How is Dracula written?

The interesting aspect of 'Dracula' is that it is written as though it is a compilation of various sources; journals belonging to Jonathan, Mina and Dr Seward, correspondence between some of the characters and a newspaper cutting. The effect of this is to present the events as real, as 'evidence' from factual sources is more likely to be believed. Though we are aware that the plot of 'Dracula' is fiction (...?), the presentation of these events as facts make it easier for us to suspend our disbelief and become drawn into the plot. Stoker's little pre-amble stating that the various pieces he has collected has been chosen "so that a history almost at variance with the possibilities of latter-day belief may stand forth as simple fact" adds that little bit extra fear as we read the novel since it helps for us to believe that the accounts could have been found by the author rather than written for a fictional purpose.

Being able to see what the characters have written allows us into their secrets; the journals and letters were not supposed to be seen by other people. The result of this is that we are able to gain a greater insight into the truth as they are revealing secrets they may not otherwise reveal; therefore we see what Lucy has been up to in her letter to Mina, saying "this is a secret" which we would not otherwise know about. That we are reading these private letters and accounts can be taken as an invasion of privacy as we are getting this information when the characters who are writing them are at their most vulnerable as they are writing their private thoughts and secrets. Consequently, a parallel could be shown between the blood sucking of the vampire and the reading of such personal information- both acts require the withdrawal of something so personal from when the victim (or writer) is at their most vulnerable.

In my opinion, the verisimilitude of 'Dracula' helps in getting more from the story as it helps in making it slightly more believable so you are able to be possibly more emotional about it (feel more fear) than if it was written as a typical narrative. That said, I don't think anyone would really believe that there was a Transylvanian vampire that could crawl down walls like a lizard and turn into a bat...