Dracula The Un-Dead
Page 42
In the writing of Dracula the Un-Dead we have included many hidden references to Bram’s Dracula and some of the best Dracula adaptations in the hope that the true Dracula enthusiasts and scholars will discover and enjoy them. Many of the characters who pop up in our sequel are also real historic figures.
Look to the name of Quincey’s roommate at the Sorbonne, Braithwaite Lowery. That name in Bram’s novel was pointed out by Captain Swales on a gravestone in Whitby. Our Braithwaite Lowery mentions he is the son of fishermen, implying he is the grandson of the Braithwaite Lowrey buried in Whitby. The name of Cotford’s partner, Sergeant Lee, is homage to the actor Christopher Lee. There is also Lieutenant Jourdan of Le Surte, our tip-of-the-hat to Louis Jourdan, who played Dracula in the excellent BBC 1978 miniseries that Ian and I believe is the closest adaptation of Bram’s novel. Look for Dr. Langella, a reference to Frank Langella’s excellent, erotically charged Dracula. Inspector Huntley is based on actor Raymond Huntley, who was the first to play Dracula in Hamilton Deane’s stage production. These are just to name a few.
As for historical figures that appear in our sequel, see Henri Salmet, a French aviator who made the first flight from London to Paris in March 1912. Look for Lord Northcote, who in 1880 was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Exeter. Frederick Abberline was lead investigator in the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888. Ivan Lebedkin was assayer for the czar of Russia 1899-1900. Of course, Hamilton Deane was the writer-producer of the stage production of the play Dracula. John Barrymore was a legendary actor of both stage and screen and is the great-grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore. Tom Reynolds was a well-known British stage actor who, as a member of The Lyceum Theatre Company, portrayed Van Helsing in Hamilton Deane’s production. Able Seaman Coffey was an actual crew member on the Titanic who mysteriously had a premonition of danger while the ship was docked in Queenstown, Ireland. A. S. Coffey jumped ship, had his fifteen minutes of fame, and disappeared into mists of history. In addition, we have followed Bram’s lead in relying on actual time period train routes and schedules, street names, and locations that in many cases still stand today.
The last bit of business Ian and I had before we could begin writing was to decide whether we were going to answer many of the lingering questions left unanswered by Bram in his novel. Due to Bram’s use of journal entries, letters, etc. to tell his story, he was limited in his ability to fully explore his famous characters’ backstories. This left huge plot holes that fans have been arguing over for decades. Ian and I felt it was imperative to at last answer the following enduring questions of how Lucy and Mina first met and forged their lifelong friendship, how a Texan met and became close friends with an English lord’s son and a doctor of middle-class birth, how all three men became friendly rivals in pursuing Lucy’s hand, how Mina and Jonathan first met and fell in love, how the character of Renfield first came under Dracula’s influence, and why Renfield was so important to Dr. Seward and the brave band of heroes. We hope you agree that these issues are well addressed in Dracula the Un-Dead.
In the end it was our most important goal with this sequel to right the wrongs done to Bram’s original classic. We have worked hard on this front. In this way, I, as a Stoker, and Ian, as Dracula’s greatest living fan, hope to apologize for losing the copyright and control of Bram’s magnificent and immortal story for almost a century.
Then again, all the terrifying events Ian and wrote of in our novel may, as Bram once suggested, have really taken place.
Pleasant dreams.
DACRE STOKER AND IAN HOLT
The following pages are taken from the collection of Bram Stoker’s handwritten notes for Dracula. Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt consulted these notes while conducting research for their book, Dracula the Un Dead.
If you look on the page labeled “31b,” for example, you will find the inspiration for the title. The page labeled “1” features Bram’s early draft of his character list. Many of the characters do not appear in Dracula, but they do in Dracula the Undead, including, most importantly, the detective Cotford. The page labeled “38a” features Bram’s ideas for the characteristics of the vampire.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Ian Holt
First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents, Dolores and Sonny. Without your unwavering support and encouragement, I couldn’t have gotten through the rough times. I love you.
I would like to offer this book in loving memory to Ruth and Bob Kaufman, J. Boyce Harman, Jr., and Professor Raymond McNally. Their love, friendship, support, and guidance over the years helped make this book possible. Through me you all live on, for I will carry you with me the rest of my days. God bless you all.
To Professor Radu Florescu. You took a chance on a nobody. Your genius, dedication, trust, and friendship helped create a somebody.
To my old friends John Florescu and Sir David Frost, who helped me realize that it is a good thing to be fearless and rush boldly in where others hesitate to tread. Your early support gave me the tenacity to never give up.
To Professor Elizabeth Miller, who kindly made the introductions that made this dream a reality.
To Laura Stoker, and the late Nicolae Paduraru, founder and president of The Transylvanian Society of Dracula and a gentleman and a scholar. You two were the first to believe.
