Dracula: Embedded Genres
As you continue to read Dracula, pick one of the genres that is used to tell the story (so, for example, pick the genre of a letter). Then pick a specific section of the book that uses that genre (so perhaps the initial letters from Mina to Harker). Explore the significance of using that particular genre while discussing that particular part of the book, in other words, why would Stoker use that genre instead of another genre to develop the section? (Working from my example), why would Stoker use letters to create dialogue between Mina and Harker? Why not another journal entry? I want you to pick your own example to work from and do be very specific when explaining your example.
Essentially, I want you to explore why Dracula is told through the use of embedded genres (a genre instead of a genre). How does this add to the story? How might the story of Dracula read differently if it been done in the form of a more straight-forward novel (keeping in line with the traditional genre conventions of a novel)?
Make sure your thinking is grounded in evidence, so pull from the novel, but feel free to also draw on the other readings we have done.
Engage with others.
300-500 words.
Due: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 by class time.
Something that I find interesting in Dracula is that no one states outright their beliefs that Dracula is a vampire. Jonathan Harker never actually comes to that conclusion in his journal and Van Helsing believes it, but does not convey this information to Dr. Seward or Arthur Holmwood. At first, he does it under the pretext of wanting to be sure of his beliefs, but as the novel progresses, the reader is led to believe that he is trying to protect Arthur and Dr. Seward as long as he can. This uncertainty adds suspense and terror to the novel because even though the reader knows that Dracula is a vampire, he or she is never told specifically. It also makes Dracula more terrible. Because even an acclaimed doctor like Van Helsing is scared of such wickedness, everyone else should be scared too. It also portrays how no one knows what it is they are fighting against. Van Helsing knows for a fact that Dracula is a vampire, but still his guess is only that – a guess. Dr. Seward knows something was abnormal with Lucy’s death but he has no idea what he is facing and must rely on the guidance on Van Helsing. Holmwood is the least knowledgeable of the men, concerned for Lucy, but not really looking much into the specifics of her death. The feeling of uncertainty in this instance generates more fear and provides a sense of helplessness. If they don’t even know what they are up against, how are the men supposed to fight it? Finally this device urges the reader to keep reading. While there is some foreshadowing in Dracula, the reader cannot know exactly how the book plays out because Stoker has left everything so open and left to interpretation. If the reader wants answers, they have no other choice but to keep reading.
ReplyDeleteThe uncertainty in Dracula is what makes it scary. If Stoker had laid everything out from the beginning, the novel would be predictable and boring. Because he keeps the reader guessing, the novel creates fear and suspense.
The embedded genre in Dracula that I picked and found most appealing was the journal. In the beginning of the novel, most of Jonathan’s experiences in Castle Dracula are shown through his journal and I believe that this is a very effective method of writing this section of the book. I think that Stoker used this specific genre during this section of the book because it adds suspense and tension to the story, a tension that is sadly lost in the film versions of Dracula. Within the first four chapters, everything is seen from Jonathan Harker’s point of view, giving us, as the readers, a limited description of the world set forth in the novel. We do not have the convenience of the omniscient narrator and, as such, are in a sense trapped within Harker’s mind. The format of the journal is also an interesting and effective choice. By choosing to write using a journal during this section of the text instead of, say, a letter, Stoker is showing without telling that Harker is writing these entries for himself, not for someone else, meaning that the character would be more willing to write about such oddities that he sees, such as Dracula’s climbing down the castle wall like a lizard, or noticing that the Count does not have a reflection.
ReplyDeleteLike Katherine said, nobody in the novel yet has called Count Dracula a vampire and I think that this adds to the suspense. We, as the readers, know that Dracula is a monster, but through the limited view of the characters, we are only able to see small parts of his monstrosity at a time, making him much more terrifying than if Stoker simply wrote from a third-person view. The writing of this book through a genre inside another genre makes it much more frightening because we are only able to read what the characters have seen, making what is unseen sinister by comparison. I do not believe this book would be nearly as effective or have lasted nearly as long if it did not have this “embedded story” literary device.
By using the journal format for this first part of the book, Stoker is giving us an intimate, yet only partially true, first view into the world if Dracula, creating a haunting, mysterious atmosphere that could not be achieved if written using the standard literary practices of the time.
