I really enjoyed Dracula on its own; I actually was reading it one night before bed, turned out the light, and then turned it back on and went to go lock all the windows in the house because I was actually scared from reading the book. Books very rarely scare me like that, so it was really fun. I also think I'm kind of glad I saw/read a lot of adaptations first. It was really interesting seeing what parts of the Dracula mythos are from the original Stoker, and what's been added on and twisted and changed.

I also like the epistolary format (and think that Dracula is an especially good example of it) so that's definitely a point in its favor for me.

Anieclaw