Anno Dracula series
Encyclopedia
The Anno Dracula series by Kim Newman
—named after Anno Dracula (1992), the series' first novel—is a work of fantasy
depicting an alternate history in which the heroes of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula
fail to stop Count Dracula
's conquest of Great Britain
, resulting in a world where vampire
s are common and increasingly dominant in society. While Dracula is a central figure in the events of the series, he is a minor character in the books themselves, and usually appears in only a few climactic pages of each book.
The series is known for its carefully researched historical settings and the author's use as supporting characters of both historical people and fictional character
s of the appropriate period. The metafictional style was inspired by the Wold Newton Universe
of Philip José Farmer
, and Neil Gaiman
helped develop the series (and was originally going to be its co-author). Gaiman has also credited the series as being one of the main influences on his short story "A Study in Emerald
".
Entries in the series have won awards from the Dracula Society
, the Lord Ruthven Assembly, and the International Horror Guild
, and been short-listed for the Bram Stoker Award
and the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
.
The series currently consists of three novels and a number of short stories and novella
s.
, and rules as Prince Consort. A virtual checklist of fictional vampires have come out of hiding and gained new social status. But all is not going smoothly for the new regime: Jack the Ripper
stalks Whitechapel
, murdering vampire prostitutes. Charles Beauregard, a (non-vampire) agent of the Diogenes Club, is sent to track the murderer down, and finds himself enmeshed in a plot to free England from Dracula's rule.
Unusually for the series, several of the borrowed characters in Anno Dracula have no links to the period. To give just two examples: the heroine Geneviève Dieudonné
is recycled from Newman's own Warhammer
novels (first appearing in 1989 Drachenfels, written under the name Jack Yeovil), and Carl Kolchak
has a brief cameo as a reporter following the Ripper case. (Newman has said that if he had realised he would get so many sequels out of the premise, he would have saved Kolchak up for a story set in the character's native 1970s.)
First published in October 1992, Anno Dracula has won the Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award, the Lord Ruthven Assembly's Fiction Award, and the International Horror Guild
Award for Best Novel, and was short-listed for the Bram Stoker Award
for Best Novel.
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
classifies Anno Dracula as "recursive fantasy", and further describes the work as not "strictly steampunk
, but echoing in gaslight romance terms steampunk's dense reworking of a 19th century London." (The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
, pp. 803, 896).
. The Graf von Dracula, after being expelled from Great Britain in 1897, spread his brand of unstable vampirism (and with it raging lycanthropy) throughout the Russian Imperial Family. He now leads Germany and the Central Powers against the Entente, with vampires—now a part of everyday life—fighting (and dying) on both sides. The Red Baron of the title is the historical ace
fighter pilot
Manfred von Richthofen
, who in this altered history leads a squadron of monstrous flying vampires.
First published in November 1995, The Bloody Red Baron was shortlisted for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
, Long Form.
), on the trail of a Russian spymaster who never goes anywhere without his cat. The films of Federico Fellini
are an influence on the setting and atmosphere, and several of his characters appear in the novel.
First published November 1998.
and will incorporate "Coppola's Dracula", "Castle in the Desert", "Andy Warhol's Dracula", and "The Other Side of Midnight". It includes references to Taxi Driver
, Ms. 45
, Blade
, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Deathmaster, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, The Light at the End
, Death Wish
, Convoy, Vampirella
, Natural Born Killers
, Badlands
, Nocturna
, Cruising
, Vampire Junction
, The Addiction
, and The Lost Boys
, as well as taking its title from a character in the film Dracula AD 1972
. Newman says the book "features more of [Dracula], and in more aspects, than the other three books put together." The book has been "nearly finished" since 2000, but "I don't even have a tentative date...It'll happen when it happens."
In August 2010, The Kim Newman Web Site reported that Johnny Alucard is set to be published in 2012 by Titan Books
, following new editions of the previous books in the series.
First published in The Mammoth Book of Vampires, 1992.
