In the Footsteps of Dracula

August 21, 2017
The 33 stories and one poem in this overstuffed horror omnibus combine in a sanguinary celebration of Count Dracula and the malleability of the vampire theme. Beginning with a dramatic prologue that Bram Stoker adapted from his own landmark novel, Jones (In the Shadow of Frankenstein) organizes his selections into a “loose historical chronicle of Count Dracula” over the centuries and stitches several classic stories—including Manly Wade Wellman’s Dracula-versus-Nazis gem, “The Devil Is Not Mocked,” and Ramsey Campbell’s EC Comics–style shocker, “Conversion”—into a tapestry primarily fashioned from contemporary tales. Nancy Holder’s “Blood Freak” recounts Dracula’s meeting with Timothy Leary. Brian Hodge proposes a Pope Dracula in “The Last Testament.” In Kim Newman’s behind-the-scenes tell-all, “Coppola’s Dracula,” the movie’s fiasco-filled filming is clearly modeled on Apocalypse Now. Not all of the book’s stories feature Dracula himself—Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse zinger, “Dracula Night,” tantalizes with his possible appearance—but all attest vividly to the long shadow he has cast over supernatural fiction.

September 15, 2017

In the capable hands of prolific horror editor Jones (A Book of Horrors; The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror), this inventive anthology follows the Western world's most famous vampire through the centuries. Beginning with Bram Stoker's classic blood-sucking count (presented here in a long-lost prolog to Stoker's 1897 theatrical adaptation of Dracula) and ending with a postdystopian 21st century world ruled by vampires (F. Paul Wilson's particularly rich "The Lord's Work"), we encounter Dracula at his most vicious, vile, and vulnerable moments as he navigates his neverending years. Other contributors to this dense collection include Charlaine Harris, Thomas Ligotti, Ramsey Campbell, and Nancy Holder. VERDICT There's something here for any enthusiastic vampirologist--noir undertones from Mandy Slater, tongue-in-cheek flash fiction from Jan Edwards, the familiarity of Harris's "Sookie Stackhouse" series, and even some poetry. Unfortunately, the unforgiving typeface makes the text difficult to read, which can hinder circulation for an already weighty tome.--Erin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia

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