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Dracula Beyond Stoker
Dracula Beyond Stoker Issue 2
Dracula Beyond Stoker is a fiction journal dedicated to celebrating and continuing the legacy of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
In issue 2 we delve into the mysterious mind of Renfield, the zoophagus madman, with 10 terrifying new tales, a humorous essay, a reprint of a lost classic, and a darkly kinky poem
In issue 2 we delve into the mysterious mind of Renfield, the zoophagus madman, with 10 terrifying new tales, a humorous essay, a reprint of a lost classic, and a darkly kinky poem
161 pages, Paperback
Published May 15, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 27, 2023
I thought this was a disappointing read. I was HOPING for some kind of story about Renfield's origin (the novel's version) and what drove him mad. In "Dracula," Dr. Seward called him "my homicidal maniac." Clearly he killed (or attempted to kill) someone before being admitted, before Dracula arrived. He knew elemental philosophy and could speak as a polished gentleman. Here is an interesting quote from the novel: "“Why, I myself am an instance of a man who had a strange belief. Indeed, it was no wonder that my friends were alarmed, and insisted on my being put under control. I used to fancy that life was a positive and perpetual entity, and that by consuming a multitude of live things, no matter how low in the scale of creation, one might indefinitely prolong life. At times I held the belief so strongly that I actually tried to take human life."
His friends put him in the asylum, yet none of these authors bothered to explore this. They kind of assume Renfield is like the character in the recent eponymous movie - a servant who brings Dracula food. He never does this in the book. In the book, he is a harbinger. Dracula can control and influence the meaner things, and this includes madmen. He dies in the book. Exploration can only really be from before the novel.
I actually started to write a story for this volume along these lines, but didn't finish it in time. Alas.
"The Matter of Vivacity" by Kai Holmwood was an interesting tale showing the descent into madness. I liked how Renfield started out sane, became confusing, and then settled into his mad self. Brilliant little story. This is the closest we get to what I was looking for, and I was still hopeful. I thought this was the best story in the volume.
"Renfield, M.E." by John Kiste was unexpected. It read like one of Robert E. Howard's parodies that he often included in his letters. As such, it was light on character development, heavy on weird versions of the standard character names, and just... strange. It was an alternate view of Renfield, and didn't develop the character of Renfield from Dracula at all. He wrote "Dracula: For One Night Only" in Issue 1, which reimagined Dracula as a comedian.
"Nurse Renfield" by Laura Keating was a frustrating read. The author barely used any names, just talked about "her brother" and so on. Also, it felt like she was exploring the Renfield character from the 1931 movie, and not the Stoker novel because she kept referring to the ship, and she had Harker as Renfield's employer. Renfield wasn't aboard the Demeter in the book, and he didn't work for Harker's firm except in the movie... Did this author even read the book, or did she just watch the Bela Lugosi film?
"The Spider Logs" by Emma Kathryn was disappointing. I grow more and more disappointed with this book. I was wanting different takes on Renfield's potential background from the novel. This is a sci-fi adventure that uses Stoker's names to give us a completely different Renfield. I did not enjoy this at all.
"The Crushing Weight of an Elephant's Soul" by Cat Voleur is told from the point of view of the flies consumed by Renfield. At least this author shows she's familiar with the novel from the title, but this one really doesn't add to our knowledge of Renfield. It just retold the story from the flies' point of view. It was weird and unsatisfying. There wasn't even really a plot.
"Zoophagus," by Jeremy Megargee played the pronoun game. I really hate the pronoun game. The whole first part of the story uses "he" without telling us who "he" is until the end of the first part (it's Dracula, btw, which I figured, but with the way the stories were going, it could have been anyone). Just tell us up front. It's not that shocking of a reveal. From the title, I was hoping for an actual delve into the psychology. Nope.
"The Killing Jar" by Mark Oxbrow, which took the form of a weird letter to Renfield's sister in a strange sort of "As you know, Bob..." info dump, just to let her know that he dug up her brother's body and beheaded it. And again takes from the 1931 and 1992 movies instead of the book in regards to Renfield meeting Dracula in Transylvania. Still, it provides some background to the character, so it succeeds there, but it's the background of the movie character, not the literary character.
"Life Eater" by Kelli Owen was a crossover with Jack the Ripper. I rather liked this. This tale takes place in 1888, which is too early for "Dracula" (which takes place in 1893 or later), yet is placed after the events of "Dracula." Also, it seems to deal with the 1931 movie version, not the novel, since it references Dracula's death in Carfax instead of his death in Transylvania after the chase. Anyway, it was well written, so I forgive it all that. Renfield basically follows around Jack the Ripper. This was a good story, despite the weird timing, and that it is about the cinematic character and not the literary one.
