Dracula

Bram Stoker

Jul 2020 · Google Play Public Domain · AI-narrated by Alistair (from Google)

About this audiobook

Published in 1897, this book introduces Count Dracula, a vampire living in Transylvania. Count Dracula attempts to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse. The story is told through a series of letters, diary entries, newspaper articles and ships' log entries.

Dracula is considered a horror story and established many conventions of vampire fantasy which have subsequently been showcased in movies, theatrical productions and TV.

Ratings and reviews

I couldn't quite figure out what was off about this audiobook, but then it hit me. The narrator ain't got no soul. Nothing personal Alistair, you just aren't there yet (which is not surprisingly a relief). Their narration is missing bite. Pun intended. Listening to this felt like taking a stroll down the uncanny valley of audio. Eleven chapters in I put an end to the madness. I immediately borrowed the audiobook from my library and the narration by a human voice is a world of difference.

The auto-narrating technology has lots of potential. However, at its current form, there are still too many flaws: some words were mistaken, lots of important pauses were rushed through (which make it much harder to digest), there is no attempt to differentiate between characters' voice, so after a while it can get quite monotonous and flat.

Really cool technology - the voice is alright, a little flat perhaps and pauses are often rushed through, but amazing that it's completely auto-generated. Unfortunately, as early as 10:16 there is an error. Instead of "For your mother's sake", the voice pronounces 'sake' as the alcoholic drink. This of course doesn't make sense in context and was a little jarring. Hopefully there aren't too many errors as I continue.

About the author

Abraham "Bram" Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known for writing Dracula though he wrote over a dozen books as well as children's short stories. Stoker vacationed in Aberdeenshire, along the coast of Scotland, and it's believed that his inspiration for Castle Dracula came from the nearby Slains Castle. Stoker originally titled the book "The Un-Dead".