To Jenne Stoker, who made the call and brought us all together.
To Dacre Stoker, my writing partner, business partner, brother, and friend. You are my Dr. “Bones” McCoy. Flesh of the original flesh, blood of the original blood—WE DID IT!
To Bela Lugosi, Tod Browning, Hamilton Deane, John Balderston, Bud Abbott, and Lou Costello, for fueling the nightmares of a young boy that became an enduring quest.
To Bela Lugosi, Jr., for sharing the story of his father’s pain, and his own childhood struggles with me.
To Frank Langella, W. D. Richter, and John Badham. Your film inspired a young boy to take chances and encouraged me to reimagine Dracula as the romantic, hero knight he was.
To Christopher Lee, for making the record that changed the course of my life. You bring dignity to the horror genre, sir. I would be remiss to praise Mr. Lee’s accomplishments without also recognizing the talents of Peter Cushing and the works of Hammer Horror.
To Jan de Bont, whose mentorship, mighty vision, and fearlessness inspired me to greater heights than I thought possible. To Chris Stanley of Blue Tulip, whose damn good eye for a hot property got the ball rolling.
To Ernest Dickerson, one of the nicest people and finest directors I know.
To Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Mike Kuciak of AEI, my managers and friends, for their hard work, talented guidance, experience, and connections. Thank you for being steadfast believers who always had my back.
To Danny Baror of Baror International, our foreign agent, who made it rain and rain.
To the entire talented, brilliant, patient, understanding, even-keeled, and dedicated Dutton team, and especially our fearless leader, Brian Tart, and our mother hen, guidance counselor, psychologist, friend, and incomparable editor, the amazing Carrie Thornton. Every author should be lucky enough to work with you all. You all have my thanks, appreciation, and gratitude.
To Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner of Abrams Artists, my agents and friends. You two give agents a good name—nobody does it better.
To Shannon Mullholland of MODA Entertainment, our L&M guru and agent. You are so cool, bat-lady.
To Peter Fields, our guardian muscle—with you and your team at our side I never worry.
Special thanks to Alexander Galant, Spock to my Kirk, my film writing and business partner, friend, and brother who rode shotgun the entire bumpy journey. Your brilliant research, selfless sacrifice, and amazing talent were invaluable to making this work a reality.
To Carmen Gillespie, who provided the women’s perspective and designed our logo by resurrecting the lost Victorian art of the braid. If you don’t see the bat-logo, it’s not official Bram Stoker Dracula merchandise.
To Doctor Dre, my best friend and brother, for all your support, encouragement, wisdom, and the hours you spent patiently listening to my worries during the dark days.
To Graig F. Weich, one of my closest and oldest friends, whose truly scary original artwork for this novel did not survive the final edit due to length constraints. Look for Graig’s Un-Dead art on our Web site www.draculatheun-dead.com and be sure to check out Graig’s too-cool-for-words artwork on www.beyondcomics.tv.
Dacre Stoker
I would like to offer Dracula the Un-Dead to all who carry the Stoker blood, originating in Ireland and now all over the globe.
Special thanks to my children, Bellinger and Parker, who will one day think it is pretty cool to carry on these genes.
To my late father, Desmond, and to his brother, my uncle Paddy, our Stoker family dinosaur.
And to my late godfather, my namesake, Henry Hugh Gordon Dacre Stoker, the WWI submarine commander who influenced history at Gallipoli.
My efforts on this book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of my wife, Jenne, whose research unearthed troves of Stoker lore.
I am grateful to the Bram Stoker Society, for their efforts to raise awareness of Bram’s literary legacy; Douglas Appleyard, our family genealogist, and all who support the Dublin Irish Gothic Literature and keep the Stoker torch burning bright; John Moore, for providing access to his Bram Stoker Dracula collection; John Stokoe at the Whitby Gazette and Suttcliff Studios, for providing inspirational historical location photos; to John Stoker, for introductions made; and to Elizabeth Miller, the “Dracula Police.”
Thanks to the twenty-first-century “Band of Heroes”: Ian Holt, whose enthusiasm continues to be unparalleled; Alexander Galant and his extensive knowledge of the Victorian period; and Carrie Thornton, who redefined patience and understanding during our editing process.
Special thanks to the staff of the Rosenbach Museum and Library, in Philadelphia, for graciously making Bram’s notes available.
1 See Bram Stoker’s Notes for Dracula: A Facsimile Edition, transcribed and annotated by Robert Eighteen-Bisang and Elizabeth Miller (McFarland, 2008).
2 Roger Sherman Hoar, as quoted in David J. Skal, Hollywood Gothic (Faber and Faber, 2004).
3 See Elizabeth Miller, Dracula: Sense & Nonsense (Desert Island Books, 2006), Chapter 5.