's Philip Marlowe
, and his ex-wife is the recurring character Linda Loring, whom Marlowe married in Chandler's unfinished final novel Poodle Springs
—after initially rejecting the idea because he knew it would not last.)
(online)
is making the film for which he will always be remembered—an adaptation of Dracula starring Marlon Brando
as Dracula and Martin Sheen
as Jonathan Harker. (Yes, it is Apocalypse Now
, complete with all the famous quotes and mishaps during filming, albeit in Romania
instead of the Philippines
.) The film crew is befriended by a young-looking vampire, who leaves with them when they return to America.
(online)
Coppola's Dracula won the International Horror Guild
Award for Best Long Fiction, and was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award
for Best Long Fiction.
First appeared in The Mammoth Book of Dracula, 1997.
), but risks losing it all when the many enemies he makes along the way join forces against him.
to become a homeland for the undead
. As Special Air Service
troops mass for an assault, vampire/journalist Kate Reed is invited into the embassy to meet the leader of the terrorists. (The equivalent event in our history involved the Iran
ian embassy: see Iranian Embassy Siege
.)
(online)
"Who Dares Wins" includes an appearance by Richard Jeperson
, the central character in one of Newman's other main series, the Diogenes Club short stories.
receives funding from a mysterious source to film the ultimate version of Dracula, and hires a private detective to find out why. (The title combines those of two of Welles' movies: Chimes at Midnight
and The Other Side of the Wind
, the latter of which was left uncompleted at Welles' death in 1985. Welles also appeared as a minor character in Dracula Cha Cha Cha.)
"The Other Side of Midnight" was shortlisted for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
, Short Form.
regime in Romania.
.)
s.
and Isabelle Adjani
for Beauregard and Geneviève, and then Ralph Fiennes
and Juliette Binoche
after they became too old. Other of Newman's suggestions were Jane Horrocks
as Katie Reed, Helena Bonham Carter
as Penelope Churchward, Colin Firth
as Arthur Holmwood
, Christopher Lee
as Mycroft Holmes
, Richard E. Grant
as John Seward
, and Harvey Keitel
as Count Dracula
.
According to an interview on May 16, 2008, the rights to an Anno Dracula movie have been optioned, and Newman has written a script, but "I don't know if there's much movement on it...Over the years, I've had a few comics people say they'd be interested and even an occasional game nibble, but no one has ever come up with a solid deal."
of an individual before and after becoming a vampire does not change, despite the obvious change in their body and its abilities. Additionally, the vampire Cagliostro
is said to be able to perform genuine acts of magic.
Newman's series brings together characters from a large number of legends and fictional works that portray the vampires in many different ways. He tries to explain this in part through the concept of "bloodline", in which particular vampiric traits are passed on from vampire to vampire. A characteristic of Dracula's bloodline is shape-shifting, however because becoming a vampire isn't automatically like Dracula many vampires experience partal shape-shifting and die because of that. However an interesting sidenote is that to "create" a new bloodline you have to be bitten by many different vampires during your mortal life then when you die as a mortal you resurrect a new type of vampire, such as a shape-shifting vampire. This is how Dracula became a vampire in the novels, and this explains why his power over shape-shifting is in his complete control unlike other vampires in his bloodline. Lord Ruthven
, the British prime minister
, says of Dracula:
Some vampires have an aversion to crucifixes, holy water and the like, but Newman portrays this a superstition; vampires without such "silly ideas" show no ill effects from religious symbols. Garlic, too, is only effective against vampires who believe their own folklore. However, silver
is deadly to all of Newman's vampires.
One trait that vampires share is an almost instantaneous healing ability. "Vampire physiology is such that wounds inflicted with ordinary weapons heal almost immediately," vampire expert Dr. Jekyll says in Anno Dracula. "Tissue and bone regenerate, just as a lizard may grow a new tail. Silver has a counteractive effect on this process." In some bloodlines, if silver is used complete regeneration may not be possible, which is what happened to Moldavian who was shot with silver; however certain bloodlines could completely regenerate even if silver is used. Dr. Jekyll also says that "any major breach of the vital organs seems to produce true death," explaining why a stake through the heart is an effective tactic.
