What do you think?
Rate this book
Dracula #3
An Old Friend of the Family
The Southerland family left the old world to start anew in America, but little did they know that a blood-feud, older than history itself, would follow them through the generations to come.
Kate Southerland, the first born of the latest generation of Southerlands, has been murdered, but she is not dead. Her little brother, Johnny, has also vanished, a severed, bloody finger the only clue.
But the Southerlands have no clue what they've fallen into. Their enemy is no mortal madman, but the undying mistress of evil enchantment, Morgan Le Fay, and the Southerlands are not her true target. She seeks to do battle with their protector, their defender, the only man who is capable of saving this mortal family from a war they've never realized was waged.
Kate Southerland, the first born of the latest generation of Southerlands, has been murdered, but she is not dead. Her little brother, Johnny, has also vanished, a severed, bloody finger the only clue.
But the Southerlands have no clue what they've fallen into. Their enemy is no mortal madman, but the undying mistress of evil enchantment, Morgan Le Fay, and the Southerlands are not her true target. She seeks to do battle with their protector, their defender, the only man who is capable of saving this mortal family from a war they've never realized was waged.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
14 people are currently reading
514 people want to read
About the author
Fred Saberhagen
335 books494 followersFred Saberhagen was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his ''Beserker'' and Dracula stories.
Saberhagen also wrote a series of a series of post-apocalyptic mytho-magical novels beginning with his popular ''Empire of the East'' and continuing through a long series of ''Swords'' and ''Lost Swords'' novels. Saberhagen died of cancer, in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saberhagen was born in and grew up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Saberhagen served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] during the Korean War while he was in his early twenties. Back in civilian life, Saberhagen worked as an It was while he was working for Motorola (after his military service) that Saberhagen started writing fiction seriously at the age of about 30. "Fortress Ship", his first "Berserker" short shory, was published in 1963. Then, in 1964, Saberhagen saw the publication of his first novel, ''The Golden People''.
From 1967 to 1973, he worked as an editor for the Chemistry articles in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as writing its article on science fiction. He then quit and took up writing full-time. In 1975, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He married fellow writer Joan Spicci in 1968. They had two sons and a daughter.
Saberhagen also wrote a series of a series of post-apocalyptic mytho-magical novels beginning with his popular ''Empire of the East'' and continuing through a long series of ''Swords'' and ''Lost Swords'' novels. Saberhagen died of cancer, in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saberhagen was born in and grew up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Saberhagen served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] during the Korean War while he was in his early twenties. Back in civilian life, Saberhagen worked as an It was while he was working for Motorola (after his military service) that Saberhagen started writing fiction seriously at the age of about 30. "Fortress Ship", his first "Berserker" short shory, was published in 1963. Then, in 1964, Saberhagen saw the publication of his first novel, ''The Golden People''.
From 1967 to 1973, he worked as an editor for the Chemistry articles in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as writing its article on science fiction. He then quit and took up writing full-time. In 1975, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He married fellow writer Joan Spicci in 1968. They had two sons and a daughter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
May 23, 2018
I just reread this. Fast read & pretty good. The old friend of the family is a vampire, but unlike the sex-ridden paranormal romances, this one is more of a straight line from Stoker's original to 'modern' 1970s day. While this is the third book in the series, you can easily start the series here. Reading the first two aren't strictly needed, but they're very good - better than this one. I would suggest reading this one before going on to any of the others.
I really like Dracula's character. I think Saberhagen blends the horror of the original Dracula with the historical Vlad Tepes very well. He winds up with a conservative man of honor who has seen much over the years. He views the breathing world with some amusement and interest for the most part, but women interest him intensely & he has rules of honor, lines that can not be crossed. When people do, they find out his nickname was accurate. His sense of justice is brutal.
There is some magic in this book, but it's low key & well done. For all their strength, there are some hard limits on vampire powers, some rather surprising in origin. Definitely well done & I'm finding these books far more entertaining than the normal PNR or UF books of today. This one is getting 3 stars only because it isn't quite the same quality as the first 2 or the following one. It's still good & recommended, though.
