Dracula
▶ Listen to the free preview — no account neededPlays in your browser; nothing to install. Full story $14.99 with a free account, yours to keep.
About this story
A young English solicitor travels to the Carpathians to close a property sale and finds a client who is never seen by day, casts no reflection, and will not let him leave. Jonathan Harker's journal opens the novel; letters, diaries, a ship's log and newspaper cuttings carry it on, as the Count's shadow crosses to Whitby and London and a small group of friends learns, too slowly, what they are fighting.
Stoker built Dracula from documents — no single narrator ever knows the whole story — which is why the book suits a full cast better than almost any other Victorian novel. Harker, Mina, Lucy, Seward, Van Helsing, Arthur and Quincey each keep their own record in their own voice, and the reader assembles the truth a page ahead of the characters. It is also longer, sadder and funnier than the films that borrowed its name.
This edition is the complete 1897 text, about nineteen hours, directed for thirty-six voices inside a gothic-cathedral sound environment: wind in the castle stairwells, the Demeter's rigging in a storm, London rain, the asylum at night. The text is on screen and highlighted as it is read, and your place is saved across every device you sign in on.
The cast
- Narrator
- Jonathan Harker
- Mina Harker
- Count Dracula
- Abraham Van Helsing
- Dr John Seward
- Lucy Westenra
- Arthur Holmwood
- Quincey Morris
- Renfield
How this was made
This is a full-cast production, not a single narrator reading a book. Each character has its own voice, the lines are directed for pace and emotion, and the story plays inside a live sound environment — stone echoes and a wind that finds every gap — that shifts as the scenes change. The voices are synthetic (high-quality text-to-speech, directed by people), and the words appear on screen as they are spoken, so you can read along or follow in a second language.
Questions
Is this the whole novel?
Yes — all twenty-seven chapters plus the closing note, unabridged, about nineteen hours at normal speed.
Why so many voices?
Dracula is told entirely through journals, letters and logs by seven main characters, plus dozens of minor ones. Giving each a voice lets the documents play as scenes.
Is it suitable for teenagers?
Rated 14+. Stoker's horror is atmospheric rather than graphic, but there are deaths, blood transfusions and the staking of Lucy.
How much does it cost?
The opening is free to hear right now, no account needed. The full story is $14.99, a one-time purchase with a free account that stays in your library. Several stories on this site are free in full.
Do I need to install anything?
No. Press Play and it opens in your browser. It works on iPhone, iPad, Android and desktop.
Can I read along?
Yes. The text is highlighted word by word as it is spoken, and you can switch the on-screen text to Spanish while listening in English (or the other way round).
Source and rights
"Dracula" by Bram Stoker, first published by Archibald Constable and Company, London, 1897. Public domain. Complete text, directed by ImmersivePage. Cover and chapter art created for this edition.
