After a few of my friends were talking up Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, I decided to give in and give it a try and I was really surprised.  For me, Dracula has been a great illustration of the Christian life in general and my present circumstances in specific.

One of my surprises was that, even though it was written in 1897 and is a kind of allegory of the Christian life, in many places it is subtle and not a slap-you-in-the-face-with-the-author’s-ideas type of thing.  There are other books that I read that inspire me and resonate deeply within me- the Lord of the Rings trilogy by Tolkien, C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, among others.  And Dracula is right up there with them.

Count Dracula is kind of an anti-Jesus.  Jesus came from above, Dracula comes from the ground. Jesus came to bring light to men, Dracula comes to bring darkness.  Jesus and Dracula have power over nature- Jesus uses it to calm the seas, Dracula uses it to create disruption.  Jesus came that we may be clean, Dracula seeks to infect people with death.  Jesus’ blood brings life, Dracula’s blood brings death.  And the list could go on and on.

Another interesting aspect of the book involves those who are confronted with Dracula.  They are all strong, Christian people with separate lives that each could easily retreat to.  But even the strong believer experiences pain and struggle.  And they cannot turn away from this darkness or act as if it never existed.  They pursue it to end the darkness, though it may cost them their lives.  And they each have a uniqueness that the others don’t have, they each have their specific role in conquering this inhuman evil.

There will be more specific posts on this in the future, and I’ve planned on writing an EP inspired by the novel, so far there are 2 songs written.  I’ll also be posting those in the future as well.