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Anno Dracula #3
Anno Dracula - Dracula Cha Cha Cha
Rome 1959 and Count Dracula is about to marry the Moldavian Princess Asa Vajda. Journalist Kate Reed flies into the city to visit the ailing Charles Beauregard and his vampire companion Geneviève. Along with the undead British secret agent Bond, Kate is swiftly caught up in the mystery of the Crimson Executioner, who is bloodily dispatching vampire elders in the city.
This book also includes the brand-new novella, Aquarius. Back in London, two party girls are found murdered, virtually drained of their blood. Kate Reed investigates, and finds herself face to face with an old enemy.
“He writes with sparkling verve and peppers the text with cinematic and literary references. Dracula Cha Cha Cha has full rations of gore, shocks and sly laughs.” — The Times
“Engaging, breathlessly clever” — SFX
“Newman's latest monster mash is the third in a series of fiendishly clever novels… Like the blood gelatto lapped by the undead demimonde, this novel is a rich and fulfilling confection.” — Publishers Weekly
“A new alternative history from Kim Newman is always a treat, and Dracula Cha Cha Cha is no disappointment… Imagine La Dolce Vita with vampires, and you've got some idea of this espresso of a book.” — Guardian
“With his third in a series, Newman remains in top form as our sharpest vampire novelist, a far more inventive stylist than Anne Rice… As did Fellini’s, Newman’s artistry meets the challenge with energy to spare.” — Kirkus Reviews
This book also includes the brand-new novella, Aquarius. Back in London, two party girls are found murdered, virtually drained of their blood. Kate Reed investigates, and finds herself face to face with an old enemy.
“He writes with sparkling verve and peppers the text with cinematic and literary references. Dracula Cha Cha Cha has full rations of gore, shocks and sly laughs.” — The Times
“Engaging, breathlessly clever” — SFX
“Newman's latest monster mash is the third in a series of fiendishly clever novels… Like the blood gelatto lapped by the undead demimonde, this novel is a rich and fulfilling confection.” — Publishers Weekly
“A new alternative history from Kim Newman is always a treat, and Dracula Cha Cha Cha is no disappointment… Imagine La Dolce Vita with vampires, and you've got some idea of this espresso of a book.” — Guardian
“With his third in a series, Newman remains in top form as our sharpest vampire novelist, a far more inventive stylist than Anne Rice… As did Fellini’s, Newman’s artistry meets the challenge with energy to spare.” — Kirkus Reviews
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
76 people are currently reading
2093 people want to read
About the author
Kim Newman
288 books946 followersNote: This author also writes under the pseudonym of Jack Yeovil.
An expert on horror and sci-fi cinema (his books of film criticism include Nightmare Movies and Millennium Movies), Kim Newman's novels draw promiscuously on the tropes of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. He is complexly and irreverently referential; the Dracula sequence--Anno Dracula, The Bloody Red Baron and Dracula,Cha Cha Cha--not only portrays an alternate world in which the Count conquers Victorian Britain for a while, is the mastermind behind Germany's air aces in World War One and survives into a jetset 1950s of paparazzi and La Dolce Vita, but does so with endless throwaway references that range from Kipling to James Bond, from Edgar Allen Poe to Patricia Highsmith.
In horror novels such as Bad Dreams and Jago, reality turns out to be endlessly subverted by the powerfully malign. His pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche--perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.
Life's Lottery, his most mainstream novel, consists of multiple choice fragments which enable readers to choose the hero's fate and take him into horror, crime and sf storylines or into mundane reality.
An expert on horror and sci-fi cinema (his books of film criticism include Nightmare Movies and Millennium Movies), Kim Newman's novels draw promiscuously on the tropes of horror, sci-fi and fantasy. He is complexly and irreverently referential; the Dracula sequence--Anno Dracula, The Bloody Red Baron and Dracula,Cha Cha Cha--not only portrays an alternate world in which the Count conquers Victorian Britain for a while, is the mastermind behind Germany's air aces in World War One and survives into a jetset 1950s of paparazzi and La Dolce Vita, but does so with endless throwaway references that range from Kipling to James Bond, from Edgar Allen Poe to Patricia Highsmith.