Sunlight is also dangerous to vampires, particularly to the "new-born"—those recently turned into undead. For vampire "elders", those with years or centuries of experience, sunshine may be tolerable though still strength-sapping. There is no firm agreement on what makes a vampire an elder; a rough consensus was outlasting one's natural lifetime followed by another lifetime, or two centuries. Two-thirds of the vampire elders in Newman's universe come from the Romania
n area of the Southern Carpathians
; however, there are non-Caucasian vampires, such as the Chinese Assassin
and Prince Mamuwalde
.
Newman's vampires do need to drink blood for sustenance, though the taking of blood need not be fatal and is often voluntary. However if the blood has a disease, or is dead blood it can make any vampire sick. Indeed, several characters in Anno Dracula are vampiric prostitutes who service "warm" men in exchange for coin or, preferably, quaffs of their blood. Animal blood is also used by vampires as a second-rate substitute for human blood. As Tom Ripley muses:
Nor are vampires the only supernatural beings to inhabit Newman's universe. Zombie
s exist, but are said to be types of vampires caused by an epidemic bloodline that damages the brain and requires the vampire to chew blood from flesh rather than drink it from the vein; like 'normal' zombies, they spread their infection through simple biting and can only be killed by destroying the brain. Werewolves
, ghost
s, and non-vampire immortal
s also exist; as do artificial life such as Dr. Moreau's animal-human hybrids, and Frankenstein's monster
, automaton assassins, and golems
; extraterrestrial or genetically-engineered species, such as triffid
s and Audrey II, also exist. An octopoidal elder claims to be a Martian
, and the Great Old Ones are also vaguely hinted at existing in this universe via the existence of the Esoteric Order of Dagon
. Griffin
's invisibility formula and Jekyll's ability to transform into Hyde also exist. Several "warms" are also said to have the vampire powers of precognition and telepathy, or the ability to perform acts of genuine magic. However, for the most part, vampires are the center-stage of Newman's paranormal setting.
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
—named after Anno Dracula (1992), the series' first novel—is a work of fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
depicting an alternate history in which the heroes of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
fail to stop Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
's conquest of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, resulting in a world where vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s are common and increasingly dominant in society. While Dracula is a central figure in the events of the series, he is a minor character in the books themselves, and usually appears in only a few climactic pages of each book.
The series is known for its carefully researched historical settings and the author's use as supporting characters of both historical people and fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s of the appropriate period. The metafictional style was inspired by the Wold Newton Universe
Wold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer...
of Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
, and Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
helped develop the series (and was originally going to be its co-author). Gaiman has also credited the series as being one of the main influences on his short story "A Study in Emerald
A Study in Emerald
"A Study in Emerald" is a short story written by British fantasy and graphic novel author Neil Gaiman. The story is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche transferred to the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. It won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. The title is a reference to...
".
Entries in the series have won awards from the Dracula Society
Dracula Society
The Dracula Society is a London-based literature and travel group with an interest in supernatural and macabre works of fiction, as exemplified by Bram Stoker's Dracula.-Children of the Night Award:...
, the Lord Ruthven Assembly, and the International Horror Guild
International Horror Guild
The International Horror Guild was created in 1995 as a way to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of Horror and Dark Fantasy. The IHG presented the International Horror Guild Award. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by...
, and been short-listed for the Bram Stoker Award
Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
and the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year.The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with...
.
The series currently consists of three novels and a number of short stories and novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
s.
Anno Dracula
1888. Dracula has married the widowed Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, and rules as Prince Consort. A virtual checklist of fictional vampires have come out of hiding and gained new social status. But all is not going smoothly for the new regime: Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
stalks Whitechapel
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
, murdering vampire prostitutes. Charles Beauregard, a (non-vampire) agent of the Diogenes Club, is sent to track the murderer down, and finds himself enmeshed in a plot to free England from Dracula's rule.
