Anno Dracula [Paperback]

Anno Dracula is a novel that has been on my `to read' list for years. Mrs Cheesecake has mentioned it in passing many times. She read the short story version when it was first published as Red Reign, in the collection the Mammoth Book of Vampires in 1992. Her enjoyment of this prompted her to seek out the novel when it was released later that year. Mrs Cheesecake suggested that I give this a whirl when the re-release appeared again recently.

I read Bram Stoker's Dracula many moons ago, what self respecting horror fan hasn't? Anno Dracula is pitched as a direct sequel based on the premise that Van Helsing and his group failed. Dracula has survived their encounter and wormed his way into the highest echelons of Victorian society and marries the Queen to become Prince Consort.

Charles Beauregard is an agent of the Diogenes Club, a secret cabal tasked with protecting the crown. He is ordered to bring Silver Knife to justice and protect new-born vampires from the serial killers' wrath. Charles is the very definition of a Victorian gentleman. He comes across as single minded and driven. He is willing to sacrifice his private life in order to get results.

Genevieve Dieudonne is an elder vampire, older than Dracula himself, who works as a doctor in a charitable hospital in the heart of Whitechapel. She is appalled with the way the Count's bloodline is corrupting society. Genevieve is quite a mysterious character. She has been a vampire for hundreds of years and travelled the world but the reader only gets a small glimpse of her experiences.

The two characters meet at a crime scene, and discover they have a common goal. The two find themselves working together to stop the killings, and their partnership is one of the highlights of the novel for me.

The cast of additional characters in Anno Dracula is a veritable who's who of Victorian fact and fiction and this adds a depth and richness to the narrative. Everyone from The Elephant Man and Oscar Wilde, to Fu Manchu and Dr Henry Jekyll make an appearance. As a fan of old vampire/horror movies, I was also delighted at some of the other names that appear. For those uninitiated there are appendices at the end of the book where Newman details the various sources the character names are taken from. There is also information highlighting the differences between the original short story and the finished novel. There are even some scenes from a proposed movie script. All these extras were a nice added bonus.

Hiding just under the surface there is a strong social commentary running throughout that novel. Newman uses the vampire plague to illustrate the societal and economic problems of the Victorian era. The divide between the different classes is made that much more obvious with the additional split of humans and vampires.

I enjoyed the novel but I have to admit I was a bit surprised by how little page time the character of Dracula actually receives. He only shows up in the final chapters. Don't get me wrong his presence is writ large throughout but I expected him to appear a bit more often. In fairness, however, there are another two novels already published in this series, and it may be the case that he is a more central character in these.

From the dimly lit alleyways and opium dens of Whitechapel, to the throne room of Buckingham Palace, Newman captures the sights and sounds of Victorian London. There are some fantastic moments when the reader follows Silver Knife out on the prowl. If you have never read Anno Dracula before I strongly recommend that you seek it out.

Anno Dracula is available now. The second novel in the series, The Bloody Red Baron, is due for re-release next year.

I've got quite a few of Newman's books but, alas, I missed out on this when it first appeared almost 20 years ago (and it has now been out of print for the past 17). Despite living in the Glasgow/Edinburgh area, I've never in all those years came across a secondhand copy - and even the old UK and US paperbacks go for a pretty sum on eBay.

Well, thanks to the good folks at Titan Books it's now back in print - and not simply a reprint with a spanking new cover.

Think of this as the DVD equivalent of a 20th Anniversary Special Edition, for it comes with 120 pages of bonus material:

*alternate scenes and endings
*16 pages of annotations
*extracts from the author's unproduced screenplay
*essays
*and even a bonus short story.

Also, the main text features minor corrections to the 1992 edition.

Titan will also reissue the other two novels in the sequence, together with the long-awaited fourth volume, Johnny Alucard.

Got my copy this morning, and I'm really chuffed to bits: glad, now, I didn't fork out for an old copy off eBay or Abebooks - this new B-format edition is far superior.

This is a fabulous confection of Victoriana Vampira; a glorious confabulation of actual history, fiction of the late 19th century and the cult of the vampire. It's wonderful. Stop reading the reviews and buy it: I was transfixed and swallowed the whole substantial tome in two sittings. Don't plan on doing anything else for the weekend!

Kim Newman writes pacy, fast-moving chapters which follow the action in Victorian London a few years after Bram Stoker's Dracula left off. Except in this universe, Van Helsing and co weren't the winners and instead Dracula's plan has come to fruition. The undead have seized the reins of power and are on course to dominate the world via the British empire, when Jack the Ripper starts his campaign of terror in the East End -- slaughtering vampire prostitutes in this alternate imaginary reality.
The result is a total romp, a thoroughly pleasing mix of Holmes' era detective novel and true gothic chiller. There are good and bad characters on all sides, and Newman gets to develop and explore his own interpretation of vampirism and how it might spread into the mainstream. Just about every well known vamp of the era gets a name-check, along with sundy dozens of recognisable characters (real and fictional). But it doesn't matter is all that passes you by -- the core story is itself extremely rewarding, with a big, punchy payoff.

This revised version, with all the extra goodies is really worth buying, too. I'd read the original novella, way back when, but enjoyed this version all over again.
9/10