The Many Faces of Van Helsing

by Jeanne Cavelos (editor)

Twenty-two masters of horror and fantasy give Van Helsing, the vampire hunter from Bram Stoker's Dracula, his due as they reimagine the adventures of the greatest foe of the most evil vampire in literary history.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fantasy, Fiction, Supernatural

382 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2004

About the author

Jeanne Cavelos is a writer, editor, scientist, and teacher. She began her professional life as an astrophysicist and mathematician, working in the Astronaut Training Division at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Her love of science fiction led her to earn her MFA in creative writing. She moved into a career in publishing, becoming a senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, where she created and launched the Abyss imprint of psychological horror, for which she won the World Fantasy Award, and the Cutting Edge imprint of literary fiction. She also ran the science fiction/fantasy publishing program. In addition, she edited a wide range of fiction and nonfiction.

In 1994, she left New York to pursue her own writing career. She is currently writing a near-future science thriller about genetic manipulation, titled Fatal Spiral. Her last novel to hit the stores was Invoking Darkness , the third volume in the best-selling trilogy The Passing of the Techno-Mages , set in the Babylon 5 universe (Del Rey). The Sci-Fi Channel called the trilogy "A revelation for Babylon 5 fans. . . . Not 'television episodic' in look and feel. They are truly novels in their own right." Her nonfiction book The Science of Star Wars (St. Martin's) was chosen by the New York Public Library for its recommended reading list, and CNN said, "Cavelos manages to make some of the most mind-boggling notions of contemporary science understandable, interesting and even entertaining." The highly praised The Science of The X-Files , (Berkley) was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Publishers Weekly called it "Crisp, conversational, and intelligent."

Her first published book, the Babylon 5 novel The Shadow Within (Dell), went out of print a few years ago and was reissued by Del Rey due to popular demand. Dreamwatch magazine called it "one of the best TV tie-in novels ever written."

Recent works include the novella "Negative Space" (which was given honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction), in the anthology Decalog 5: Wonders (Virgin Publishing), and several essays: "Living with Terror: Jack Bauer as a Coping Mechanism in Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disordered America" in Jack Bauer for President , "Stop Her, She's Got a Gun!" in Star Wars on Trial , "Down the Wormhole: Cognitive Dislocation, Escalation, Pyrrhic Victory and Farscape" in Farscape Forever , and "Innovation in Horror," which appears in both On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association and The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing (Writer's Digest Books). She has published short fiction, essays, and reviews in many magazines.

The Many Faces of Van Helsing , an anthology she edited, was published by Berkley in 2004 and was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. The editors at Barnes and Noble called it "brilliant. . . . Arguably the strongest collection of supernatural stories to be released in years." Berkley is releasing a mass market paperback edition in October 2008.

Jeanne also runs Jeanne Cavelos Editorial Services, a full-service freelance company that provides editing, ghostwriting, consulting, and critiquing services to publishers, book packagers, agents, and authors. Among its clients are major publishers and best-selling and award-winning writers.

Since she loves working with developing writers, she created and serves as director of Odyssey , a six-week summer workshop for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror held annually at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH. Odyssey allows developing writers to focus on their craft and receive detailed, in-depth feedback on their work. Guest lecturers include some of the top authors, editors, and agents in the field.

Reviews

[Arun Divakar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only version of Dracula i read was almost a good ten years ago and that too an abridged version which would have made me miss a lot of subtleties I am sure. As much as the sanguinary count, the bookish middle aged vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing was interesting to say the least. The anthology edited by Jeanne Cavelos features as the name suggests 'The many faces of Van Helsing'.

The tales feature Van Helsing from different perspectives hero,villain,mad man, puritan and so forth. Some tales live up to the character who is the arch nemesis of the vampire but in some we see but a whimsical caricature of this interesting character. The sole reason why I picked up this book was the highly entertaining 'Abraham's Boys' by Joe Hill which featured in 20th Century Ghosts and apart from this tale, I found very few engrossing ones. Here are the ones i liked : Hero Dust, Remember Me & Fantasy Room. These were the only ones that made a lasting impression on me. Most of the rest barring Joe Hill's piece are regular fare. Bram Stoker wrote just two lines that Van Helsing's son was dead and that his wife is insane and it is these two things that every writer wants to build his/her tale upon which gets stale and highly irritating after a point in the book.

Recommended for the hardcore Van Helsing addicts...dont delude yourselves thinking Dracula features in this anthology, he hardly does...

P.S : I also think Anthony Hopkins was much more closer to the fictional Van Helsing than Hugh Jackman...:)

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

A truly disappointing anthology of short stories about Abraham Van Helsing. This book was written from a Freudian perspective and turns Bram Stoker's hero into a sick, sadistic, asshole. The only stories in here I enjoyed were The Screaming by J.A. Konrath and Venus and Mars by Christopher Golden.