Unusually for the series, several of the borrowed characters in Anno Dracula have no links to the period. To give just two examples: the heroine Geneviève Dieudonné
Geneviève Dieudonné
Geneviève Dieudonné is a character appearing in a number of works by Kim Newman.-Overview:According to Newman, there are three versions of Geneviève for each series of his . Each has a different middle name but each is a "trans-continual cousin"...
is recycled from Newman's own Warhammer
Warhammer Fantasy (setting)
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...
novels (first appearing in 1989 Drachenfels, written under the name Jack Yeovil), and Carl Kolchak
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. It featured a fictional Chicago newspaper reporter — Carl Kolchak, played by Darren McGavin — who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly ones law...
has a brief cameo as a reporter following the Ripper case. (Newman has said that if he had realised he would get so many sequels out of the premise, he would have saved Kolchak up for a story set in the character's native 1970s.)
First published in October 1992, Anno Dracula has won the Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award, the Lord Ruthven Assembly's Fiction Award, and the International Horror Guild
International Horror Guild
The International Horror Guild was created in 1995 as a way to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of Horror and Dark Fantasy. The IHG presented the International Horror Guild Award. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by...
Award for Best Novel, and was short-listed for the Bram Stoker Award
Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
for Best Novel.
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy is a 1997 reference work on fantasy, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Scott Rohan, Brian Stableford and Lisa Tuttle.The book was well-received upon...
classifies Anno Dracula as "recursive fantasy", and further describes the work as not "strictly steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
, but echoing in gaslight romance terms steampunk's dense reworking of a 19th century London." (The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
The Encyclopedia of Fantasy is a 1997 reference work on fantasy, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Scott Rohan, Brian Stableford and Lisa Tuttle.The book was well-received upon...
, pp. 803, 896).
The Bloody Red Baron
Set during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The Graf von Dracula, after being expelled from Great Britain in 1897, spread his brand of unstable vampirism (and with it raging lycanthropy) throughout the Russian Imperial Family. He now leads Germany and the Central Powers against the Entente, with vampires—now a part of everyday life—fighting (and dying) on both sides. The Red Baron of the title is the historical ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
fighter pilot
Fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen , also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I...
, who in this altered history leads a squadron of monstrous flying vampires.
First published in November 1995, The Bloody Red Baron was shortlisted for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year.The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with...
, Long Form.
Dracula Cha Cha Cha (or Judgment of Tears)
1959. Every vampire who is anybody is flocking to Rome for Dracula's wedding, but there is a mysterious vampire killer on the loose. Events are complicated by the arrival of a British secret agent called Bond (but not James BondJames Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
), on the trail of a Russian spymaster who never goes anywhere without his cat. The films of Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
are an influence on the setting and atmosphere, and several of his characters appear in the novel.
First published November 1998.
Johnny Alucard
1980s. Newman has stated he is working on a fourth novel in the series that will conclude the overall story. The novel will be set in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and will incorporate "Coppola's Dracula", "Castle in the Desert", "Andy Warhol's Dracula", and "The Other Side of Midnight". It includes references to Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver is a 1976 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The film is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shepherd. The film was nominated for four Academy...
, Ms. 45
Ms. 45
Ms. 45, also known as Angel of Vengeance, is a 1981 American low-budget exploitation film directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Zoë Tamerlis Lund...
, Blade
Blade (comics)
Blade is a fictional character, a superhero/vampire hunter in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller Gene Colan, his first appearance was in the comic book The Tomb of Dracula #10 as a supporting character.The character went on to alternatively star and co-star...
, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Deathmaster, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, The Light at the End
The Light at the End
The Light at the End is a 1986 vampire novel by John Skipp & Craig Spector which became a New York Times bestseller and is often credited as the book that started the splatterpunk movement.-Story:...
, Death Wish
Death Wish (film)
Death Wish is a 1974 crime thriller film loosely based on the novel Death Wish by Brian Garfield. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Charles Bronson as Paul Kersey, a man who becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is sexually assaulted by muggers.The film was...