I really like Dracula's character. I think Saberhagen blends the horror of the original Dracula with the historical Vlad Tepes very well. He winds up with a conservative man of honor who has seen much over the years. He views the breathing world with some amusement and interest for the most part, but women interest him intensely & he has rules of honor, lines that can not be crossed. When people do, they find out his nickname was accurate. His sense of justice is brutal.
There is some magic in this book, but it's low key & well done. For all their strength, there are some hard limits on vampire powers, some rather surprising in origin. Definitely well done & I'm finding these books far more entertaining than the normal PNR or UF books of today. This one is getting 3 stars only because it isn't quite the same quality as the first 2 or the following one. It's still good & recommended, though.
May 29, 2020
The ancient witch, Morgaine Le Fae plots against a family, to use them as catspaws against her real enemy, Dracula.
Part of the slide that ended up with vampires glittering.
Some might like it, but I prefer my vampires evil and monstrous.
Part of the slide that ended up with vampires glittering.
Some might like it, but I prefer my vampires evil and monstrous.
August 17, 2022
This is the third book in Saberhagen's Dracula series and is the best so far. The first was handicapped as it was by being a retelling of Dracula from Dracula's point of view. The second was better and this third one really hits its stride. Quite a lot of action, some interesting twists and turns, and a strong ending. It also had more of Saberhagen's fine prose, which is generally a big plus for me in reading his work. I've got the others in the series and will be reading book 4 soon.
May 26, 2022
This was well-written and reasonably entertaining. I had low expectations because books like this don't often wow me (and yet I keep trying). But I try to read whatever vampire books I can if they're not terrible, and it was a surprisingly quick read. I kind of tried to pretend this wasn't a book about Dracula himself, because it seemed silly for such a well-known fictional figure to be assisting the family of Mina. Then again I'm not even a particular fan of Dracula, so what do I know? At one point he (appearing as a seventyish-year-old man) and the seventeen-year-old daughter of the family fell in love? Like out of nowhere? Someone had tried to kill him, she was saving him, and they were calling each other "my love." Why. Because she resembled Mina? Creepy.
Anyway, it wasn't the worst vampire book I've ever read.
Anyway, it wasn't the worst vampire book I've ever read.
Read
April 2, 2013I've read the first four or five books of Saberhagan's Dracula series and then as luck would have it I lost touch with the series. In these days when EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD IS WRITING VAMPIRE STORIES, it's interesting to look back, and see how a master of sci-fi does things. He effortlessly and subtly changes Stoker's classic in a different light, from the vampire's point of view. What if Dracula wasn't the evil nemesis presented in the original text? What if vampires, like humans were moral beings? That is not to say that Saberhagan's Dracula does not do some horrific things. He does, but not out of caprice, but to protect and wrest back control of his brethren from the evil Morgan.
November 2, 2020
When Kate Southerland goes missing and her body is found three days later, her grandmother Clarissa performs a ritual described by her own grandmother Wilhelmina Harker to call on an old friend, Dr Emil Corday, who will uncover the sinister truth behind Kate's disappearance.
Saberhagen's reimagining of the Dracula mythos is believable and fits in well with the resurgence of the vampire lore of the modern era. The novel is brief and seems to come to a resolution too quickly.
Saberhagen's reimagining of the Dracula mythos is believable and fits in well with the resurgence of the vampire lore of the modern era. The novel is brief and seems to come to a resolution too quickly.
February 18, 2009
My xth reading of this title. This historical Vlad Tepes (as Saberhagen spells it) Dracula comes to the aid of the descendants of Mina Harker. I <3 this book! Very dark, bloody, dark . . .
December 14, 2021
all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Family of Mina’s descendants has a book, a spell, a summoning of sorts, promising a help of a friend. It changes hands with a promise to never use it unless the need is truly immeasurable, up until Southerland family gets haunted by tragedy. Their eldest daughter dies, their youngest son – disappears… The only question is whether the help that’ll come will be worth the trouble family will sink into.
