Bram Stoker: Dracula’s Guest
“Dracula’s Guest” is a short story by Bram Stoker, published in 1914 in the collection Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories. Originally conceived as the first chapter of the novel Dracula, it was discarded by the author and published independently after his death. Set in the vicinity of Munich, the story follows a young Englishman who, ignoring the warnings of his coachman, ventures into a desolate landscape on Walpurgis Night. As the snow falls and the surroundings become increasingly threatening, the traveler finds a forgotten mausoleum and begins to sense strange presences that herald the approach of a dark power.
Bram Stoker: The Burial of the Rats
“The Burial of the Rats” is a short story by Bram Stoker, included in the collection Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories, published in 1914. Set in the slums of Paris in the mid-19th century, it narrates the disturbing experience of a young Englishman who, driven by melancholy and tedium, decides to explore the dark sectors where those who live off the garbage do so. Fascinated by this marginal world, he enters a labyrinth of waste, shacks, and sinister figures. What starts as a curious excursion soon becomes a disturbing experience of danger and suspense.
Bram Stoker: The Judge’s House
In the short story “The Judge’s House” by Bram Stoker, a college student named Malcolm Malcolmson is looking for a quiet place to study, so he decides to settle in an old, uninhabited house in the village of Benchurch, known as The Judge’s House. The house has imposing Jacobean architecture and a sinister reputation, making it seem perfect for his purposes. Despite the locals’ warnings, Malcolmson begins his routine study but is soon disrupted by strange noises and the appearance of a sinister-looking rat. As unsettling events unfold, Malcolmson realizes that the house conceals dark secrets that threaten his safety.
Bram Stoker: The Secret of the Growing Gold
“The Secret of the Growing Gold” is a disturbing Gothic short story by Bram Stoker, published on January 23, 1892, in the magazine Black and White. The story takes place at Brent’s Rock, an old country mansion where the arrival of Margaret Delandre scandalizes the community. After breaking up with her family, Margaret moves in with the aristocrat Geoffrey Brent in a relationship that many consider inappropriate. The relationship between the two is stormy and violent. In an atmosphere of resentment and overflowing passions, an intrigue full of secrets develops, in which the past threatens to resurface in unexpected ways.
Bram Stoker: The Squaw
In “The Squaw”, a short story by Bram Stoker published in 1893, a young American couple is enjoying their honeymoon in Germany, where they meet an eccentric traveler from Nebraska, Elias P. Hutcheson. Together, they head to Nurnberg, where they hope to visit the ancient castle, particularly the torture tower where the famous “Iron Virgin” is kept. During a walk around the castle, Hutcheson, in an attempt to play with a stray kitten, accidentally kills it with a stone. This unleashes the wrath of the mother cat, which becomes an embodiment of hatred and revenge, which will have severe consequences for the travelers.
Bram Stoker: The Burial of the Rats. Summary and analysis
In The Burial of the Rats, a young Englishman who spends a year in Paris, separated from his fiancée by his parent’s wishes, decides to explore the city’s outskirts to take his mind off things. Intrigued by the life of the chiffoniers (garbage collectors), he enters the garbage dumps of Montrouge, a sordid and dangerous place, where an older woman and an older man set a trap to kill him and let the rats devour his body. Surrounded by a group of silent and cruel criminals, he manages to escape through hostile terrain full of piles of garbage, swamps, and canals. After an agonizing nighttime chase, he swims across a river and arrives exhausted at the fortress of Bicêtre, where French soldiers rescue him. Together with them and a police commissioner, he returns to the place to look for his attackers. They find human remains eaten by rats and arrest a group of veteran ex-soldiers who live in the rubbish dumps. The story, narrated in the first person, mixes suspense, horror, and social criticism and shows how human degradation can reach extremes of almost animal brutality on the forgotten margins of the city.
Bram Stoker: The Judge’s House. Summary and analysis
In “The Judge’s House” by Bram Stoker, Malcolm Malcolmson, a student seeking solitude to study, rents an old, abandoned mansion in a small town, ignoring local warnings about its dark past. The House once belonged to a notorious judge known for his harshness, and strange occurrences soon disturb Malcolmson’s peace, particularly the eerie presence of rats. As Malcolmson delves deeper into his studies, he is haunted by a giant rat with unsettling, human-like eyes that seem linked to the Judge’s malevolent spirit. Despite his rational outlook, Malcolmson is gradually drawn into the House’s sinister history, culminating in a terrifying confrontation with the ghost of the Judge, leading to his tragic demise.