, Convoy, Vampirella
Vampirella
Vampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and costume designer Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 . Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostess, in...
, Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers
Natural Born Killers is a 1994 crime/black comedy film directed by Oliver Stone about two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and psychopathic serial killers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media...
, Badlands
Badlands (film)
Badlands is a 1973 American crime drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Warren Oates and Ramon Bieri are also featured. Malick has a small speaking part although he does not receive an acting credit...
, Nocturna
Nocturna
Nocturna is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. The first storyline involving her began in Detective Comics #529 , but her first appearance is credited to Batman #363 , where she is first actually seen and mentioned by name. Nocturna was created by Doug Moench and Gene...
, Cruising
Cruising (film)
Cruising is a 1980 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name, by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker, about a serial killer targeting gay men, in particular those associated with the S&M scene.Poorly reviewed by critics,...
, Vampire Junction
Vampire Junction
rightVampire Junction is the title of S. P. Somtow's 1984 novel, the first in a series about Timmy Valentine, a 12-year-old rock star who is actually a 2,000-year-old vampire...
, The Addiction
The Addiction
The Addiction is an unconventional 1995 vampire film by Abel Ferrara, starring Lili Taylor, Edie Falco, Paul Calderón and Christopher Walken...
, and The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys
The Lost Boys is a 1987 American teen comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes....
, as well as taking its title from a character in the film Dracula AD 1972
Dracula AD 1972
Dracula A.D. 1972 is a 1972 Hammer Horror film directed by Alan Gibson, written by Don Houghton and starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Stephanie Beacham. Unlike earlier films in the Hammer Dracula series, Dracula A.D...
. Newman says the book "features more of [Dracula], and in more aspects, than the other three books put together." The book has been "nearly finished" since 2000, but "I don't even have a tentative date...It'll happen when it happens."
In August 2010, The Kim Newman Web Site reported that Johnny Alucard is set to be published in 2012 by Titan Books
Titan Books
Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London, England's Bankside area. The Books Division has two main areas of publishing: film & TV tie-ins/cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics reference/art titles. The...
, following new editions of the previous books in the series.
Red Reign
1888. Written in 1991, this novella was the first work in the series. It was later expanded into the novel Anno Dracula.First published in The Mammoth Book of Vampires, 1992.
"Castle in the Desert"
1977. The story's first-person narrator, a private investigator, investigates the death of his ex-wife, found at the bottom of her swimming pool with an iron stake driven through her, and the disappearance of her daughter, last seen falling in with a crowd of vampire cultists. (The private investigator, though not named in the story, is clearly Raymond ChandlerRaymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
's Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep published in 1939...
, and his ex-wife is the recurring character Linda Loring, whom Marlowe married in Chandler's unfinished final novel Poodle Springs
Poodle Springs
Poodle Springs is the eighth Philip Marlowe novel. It was started in 1958 by Raymond Chandler, who left it unfinished at his death in 1959. The four chapters he had completed, which bore the working title "The Poodle Springs Story", were subsequently published in Raymond Chandler Speaking , a...
—after initially rejecting the idea because he knew it would not last.)
(online)
Coppola's Dracula
1976. Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
is making the film for which he will always be remembered—an adaptation of Dracula starring Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
as Dracula and Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen
Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
as Jonathan Harker. (Yes, it is Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
, complete with all the famous quotes and mishaps during filming, albeit in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
instead of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.) The film crew is befriended by a young-looking vampire, who leaves with them when they return to America.
(online)
Coppola's Dracula won the International Horror Guild
International Horror Guild
The International Horror Guild was created in 1995 as a way to recognize the achievements of those who create in the field of Horror and Dark Fantasy. The IHG presented the International Horror Guild Award. Nancy A. Collins, the founder of the award, felt there was a need for an award granted by...