In horror novels such as Bad Dreams and Jago, reality turns out to be endlessly subverted by the powerfully malign. His pseudonymous novels, as Jack Yeovil, play elegant games with genre cliche--perhaps the best of these is the sword-and-sorcery novel Drachenfels which takes the prescribed formulae of the games company to whose bible it was written and make them over entirely into a Kim Newman novel.
Life's Lottery, his most mainstream novel, consists of multiple choice fragments which enable readers to choose the hero's fate and take him into horror, crime and sf storylines or into mundane reality.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 159 reviews
September 20, 2024
A fascinating look at a history gone very, very wrong.
September 18, 2014
Why, why in the name of all that's profane was "Dracula Cha Cha Cha" retitled "Judgment of Tears" for the North American market? I would never read a book actually titled "Judgment of Tears." "Dracula Cha Cha Cha," on the other hand, that's a title with moxie!
December 1, 2015
‘Dracula Cha Cha Cha’ is brilliant. It’s fun, exciting, tense and a fantastic addition to the ‘Anno Dracula mythos. The setting is Rome in the last 1950s, where Genevieve, Kate and Penny once again find themselves crossing paths with the most famous vampire of them all: Dracula. The setting itself is without a doubt borrowed from ‘Roman Holiday’ and Federico Fellini films (although I see this one in shiny Technicolor, rather than black and white), but that faded glamour of Rome works so well as a backdrop with vampires. That fin de siècle element of the original novel, ‘Dracula’ is fantastically captured here, as the characters go about their business in front of ruins and ancient artefacts and it really feels they’re closer to the end of something than the start. But the glamour, no matter how faded, means this is a place which calls to people from all over the world, which is great for this author as he gets to bring in a whole cavalcade of references from culture and real world. Make no mistake, this is the most Kim Newman of all Kim Newman books. Appearing in ‘Dracula Cha Cha Cha’ – in no particular order and using only my memory – we have: Tony Hancock; Charles and Morticia Addams; Orson Welles; John Huston; Michael Corleone; Norma Desmond; Edgar Allen Poe; Herbert West; Kirk Douglas; Lord Greystoke; Cliff Richard; Errol Flynn; Clark Kent; and Winston Churchill. With far more substantial roles from both James Bond and Tom Ripley. But what makes it really work in this instance – what stops this being just too clever by half glibness – is that the murder mystery story is strong enough to support all of this. Yes, I love all the references, but it needs the ballast of a real tale and in ‘Dracula Cha Cha Cha’ we get that.
But what I really loved about this story is that it sets itself up loud and proud as feminist horror, it’s a vampire tale where the bloodthirsty sisters of darkness are doing it for themselves. Yes they are captured and make mistakes, but they are the ones who going to save themselves and stop the evil machinations threatening all. There are men involved, but they are old dying heroes, or they’re over-grown schoolboys like James Bond, or inconsequential cyphers like Tom Ripley. It’s the women who are important, the women who save the day and it’s wonderful.
And maybe ‘Dracula Cha Cha Cha’ being so good is what makes the follow up tale, ‘Aquarius’ seem such thin offerings. It’s the trickle of blood on the collar after one has drained the throat of a vibrant adult. Here we have Kate trying to solve crimes in south London ten years later and coming across student politics and a Manson-esque cult leader. The problem in this shorter piece is that the story is frankly anaemic. As such Newman’s normal tricks – the references galore – do feel glib and unearned here, just needless showing off. It’s irritating, rather than engrossing. But more than that, there’s a level of vampires intruding into the real world which isn’t helpful or clever or called for. A big part of the plot hinges Enoch Powell and his Rivers of Blood, but making the race problems of the late 1960s/early 1970s about vampires rather than newly arrived immigrants. There was a smidgen of that in the first story, where one or two references are made to Hitler having death camps for the vampires. It isn’t explicitly stated that that was instead of the Jews, but the implication does seem to be there. In this second story, the crashing onto real events is as overt and unsubtle as it can be – with the Rivers of Blood speech being about actual blood. And it just doesn’t work. Replacing actual human suffering on such an endemic scale with vampires, just feels like it’s trivialising and cheapening what really happened, and such a unthinking smartness does leave a sour taste in the mouth after what was the most part a really enjoyable read.