One of the writing styles utilized in Bram Stoker’s Dracula are letters. The passage of letters that I found that utilized the writing style the best were the series of unanswered letters that Mina Harker sent to Lucy. When Mina says in one of her last letters, “And so, as you love me, and he loves me, and I love you with all the moods and tenses of the verb, I send you simple his ‘love’ instead” the reader feels the bittersweet nature of the letter. We are completely caught up with the dramatic irony when Mina finishes her letter “goodbye, my dearest Lucky, and blessings on you.” As readers we know too well that the time to say goodbye and bless poor Lucy is imminent. In this part, Stoker could have utilized Mina’s diary entries again but I think he used unanswered letters to emphasize the desire Mina has to make connect and the futility of her attempts. Using diary entries would have made the character of Mina could have made her too whiny, constantly talking about missing her fiancée and then missing Lucy. To utilize the dramatic irony, the unanswered letters were the best choices.
ReplyDeleteStoker uses letters, journal entries, and memos so that that book seems like a collection of information that was just picked up one day. This increases the feeling that the book was “just found” and that it could be based on real events. Just like Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Program are filmed in a way to give an illusion of reality, Dracula seeks to do the same. Also by presenting the information this ways, Stoker gives the reader the potential to figure out the plot line. There is a certain amount of thrill involved with figuring out the connections before the characters do. When Lucky mumbles in her sleep, “his red eyes again! They are just the same” after Mina remarks on two, tiny holes in her neck the readers can at once deduce that it is vampire causing Lucy to be so tired. I agree with Zach that by letting the story be explained “through the limited view of the characters, we are only able to see small parts of his monstrosity at a time, making him much more terrifying.”
The journal format in which the beginning of Dracula is written is definitely...unique, but so is a third nipple. My point is that uniqueness doesn't necessarily have a direct relationship to quality and entertainment. After all is said and done, the main purpose of Dracula is to entertain, and the journal format saps the life out of entertainment. I can understand that for some readers, the journal allows for easier integration. When I say 'integration', I don't mean the integration of ideas within the story, I am talking about the connection between the story and the reader. In other words, the realistic nature that the journal provides, increases the believability of the story, and therefore may allow some readers to become more easily entranced in the plot. However, I dislike this particular format. It seems as if Harker is writing to a friend that he is constantly trying with compete with for academic acceptance, which is illogical considering a journal's primary reader is the writer. Everything that he writes in his journal seems to be far too cordial. If I could talk to Harker, I would say, “Hey, next time you are seduced by three extremely attractive and bloodthirsty female vampires, and next time time you interpret that these three extremely attractive and bloodthirsty female vampires are about to kill a child squirming for his life in a bag, and next time you see three extremely attractive, bloodthirsty, and fully tangible vampires disappear into nothingness, perhaps you should scream your damn head off, or at the very least write in all caps.” The point I am trying to make is that Harker seems to write an extremely vibrant and colorful scene using black and white imagery. He doesn't give enough credit to the crazy, vampire infused shenanigans that are happening all around him. Everything he describes is muted, as if he were describing ordinary events that took place during a daily stroll through the local park. Well, Harker, I hate to break it to you, but you aren't really in a park, you're actually being held hostage in the home of the deadliest man on the planet. When he feels fear, he says so, but he doesn't actually portray the fear. And, I guess, it's not all Harker's fault; the fault also partially lies on the aforementioned format. The truth of the matter is that the journal format prevents Harker from telling us what's happening in real time. It's difficult to show fear or surprise when you are simply reflecting an a previous feelings, rather than portraying the feeling during the time in which you are feeling it. In this sense, it is difficult for me to understand why Stoker decided to tell part of the story through Harker's journal, or the journal format in general.
ReplyDeleteI do understand Zach's point that the journal format prevents the reader from gaining access to all knowledge pertaining to the 'world set forth in the novel', and therefore adds to the suspense of the novel. By not using an omniscient narrator, Stoker is able to create a deeper sense of mystery. Unfortunately, however, Dracula, and therefore the plot of Dracula became hugely popular, which in effect destroyed the mystery that Stoker was trying to create. Instead of wondering what's going to happen next based on Harker's limited knowledge of the events that are taking place, we are fed up with Harker for not knowing the plot of one of the most popular novels of all time. Instead of being on the same page as Harker, we are three hundred pages ahead of Harker. Compared to the reader, Harker looks like a moronic, idiotic, shame-ridden fool. Well, maybe he's not that bad, but still...
