by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker

Bantam Press, Out 18 October

Where the legend began…

Dracul is a collaboration by Dacre Stoker (the grand-nephew of Bram Stoker) and J.D. Barker, and acts as a prequel to the legend we all know and love. According to Stoker’s notes at the end of the novel, the story is inspired by ‘the missing first 101 pages’ of Bram Stoker’s novel as it was first issued – the publisher having refused to allow those pages of the manuscript to be printed.

The novel follows an episodic narrative, told from the various viewpoints of Bram Stoker himself, his sister Matilda, brother Thornley and a colleague, Valmeny. As a child, the sickly Bram was tended to by nurse Ellen Crone – an enigmatic figure who would disappear regularly after Bram suffered a crisis, only to return looking radiant and restored to full health. When the Stokers were children, nurse Ellen disappeared – only to be seen years later by Matilda, unchanged. Believing her to be the Dearg-due – a bloodsucking creature of Irish folklore – Bram and his siblings attempt to find her, and in so doing unearth the ‘true’ birth of the vampire legend, Dracula.

To tell more would be to ruin an intriguing story that develops the background to Stoker’s Dracula, offering a fictional version of Bram’s upbringing and the events that led him to write his most famous novel. The characters are well-drawn and the narrative moves at a cracking pace, drawing the reader on until the novel’s satisfying conclusion. An author note at the end shows some interesting detail of the Stoker family archives and legend, plus how Dacre and J.D. developed this prequel tale. A most enjoyable addition to the legend that is Dracula.

A cracking prequel to the most famous of vampire novels. 9/10

Marie O’Regan