But what I really loved about this story is that it sets itself up loud and proud as feminist horror, it’s a vampire tale where the bloodthirsty sisters of darkness are doing it for themselves. Yes they are captured and make mistakes, but they are the ones who going to save themselves and stop the evil machinations threatening all. There are men involved, but they are old dying heroes, or they’re over-grown schoolboys like James Bond, or inconsequential cyphers like Tom Ripley. It’s the women who are important, the women who save the day and it’s wonderful.
And maybe ‘Dracula Cha Cha Cha’ being so good is what makes the follow up tale, ‘Aquarius’ seem such thin offerings. It’s the trickle of blood on the collar after one has drained the throat of a vibrant adult. Here we have Kate trying to solve crimes in south London ten years later and coming across student politics and a Manson-esque cult leader. The problem in this shorter piece is that the story is frankly anaemic. As such Newman’s normal tricks – the references galore – do feel glib and unearned here, just needless showing off. It’s irritating, rather than engrossing. But more than that, there’s a level of vampires intruding into the real world which isn’t helpful or clever or called for. A big part of the plot hinges Enoch Powell and his Rivers of Blood, but making the race problems of the late 1960s/early 1970s about vampires rather than newly arrived immigrants. There was a smidgen of that in the first story, where one or two references are made to Hitler having death camps for the vampires. It isn’t explicitly stated that that was instead of the Jews, but the implication does seem to be there. In this second story, the crashing onto real events is as overt and unsubtle as it can be – with the Rivers of Blood speech being about actual blood. And it just doesn’t work. Replacing actual human suffering on such an endemic scale with vampires, just feels like it’s trivialising and cheapening what really happened, and such a unthinking smartness does leave a sour taste in the mouth after what was the most part a really enjoyable read.
August 8, 2015
This is the third book in the Anno Dracula series, set in an alternate world where Dracula wasn't defeated in Bram Stoker's book and has spread vampirism across Europe. You can largely ignore The Bloody Red Baron for the purposes of this book as it follows more on from the events and with the characters of the original Anno Dracula.
Set in 1959, this book takes to Rome. Dracula hasn't been seen in some time but is about to get married to a Princess. Naturally, Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club is nearby but having refused to become a vampire he is dying. The book focuses on the three vampires who love him, Elder Geneviève, journalist Kate Reed and former fiancee Penny. For many years the focus of their lives have been two men, Beauregard and Dracula but with a vicious murderer on the streets of Rome it looks like their lives are going to change dramatically.
There are many things in this book that worked rather well. Despite the usual vampire silliness, this is actually a very emotional and character-driven book. It's all about the three women and how they are coping with the events of Anno Dracula so many years later. It also contains a decent mystery and I couldn't work out where it was going.
Like the previous books, Newman does insert lots of contemporary references into the story. Hamish Bond, a modern member of the Diogenes Club, is James Bond in all but name with references to Fleming stories and even a subtle moment where he changes from Sean Connery into Roger Moore. By 1959 the age of the celebrity had begun and naturally everyone who's anyone is there for Dracula's wedding, whether they are fictional or were real. Unlike in Anno Dracula these characters do not alter the plot and mostly only appear at the party.
Also included is Anno Dracula: 1968- 'Aquarius', a novelette which sees Kate Reed back in London investigating another murder mystery- this time it's a vampire killing 'warms'. It is a sort-of sequel to the novelette included with The Bloody Red Baron, Anno Dracula: 1929, but as ever makes great use of the era for it's themes. It also continues Kate Reed's battle with the monster inside, a theme of the main novel, and here she is tested more than ever.
