So it would seem that Dacre Stoker, great nephew of Bram Stoker, has written a sequel to the immortal classic, Dracula along with writer Ian Holt. Happily the sequel, Dracula The Un-Dead, has received the Stoker family seal of approval.
The plot and characters have been taken from handwritten notes made by Bram Stoker during the writing of Dracula, with the book beginning in 1912, twenty five years after Dracula had ‘crumbled into dust’.
The book is centred around Quincey Harker, the now grown up son of Mina and Jonathan Harker. Having left law school Quincey heads to London to take to the stage. But he stumbles across a stage production of Dracula, being directed by Bram Stoker, and from here Quincey is plunged into the awful secrets of his parents past and the awful truth that something is still out there trying to kill off the original band of heroes who defeated Dracula.
Having read Dracula for the first time earlier this year as part of Dublin: One City, One Book, I am really excited about this new sequel. It maintains the same structure as the original with the story being told via a series of letters and notes.
Excerpt:
PROLOGUE
Letter from Mina Harker to her son
Quincey Harker, Esq.
(To be opened upon the sudden or unnatural death of Wilhelmina Harker)
9th March 1912
Dear Quincey,
My dear son, all your life you have suspected that there have been secrets between us. I fear that the time has come to reveal the truth to you. To deny it any longer would put both your life and your immortal soul in jeopardy.
You can read the rest of this letter excerpt from the book here.
Dacre Stoker
And now the really exciting bit…Dacre Stoker will talk about the writing of the book in Dublin City Library & Archive, at 6.30pm on Wednesday 30th September. The Dublin City Library and Archive is located at 138-144 Pearse Street, Dublin 2.
Admission is free and it is not necessary to book either. I’ll see you there 
Dracula The Un-Dead will be on sale from 24th September.
Excellent! Heard about this and looking forward to reading it! (as a horror story writer myself, and longtime fan of the original novel). Attended a talk by Kim Newman during the Dracula week earlier this year
Really looking forward to this one.
@Emlyn Where and when was that?
Sounds very good.. the Mina Harker character is also the female vampire in the film ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ ? I did not know of the connection between the character in that film and Dracula, interesting.
Interesting. I love the original Dracula story – it blew my mind when I first read it in my teens – and Dacre Stoker’s pedigree should give him a unique take on the myth.
@ Darren – it was in the IFC, and in Cinema 2 upstairs. It was bascially a hour long talk on Dracula in the cinema – From ‘Nosferatu’ to ‘Spermula’
lol. Kim Newman really knows his stuff (on the entire horror genre in general) and wrote one of the best ‘sequels’ to Dracula ever – ‘Anno Dracula’ if you can ever get a copy! 
And it was during the Gothic Film Weekend, 17th to 19th of April – they showed ‘Nosferatu’, the Lugosi ‘Dracula’ and the Chris Lee ‘Dracula’ amongst other vampire movies…pretty much part of the One City, One Book event!
Emlyn & Darren – I’m really looking forward to it myself and the talk should be interesting too, hope I can make it.
Seamus – yes Mina is the main female character in Dracula one of the ‘band of heroes’ who defeat him.
Stan – I only read Dracula recently and thought it was pretty awesome, looking forward to seeing how this generation of Stoker can top it
Dacre Stoker will be reading from his new novel in Ballyroan Library, Rathfarnham on Thursday October 1st at 8pm.
All welcome but please book your place!
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