I really like the journal/diary genre that comes up a lot in Dracula. The book starts with Jonathan Harker’s journal, but then switches very quickly to the letters between Mina and Lucy. While I like the letters, I feel as if they lack depth. We don’t learn that much from the letters. These women, at this time period, feel the need to write their letters with so much extra “stuff” in them. They are so lighthearted and filled with problems of a schoolteacher and problems with love – such an insane shift from Harker’s journal, filled with problems with a vampire that is trapping him inside of his castle. Furthermore, it was hard for me to keep interest in the letters. We then get to read Mina’s journal in chapter VI, the first time we actually get to fully understand what she is feeling. I think this journal is interesting because it really stresses the contrast between Harker’s current situation with Dracula and Mina’s current situation in Whitby. I like this journal a lot, especially the beginning, where she explains the beautiful town of Whitby. She basically draws a picture of the town, making the reader feel as if they are actually there. This is also a huge contrast from Transylvania, which is described as pretty at first, but as Harker’s experiences there continue, proves to be very bleak. She then describes Dr. Swales, and I picture a cute old man, contrasting immensely from Dracula, a very NOT cute old man.
ReplyDeleteWe then read Dr. Seward’s diary, which is much more meticulous compared to Mina’s. He gives very detailed descriptions of Renfield, his patient, in the beginning of his journal. It goes day by day. For example, on June 18th, Seward describes Renfield’s spiders, talking about how he feeds them with his flies. On July 1st, he explains how he needs to find out how Renfield gets rid of his spiders. On July 8th, he talks about how “there is a method in his madness.” Each day, Seward jots down something about his patient, keeping more of a medical journal than a true diary. This is very different from Mina’s, who spends a great deal of time just explaining how beautiful Whitby is.
My point is basically that the diaries/journals really help the reader to understand the character and what they are feeling. Stoker might use this for precisely that reason – to help the reader get a sense of what the character in his book is truly feeling. He may use the letters to show exactly how the relationships between characters are playing out. I think the use of genres inside of genres is a great literary tool, mostly because it’s something we don’t see often, so it’s rather fun to read. Like Chelsea said, it’s also really fun to figure out some of the plot before other characters do. Harker is living in hell in Transylvania, while Mina and everyone else back at home have absolutely no idea what’s going on.
I like the Journal entries, specifically Dr. Seward’s. I feel like the genre that Stoker chose to tell the individual character’s story is in some ways representative of who that character is. For example, being introduced to Seward with his journal entries about Renfield gives the impression that Seward is kind of solitary, scientific in the way he approaches problems and very meticulous, like Steph said. Also, while some of his entries express a deep interest in Renfield Seward is never judgmental, but rather a passive observer. He writes, “He has turned his mind now to spiders, and has got several very big fellows in a box. He keeps feeding them with his flies, and the number of the latter is becoming sensibly diminished, although he has used half of his food in attracting more flies from outside to his room.” Seward’s description of Renfield’s strange behavior seems to be pretty value neutral, suggesting that Renfield is pretty open to strange things and has an investigative mind. The reader wouldn’t get this kind of insight so subtly if it weren’t for the journal entry.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, Jonathan’s journal entries in the first five chapters give the impression that he is extremely isolated, not only because the content of his journal entries express fear and isolation but because the only thing he is capable of honestly communicating with is a blank piece of paper. Conversely, the letters between Lucy and Mina give the reader the sense that the two women are really close with one another by establishing an implicit connection via mail. The same goal is accomplished with the letters between Mina and Jonathan.
I also think it’s really interesting to consider the differences between the ways that the characters express themselves in their letters and in their journal entries because it gives insight into what aspects of their personalities everyone sees and what they only feel comfortable sharing with themselves. For example, Mina’s concern for Jonathan seems much more severe in her journal entries than in her letters to Lucy, suggesting she’s kind of a reserved person.
I think Stoker uses the journal entries, letters, telegraphs and newspaper articles to ground what would otherwise be a spooky story. The embedded genres give the book a gritty feel that makes it feel like more of a discovery than a construction. The more real a scary story feels the scarier it becomes, meaning that in this instance the form of the book fits its function.
