Glorified fan fiction masquerading as a serious sequel to one of the greatest horror novels of all time. Only in this case, to borrow one of the few cliches left out of this book, the fan is demented and his object is to destroy that which he most loves. On its own, The Un-dead is a grotesquerie of roll-your-eyes writing, adolescent thinking, and the sort of vampire worship that would turn these undead denizens of Earth into tortured, godlike souls. Souls? Oh, yes. This "sequel" begins with the premise that Stoker got everything wrong. Rewriting his novel -- its plot, characters, and themes -- is the backdrop for a new alternative history story that features the likes of Elizabeth Bathory and Jack the Ripper, not to mention Stoker himself. Though Dracula lives (never mind how...and how...and how), Bathory is the lesbian badass here, an evil Supergirl with virtually unlimited powers and no kryptonite to keep her in check (because, of course, religion has no effect on her). Her confidence in her ultimate victory is understandable, given that the former vampire hunters now all have problems of their own: Dr. Seward is addicted to morphine, Arthur Holmwood is still pining for his lost Lucy, Jonathan Harker is an alcoholic, and Mina, his wife, can't stop thinking about that time "her dark prince" had his way with her. And Van Helsing is just awfully old. The wild card is Quincey -- not Quincey Morris (Stoker miraculously got that part of the story right), but Quincey Harker, Mina and Jonathan's son. But then he's a rebellious young man who has set his sights on a career in the theater, not in that stuffy old law office where his overbearing dad works. Where but the theater could he hobnob with a man like Basarab, a tall, mysterious European seemingly destined to be the world's greatest actor. "I have met someone," Quincey hilariously tells his mother. "Someone wonderful." (Mina naturally thinks he's speaking of a girl.) With lots of blood and gore, and modern special effects that tell a compelling tale of the source for much of the authors' inspiration for this unimaginative travesty. Not to be confused with Freda Warrington's novel Dracula the Undead, which sounds a whole lot more interesting. Dacre Stoker, by the way, is Bram Stoker's great grand-nephew.
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Glorified fan fiction masquerading as a serious sequel to one of the greatest horror novels of all time. Only in this case, to borrow one of the few cliches left out of this book, the fan is demented and his object is to destroy that which he most loves. On its own, The Un-dead is a grotesquerie of roll-your-eyes writing, adolescent thinking, and the sort of vampire worship that would turn these undead denizens of Earth into tortured, godlike souls. Souls? Oh, yes. This "sequel" begins with the premise that Stoker got everything wrong. Rewriting his novel -- its plot, characters, and themes -- is the backdrop for a new alternative history story that features the likes of Elizabeth Bathory and Jack the Ripper, not to mention Stoker himself. Though Dracula lives (never mind how...and how...and how), Bathory is the lesbian badass here, an evil Supergirl with virtually unlimited powers and no kryptonite to keep her in check (because, of course, religion has no effect on her). Her confidence in her ultimate victory is understandable, given that the former vampire hunters now all have problems of their own: Dr. Seward is addicted to morphine, Arthur Holmwood is still pining for his lost Lucy, Jonathan Harker is an alcoholic, and Mina, his wife, can't stop thinking about that time "her dark prince" had his way with her. And Van Helsing is just awfully old. The wild card is Quincey -- not Quincey Morris (Stoker miraculously got that part of the story right), but Quincey Harker, Mina and Jonathan's son. But then he's a rebellious young man who has set his sights on a career in the theater, not in that stuffy old law office where his overbearing dad works. Where but the theater could he hobnob with a man like Basarab, a tall, mysterious European seemingly destined to be the world's greatest actor. "I have met someone," Quincey hilariously tells his mother. "Someone wonderful." (Mina naturally thinks he's speaking of a girl.) With lots of blood and gore, and modern special effects that tell a compelling tale of the source for much of the authors' inspiration for this unimaginative travesty. Not to be confused with Freda Warrington's novel Dracula the Undead, which sounds a whole lot more interesting. Dacre Stoker, by the way, is Bram Stoker's great grand-nephew.
4 Comments
Bookstooge
9/28/2016 05:27:51 am
So is this Dacre guy related to Bram in some way?
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Brian
9/28/2016 06:27:50 am
Thanks, that confirms it. Review changed to include that info, which I knew I should have put in in the first place. He's his great grand-nephew.
Reply
Bookstooge
9/28/2016 08:22:08 pm
Good to know about the author.
Brian
9/30/2016 12:04:27 pm
I think you're probably right, but I hesitate to do that for a couple of reasons, but mostly because the tendency then would be for people to click the link and make any comments about both -- review and touchpoint -- right there, which isn't what I want. Don't want to divorce review comments from the review itself.
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