My Opinion: A very weak story. Powerful vampire wants to destroy Dracula’s rule, his laws, have vampires live freely, feed however they please. After chapters and chapters of her trying to paint Dracula as a villain, while her, and her little gang of lackeys behave like scum themselves, she just goes and accepts a possibility of good but improbable news. Meantime all the elder vampires, the council, seem to cower and grovel under anyone who raises their voice at them, for no logical reason. Characters were awfully two-dimensional, and, often – even less. Story fell short, lacked consistency, reason.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Family of Mina’s descendants has a book, a spell, a summoning of sorts, promising a help of a friend. It changes hands with a promise to never use it unless the need is truly immeasurable, up until Southerland family gets haunted by tragedy. Their eldest daughter dies, their youngest son – disappears… The only question is whether the help that’ll come will be worth the trouble family will sink into.
My Opinion: A very weak story. Powerful vampire wants to destroy Dracula’s rule, his laws, have vampires live freely, feed however they please. After chapters and chapters of her trying to paint Dracula as a villain, while her, and her little gang of lackeys behave like scum themselves, she just goes and accepts a possibility of good but improbable news. Meantime all the elder vampires, the council, seem to cower and grovel under anyone who raises their voice at them, for no logical reason. Characters were awfully two-dimensional, and, often – even less. Story fell short, lacked consistency, reason.
October 24, 2024
Fun, but not as good as the first two books in the series. Probably because it lacked Dracula’s tongue-in-cheek first-person narration. Also, I would’ve liked a little more backstory on this long-standing vampire feud.
July 31, 2017
This is the Dracula I remember from this series. Moving smartly through the shadows, preparing contingencies and being ruthless in finding and eliminating his enemies. In this book he moves in the shadows and while he is often front and center in his guise as a human his methods are often subtle and unsettling and when he does utilize his unnatural abilities he is a relentless force of nature and that inspires terror in both the living and undead. It was a very enjoyable read other than the forced romantic entanglement which really seemed a bit creepy and completely forced by the writing. I'm going to just put it off to a necessary component of horror novels written at that time that something like that had to be dropped in there. Fortunately not time is spent on it but unfortunately when it does come up its rather cringe worthy. I can't quite give this one a 4 star but its certainly a 3.5.
December 9, 2023
The third novel in Saberhagen's Dracula series moves the action up to the “present” day of 1979. In An Old Friend of the Family, we meet the Southerlands, a well-to-do family living in Chicago. In the opening chapter, the elder daughter, Kate, goes to a party where there are drugs, people have changed identities for a lark, and a very large vampire appears to be lurking in the shadows. Not surprisingly, Kate vanishes. The next night, Kate’s brother Johnny goes missing during a snow storm. The kidnappers send a package containing Johnny’s pinky finger, ripped from his hand. There’s no ransom demand. Someone has just decided to start targeting the Southerlands for some reason.
At this point, the family matriarch, Granny Clarissa remembers getting a book from her own grandmother, Mina Harker. Yes, the same Mina Harker from the novel Dracula. Mina said if the family ever found itself in desperate trouble, they must use a summoning spell in the book. Granny Clarissa and the youngest Southerland daughter, Judy, go through the motions of the spell, not sure what to expect. This causes a famous vampire to drop everything he’s doing and immediately get on a plane to Chicago where he introduces himself as Dr. Emile Corday. The good doctor teams up with Kate’s boyfriend, a Chicago police officer named Joe Keogh, to find Kate and Johnny, and determine just why someone has decided to start tormenting the Southerland family. The first half proves to be a dandy mystery.
The second half of the novel becomes more of a suspense thriller. I continue to enjoy Saberhagen’s take on Dracula as a curmudgeonly anti-hero who’s driven by an unwavering and medieval sense of honor. My other favorite character in the book was Mina’s great-great granddaughter Judy Southerland. She’s a good foil for Dracula and there’s some interesting tension in that she reminds Dracula a lot of Mina, who apparently is still alive.
