Terry, it's interesting to see just how many changes have occurred over the years to the plot of Dracula when compared to the original publication. I was surprised by how many concepts (such as Dracula being seductive) I thought were cannon/original from the source material, actually were not.
I agree, readers at that time had different expectations. More elaborate description was appreciated due to lack of exposure to many of these ideas or places. While I haven't read "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", my husband found the endless descriptions of underwater creatures very dull. Yet at the time, even the idea of a submarine was unheard of. Another example, I've read "The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells. The main theme of the book, 'he's invisible'. I'm reading along thinking, 'Okay. And what does he do?" But at that time, just the concept of a man becoming invisible was enough to sustain interest.