"Don't Mess with a Renfield" by Henry Herz. This is a sequel to his story in the first issue, which I appreciated. The story was mostly fine, but it wasn't a horror story. It was a military operation story. I had no idea what a BNVD was - I kind of thought it was an updated version of a BVD (basically underwear). Turns out it's night vision goggles. Would it have hurt to call them that? I had to stop reading to Google, and making a reader stop reading is never good. This author spent WAY too much time telling us exactly which gun and which ammunition was being used. But the BNVD really was annoying that I had to leave my reading chair to google it, because I really thought he was referencing BVDs. I also think using Lovecraftian monsters in a non-horror setting completely robs them of their specific menace. They could have just been generic bad-guy soldiers. This was fine as action-adventure but it wasn't a horror story. Also, I don't really favor the idea that all of Dracula's servants are called "Renfield." That wasn't the point of the character. In the novel, Dracula has influence over the insane and is able to use Renfield to prepare the way for his coming - if Dracula was Messianic, Renfield would be John the Baptist.
"R.N." by Amelia Mangan absolutely qualified as a horror story, and the fate of Dracula at the hands of Renfield is remarkably eerie. However, it doesn't tell us how Renfield lived through the novel (nor Dracula). It just didn't feel like the same characters as in the book. Also, why does everyone have the sense that Renfield helps bring victims to Dracula? Would have been better if Renfield was another character entirely.
"The Ballad of Renfield" which was a decent enough of an essay on the character, although the question asked on page 136 "Was it an astonishing coincidence that someone under Dracula's power was committed in an institution next door to Carfax abbey?" I don't think that is what happened. Dracula has influence over the insane whether he wants it or not. Renfield was committed by friends and wasn't under control when that happened. Virtually all of the inmates went nuttier when Dracula was around, and Renfield just happened to notice what was causing it.
"Renfield's Wife" by Damon Cavalchini was another disappointment. It had a unique view of the vampire, but Renfield... in Australia. No explanation of how he is there or with a new vampire. No real connection to the novel. It was a fine story in its own right, but... just not what I was hoping for.
There's a poem at the end which was fine. I am not a judge of poetry so I won't comment on it other than that.
The first story was the best one, and "R.N." was the creepiest (but would have been better with another character, not Renfield, as the nurse). Unlike Volume 1, this one wasn't really worth the read (but for a handful of stories). I hope Volume 3 is better, and more on point. I really didn't like that I felt as though none of the authors (but one: it's obvious Cat Voleur knew the novel well) had even read the novel, or at least hadn't read it recently. Everyone seemed to base their Renfield on a movie version, or some weird alternative version. He's a good character and deserves to have his origin told.
Maybe I should finish my story just for me.
His friends put him in the asylum, yet none of these authors bothered to explore this. They kind of assume Renfield is like the character in the recent eponymous movie - a servant who brings Dracula food. He never does this in the book. In the book, he is a harbinger. Dracula can control and influence the meaner things, and this includes madmen. He dies in the book. Exploration can only really be from before the novel.
I actually started to write a story for this volume along these lines, but didn't finish it in time. Alas.
"The Matter of Vivacity" by Kai Holmwood was an interesting tale showing the descent into madness. I liked how Renfield started out sane, became confusing, and then settled into his mad self. Brilliant little story. This is the closest we get to what I was looking for, and I was still hopeful. I thought this was the best story in the volume.
"Renfield, M.E." by John Kiste was unexpected. It read like one of Robert E. Howard's parodies that he often included in his letters. As such, it was light on character development, heavy on weird versions of the standard character names, and just... strange. It was an alternate view of Renfield, and didn't develop the character of Renfield from Dracula at all. He wrote "Dracula: For One Night Only" in Issue 1, which reimagined Dracula as a comedian.
"Nurse Renfield" by Laura Keating was a frustrating read. The author barely used any names, just talked about "her brother" and so on. Also, it felt like she was exploring the Renfield character from the 1931 movie, and not the Stoker novel because she kept referring to the ship, and she had Harker as Renfield's employer. Renfield wasn't aboard the Demeter in the book, and he didn't work for Harker's firm except in the movie... Did this author even read the book, or did she just watch the Bela Lugosi film?
"The Spider Logs" by Emma Kathryn was disappointing. I grow more and more disappointed with this book. I was wanting different takes on Renfield's potential background from the novel. This is a sci-fi adventure that uses Stoker's names to give us a completely different Renfield. I did not enjoy this at all.