At this point, the family matriarch, Granny Clarissa remembers getting a book from her own grandmother, Mina Harker. Yes, the same Mina Harker from the novel Dracula. Mina said if the family ever found itself in desperate trouble, they must use a summoning spell in the book. Granny Clarissa and the youngest Southerland daughter, Judy, go through the motions of the spell, not sure what to expect. This causes a famous vampire to drop everything he’s doing and immediately get on a plane to Chicago where he introduces himself as Dr. Emile Corday. The good doctor teams up with Kate’s boyfriend, a Chicago police officer named Joe Keogh, to find Kate and Johnny, and determine just why someone has decided to start tormenting the Southerland family. The first half proves to be a dandy mystery.
The second half of the novel becomes more of a suspense thriller. I continue to enjoy Saberhagen’s take on Dracula as a curmudgeonly anti-hero who’s driven by an unwavering and medieval sense of honor. My other favorite character in the book was Mina’s great-great granddaughter Judy Southerland. She’s a good foil for Dracula and there’s some interesting tension in that she reminds Dracula a lot of Mina, who apparently is still alive.
May 27, 2020
*Note~ I won’t lie and it’s pretty apparent that this series isn’t resonating with me. So why continue??
Well...
I currently live in the Japanese countryside with extremely limited access to books in English (I read in Japanese from time to time for a wonderful challenge, but I’m nowhere near proficient enough to take on novels at the level I read in English, so it’s refreshing to take a break when English literature is available). I live in a town whose library has been closed since before my arrival, during a pandemic which restricts traveling to a bookshop which would have English novels (at about 3x what they should cost). This series was leant to me by the only foreigner I’ve found who is a reader here, out of sincere kindness. So, while I find the stories kitschy at best, I’m still grateful to have them at hand.
This one....had moments where the details were pleasant and there began an intriguing build-up, but then spots where it just seemed rushed and uninteresting. The final climactic moments, for example.
If it’s trying to be a mystery, there are a couple things hindering that. Once again, Dracula’s identity is for some reason kept shadowed in the beginning even though we all know perfectly well by now that he is the star of the series. The villainous character’s identity is also kept a secret up until the last few pages of the book, yet, if you read the synopsis on the back, as I always do before starting, it states clearly that she is indeed Morgan le Fay. I am not a fan of how this colors her. Not one bit.
What’s more, the cover illustration on the copy I have depicts the villain looking nothing like she’s described in the book, engaged in a scene which never actually happens. That’s just messy.
I think I enjoyed the scenes without Dracula in them more than when he graced the scene. I don’t trust the narrator.
So, onward we go...
Well...
I currently live in the Japanese countryside with extremely limited access to books in English (I read in Japanese from time to time for a wonderful challenge, but I’m nowhere near proficient enough to take on novels at the level I read in English, so it’s refreshing to take a break when English literature is available). I live in a town whose library has been closed since before my arrival, during a pandemic which restricts traveling to a bookshop which would have English novels (at about 3x what they should cost). This series was leant to me by the only foreigner I’ve found who is a reader here, out of sincere kindness. So, while I find the stories kitschy at best, I’m still grateful to have them at hand.
This one....had moments where the details were pleasant and there began an intriguing build-up, but then spots where it just seemed rushed and uninteresting. The final climactic moments, for example.
If it’s trying to be a mystery, there are a couple things hindering that. Once again, Dracula’s identity is for some reason kept shadowed in the beginning even though we all know perfectly well by now that he is the star of the series. The villainous character’s identity is also kept a secret up until the last few pages of the book, yet, if you read the synopsis on the back, as I always do before starting, it states clearly that she is indeed Morgan le Fay. I am not a fan of how this colors her. Not one bit.
What’s more, the cover illustration on the copy I have depicts the villain looking nothing like she’s described in the book, engaged in a scene which never actually happens. That’s just messy.
I think I enjoyed the scenes without Dracula in them more than when he graced the scene. I don’t trust the narrator.
So, onward we go...