As everyone has mentioned, the two main embedded genres in Dracula include journal/diary entries, and letters. From my point of view, I feel that these two genres are significant to the novel as a whole in two very different ways.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the journal/diary entries:
A journal is typically kept as a vault of personal thoughts and emotions regarding various life events, both big and small. With this being the main purpose of journals, we can look at the entries in Dracula as insight into the hearts and minds of each character profiled. The entries work as character development. Without them, the characters probably would seem less sympathetic. The emotions depicted would not seem as authentic. Rather than reading a story, we are given a window into a group of people’s lives during these pretty weird occurrences. I recently read in an article that Dracula himself is not the main focus of the novel. Rather, he is used as a plot device to drive the story along; he gives the vampire-hunters something to hunt. In a way, I agree with this. We as readers hardly know anything at all about Dracula, and yet that never seems to bother anyone. It’s interesting to realize that we know far more about vampire-Lucy than we will ever know about Dracula. Our focus as readers is on the thoughts and actions of the mortals, and the genres within the novel clearly display that. Because of this, I disagree with Eric’s viewpoint on the embedded genres. It may be easy for us today to want to have an action-packed, horror-filled, blood-thirsty-monster-chasing-humans type story, but it seems that the main purpose of this type of writing is to provide insight into the human reaction to monstrosity (because, of course, humans are so good and kind as to not have any type of monstrosity within our nature, it must come from an outside force completely disconnected from, and able to prey on, our sweet mortal selves). Also, the journal entries allow us to see the gender difference between the men and women in the novel. It’s obvious in the language and content of the male and female writings that the expectations of how men and women are supposed to act and think are very present.
Now, on to letters:
If we consider the journal entries character development, it would seem logical that we view the letters as relationship development between the characters. In particular, the letters between Lucy and Mina allow readers to see and understand the depth of their relationship. We are able to discern that Mina is not only a very close friend to Lucy, but also used to be her mentor and teacher. They are able to share their deepest feelings, and through this we come to see how and why this group of people is close enough to believe each other’s stories about a fantastical, blood-thirsty monster even before the true nature of Dracula is known.
With these two genres, suspense is easily created, and because of that I agree with Katherine that the suspense is what makes the novel really scary. The unknown has, and always will be, an extreme source of curiosity and fear.
I found the journals and diaries to be most appealing just like most other people seemed to, but I most enjoyed the Diaries of Dr. John Seward. I like Miles statement that Seward is a passive observer. In this sense he acts as the scientist that he is, constructing careful observations but not projecting his own bias onto his records. In his very first entry, he discusses he simply discusses his patient, and in subsequent journals he uses almost the same tone to talk about Renfield each time. This gives the fictional work a more believable appeal I think. Obviously I don’t mean that suddenly the reader believes Dracula actually occurred. What I mean is that the unbiased voice of Seward makes it so that the reader can be more easily engulfed in the world of the novel, believing that in the world of the novel, what the writers of various journals are fact.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Harker’s Journal on the other hand have a distinctly different tone. They are colored over with his opinion even in simple observations. In the very first chapter while simply describing the country and their customs, he explains how he must find a recipe for Mina, and later his description of Dracula is colored with his distaste for the man. And finally, Mina’s journals which I feel have the most sense of the person written in them. Throughout her journals, her descriptions involve phrases such as “lovely as ever” and “terribly exited.” Her journals draw the reader in, to the person behind the scenario. Hers is the emotional view that allows the reader to form attachments to various characters as well as Mina herself.
Overall, these different journals convey different tones and ideas but have some similarities in their effects on the reader. Just as Zach stated earlier, the overall knowledge of the reader is limited by the genre within the genre. Mina can talk all she wants about the lovely Lucy and Mr. Swales, but can’t learn what Dracula is going to do next to either character unless Mina or one of the other authors knows. Additionally, because of the multiple views in the book, the reader sometimes knows more than the characters, such as the coming of Dracula in the storm that Mina cannot predict. This creates a new kind of suspense in which the reader understands what will happen but doesn’t know how the characters will protect themselves.
