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Just over a decade after the events in Dracula, the Harkers
are now married and have a son called Quincey. Things start
to take an ominous turn on the boy’s birthday when the
visiting van Helsing falls ill. Meanwhile, over in Transylvania
things are stirring, and it looks like the Harkers and their
old friends are going to have some more trouble to deal with…
I
can never resist reading about Dracula and here he is in all
his bloodcurdling glory, together with the characters from
the original classic yarn. One of the many things I enjoyed
about the original was the epistolatory style, with more than
one character getting to tell the story in their own words
and this is used here to great effect. Mr Barnes has the style
right too, and we get to meet all the old characters as well
as some new ones. Quite a few new ones in fact, all telling
their own version of events which makes for absorbing reading
as slowly but inexorably it all comes together in a showdown
with the man himself. My criticism is that slowly is the operative
term here, resulting in a quite a number of viewpoints. There
is the old roué and his beautiful young friend travelling
in Europe, a reactionary reporter, goings on in an asylum
and more which has the effect of slowing down the action so
the excitement that should be building stalls and loses momentum.
A few tweaks and a bit of editing would have resulted in a
tauter, pacier tale which would have suited the subject matter
rather better. As it is there is still a lot to enjoy here
and I can guarantee several dark evenings’ worth of
gothic horror.
Reviewers
Note: Some horror
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