The only reason this thing was published in the first place was to market that horrible Van Helsing film.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was released around the time of the Hugh Jackman Van Helsing film, presumably to take advantage of the hype surrounding the movie. I thought this would be more like the movie, but it was all about the Van Helsing from the original DRACULA novel. I was surprised that so many writers wanted to make the character unlikeable, practically a villain in some cases. But that being said, it was still an enjoyable collection, as very few of the stories were what you'd expect.

[Red Haircrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to rate this higher, but as it's an anthology of several different writers, and I really loved some stories and others I didn't care for at all, I give a moderate mark at best.

As others have expressed, themes and aspects of Van Helsing presented in this collection are far ranging with many containing very dark themes such as child abuse and molestation, and a Van Helsing who was a physically abusive, terrible figure only concerned with killing vampires at all costs, no matter who they are, even if they include his own family members.

I liked seeing different authors takes on this infamous, controversial fictional character, though I have to admit several of the stories were from the perspective and voice of Van Helsing's wife, most of which I didn't like.

The last story was my absolute favorite, "Origin of the Species" by A.M. Dellamonica. Instead of dwelling on the past, recovering already trodden areas, this writer takes us to the future where both vampires and Van Helsing have evolved into entities reminiscent of the anime/manga über hunter, Vampire Hunter D's future world. I found this story the most innovative and creative, although Tanith Lee's "Remember Me", was a close second.

[Althea Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seemed appropriate to read around Halloween!
I was actually surprised at the quality and variety of the stories featured here. You'd think that the concept (asking authors to write a story about Stoker's vampire hunter) might get a bit one-note, but no. There's some really good stuff here, from some excellent authors, and although I believe all the stories were written specifically for this volume, I didn't think any of them felt "commissioned." I guess Van Helsing is just an inspiring character!
The only story that I felt really didn't fit was the piece by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. There's no Van Helsing in it, and I didn't really like the story, either.
However, I particularly liked: Joe Hill's "Abraham's Boys" (Stephen King's son, good even before his first novel came out), Kathe Koja's "Anna Lee" (though it's short), Thomas F. Monteleone's "Sideshow," Tanith Lee's gorgeous and heartwrenching origin story, "Remember Me," and Brian Hodge's horror story of Goya, "Brushed in Blackest Silence."

[Beth Baskett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great anthology

These stories, all by different authors, are all good. They are well written, and all have varying stories about Can Helsing. Great book.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Qual è il più famoso cacciatore di vampiri della storia della letteratura? Abraham Van Helsing, il personaggio che ha ricevuto il nome del suo creatore, Bram Stoker, e che combatte contro Dracula.
Come potevo quindi farmi scappare questo titolo, perlopiù trovato per un paio di dollari su amazon?
The many faces of Van Helsing è una raccolta di racconti, scritti tutti da scrittori diversi, chi più famoso come Joe Hill, chi meno, chi con una carriera avviata alle spalle e chi esordisce proprio con questo racconto, che osserva appunto vari aspetti del carattere e della vita di questo personaggio.
Come è ovvio che sia per questo tipo di libro, alcuni racconti sono interessanti e ben scritti, altri meno. Alcuni sono una sorta di spin off di Dracula, con un punto di vista inusuale di un personaggio praticamente insignificante nella storia originale, come il racconto della cameriera di Miss Lucy, altri ancora ampliano quel poco che sappiamo sul professore di Amsterdam.
Stoker accenna ad una moglie ed un figlio perduti, per cui molti racconti vertono su questa tragedia che l’ha colpito, come molti altri invece investigano e ipotizzano come sia nata la lotta contro il male di quest’uomo di scienza.
I miei racconti preferiti sono sicuramente stati questi: So far from us in all ways, ambientato in Cina, impostato come una serie di lettere e pagine di giornale, simile quindi all’originale; The black wallpaper, che ci narra la pazzia che ha afflitto la signora Van Helsing e Hero Dust, originale e piuttosto sanguinolento.
Una bella raccolta, ottima da leggere durante il periodo di Halloween, perché piena di orrore, di pazzia, di morte e di vampiri tutt’altro che amichevoli.

[Gemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's always a risk when you pick up an anthology, especially one centered around a story (or in this case, character) you've come to appreciate. That being said, I didn't think this one was as despicable as it might have been.
I've been a Van Helsing nut for years; blame it on Hugh Jackman; and having just read Bram Stoker's original novel, I grew to love the character even more, so when I saw this book at the library, I couldn't resist. As it always goes with any collection of short stories, there were a few decent ones, a handful of perfectly forgettable ones, several that really made an impression, and one or two I hated with a passion. My favorites in this collection were Tanith Lee's "Remember Me" featuring a Van Helsing raised by the creatures he grows to hunt, Christopher Golden's "Venus and Mars" in which our hero confronts supernatural and purely human foes, and "Fantasy Room" (I forget the author's name) that gives us some insight on the Professor's battle with Count Dracula. Several stories were told through Van Helsing's eyes, a few from his deranged wife's point of view, and there were two that offered an alternate take on events straight from Dracula. They were all creative and most of them were well-written.
I would recommend this book to Gothic horror fans, and I would buy it purely for the chance to read the stories I loved again. As for the ones I didn't like, I can always skip them.

