50 book reading challenge (10) Dracula

I am reeeeeeally behind on this! I'm obviously not going to reach my goal of 50 books by Christmas but I'll give it a good go anyway =) It's actually quiet fitting that I do this review today because today would have been Bram Stoker's 165th birthday! so this was one of the set texts we were told to read for class and I'm so glad! I've always wanted to read Dracula but never got around to it. Okay, let's begin the review.

The book is written in epistolary form (diary entries) from the points of view of the main characters, it starts with Jonathan Harker who is an English solicitor sent to Transylvania to help Count Dracula relocate to England. At the time he isn't aware of The Count being a vampire but this changes. The story follows what happens to Harker, his girlfriend Whilemina (called 'Mina' in the book), her friend Lucy, John Seward, Arthur Holmwood and Van Helsing as they each discover Count Dracula's secret and eventually come together to stop him. This was a great story, first published in 1897, the story reflects the darker period of the Victorian era whilst showing a clear cut moral. With all the buzz about vampires in modern times it's refreshing to see one of the great originals, Bram Stoker didn't invent the vampire, but he was the one to characterise it in it's current, modern form. 

I didn't love it, I really thought I would but I didn't. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it, I did. In fact I think I would read it again. I think the reason it's not as appealing to me is because I've read much more extravagent tales of the vampire (Anne rice: the vampire chronicles, The vampire diaries etc) and so to see it told in a more simple way is not as exciting for me. However it's obvious that every writer after Stoker took inspiration from this book and so I can appreciate it for that. I think it all depends on what you're comparing it to, in itself the book is an 8/10 - compared to Anne Rice's 'Interview with the vampire' I would give it a 7/10 and compared to Twilight... well I would give it a 10/10 because Twilight is shit compared to most things. (Sorry, sorry, it's just how I feel haa) anyway I think I'm rambling now, overall it's a great book, I'd recommend it to a friend, particaularly to someone who is interested in seeing the vampire portrayed as something other than an emo child that glitters in the sun (I'm sorry, that's my last Twilight diss I swear) so yeah, I think it's well written in terms of plot, characters and general ... shall I say 'other worldly-ness'? the fantasy aspect is definitely on point, it's simple but in a good way.

Would you read Dracula, and if you have, what do you think of it compared to the 'popular' vampire novels out right now?