Award for Best Long Fiction, and was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award
Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented by the Horror Writers Association for "superior achievement" in horror writing. The awards have been presented annually since 1987, and the winners are selected by ballot of the Active members of the HWA...
for Best Long Fiction.
First appeared in The Mammoth Book of Dracula, 1997.
"Andy Warhol's Dracula"
1978. New York. Johnny Pop, the young-looking vampire who came to America with Coppola's film crew, finds his place in his new homeland, on his way to becoming the next Dracula. He becomes rich (creating a drug ring that sells "drac", derived from vampire blood) and socially successful (befriending many luminaries, including Andy WarholAndy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
), but risks losing it all when the many enemies he makes along the way join forces against him.
"Who Dares Wins"
April 30, 1980. The Romanian Embassy in London has been taken over by "freedom fighters" who want TransylvaniaTransylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
to become a homeland for the undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
. As Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
troops mass for an assault, vampire/journalist Kate Reed is invited into the embassy to meet the leader of the terrorists. (The equivalent event in our history involved the Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian embassy: see Iranian Embassy Siege
Iranian Embassy Siege
The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London. The gunmen took 26 people hostage—mostly embassy staff, but several visitors and a police officer, who had been guarding the embassy, were also...
.)
(online)
"Who Dares Wins" includes an appearance by Richard Jeperson
Richard Jeperson
Richard Jeperson is a fictional 1970s psychic investigator created by British horror / fantasy author Kim Newman. He appears in many of Newman's short stories as both a central and background character, and is the focal point of a collection of short stories entitled The Man from the Diogenes...
, the central character in one of Newman's other main series, the Diogenes Club short stories.
"The Other Side of Midnight"
1981. Orson WellesOrson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
receives funding from a mysterious source to film the ultimate version of Dracula, and hires a private detective to find out why. (The title combines those of two of Welles' movies: Chimes at Midnight
Chimes at Midnight
Chimes at Midnight, also known as Falstaff and Campanadas a medianoche , is a 1965 film directed by and starring Orson Welles. Focused on William Shakespeare's recurring character Sir John Falstaff, the film stars Welles himself as Falstaff, Keith Baxter plays Prince Hal , and John Gielgud plays...
and The Other Side of the Wind
The Other Side of the Wind
The Other Side of the Wind is an unfinished film directed by Orson Welles, shot between 1969 and 1976, and starring John Huston, Bob Random, Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg and Oja Kodar.-Summary:...
, the latter of which was left uncompleted at Welles' death in 1985. Welles also appeared as a minor character in Dracula Cha Cha Cha.)
"The Other Side of Midnight" was shortlisted for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year.The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with...
, Short Form.
"You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings"
1984. A covert mission using undead agents to unseat the CeauşescuNicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
regime in Romania.
"Concert for Transylvania"
Not yet published: due to see first publication as part of Johnny Alucard. (May be about an alternate version of The Concert for BangladeshThe Concert for Bangladesh
The Concert for Bangladesh was the name for two benefit concerts organised by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, held at noon and at 7 PM on August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City...
.)
"Dead Travel Fast"
Published in the anthology Dracula in London, this story features an untold tale of Dracula's deeds during the events of the original novel. Although it is not technically an Anno Dracula story, as it occurs before the events of Anno Dracula diverge from those in Dracula, it may still be considered as an adjunct to the series. In the story, Dracula visits the manufacturers of one of the earliest automobileAutomobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s.
Movie
In a 2000 interview, Newman said that he had scripted an Anno Dracula movie for Stuart Pollok and André Jacquemetton, who originally wanted Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
and Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Yasmine Adjani is a French film actress and singer. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970. She holds the record for most César Awards for Best Actress with five, for Possession , One Deadly Summer , Camille Claudel , Queen Margot and Skirt Day...
for Beauregard and Geneviève, and then Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
and Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche is a French actress, artist and dancer. She has appeared in more than 40 feature films, been recipient of numerous international accolades, is a published author and has appeared on stage across the world. Coming from an artistic background, she began taking acting lessons during...
after they became too old. Other of Newman's suggestions were Jane Horrocks
Jane Horrocks
Barbara Jane Horrocks is an English voice, stage, screen and television actress, voice artist, musician, and singer. She is best known for her role as "Bubble" in the TV series Absolutely Fabulous as well as her distinctive voice....
as Katie Reed, Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
as Penelope Churchward, Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
as Arthur Holmwood
Arthur Holmwood
Arthur Holmwood is a fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.-In the novel:He is engaged to Lucy Westenra, and is best friends with the other two men who proposed to her on the very same day — Quincey Morris and Doctor John Seward...
, Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
as Mycroft Holmes
Mycroft Holmes
Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the elder brother of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.- Profile :...
, Richard E. Grant
Richard E. Grant
Richard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...
as John Seward
John Seward
John Seward, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.-In the novel:Seward is the administrator of an insane asylum not far from Count Dracula's first English home, Carfax. Throughout the novel, Seward conducts ambitious interviews with one of his patients,...
, and Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
as Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
.
According to an interview on May 16, 2008, the rights to an Anno Dracula movie have been optioned, and Newman has written a script, but "I don't know if there's much movement on it...Over the years, I've had a few comics people say they'd be interested and even an occasional game nibble, but no one has ever come up with a solid deal."
Newman's vampires
Newman's series presents vampires as more or less natural beings, passing on a biological change through the sharing of blood. "We are natural beings, like any other," Geneviève says. "There's no magic." (Though when confronted with the vampire's inexplicable inability to cast a reflection, she allows, "Maybe a little magic.... Just a touch.") Despite this, genetic studies have shown that the DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
of an individual before and after becoming a vampire does not change, despite the obvious change in their body and its abilities. Additionally, the vampire Cagliostro
Alessandro Cagliostro
Count Alessandro di Cagliostro was the alias of the occultist Giuseppe Balsamo , an Italian adventurer.-Origin:The history of Cagliostro is shrouded in rumour, propaganda and mysticism...
is said to be able to perform genuine acts of magic.
Newman's series brings together characters from a large number of legends and fictional works that portray the vampires in many different ways. He tries to explain this in part through the concept of "bloodline", in which particular vampiric traits are passed on from vampire to vampire. A characteristic of Dracula's bloodline is shape-shifting, however because becoming a vampire isn't automatically like Dracula many vampires experience partal shape-shifting and die because of that. However an interesting sidenote is that to "create" a new bloodline you have to be bitten by many different vampires during your mortal life then when you die as a mortal you resurrect a new type of vampire, such as a shape-shifting vampire. This is how Dracula became a vampire in the novels, and this explains why his power over shape-shifting is in his complete control unlike other vampires in his bloodline. Lord Ruthven
Lord Ruthven (vampire)
Lord Ruthven is a fictional character. First appearing in print in 1816, he was one of the first vampires in English literature.-Origins:There is a genuine title of Lord Ruthven of Freeland which is a subsidiary title of the Earl of Carlisle in the United Kingdom...
, the British prime minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, says of Dracula:
Some vampires have an aversion to crucifixes, holy water and the like, but Newman portrays this a superstition; vampires without such "silly ideas" show no ill effects from religious symbols. Garlic, too, is only effective against vampires who believe their own folklore. However, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
is deadly to all of Newman's vampires.
One trait that vampires share is an almost instantaneous healing ability. "Vampire physiology is such that wounds inflicted with ordinary weapons heal almost immediately," vampire expert Dr. Jekyll says in Anno Dracula. "Tissue and bone regenerate, just as a lizard may grow a new tail. Silver has a counteractive effect on this process." In some bloodlines, if silver is used complete regeneration may not be possible, which is what happened to Moldavian who was shot with silver; however certain bloodlines could completely regenerate even if silver is used. Dr. Jekyll also says that "any major breach of the vital organs seems to produce true death," explaining why a stake through the heart is an effective tactic.
