‘Dracula Daily’ Becomes an Internet Sensation
Confined by the pandemic to his home in Kansas in mid-2020, Matt Kirkland pulled an old paperback of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” from his bookshelf and decided to reread it.
“Being trapped in a castle, trying to get out, felt like it had a lot of parallels there,” he said.
He shared the epistolary novel with his 11-year-old daughter. As he read, Mr. Kirkland noticed the letters from the novel’s protagonist, Jonathan Harker, were also dated in the middle of the year. He started to synchronize the readings to the dates on the letters, creating a sense that the events were unfolding in real time, and heightening the drama.
By the end of the year he had decided to expand on the idea, creating “Dracula Daily,” a newsletter that sends a missive from Harker to subscribers’ inboxes following the book’s chronology. Mr. Kirkland began posting in May 2021.
Count Dracula — a recluse plagued by yearning, a macabre flair for theatrics and existential loneliness — turned out to be an unlikely patron saint for the uncertain times, Mr. Kirkland said. The newsletter became a success and internet sensation: Subscribers found that serialization made the 125-year-old novel more accessible and created a community of readers at a time when many were looking for connection.*
“It’s allowed us to have this relationship with these people,” Italia Gorski, a subscriber, said of the characters. “This is forcing us to go slowly.”
That first year, “Dracula Daily” had 165,600 subscribers. By its second run, which began in 2022, the newsletter had racked up 230,000 subscribers and legions of dedicated fans on Twitter, Tumblr and TikTok. Mr. Kirkland plans to continue into 2023, starting on May 3 and running until November 6, the date of the last letter.
Readers come from a range of backgrounds, including those who were new to the novel and wellversed Victorians and other academics who offered insights into the Gothic age, said Lauren VanDenBerg, another reader. For many, she said, the diversity of perspectives and the chance to engage in group discussion were part of the appeal. “People are sharing annotations or lessons they have learned in class. Some people are really into maritime law from the Victorian era,” she said, adding that the scholarly analysis
Matt Kirkland’s serialization of “Dracula” for a daily newsletter
became an online success.
alongside lighthearted humor creates an inviting atmosphere for young readers.
“Somebody comes along and explains or points out something that you missed,” she said. “It’s much easier to take on as a project and digest what’s actually happening. A big inside joke is always fun.”
Count Dracula also has an unexpectedly relatable side, she said. “You have Dracula running around pretending he’s his own staff in this castle,” she said. “You find out it’s just him doing it. All of us are trying to be cooler than we are sometimes. Everyone is like, ‘Yeah, I’ve had moments like that.’ ”