Somehow I got this far in life without reading Dracula. Thanks to a recent classic pulp horror kick, I decided to remedy this and pick up a copy.

Wonderful read. The atmosphere of despair is palpable. I love the format of journal entries and multiple perspectives; it really sets up suspense and intrigue. I had a lot of fun reading this late at night (when any book like this one should be read).

Another reason I wanted to pick it up is a board game we're fond of: Fury of Dracula from Fantasy Flight. The game is excellent thematically, and after reading the book I marveled at how faithful it is. That sounds weird, I know, but the details of the board game are so perfectly crafted around the actual story. Every encounter, every card, every player character's ability, has a reason that ties back to the book, right down to Jonathan Harker's assertion that the railways in Eastern Europe are not run as well as they are in Western Europe. Now that I have experienced both the book and the game, I have a greater respect for the details in both.