Sunlight is also dangerous to vampires, particularly to the "new-born"—those recently turned into undead. For vampire "elders", those with years or centuries of experience, sunshine may be tolerable though still strength-sapping. There is no firm agreement on what makes a vampire an elder; a rough consensus was outlasting one's natural lifetime followed by another lifetime, or two centuries. Two-thirds of the vampire elders in Newman's universe come from the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n area of the Southern Carpathians
Southern Carpathians
The Southern Carpathians or the Transylvanian Alps are a group of mountain ranges which divide central and southern Romania, on one side, and Serbia, on the other side. They cover part of the Carpathian Mountains that is located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers...
; however, there are non-Caucasian vampires, such as the Chinese Assassin
Mr. Vampire
Mr. Vampire, also known as Geung-si Sin-sang, is a 1985 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by Ricky Lau and produced by Sammo Hung. The film's box office success led to the creation of a Mr...
and Prince Mamuwalde
Blacula
Blacula is a 1972 American horror film produced for American International Pictures. It was directed by William Crain and stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is both turned into a vampire and locked inside a coffin by Count Dracula...
.
Newman's vampires do need to drink blood for sustenance, though the taking of blood need not be fatal and is often voluntary. However if the blood has a disease, or is dead blood it can make any vampire sick. Indeed, several characters in Anno Dracula are vampiric prostitutes who service "warm" men in exchange for coin or, preferably, quaffs of their blood. Animal blood is also used by vampires as a second-rate substitute for human blood. As Tom Ripley muses:
Nor are vampires the only supernatural beings to inhabit Newman's universe. Zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s exist, but are said to be types of vampires caused by an epidemic bloodline that damages the brain and requires the vampire to chew blood from flesh rather than drink it from the vein; like 'normal' zombies, they spread their infection through simple biting and can only be killed by destroying the brain. Werewolves
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
, ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s, and non-vampire immortal
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
s also exist; as do artificial life such as Dr. Moreau's animal-human hybrids, and Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster
Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...
, automaton assassins, and golems
The Golem: How He Came Into the World
The Golem: How He Came Into the World is a 1920 silent horror film by Paul Wegener. It was directed by Carl Boese and Wegener, written by Wegener and Henrik Galeen, and starred Wegener as the golem. The script was adapted from the 1915 novel The Golem by Gustav Meyrink...
; extraterrestrial or genetically-engineered species, such as triffid
Triffid
The triffid is a tall, mobile, carnivorous, prolific and highly venomous fictional plant species—the titular antagonist in John Wyndham's 1951 novel The Day of the Triffids and Simon Clark's 2001 sequel The Night of the Triffids....
s and Audrey II, also exist. An octopoidal elder claims to be a Martian
Martian (War of the Worlds)
The Martians, also known as the Invaders, are the fictional race of extraterrestrials from the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. They are the antagonists of the novel, and their efforts to exterminate the populace of Earth and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present...
, and the Great Old Ones are also vaguely hinted at existing in this universe via the existence of the Esoteric Order of Dagon
Esoteric Order of Dagon
The Esoteric Order of Dagon is a fictional cult in the Cthulhu mythos of H. P. Lovecraft.-Esoteric Order of Dagon in the mythos:Esoteric Order of Dagon was the primary religion in Innsmouth after Captain Obed Marsh returned from the South Seas with the dark religion circa 1838...
. Griffin
Griffin (The Invisible Man)
Griffin is a fictional character, the eponym and antagonist of H. G. Wells's science fiction novel The Invisible Man, first published in 1897. Griffin is a young scientist who wants to create the ultimate humanoid by creating a race of invisible people....
's invisibility formula and Jekyll's ability to transform into Hyde also exist. Several "warms" are also said to have the vampire powers of precognition and telepathy, or the ability to perform acts of genuine magic. However, for the most part, vampires are the center-stage of Newman's paranormal setting.
External links
- Anno Dracula: The Background by Kim NewmanKim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
- Anno Dracula Character Guide: a complete guide to all the fictional characters appearing in the Anno Dracula series
- Anno Dracula: The Vampire State