"The Crushing Weight of an Elephant's Soul" by Cat Voleur is told from the point of view of the flies consumed by Renfield. At least this author shows she's familiar with the novel from the title, but this one really doesn't add to our knowledge of Renfield. It just retold the story from the flies' point of view. It was weird and unsatisfying. There wasn't even really a plot.
"Zoophagus," by Jeremy Megargee played the pronoun game. I really hate the pronoun game. The whole first part of the story uses "he" without telling us who "he" is until the end of the first part (it's Dracula, btw, which I figured, but with the way the stories were going, it could have been anyone). Just tell us up front. It's not that shocking of a reveal. From the title, I was hoping for an actual delve into the psychology. Nope.
"The Killing Jar" by Mark Oxbrow, which took the form of a weird letter to Renfield's sister in a strange sort of "As you know, Bob..." info dump, just to let her know that he dug up her brother's body and beheaded it. And again takes from the 1931 and 1992 movies instead of the book in regards to Renfield meeting Dracula in Transylvania. Still, it provides some background to the character, so it succeeds there, but it's the background of the movie character, not the literary character.
"Life Eater" by Kelli Owen was a crossover with Jack the Ripper. I rather liked this. This tale takes place in 1888, which is too early for "Dracula" (which takes place in 1893 or later), yet is placed after the events of "Dracula." Also, it seems to deal with the 1931 movie version, not the novel, since it references Dracula's death in Carfax instead of his death in Transylvania after the chase. Anyway, it was well written, so I forgive it all that. Renfield basically follows around Jack the Ripper. This was a good story, despite the weird timing, and that it is about the cinematic character and not the literary one.
"Don't Mess with a Renfield" by Henry Herz. This is a sequel to his story in the first issue, which I appreciated. The story was mostly fine, but it wasn't a horror story. It was a military operation story. I had no idea what a BNVD was - I kind of thought it was an updated version of a BVD (basically underwear). Turns out it's night vision goggles. Would it have hurt to call them that? I had to stop reading to Google, and making a reader stop reading is never good. This author spent WAY too much time telling us exactly which gun and which ammunition was being used. But the BNVD really was annoying that I had to leave my reading chair to google it, because I really thought he was referencing BVDs. I also think using Lovecraftian monsters in a non-horror setting completely robs them of their specific menace. They could have just been generic bad-guy soldiers. This was fine as action-adventure but it wasn't a horror story. Also, I don't really favor the idea that all of Dracula's servants are called "Renfield." That wasn't the point of the character. In the novel, Dracula has influence over the insane and is able to use Renfield to prepare the way for his coming - if Dracula was Messianic, Renfield would be John the Baptist.
"R.N." by Amelia Mangan absolutely qualified as a horror story, and the fate of Dracula at the hands of Renfield is remarkably eerie. However, it doesn't tell us how Renfield lived through the novel (nor Dracula). It just didn't feel like the same characters as in the book. Also, why does everyone have the sense that Renfield helps bring victims to Dracula? Would have been better if Renfield was another character entirely.
"The Ballad of Renfield" which was a decent enough of an essay on the character, although the question asked on page 136 "Was it an astonishing coincidence that someone under Dracula's power was committed in an institution next door to Carfax abbey?" I don't think that is what happened. Dracula has influence over the insane whether he wants it or not. Renfield was committed by friends and wasn't under control when that happened. Virtually all of the inmates went nuttier when Dracula was around, and Renfield just happened to notice what was causing it.
"Renfield's Wife" by Damon Cavalchini was another disappointment. It had a unique view of the vampire, but Renfield... in Australia. No explanation of how he is there or with a new vampire. No real connection to the novel. It was a fine story in its own right, but... just not what I was hoping for.
There's a poem at the end which was fine. I am not a judge of poetry so I won't comment on it other than that.
The first story was the best one, and "R.N." was the creepiest (but would have been better with another character, not Renfield, as the nurse). Unlike Volume 1, this one wasn't really worth the read (but for a handful of stories). I hope Volume 3 is better, and more on point. I really didn't like that I felt as though none of the authors (but one: it's obvious Cat Voleur knew the novel well) had even read the novel, or at least hadn't read it recently. Everyone seemed to base their Renfield on a movie version, or some weird alternative version. He's a good character and deserves to have his origin told.
Maybe I should finish my story just for me.
November 6, 2023
Another fun collection of short stories inspired by Dracula - this time the theme of these stories is Renfield. Ugh, I hate bugs so a lot of these stories made my skin crawl thinking about creepy crawlers, but there were a few that really creeped me out! (But in a good way!)
