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Classics of Horror: Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

By: James Krasner, The Great Courses
Narrated by: James Krasner
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Publisher's summary

A reanimated corpse lumbering from the shadows with outstretched arms. A vampire creeping toward a bared throat with fangs exposed. A scientist’s brutish alter ego stalking the shadows of gas-lit London. Chances are that you’re familiar with the literary monsters of Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—even if you haven’t read the novels that portray them.

In Classics of Horror: Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, James Krasner, an expert in Victorian literature, takes you on a fascinating journey into the enduring power of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You’ll learn how these three literary masters structured their novels to offer not only scares but also complex insights into cultural debates that still matter to us today. What responsibilities do scientists owe to their discoveries, and is there such a thing as going too far? What anxieties about gender and sexuality do we still share with Victorian readers? Can literature help us answer questions about crime, identity, and the nature of evil?

By the end of this uncanny Audible Original, you’ll have a richer appreciation for these classics of horror—whether you’ve read them before or are encountering them for the first time.

©2024 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2024 Audible Originals, LLC.
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About the Creator and Performer

James Krasner is a professor of English at the University of New Hampshire. With a specialty in Victorian literature, he has published articles on Arthur Conan Doyle, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, A. L. Tennyson, and Charles Darwin. Professor Krasner wrote and presented the Audible Original series Sherlock Holmes: Beyond the Elementary. He has published several books, including The Entangled Eye: Visual Perception and the Representation of Nature in Post-Darwinian Narrative. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

What listeners say about Classics of Horror: Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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Introducing Some Very Influential Characters

This short Great Courses book gives an introduction to three of the great early horror stories—Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Each story gets two lectures in which the author tries to give some understanding into why and how the books were written and why they have been impactful. It is not a particularly detailed account but if you've enjoyed the novel or wondered why you keep seeing characters based on them in movies, television, and literature, you’ll find this book is worth reading.

If there is a problem with this collection of lectures, it is that only two chapters are dedicated to each book. This keeps the analysis at a very introductory level, and when talking about legacy, it almost assures you that the book or movie you are thinking of that was influenced by these stories will not be mentioned. Take Dracula, for example. There are probably tens of thousands of vampire stories now (if not more) that probably would never have seen the light of day without Bram Stoker’s book. And the same can be said for both of the others. And yet, Krasner is right. Three books written in a style that is a bit slow moving by today’s standards, have inspired a kaleidoscope of wonderful (and not so wonderful) modern works that have engaged and entertained tens of millions of readers and viewers. These lectures provide a good introduction to the original characters.

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Dracula is not boring

This is a pretty solid and interesting discussion of these three texts, especially if you’re into literary analysis. He does a nice job of not going too far into identity and sexuality politics as well. My big quibble with him is his too insistent refrain that Dracula is a boring book. If you have not read Dracula, don’t listen to him. It’s a great read and probably an even better listen!

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