Written in 1897, Dracula has now moved into the Public Domain, meaning it can be found in many places online for free. Scanning the original text, there's no mistaking it as a classic, and by "classic" we mean that it's relatively obscure for modern readers. The vocabulary isn't advanced, but the dialogue and sentence structure is unfamiliar. Within the first chapter, for instance, we have sentences like this:
I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting.
All that's missing from Dracula: The Official Stoker Family Edition is a feature that comes standard on most eReaders, where you can tap to select a word and see a definition or get some broader context on Wikipedia. Adding this would help inject more context for modern readers who don't know the Carpathians from the Kardashians...
That quote above about an interesting stay with Count Dracula, penned by Jonathan Harker in one of several journals that make up Dracula, may be the understatement of the century. Time hasn't dulled the carnival of horrors Stoker trotted out to visit upon characters like Harker, his fiancee, Dr. Seward, Lucy Westenra, and Van Helsing. Younger readers may associate these characters with their respective actors, such as Keanu Reeves and Hugh Jackman, and those films depictions were somewhat on the money. Dracula as a written work uses journals as its key device, the weaving together of multiple narratives to establish continuity for the reader. In this way, we get the voice of the character and form a good mental image of them. Man-of-action Van Helsing is a great contrast to the halting and skeptical Seward, as Lucy's descent into peril through her own eyes is pretty terrifying.
The presentation of Dracula: The Official Stoker Family Edition on iPad includes various touchable elements, including screens that are obscured until you interact with them by swiping or blowing. Portions of the story relevant to a letter will be contained in a letter on the screen, that you touch to open and can move around while reading the ongoing story. Objects referenced in the book are depicted on the screen and can usually be moved or used. It's not at all like an adventure game, where you have to use the objects to keep the story moving. In this format, the objects are subservient to the story that you read, and draw their mood from their surroundings. The result is a setting that feels dark, engaging, and highly interactive, which is ironic considering the age of the source material. Translating Dracula in this way brings out the characteristics that have made it such an enduring classic, and gives readers motivation to discover or rediscover Stoker's genius.