[Tony-Paul Vissage · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories are as different as the authors themselves, dealing with aspects of the professor’s life, from his days as an uncertain adolescent striving for—and failing—to earn his father’s respect, to a captive held in a house in Heysham Port, England in the 1960’s. Different views and different facets, but they all center on the theme of a man growing from boy- to adulthood to embrace a mission…that of ridding the world of evil. Sometimes he fails, sometimes he becomes so obsessive he appears a worse evil than that he pursues. He sacrifices loved ones or loses them for his cause, but in each and every story, he’s still Van Helsing, the original vampire hunter.

MY JAUNDICED OPINION: What can I say? It’s great. Entertaining, thought-provoking in the way each writers sees the good doctor. Some perhaps more disturbing than others because of the way certain iconic beliefs are torn down and new theories constructed in their places. According to the printing history, this anthology was first released in 2004, so my only question is: Why did I just find it now, on the rack of a discount store? It’s going into my collection , right next to all the Dracula novels I’ve collected over the years.

See what little gems you can find in unexpected places?

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories that all revolve in some way around Van Helsing. Naturally, I was apprehensive and excited to read this - knowing there would likely be stories that made me cringe with their lack of understanding not just of the character, but the entire world created in Dracula. And there were stories like that, but not nearly as many as I feared. Overall this was an intriguing, engaging, interesting selection of stories. Some told very disparate accounts of Van Helsing's life prior to the novel. Some were set in a future where somehow Van Helsing had far outlived all his compatriots. Some only included Van Helsing as a periphery character. Most were very well-written, creative, strong fiction. Only a handful, perhaps three, made me scoff, laugh or roll my eyes. And only one in the entire collection brought me to such offense that I almost hurled the book across a cafe in disgust. There's nothing in these stories that brought me more 'information' on Van Helsing as a character, but the varied interpretations of what other authors thought of him, his past, his future, his beliefs, gave me more to ponder about our modern perceptions of his motives and actions.

[DFZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always eager to read the retelling of a story - how Mr. Darcy felt, if Snow White was a vampire, atypical Beauty and what sort of Beast he is, and now these stories of Van Helsing.
He is not the most sympathetic of characters* in the original Dracula, and I have never much cared for him until I picked up this anthology. Van Helsing is portrayed as so very human: the man, the child, lonely, tortured and only hoping to do his best.
Not every story in this collection is strong, but they're all good at the very least. If you have any interest in seeing the novel/myth of Dracula from a different angle, I'd definitely recommend this.

*[Note to review readers- I like vampires lots. I like vampire killers much less.]

[KitCat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up at the airport for a "light read" on an airplane. The stories are really dark, which I guess I should have expected considering "Van Helsing" is the topic, but some of them took me where I didn't want to go. I never considered Van Helsing to be worse then the vampires until I read these short stories.

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sorry but I love all things Van Helsing, so I may be impartial, the fact these are a compilation of short stories is only a bonus, so many interpretations on a character.. very enjoyable. As short stories go, interesting variations on the possible origins of Van Helsing. A bit disappointing in the quality of some of the writing, but not all... I found it entertaining enough...

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is the norm with anthologies, The Many Faces of Van Helsing has a couple fantastic stories, many mediocre stories, and a few lousy stories.

[Purpleholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with many story collections - some were great and others not so great. I had never considered some of the story lines that were written - very dark indeed but still interesting even if out of my comfort zone. I am very glad I bought this book and read it.

[Melissa Reinhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection featuring your favorite monster hunter Van Helsing. Most of the stories contain vampires, of course, but some are different. A good look into the many sides of the man who spends his life fighting evil.

[Kirsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous cover, interesting premise. There are some great stories - my favorite is wonderfully titled The Tomb of fog and flowers by C Dean Anderson - and obligatory clunkers, like Venus and Mars by Christopher Golden.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these were pretty good, but others were a solid "meh."

[Sarah]

It's a book of short stories so I'm going through it rather randomly. Joe Hill's piece was very good, but my favorite so far has been "The Screaming".

[Carly Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are only two stories that I'm not a huge fan of, but all in all these are really great stories.

[bluetyson]

The Many Faces of Van Helsing by Jeanne Cavelos (2004)

[Elizabeth]

it was deffently a different read for me