the inclusion of the Dr. Frankenstein and his monster element.

I would classify this as horror rather than thriller/suspense; the blood and gore components feel completely gratuitous. The greatest disappointment is the lack of sensuality and suspense that give the best vampire novels (Dracula, The Vampire Chronicles, The Historian) their unique appeal. Dacre Stoker’s name may have convinced me to read one of his books, but it will not be happening again.

J.D.Barker teams up with the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker to bring us this prequel, if you will, to the Dracula novel. If you have ever wondered how he came up with such a tale, this book will let you know in great detail. Chilling detail!

If you are thinking of shiny, sparkly vampires, stop. That is not what this is. This is the story of Bram. As a child and as an adult. Much of the book is based on his own writings, notes and journals. Names and places are changed in some places, but this book rings true in every sense.

It is evil, and frightening and not one bit nice. And I loved every gory minute of it! These are the vampires that are powerful and contemptuous of humans. They leave death and destruction in their wake. And at one point even I had to put down the book and just check my windows and doors. It rings that true.

I was fortunate enough to receive this from Netgalley but the hard copy I will buy and not let you borrow it.

Netgalley/October 2nd 2018 by Putnam

The "true story" behind Bram Stoker and his tale of Dracula. Gah, I wanted to LOVE this book - I love vampire stories, and slow-burn gothic dread and suspense - but it just didn't quite deliver all the way.

During the first two-thirds of the book we jump back and forth between a scene where Bram is trapped in a castle tower fighting off some evil entity, and his journal entries/his sister's letters telling the tale of their lives up to this point. This is a little confusing for two reasons. First, they are told in two different points of view - Bram in the tower is in third-person voice, while the journals and letters are in first-person voice. Second, because the "rules" aren't explained until later in the book, some of what happens in the tower scenes don't make sense to us yet (what's with the roses? Why can't Bram fall asleep? What's up with the wolves?).

The mood over the course of the book is inconsistent. During the story of Bram and Matilda's childhood and their trying to unravel the mystery of Nanna Ellen, the story is wonderfully atmospheric and foreboding, and a breadcrumb trail of terror is slowly dropped for them (and us) to follow. Once we get to adult Bram and Matilda's story, however, things morph into more straightforward horror and action, with much less of a sense of building dread and mystery.

I think moving the information/notes section from the end of the book to the beginning would be a great improvement - knowing that this was truly based on Bram Stoker's actual journals and the missing chapters of the original Dracula manuscript added another dimension to the story! Don't wait until the end to tell this to the reader!

Ultimately, it was a good story and I was pulled in, but I hoped for so much more.

Some people read about zombies, others are into ghost stories. Me? I am a long-time fan of the vampire tale. I collected books based the trope until romance writers attempted to co-opt the trope and co-opt it badly. There was a time when my goal was to own every vampire novel and short story ever written. As I got older, I revised my expectations.

Let's imagine word association between you and me. I say "Bram Stoker." You reply with "Dracula." I say :Dracula." You reply with "vampire." These would be instantaneous responses because you have read the book, seen a stage play, or watched a movie starring the infamous vampire. Although DRACULA is not the first novel written about the undead, it is probably the most recognized by the general public. The definitive story is contained in the novel. The movies and stage plays take liberties to meet time and space constraints. They also add bits to Bram Stoker's original vampire mythos.

DRACUL is more a biography of Bram Stoker, more of a history of his family, than it is a re-writing of DRACULA. Even a cursory Google search of 'Bram Stoker' will confirm that he did indeed have a brother Thornley and a sister Mathilda (although that was her middle, not first, name).

Vampire tales have rules, a mythos to which authors must, at least loosely, adhere. The only way to kill a vampire is with a stake through the heart. Vampires cannot live in sunlight. Vampires must sleep on their native earth. All of these ideas are subject to change as you read the works of different authors. The mythos of the vampire is a fascination of mine. I look for variations with each new book, each new author, each new series about the blood-drinking undead. DRACUL does not disappoint. The things the undead can do in this book vary just enough from the original novel to make it quite unique. Written in the form of journal entries made by some of the characters, and letters by another, it harkens back to DRACULA whose tale is told through the journal entries of Jonathan Harker. In both cases, we are led to believe that as far-fetched as it may seem, the stories are completely true. This truth lies in the conviction each journal exhibits.

For this serious collector of vampire tales, this book is a must. For anyone who has read DRACULA, DRACUL provides insight into the mind of Bram Stoker. Yes, I know that both books are fiction, that vampires are not real, but to suspend disbelief affords a glimpse of what might be.

On the downside (a very small downside), I will say that there is a word or two, here and there in DRACUL, that is too modern. Today's reader might not even notice these literary faux pas, but, when such care has been given the overall work, to me they stood out like beacons.