Dracul

August 6, 2018
Promoted as a prequel to Dracula, this novel is a melodramatized family history that proposes author Bram Stoker and his siblings confronted an undead nemesis early in their lives. Set for the most part in Ireland and told through a mix of straightforward narrative, personal letters, and journal and diary entries spanning the second half of the 19th century, it relates how a sickly young Bram was brought back from death’s doorstep by the bite of his nursemaid, the mysterious Ellen Crone. Years after Ellen’s abrupt disappearance from their lives, Bram, his sister Matilda, and his brother Thornley are drawn into a web of intrigues when they discover that Ellen is a Dearg-Due, a bloodsucking being of Irish folklore who is under the thumb of a more sinister vampire master. Although the authors evoke particulars of Bram Stoker’s Victorian vampire classic, their portrayal of Ellen as a sympathetic victim is decidedly modern. In an author’s note, Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram, explores gaps in the fossil record of Dracula’s genesis to explain the direction his own Dracula-infused collaboration took. Bram Stoker fans and scholars will find this a satisfying exploration of his legacy. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary.

What if the story of Dracula were based upon real events witnessed by Bram Stoker himself? That's the burning question driving this fictional prequel to DRACULA by Bram Stoker's grandnephew, Dacre, and JD Barker. Evoking the epistolary style of the original novel, the audiobook enlists an ensemble cast to voice different characters when the story shifts point of view. Narrator Pete Bradbury recounts the straight narrative sections. Bradbury and Vikas Adam, as Bram Stoker, evoke a doleful tone that elevates the gothic elements throughout the novel. Together, they bring to life this tale of a young Bram Stoker and his siblings racing across Europe in pursuit of mysterious and deadly beings. L.E. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine