Dracula and the Little Stranger

DRACULA VS THE LITTLE STRANGER

Dracula and The Little stranger are a good comparison because they are both about supernatural forces that haunt the characters in each text.  Where Dracula is a clear cut supernatural force, The little stranger plays with the idea of family madness being the root cause of all the supposed paranormal activity at Hundreds Hall.

The male protagonists, Jonathan Harker in Dracula and Dr. Faraday in The Little Stranger share common traits.  For example, they are both middle class and have middle class professions – a lawyer and a doctor. They both don’t believe in the supernatural however after events at Dracula’s castle and Hundreds Hall they both change their minds on this topic – Jonathan Harker more so as it is proven then Dracula is a scary supernatural force. On the other hand, TLS is left on a moot point where the reader is not able to determine whether the Hall is haunted by a malevolent spirit or not.  Did The Ayreses cause the damage to the Hall and to themselves?  Scorched marks on the plaster and cuts and bruises to their bodies due to their full scale delusions, or was there something more sinister at work in the year of 1948?

Both novels include a large and isolated home as the central point of the plot and this lends itself to the Gothic tradition for scary places where no one will hear you scream.  Dracula is written in the form of letters and journal entries and from several viewpoints, whereas TLS is narrated solely by Dr. Faraday who watches each event unfold before him.. TLS also has a linear chronological structure that starts with him seeing the Hall and ends with him alone in the Hall, suggesting that he always has been and always will be obsessed with the stately home that has been residence to the Ayres family for over two centuries.

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