[Stoker's Dracula 01] • Dracul

The prequel to _Dracula_ , inspired by notes and texts left behind by the

author of the classic novel, _Dracul_ is a riveting novel of gothic suspense

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.