The letter from the Whitby solicitor is an interesting genre Stoker uses in his novel. In this letter, the solicitor orders the fifty boxes of earth from the Demeter to be sent to Carfax, the estate that Dracula has recently purchased. Stoker’s novel consists of various genres, each of which specifically contribute to the “message” he intends to communicate. This short excerpt is particularly interesting because it is written by a minor character and is purposefully ambiguous. Letters are an effective mode of communication in novels; they normally contain personal information, much of which is unknown to the characters. In addition, they often build upon previous knowledge that the reader may or may not be aware of. As a result, the reader picks up on small bits of information that may not clearly connect with the main storyline, but they can provide valuable clues to unveiling a hidden message. This letter, in particular, is very ambiguous in nature; the reader does not know why the fifty boxes are being sent. It offers another piece to solving the mystery surrounding Count Dracula. The letter inspires curiosity and suspense; the reader knows that these fifty boxes are relevant to Dracula’s latest purchase, but they are most likely unsure of the exact connection between the two events. If Stoker had written this section of the book in third person, a lot of the tension and suspense the reader experiences would be lost. In addition, if Stoker had plainly explained why the fifty boxes are crucial to the Count’s survival, then the reader would feel less involved in the text. The letters offer a “primary source” that allow the reader to feel like a detective caught in a horror film.
ReplyDeleteOf course, McLuhan’s media ecology theory is directly applicable to this idea. The medium, or the letter in this case, offers the purest form of the message. It is not the content of the medium (the ordering of the fifty boxes of Earth) that communicates the message; instead, it is the medium itself that acts as the message. The content of the medium would be the same whether it is told through a first-person or a third-person point of view; however, it is the “letter form” that creates the tension the reader experiences. The embedded genres help contribute to the overall ambiguous and suspenseful tone Broker creates. Without these variations in medium, Dracula might be used as a comforting bedtime story instead of a horror story.
Similarly, the book The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, utilizes letters to create a monstrosity. These letters hint towards the fact that Mr. Hyde and Dr. Jekyll are the same person; however, they do not directly state it. They only inspire greater fear within readers; the ambiguity contributes to Jekyll’s “monstrosity”. Stevenson’s novel shows that perhaps a monster is created from uncertainty.
I agree with Chelsea when she says that multiple genres “increase the feeling that the book was “just found” and that it could be based on real events.” The reader feels like he is a character within the storyline, instead of an uninvolved bystander that is simply witnessing an event. In addition, I agree with Eric when he says that the journal entries add a sense of mystery to Count Dracula. In essence, Dracula’s ambiguity could contribute to his feared “monstrosity”.
Stoker's use of the letter and the journal have the powerful effect of creating suspense and terror around the mysterious Count Dracula. His implicit use of journals and letters are perhaps the most personal ways to convey a story. This is no longer just a story-- it is someones story. Stoker needed this genre embedded in another genre to create the mask of terror and illusion that surrounds Dracula. Unlike in a prototypical third person point of view, we cannot make our own judgements, but instead we must follow as blindly as the characters in the book. Katherine makes the point that no one has yet associated Dracula as a vampire. Despite the numerous signs pointing directly at this fact, no character will come to this conclusion. However, my reasoning for this differs with that given by Katherine.
ReplyDeleteStoker may have chosen to use such personal and real mediums to convey his story such as diaries, letters, and newspaper articles because they are strongly grounded in reality. Dracula however is a monster, and monsters are expressions of abnormality. His monstrosity comes from the fact that he is fundamentally different from the very ordinary world in which he exists. The tales in Dracula do not come from an omnipotent narrator, but the thoughts of real human beings. Stoker works very hard to make this fact clear by first starting Johnathan's diary with a narration of seemingly a very normal trip to visit a very rich client. Likewise, the letters shared between Mina and Lucy are brutally boring because they deal completely with the mundane everyday topics that real human beings face. Stoker creates a very realistic world in which there are no abnormalities. Johnathan is just an aspiring lawyer, Mina is a devoted girlfriend, and Lucy is a lovestruck young woman. However, the presence of Dracula corrupts this sense of normalcy created by the embedded genres. In his presence the completely mundane and realistic is twisted to change to fantastic and unusual stories. Stokers use of this form of first person narration provides a much more personable and in depth look into the complete shift that Dracula causes in the normal world. However because the letters and journals are genres so completely embedded in reality (they exist vs an omnipotent narrator) it makes referencing Dracula as a vampire much more unlikely. These are the memories of real people and what sane person will fully accept the thought of a vampire rampaging through their lives. This contrast created by the reality of the embedded genres and the completely abnormal influence of Dracula help to define him as the monster he is.
