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Overview

“What to do in Transylvania when you ARE the Dead Un-Dead…" D’you have a need to slake a raging thirst for blood ..? Or to spread the curse of the Un-Dead across Europe ? Have a plan to explore pastures new, carrying your ‘…50 cases of common earth,’ to bring your vampire kingdom to the heart of Victorian London..? Or maybe you just need a transfusion of vampire fantasy..? So… a question. Have you actually read ‘Dracula,’ Bram Stoker’s classic work of Gothic horror fiction..? The chilling tale (first published in 1897) of the master vampire’s evil ambition to establish himself in the very heart of the British Empire, from his castle in the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania. If not, let me introduce you to “Count Dracula, or The Dead Un-Dead”, a SECOND, revised, unique and special edition of Bram Stoker’s classic “Dracula”. This edition returns the ORIGINAL first chapter - “…the hitherto unpublished episode from ‘Dracula.’ It was originally excised owing to the length of the book. …of what is considered my husband’s most remarkable work.” - Florence Stoker, his widow, writing in 1922. What WOULD convince you to read this renewed classic of gothic horror, the tale of the wealthy and ancient vampire. Is it enough to return the missing chapter to this chilling masterpiece, introducing our sometime hero (unnamed) “…being in some way the sport of opposite forces” - a dangerous and frightening episode on ‘Walpurgis Night’ - when graves open, and the dead come forth and walk..? Or the amended mistakes of details the Big Boys of publishing made (and continue to make) with a certain wee lack of care - some sequential events not sorted by date (errors in transcription), mistakes in titles of “epistles”… (in reference to the original source material). Or the paragraphs returned to the end chapter, at the Count’s castle, removed to allow the writing of a sequel, which never came… Or, should I lay out for you the many elements of gothic horror Stoker includes in his masterpiece ? Such as: • an old castle? “Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own free will.” (ch. 3) • a ghost, monster, or ghoul? “…began to crawl down the castle wall over that dreadful abyss, face down…” (ch. 4) • a range of protagonists? - damsels in distress, men under duress? “Lucy is ill, that is, she has no special disease…” (ch. 10) • unfamiliar territory? - exotic, scary, other worldly “Tell me Johann. What is tonight?” “Walpurgis Night.” (ch. 1) • horror, nightmares? - dreams, visions, mind control, conversions, insanity, spectral apparitions? “I was waked by the flapping at the window.” (ch. 12) • high drama? - suspense, jeopardy, assaults, deaths, imprisonment? “I have brought some Winchesters; they are pretty handy in a crowd.” (ch. 27) • terrible weather, at sea, over land? • flight to freedom? through the streets of London, across Europe (by rail, sea, and road), east to Transylvania and the Carpathians, before time runs out “They are racing for the sunset. We may be too late.” (ch. 28) Or to lay out the plot, as terror and wonder unfolds, with Professor Abraham Van Helsing, and his group of male and female protagonists, in their hunt for justice against the wealthy Count, this ancient creature, his coven of female vampires, and their evil cohorts… Stoker’s masterly storytelling (7 years in the writing), engaging and horrifying, this myth-making Gothic horror novel in its “epistolary” format - told in letters, memorandum, telegrams, journals and diaries, reports, ship’s log entries - with multiple narrators, and perspectives, over a 6 month period. But.., hopefully that’s enough glimpses for now - enough to pique your appetite for this macabre tale…

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