August 27, 2019
Dracula has vowed an immortal guardianship of the family of his now-undead love, Mina Harker. The Southerlands are the current descendants, living in Chicago. Unfortunately, for them, Vlad has an ancient enemy who uses this link to set a trap for him. A brutal, bloody trap.
Honour, romance, blood, death, and the human struggle to fight for family and love, even in the face of impossible odds.
It all culminates in the kind of snowstorm that shuts down major cities, isolating everyone and ensuring that no help can come. Kate Southerland, her fiance (kind of) Joe, and her family are alone against an ancient vampire, a giant vampire, and the unknown.
Well... alone, except for one dedicated angel of vengeance: Vlad Tepes.
Still enjoying this series. Looking forward to Thorn.
Honour, romance, blood, death, and the human struggle to fight for family and love, even in the face of impossible odds.
It all culminates in the kind of snowstorm that shuts down major cities, isolating everyone and ensuring that no help can come. Kate Southerland, her fiance (kind of) Joe, and her family are alone against an ancient vampire, a giant vampire, and the unknown.
Well... alone, except for one dedicated angel of vengeance: Vlad Tepes.
Still enjoying this series. Looking forward to Thorn.
August 4, 2025
The matriarch of the wealthy Southerland family performs a ritual left by her grandmother, none other than Mina Harker, to summon an old friend of the family, Count Dracula, to protect the clan after the murder of her granddaughter and the abduction of her grandson. There is more going on here than is at first apparent. Fred Saberhagen’s version of the famous vampire continues to be a moral, honorable character, taking on the responsibility of protecting the descendants of his great love, but one who is fully capable of brutality and cruelty once he decides his target is deserving of such treatment. Early on, Saberhagen presents a compelling and plausible imagining of what it might be like to die but not really die and then be resurrected as a vampire. The mythology of the series is further developed, with some tantalizing hints about the vampire world that Dracula inhabits that bode well for the remaining seven volumes in this series.
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com
https://thericochetreviewer.blogspot.com
July 14, 2021
This novel is another of my Saberhagen favorites. The Sutherland family is in crisis. As the cover says, "Kate Sutherland has been murdered, but she is not dead." Her brother Johnny has been kidnapped and the proof is the finger mailed to the family.
Gran has a way to call on a powerful protector and enlists her grand daughter Judy's help to do the calling.
They get a different sort of family friend than they expected: Vlad Tepes (going by the name Dr. Corday.) He was, indeed, an old friend -- of Gran's grandmother, Wilhelmina Harker. And the family had to invite him into their home.
If you are into good vampire vs bad vampire, you'll enjoy this one.
Gran has a way to call on a powerful protector and enlists her grand daughter Judy's help to do the calling.
They get a different sort of family friend than they expected: Vlad Tepes (going by the name Dr. Corday.) He was, indeed, an old friend -- of Gran's grandmother, Wilhelmina Harker. And the family had to invite him into their home.
If you are into good vampire vs bad vampire, you'll enjoy this one.
June 16, 2025
This was slow in the first chapter or so and then I really couldn't put it down.
I have only read books 1-3 in the series so far so I can't rank them all but I would rank The Holmes-Dracula Files 1st, then this one, and with The Dracula Tape bring up 3rd.
This story is set in more modern-day US (around Christmas) than the first two books and brought a lot of that into the novel but it didn't become a book of Dracula not understanding modern-day convivences like cars and street lights.
I have only read books 1-3 in the series so far so I can't rank them all but I would rank The Holmes-Dracula Files 1st, then this one, and with The Dracula Tape bring up 3rd.
This story is set in more modern-day US (around Christmas) than the first two books and brought a lot of that into the novel but it didn't become a book of Dracula not understanding modern-day convivences like cars and street lights.
February 3, 2022
It ended well, the beginning is slow going, some of the language feels antiquated by mid way it shifts and then gets interesting. Only complaint I really have is the character suppose to be Morgan La Fey does not live up to such a legendary imposing figure. He honestly could have used any other name for the antagonist, but other then that. A good read!
August 30, 2017
Dracula's story as told by himself. He comes to america at the summons of a descendant of his. They have been harmed by an old enemy to draw him out.
