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Dracula's
Guest
by
Bram Stoker
(unabridged)
(Audiobook) 
 Dracula's
Guest was first published in
1914, two years after Stoker's death, and is generally believed to be
an early chapter of Dracula
that was cut from the book to reduce its length. The central
character in the story is never named, but if the story really was
intended to as an early chapter of Dracula
then it is fair to assume that the young Englishman is Jonathan Harker.
The beginning of the story finds the young man leaving Munich by
carriage. It is Walpurgis nacht and the carriage driver, Johann, is
uneasy about the trip and wants to get home before dark.
Once en
route the
Englishman notices another road winding through a valley. It appears
that the road is little used and ir seems so inviting to him that he
proposes a detour. Johann, though, is horrified by the idea and states
that the road leads to a village that has been deserted for hundreds of
years. It is an unholy place and he is too afraid to go there.
Especially on Walpurgis nacht.
Feeling obstinate, the Englishman dismisses Johann and tells him to
return without him:
"You are afraid, Johann-you are afraid. Go
home; I shall return alone; the walk will do me good."
Johann
is most disturbed by this idea and pleads with his passenger to
reconsider, but he will not.
After the Englishman has been walking for about two hours, storm clouds
gather overhead, the weather takes a turn for the worse and, seeking
shelter, he finds himself in a graveyard. Alone in the dark, and with
something very nasty rousing from her slumber in one of the tombs, he
begins to wish that he had taken Johann's advice.
One of the most interesting things about Dracula's Guest
is probably its connection to the novel Dracula
and if the reader had never heard of Dracula I think that the final
lines of the story would loose a lot of their power. Having said that
though, I still find this an enjoyable story. I like the way that the
Englishman at first laughs in the face of superstition, but is later
forced to reconsider his stance. I also love the way Stoker built up a
dark atmosphere by the use of stormy weather and wolves howling. The
picture his words paint is a dismal one and it is of a place that no
one in their right mind would want to be, especially on Walpurgis
nacht, the night when 'according to
the belief
of millions of people, the devil was abroad--when the graves were
opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of
earth and air and water held revel.'
The Jimcin
Recordings audiobook of Dracula's
Guest
is narrated by Walter Zimmerman;
it is a good crisp recording and has a runtime of a little over thirty
minutes. Zimmerman tells the story very well and I particularly liked
the way he voiced Johann's words and the accent he adopted really
helped bring the tale to life for me.
Read the full story
online
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