DRACULA AS A CHARACTER IN OTHER BOOKS - A HORROR FEATURE

Ginger Nuts of Horror welcomes  David Jenkins back  to the site today to close  the blog tour for his latest book Gardens, Galaxies And Goosebumps with his article on Dracula as a character in other books.   Be sure to check out the other stops on the blog tour, details of which can be found at the end of the article, and make sure you check out David's article on his favourite short story collections.  

And why not check out the excellent article from Nick Setchfield on Resurrecting Vampires 

And as a special bonus to the readers of the site, if you leave a comment below telling us what is  your favourite incarnation of Dracula we will enter you into a prize draw to win a copy of Gardens Galaxies and Goosebumps ​

We’ve recently had our writer’s group AGM and at the end of it we always have a recommend the book discussion for the remainder of the meeting. This time one of the books I recommended was Dracula Tape which is Dracula’s attempt to vindicate himself. So I thought it would be interesting to share some of my favourite books about Dracula that aren’t Stoker’s classic.

First up is Dracula Tape (the first in the series and only one to be based on Stokers’ story) by Fred Saberhagen. Simply put this story is Dracula’s side of the story and Saberhagen cleverly points out the inconsistencies and alternate readings in the original story for instance Van Helsing used blood transfusion before people knew about blood types so this is possibly what killed Lucy. The use of first person narrative, the updating of the language of the original and the use of some quotes from Stoker’s book make this a different and pleasant read. 

 Dracula the Undead by Dacre Stoker (Bram’s great grandnephew) and Ian Holt is based on some of the notes that didn’t make the original book.  This story starts twenty five years after the original and follows Mina and Jonathon Harkers’ son Quincy as he tries to learn the truth about his family and in doing so confronts Dracula and Bathory. There are several positives in this book like how it shows the extent of which Dracula affected each of the original characters even after his death, the portrayal of Bathory is also menacing for the most part. However I feel Dracula as an antihero is contradictory based on my and most people’s impression of the original story which is a major problem when this is billed as a sequel. Added to this the book is poorly written which means that overall this is one of the least enjoyable adaptations I have read.

Anno Dracula (first in a series) by Kim Newman is the story of what would have happened if Dracula succeeded in infiltrating England. This book is action packed complete with spies, politics, some of the original characters and several twists.  Dracula is portrayed as an evil character who has brought vampires to the forefront of British society but as well as showing the problems this brings such as race riots, it is set in a well researched historical setting.  With several side plots and several pop culture references this is by far my favourite book adaption of Dracula.

I would also like to mention Marvel’s comic book adaption of Dracula as in the original 1970s Tomb of Dracula series this had several unique plot. The best of which included Dracula becoming head of a satanic church after they mistake him for the Devil and Dracula losing his powers. The portrayal of Dracula as a behind the times (this series was set in 1970s and he had been dead for decades) mostly evil character was interesting and the art from Gene Colon made this series amazing.
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Overall, it doesn’t matter if the adaption is heavily based on the original or whether the story just uses Dracula’s history and powers. There’s a good chance I’ll read and the author will have found some way to make their own stamp on this versatile character.

David Jenkins has always lived in Skelmersdale and is the current secretary of Skelmersdale Writers Group. He writes in a variety of genres including horror, fantasy and science fiction across multiple formats including comics, short stories and novels. His reviews and articles have been featured on various websites including Mass Movement, Attack on Planet B and Gingernuts of Horror. Gardens, Galaxies and Goosebumps is his first short story collection.

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Gardens, Galaxies, and Goosebumps by david jenkins 

Does the thought of moving into a house where a Satanist once lived terrify you? Have you ever wondered how society would change following a failed alien invasion? Do you find it strange that humans don’t eat more vegetables even though they’re so good for us? Find the answers to all these questions and more in the nine stories that make up the mixed genre offering that is Gardens, Galaxies And Goosebumps.

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