If Dracula was written in an ordinary third person point of view Count Dracula would have lost a great amount of the monstrosity that defines him. The fact that the reader is limited to the views and stories only directly observed by the characters creates a sense of illusion around the count. Likewise, much of his abnormality as a monster is derived from the very realistic world in which he exists. Because the genres used to write this novel are so personal, it makes it so much more likely in a reader's mind that this could happen to him or her too.
Dracula is written in a combination of journal entries and letters. The genre which I find most endearing are the letters, and that is not simply because these are where the most romance is expressed and I happen to be a sucker for romance. I value the letters in this story because these are where the most generically novel information is expressed. Through the letters the reader gains insight into the way that the characters and plot all connect. The journals discuss setting and events much more than the letters, however, each of the journal entries tends to stand alone in its relation to the character. Since a journal entry is such an individualistic item, I have not felt the depth and strength of the story that I would like to from them alone. It is the letters that intrigue me and develop the ties that every story needs (such as the friendship between Mina and Lucy). I think that the point Alexis made about the letters being relationship development holds a lot of truth and ties directly into the intrigue and added depth of the story that results from said letters.
ReplyDeleteTo pick one letter in specific, I just finished reading the letter that Mina wrote to Lucy telling her of Mr. Hawkins’ death. What I found very curious about this letter is that the reader is shown its contents yet it is said to be “unopened.” I was curious about why Stoker would use this method to convey information. My belief is that through this letter Stoker is able to make a point about Lucy that he would generally need a narrator to make in a novel. Since he does not have any third person narration in Dracula, only letters and journals, he is able to use this letter to not only further our insight into Mina and Jonathan’s relationship, but play off of her and Lucy’s letter relationship that has previously been established. Thus far it has become apparent that Lucy and Mina are extremely close. It is safe to conclude that if Lucy were able, she would never leave a letter from Mina “unopened.” Therefore, by that being the status of this specific letter, Stoker lets the reader in on just how serious Lucy’s condition is while also providing information about Jonathan’s wellbeing. In this way the reader is told necessary information that is unable to be told outright due to the genre restrictions of Dracula.
For Elizabeth:
ReplyDeleteThe genre of the Jonathan Harker’s Journal is strategically set in order to depict the characters of Jonathan and Dracula with a specific approach and dynamic, that supplements the storyline of Bram Stoker’s intent. I enjoy the journal tactic because its gives you more of a personal sense into the thought process and observational perspective of Jonathan, rather than the author seemingly knowing everything that is crossing his mind and appearing in his foresight. For instance, when Jonathan recounts facial expressions and encounters with Dracula it adds another dimension to the storyline because of the added layer of intimacy. The following passage emulates this effect to the fullest. Jonathan states, “The count’s eyes gleamed, and he said: ‘Listen to them – the children of the night. What music they make!’ Seeing, I suppose, some expression in my face strange to him, he added: “Ah sir, you dwellers in the city cannot enter into the feelings of the hunter.’” Sections of the journal entry add a sense or eeriness and intrigue one would not get otherwise because by expounding the story through the eyes of Jonathan Harker, then it captures the first person sense of urgency and supplies emphasis to events and episodes that had an impact on Jonathan. This, I turn, delivers a specific message through the medium of journal depiction.
I agree with Miles’ account when he says, “Jonathan’s journal entries in the first five chapters give the impression that he is extremely isolated, not only because the content of his journal entries express fear and isolation but because the only thing he is capable of honestly communicating with is a blank piece of paper.” Miles makes a very intuitive and intrusive point. By exposing the story through the lines of communication of a journal it gives the effect of a story within a story. It gets the reader envisioning what is happening amongst and beyond the complex of the secluded Jonathan Harker.
I find it fascinating to look at how each character showcases themselves and how Bram Stoker depicts each character representing their daily events. The level or comfortablility and emotional security Jonathan has with himself and Bram Stoker visualizes and illustrates is demonstrated through the journal entries. I think Stoker uses the journal entries to construct a more relatable and abstract saga. The different genres add layers and texture to the story, providing an alternate and enthralling facet. A terrifying novel becomes more suspenseful and alarming when one can place themselves in the characters shoes and in the scene that is being smeared amongst the pages of terror.