Dracula by Bram Stoker relies on suspense and tension to truly expedite the novel’s horror and thriller aspects. One way in which this mood is accomplished is through the books epistolary format. The entire novel depends on no main protagonist but rather a grouping of letters, diary entries and journals collected by an ensemble of characters. Other than broadening the points of view for the readers and tying in a number of perspectives, the format sets the novel in an interesting timeline. Every excerpt we as the reader get to view has been written contemporaneously with the events taking place, meaning that we aren’t quite sure who makes it out alive. If the journal and diary entries had been written from characters looking back on past events then we know their reflection is coming from a safe place, or at least one where they are alive, but it’s the uncertainty that really heightens the suspense and works so well for the story. We can really see this with the death of Lucy who was once so enthusiastic in her letters and respected by the people around her and watch as these outside observations turn from complementary to concerned. Tensions also rise with the fact that we may be reading from unreliable sources, or at least that there may be some possible biases amongst the array of characters since we are only seeing snippets of the truth.
This blog post raises some great points, and the biggest one is that we as readers do not know who is still alive at the end of the end of the story. This blog also brings up how this novel is written in a different format than most are written and personally I am not a fan of this way as mentioned in the blog post, we do not necessarily know who is still alive and while this does heighten the suspense I like the way that novels are normally written.