The Real History of Dracula

By: Sara Cleto, Brittany Warman, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Sara Cleto, Brittany Warman

There are few fictional characters who have entrenched themselves so thoroughly in the popular imagination as Count Dracula. Although legends of vampires and other blood-thirsty creatures existed long before him, Dracula has become the ultimate apotheosis of the vampiric monster. He has spawned an entire industry of books, films, television shows, and other forms of media devoted to the vampire.

In the 10 episodes of The Real History of Dracula, folklorists Dr. Sara Cleto and Dr. Brittany Warman, of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic, will shine a light into the dark recesses of our cultural obsession with vampires. Using folklore, literature, history, television, film, and more, Sara and Brittany will show you how—and why—vampires are a potent metaphor for what matters most about the human condition.

The vampire existed long before Bram Stoker introduced readers to the Count from Transylvania. Having been a staple of popular culture for a century since, Dracula is more than just another rendition of a common folkloric monster. He is arguably one of the most influential fictional characters of the last century.

Times may have changed since Dracula became the definitive vampire of the modern era, but many of our fears have not. So much of what Dracula represented to his fin de siècle audience remains part of our consciousness—our fears and desires may shift to reflect our time and place, yet the human condition remains much the same. Vampires since Dracula have taken on different aspects to reflect their times and the lore changes to suit new sensibilities, demonstrating the vampire’s cunning ability to thrive in multiple cultures, genres, and mediums. As Sara and Brittany make clear throughout this course, folklore is not just a thing of the past, but rather a living, growing, continual presence in our lives. As a part of this living tradition, the vampire has become truly immortal.

Vampires continue to be part of our cultural conversation, and there’s no sign that that will end any time soon. They are tools for understanding the world and, therefore, are more significant than they might first appear. They teach us about our anxieties and our desires—particularly the ones we’re afraid to speak out loud.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 The Great Courses (P)2023 The Teaching Company, LLC

Entertaining Exploration of Vampire Lore's Impact

As someone who delved deep into the world of vampires during the COVID lockdown, I stumbled upon "The Real History of Dracula" with a sense of curiosity. Vampires had become a captivating subject for me, and this course, despite my initial uncertainty, turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

While I hadn't read Bram Stoker's "Dracula," I was aware of its monumental influence on literature and pop culture. "The Real History of Dracula" offered a unique perspective by delving into Stoker's profound impact on the cultural phenomenon of vampires.

What made this course truly enjoyable was the infectious enthusiasm of the presenters, Sara Cleto and Brittany Warman. Their genuine excitement for the subject matter was palpable throughout, making the lectures not just informative but also fun to listen to. Their giddiness added an engaging dimension to the exploration of vampiric lore.

The course does touch upon Bram Stoker's research process leading up to his iconic book, providing insights into the genesis of "Dracula." However, it's important to note that the literary examination of the book itself remains somewhat superficial.

In conclusion, "The Real History of Dracula" is a delightful and entertaining journey into the influence of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" on cultural perceptions of vampires. While it might not offer an in-depth literary analysis of the novel, it more than compensates with its engaging presentation and infectious passion for the subject. If you're a vampire enthusiast or simply curious about the cultural impact of this iconic character, this course is well worth a listen.

Shedding light on the creatures of darkness

I cannot recommend this audio book highly enough. The authors who also narrate this recording are engaging, articulate, and completely understandable: for all they are full PhDs, they use language accessible to everyone as they provide historical facts about the creatures called “vampires.” They walk you through the earliest inceptions of folklore to the present day depictions on screen, current books/short stories, even computer and role-playing games. I am indebted to to both Cleto and Warman for including a PDF that is the basic text of their presentation accompanied by illustrations. If you ever wanted to learn more about Dracula and those like him, this is a marvelous place to begin—each episode even has a bibliography in the PDF so you may continue your explorations into the mystique of the vampire.

Hmmmmm!

What is this about? i think it is about two professors that are passionate about the idea; practically giddy. I would have preferred a more objective view about what this tells us about the dark side of the human spirit.

One of my faves of The Great Courses series

I am a big fan of The Great Courses and this one is unique in that it has two speakers both having a conversation about various topics on the subject rather than just a straight lecture. Each episode (I'm guessing there might be a video version on the Great Courses website but not sure) covers a different topic around the literary history and sociological aspects of the Dracula legend. Very informative, elucidating and interesting highly recommended!

Infotaining!

This was an informative and entertaining course.
I really liked it.
Caution: Chapter 10 talks about vampire balls!

Highly Entertaining

This is one of the more entertaining one of these I’ve ever listened to and I certainly walked away with new insight into some of the history and the lore. The writers / hosts had a great rapport and clearly enjoy the subject. My only small quibble is that I wish it had been longer and they had more time to explore the film and tv topic than presented here.

Great Courses Plus or Podcast

Overall the information in this course is pretty engaging though it focuses more on the lore of vampirism (though not super in depth) than Dracula himself. Either way I found it entertaining & informative.
I did find the narrator’s very engaging, but it got pretty distracting when they would talk over each other and throw words out like “Totally”, “Absolutely”, “We absolutely love..” so on and so forth….plus it was filled in with tons of opinions & silly giggling that didn’t need to be added. Also the whole Snow White thing wasted about 25 minutes of the course, they spent an additional 10 minutes talking about todays retelling of fairy tales, really nothing to do with anything else in the course or they tried very hard grasping at things to connect and it doesn’t work. .

It almost sounded more like a podcast than an actual course. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this overall for what it was just expecting a little more details and in depth research on the novel or character of Dracula itself.
Still worth listening to.

Enjoyed this course

This was a fun listen while driving. I recommend it for those who want to learn more

Not Quite What I Was Expecting

While I was expecting more of a deep dive into Vlad the Impaler and how he was a model for Dracula, I got a lot more than that. Which was great to an extent. The presenters spoke about Vlad, yes, but they looked at other historical influences; they looked at other folklore and legends; they looked at modern depictions; they looked at diseases. But through all of their discussions there was the constant undercurrent of the debacle of modern college humanities instruction—identity and sexuality politics. If there’s an -ism they didn’t discuss, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. I finally had enough when the reason for vampires in 19th century Europe being pale and white was because of racism, “of course,” to quote one of the presenters.

No background knowledge assumed

For me, this was too basic. Why two folklorists would spend so little time on folklore, whether Slavic, Romanian/Hungarian, or Irish, is beyond me. They seem to think that listeners know little, and mostly want film and tv narratives contextualized, and provide little depth aside from a great chapter on the pre-Stoker literature beginning with people surrounding Byron.