August 4, 2023
After 125 some-odd years, Dracula is still a big draw. Who would have thunk a daily email like Dracula Daily would unite the internet (or at least Tumblr) so thoroughly. Somehow, editor Tucker Christine has had their fingers firmly on the pulse (har har) of the zeitgeist. 2022 brought issue one of Dracula Beyond Stoker, a collection of short stories reimagining, expanding upon, and playing with the renowned count. In this year 2023, issue two unveils Renfield – Dracula’s familiar(?), fanboy(?), next-door-neighbor(?), and Judas (who also had a movie all about him this year, something must be in the water).
Renfield is a strange figure in the corpus of Western literature. As writer Toothpickings acknowledges in their brief essay at the close of the issue, this fellow arrives in the novel fully-formed, already imprisoned in Dr. Seward’s sanitarium, and provided no backstory. He is a cipher, his connection to Dracula never clear, and his motivations a mystery except for his systematic consumption of living things and his eventual betrayal of his “master”. Almost every film adaptation of the novel has either written him out or provided him a backstory to try and explain what he's even doing here. In other words, that padded cell is a playground for imaginative writers.
The eleven stories and one poem in Dracula Beyond Stoker issue two approach Renfield from every angle. A few try to provide a backstory and inner voice, like Kai Holmwood’s ‘The Matter of Vivacity’ (a highlight) or Mark Oxbrow’s ‘The Killing Jar’. Some riff on the theme, like Emma Kathryn’s ‘The Spider Logs’, combining Dracula with Alien to great effect. John Kiste’s ‘Renfield, M.E.’ is a delightful send-up, framing Renfield as the weird medical examiner and every other character a player in an all-too-human plot. Cat Voleur’s ‘The Crushing Weight of an Elephant’s Soul’ shockingly takes the point of view of all the many-legged critters that feed Renny’s inhuman hunger. While in that story, they lead to his downfall, in Jeremy Megaree’s ‘Zoophagus’, those bugs instead spell his salvation. Jack the Ripper even shows up, though who could hold a candle to Vlad, really?
The whole collection is fun, often heartfelt, and repeatedly chilling. There is a lot of creativity here, which speaks to the significance of Dracula in our literary landscape. That said, the final original story, Amelia Mangan’s ‘R.N.’, is a revelation. I have not been as deeply unsettled by a story in a minute, and if Ellen Datlow does not anthologize it as one of this year’s best, I will eat any hat offered to me.
According to their website, Issue 3 of Dracula Beyond Stoker will be themed around poor Lucy Westenra. I really just can’t wait to see what Christine’s contributors put forward. Sleep tight, enjoy the music of the creatures of the night, just hope none of them make it through your window…
Renfield is a strange figure in the corpus of Western literature. As writer Toothpickings acknowledges in their brief essay at the close of the issue, this fellow arrives in the novel fully-formed, already imprisoned in Dr. Seward’s sanitarium, and provided no backstory. He is a cipher, his connection to Dracula never clear, and his motivations a mystery except for his systematic consumption of living things and his eventual betrayal of his “master”. Almost every film adaptation of the novel has either written him out or provided him a backstory to try and explain what he's even doing here. In other words, that padded cell is a playground for imaginative writers.
The eleven stories and one poem in Dracula Beyond Stoker issue two approach Renfield from every angle. A few try to provide a backstory and inner voice, like Kai Holmwood’s ‘The Matter of Vivacity’ (a highlight) or Mark Oxbrow’s ‘The Killing Jar’. Some riff on the theme, like Emma Kathryn’s ‘The Spider Logs’, combining Dracula with Alien to great effect. John Kiste’s ‘Renfield, M.E.’ is a delightful send-up, framing Renfield as the weird medical examiner and every other character a player in an all-too-human plot. Cat Voleur’s ‘The Crushing Weight of an Elephant’s Soul’ shockingly takes the point of view of all the many-legged critters that feed Renny’s inhuman hunger. While in that story, they lead to his downfall, in Jeremy Megaree’s ‘Zoophagus’, those bugs instead spell his salvation. Jack the Ripper even shows up, though who could hold a candle to Vlad, really?
The whole collection is fun, often heartfelt, and repeatedly chilling. There is a lot of creativity here, which speaks to the significance of Dracula in our literary landscape. That said, the final original story, Amelia Mangan’s ‘R.N.’, is a revelation. I have not been as deeply unsettled by a story in a minute, and if Ellen Datlow does not anthologize it as one of this year’s best, I will eat any hat offered to me.
According to their website, Issue 3 of Dracula Beyond Stoker will be themed around poor Lucy Westenra. I really just can’t wait to see what Christine’s contributors put forward. Sleep tight, enjoy the music of the creatures of the night, just hope none of them make it through your window…
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