Apparently it was Morgan Le Fay, but I didn't get that at all from reading the book.
Narrated by Robin Bloodworth
Apparently it was Morgan Le Fay, but I didn't get that at all from reading the book.
Narrated by Robin Bloodworth
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2020
I have really enjoyed this series as a modern American family finds out its connection to a vampire something they thought lived only in fiction
Well worth reading the rest in the series which starts in the Dracula tapes.
Well worth reading the rest in the series which starts in the Dracula tapes.
February 3, 2021
So this is my first read from the Saberhagen Dracula series and it was more of a police procedural thriller novel than a vampire horror one. It wasn't a bad read, and I probably would have loved it more in 1979, however it just seems like a story I've read before.
March 26, 2025
Weakest of the three read thus far. The plot is just too silly.
The characters and the writing is good, and a vampire gathering, hints at the council and their rules is a welcome addition, but the central plot and Dracula as purely do gooder is just too much.
The characters and the writing is good, and a vampire gathering, hints at the council and their rules is a welcome addition, but the central plot and Dracula as purely do gooder is just too much.
September 14, 2017
That was just awful. I'm a big fan of the Berserker books, and I frankly expected to love this book. Such a disappointment!
June 8, 2019
A great classic vampire/Dracula story with a nice twist.
October 31, 2019
If you are a fan of Saberhagen's Sword series you owe to yourself to check our his Dracula series. This is the third in the series and it is just as entertaining as the first.
April 22, 2021
When Mina Harker's great-grandson is kidnapped and her great-grand-daughter is "turned", Count Dracula appears in 20th-century Chicago to straighten things out.
January 6, 2023
One of my favorite books ever. Not a heavy read, but just plain great fun and one of my favorite characters ever.
September 8, 2023
"A masterpiece! The author's writing is simply exquisite, weaving a tapestry of emotions and characters that kept me enthralled from start to finish."
January 9, 2024
this book is the best ever! I've read it several times. You meet a side of Dracula that you can't help but fall in love with. I always thought this book would make a great movie/
September 7, 2025
This book is boring as hell. Every time I opened the book I found myself taking a 30 minute nap.
April 4, 2015
Well, this was moderately less frustratingly awful than the previous two books in the series. I mean, it was still fairly bad, but since Dracula himself was given a lesser role, there wasn't so much of his arrogant and ridiculous personality making this a terrible read. Instead, this book is bad for slightly less frustrating reasons. A big part of this is that there's far too much telling and not enough showing when it comes to the interesting bits. Because of the constant shifting between different characters, a number of cool fight and action scenes are skipped over and left for the reader to find out about afterwards. This is fairly awful, especially when what I got instead were such dramatic things as a young woman driving through a snow storm. I was also annoyed by the fact that there's a woman who becomes a vampire early on in the story, and yet there's very little of her perspective on this transformation or how it changes her. In fact, the characters are generally fairly static and somewhat cliche. I never got the sense that Kate and her boyfriend were actually in love; they just act like it because the plot says so. The story is also annoying because I never really came to care about any of the characters. They're apparently the descendants of Mina Harker, which is why Dracula cares, but that didn't do anything for me.
Also, a lot of stuff about the ending bugged me.
All in all, this was an awful book, and it has made me certain that I'm never going to read another book in this series. I was hopeful that moving away from the Victorian era might make these books slightly better, but it's clear that they haven't improved any. When Dracula isn't being insufferable, the writing is still terrible and dull. Maybe this seemed good in the 70s when novels with vampire heroes were rare, but nowadays, there's no reason at all to bother with it.
Also, a lot of stuff about the ending bugged me.
All in all, this was an awful book, and it has made me certain that I'm never going to read another book in this series. I was hopeful that moving away from the Victorian era might make these books slightly better, but it's clear that they haven't improved any. When Dracula isn't being insufferable, the writing is still terrible and dull. Maybe this seemed good in the 70s when novels with vampire heroes were rare, but nowadays, there's no reason at all to bother with it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews