In For the Count
SHELLEY MARSDEN meets Dacre Stoker, a blood relation of ‘Dracula' author Bram Stoker… - 29/10/09
Never mind the teen swoon-inducing Twilight and HBO’s True Blood – Bram Stoker was the man that first brought the sexy concept of vampirism to life (or is that death?). ‘Dracula: The Un-Dead’ by Dacre Stoker – the Canadian great-grand-nephew of the famed novelist – is being advertised as the ‘official sequel’ to ‘Dracula’ and has been endorsed by the Stoker Estate.
One of the biggest-selling books after the Bible, any follow-up to the Gothic classic novel was going to be a huge deal. ‘Dracula: The Un-Dead’, written one hundred years on, has already caused a huge splash in the publishing world, and they say a movie is already on the cards.
The 49-year-old’s sequel kicks off in 1912, 24 years after ‘Dracula’ ends, and revisits the characters of Mina and Jonathan Harker, Dr. Jack Seward, Arthur Holmwood and vampire hunter extraordinare, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.
But – though its style is very close - it brings in elements that are more shocking to a modern reader, such as the details of Seward’s morphine addiction, and the lesbian misadventures of the deadly 16th-century Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory. Without giving the game away, it is the character of Dracula himself that has been, ahem, re-vamped the most…
Has the Stoker legacy ever felt like a burden?
More something I haven’t been too bothered with. As a child growing up in Canada other people would bring it to our attention, especially around Halloween time, when they’d joke and go ‘Ooh Stoker, what happens if we go trick or treating at your house?!’ As I got to drinking age they’d go, ‘What are you going to have, a Bloody Mary?’ There were those pokes and prods from friends, but us Canadians are pretty humble. It’s best to stand on your own merits.
When did that change?
When screenwriter Ian [Holt] got a hold of me! Ian had been a real Dracula buff growing up, and he went off to Dracula 97, the 100th anniversary in LA and found a Stoker, but she wasn’t sure how she was related to the clan. She introduced him to my uncle Patrick, who said he wasn’t really interested, as Hollywood hadn’t treated the Stokers very well! Ian found me, and to cut a long story short told me he was a screenwriter, he wanted to write a story and he wanted a Stoker involved. I said “Yeah, I’ve never written a story – let’s fumble through this together!”
For the full article, buy this week's Irish World at your local newsagents, or pick up a copy HERE from only 50p!
Dracula: The Undead, by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt (Harper Collins, ??) is out now. Visit www.draculatheun-dead.com.
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