Review by Booklist Review
Vampires may not be as trendy as they once recently were, but Jones is betting that the allure of the original bloodsucker will overcome Twilight ennui. He has collected over 30 pieces of Dracula-centered lit, spanning the gamut from Bram Stoker's original-turned-play to a swinging Drac in the heart of California's hippie scene. Jones balances the frightening with the lighter fare; horror stalwart Ramsey Campbell makes an appearance with the tight, chilling Conversion, followed a short time later by Nancy Kilpatrick's bouncy Teaserama, imagining Dracula's obsession with Bettie Page. For fans of longstanding series, Sookie and the rest of the Southern Vampire Mysteries gang make an appearance in Charlaine Harris' Dracula Night, and Kim Newman keeps Coppola's Dracula in the same universe as the Anno Dracula tales. Recommended for die-hard horror fans and readers who feel they never learned as much about Dracula as they could have.--Ciesla, Carolyn Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The 33 stories and one poem in this overstuffed horror omnibus combine in a sanguinary celebration of Count Dracula and the malleability of the vampire theme. Beginning with a dramatic prologue that Bram Stoker adapted from his own landmark novel, Jones (In the Shadow of Frankenstein) organizes his selections into a "loose historical chronicle of Count Dracula" over the centuries and stitches several classic stories-including Manly Wade Wellman's Dracula-versus-Nazis gem, "The Devil Is Not Mocked," and Ramsey Campbell's EC Comics-style shocker, "Conversion"-into a tapestry primarily fashioned from contemporary tales. Nancy Holder's "Blood Freak" recounts Dracula's meeting with Timothy Leary. Brian Hodge proposes a Pope Dracula in "The Last Testament." In Kim Newman's behind-the-scenes tell-all, "Coppola's Dracula," the movie's fiasco-filled filming is clearly modeled on Apocalypse Now. Not all of the book's stories feature Dracula himself-Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse zinger, "Dracula Night," tantalizes with his possible appearance-but all attest vividly to the long shadow he has cast over supernatural fiction. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In the capable hands of prolific horror editor Jones (A Book of Horrors; The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror), this inventive anthology follows the Western world's most famous vampire through the centuries. Beginning with Bram Stoker's classic blood-sucking count (presented here in a long-lost prolog to Stoker's 1897 theatrical adaptation of Dracula) and ending with a postdystopian 21st century world ruled by vampires (F. Paul Wilson's particularly rich "The Lord's Work"), we encounter Dracula at his most vicious, vile, and vulnerable moments as he navigates his neverending years. Other contributors to this dense collection include Charlaine Harris, Thomas Ligotti, Ramsey Campbell, and Nancy Holder. VERDICT There's something here for any enthusiastic vampirologist-noir undertones from Mandy Slater, tongue-in-cheek flash fiction from Jan Edwards, the familiarity of Harris's "Sookie Stackhouse" series, and even some poetry. Unfortunately, the unforgiving typeface makes the text difficult to read, which can hinder circulation for an already weighty tome.-Erin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
