It doesn't read as cliché because it started it. There was no cliché at the time, there were only 3 real vampire stories in existence then and two of them were very short. Dracula and Varney the Vampire were what "made" vampires. But yeah, I felt the same way when I read it. I had thought it might be a little dull/slow, like so much classic stuff from that period tended to be, but it was a highly enjoyable read. The only thing that bothered me was the view of women as frail helpless creatures with lesser intelligence. But it's hardly Stoker's fault, it was the view of the time.