I did wonder whether Anno Dracula could have much life after two excellent books but it seems it certainly does- I think this was my favorite. Newman has created a great world and it's fascinating see it develop through time, something which I have rarely seen done before. A really enjoyable book.
Set in 1959, this book takes to Rome. Dracula hasn't been seen in some time but is about to get married to a Princess. Naturally, Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club is nearby but having refused to become a vampire he is dying. The book focuses on the three vampires who love him, Elder Geneviève, journalist Kate Reed and former fiancee Penny. For many years the focus of their lives have been two men, Beauregard and Dracula but with a vicious murderer on the streets of Rome it looks like their lives are going to change dramatically.
There are many things in this book that worked rather well. Despite the usual vampire silliness, this is actually a very emotional and character-driven book. It's all about the three women and how they are coping with the events of Anno Dracula so many years later. It also contains a decent mystery and I couldn't work out where it was going.
Like the previous books, Newman does insert lots of contemporary references into the story. Hamish Bond, a modern member of the Diogenes Club, is James Bond in all but name with references to Fleming stories and even a subtle moment where he changes from Sean Connery into Roger Moore. By 1959 the age of the celebrity had begun and naturally everyone who's anyone is there for Dracula's wedding, whether they are fictional or were real. Unlike in Anno Dracula these characters do not alter the plot and mostly only appear at the party.
Also included is Anno Dracula: 1968- 'Aquarius', a novelette which sees Kate Reed back in London investigating another murder mystery- this time it's a vampire killing 'warms'. It is a sort-of sequel to the novelette included with The Bloody Red Baron, Anno Dracula: 1929, but as ever makes great use of the era for it's themes. It also continues Kate Reed's battle with the monster inside, a theme of the main novel, and here she is tested more than ever.
I did wonder whether Anno Dracula could have much life after two excellent books but it seems it certainly does- I think this was my favorite. Newman has created a great world and it's fascinating see it develop through time, something which I have rarely seen done before. A really enjoyable book.
September 30, 2022
Another dive into the alternate fate of the most famous vampire, Dracula Cha Cha Cha is a heady mix of style, mystery and resignation, as an almost-century of vampire culture collides with the oncoming 1960s. Returning periodically to these books it takes some reminding that Kim Newman’s vampires live alongside man, feeding with permission and rarely killing. It’s a unique arrangement and essentially a style of its own; the wedding of Dracula in Rome is a suitable excuse to show that culture off in all its decadence. A spate of murders reminds them, and us, that nothing is settled.
Newman continues to use Dracula as a historical event than rather than a character, but his victims keep him in focus: ailing British agent Charles Beauregarde is in Rome along with his French elder vampire companion Genevieve. His ex-fiancé vampire Penelope now works in Dracula’s household, and journalist Kate Reed - the most flawed and human of these Nosferatu - is drawn into investigating the vampire murders. Old wounds swirl through Newman’s kid-in-a-candy-store intertextuality, making this feel more like a true sequel to Anno Dracula than the more action-packed Bloody Red Baron.
In the best way this is more of the same from this series: the world continues to build and the rich historical details hum with ideas folded in from other sources, but always in a way that serves the story. (Although there are times when he can’t resist a list.) The overall plight of vampires in the wake of Dracula feels like a question that won’t be answered, with good characters and bad blurred and kept interesting. If you like the series, you’ll love it.
NB: This edition includes a novella, Aquarius, which picks up with Kate Reed roughly a decade after the novel. It’s another satisfying dollop of lore and the murder mystery makes a clever contrast to the earlier plot. Once again, along with a glossary of some (not all) of his references, an Anno Dracula book contains more than a novel and will leave you happily glutted.
Newman continues to use Dracula as a historical event than rather than a character, but his victims keep him in focus: ailing British agent Charles Beauregarde is in Rome along with his French elder vampire companion Genevieve. His ex-fiancé vampire Penelope now works in Dracula’s household, and journalist Kate Reed - the most flawed and human of these Nosferatu - is drawn into investigating the vampire murders. Old wounds swirl through Newman’s kid-in-a-candy-store intertextuality, making this feel more like a true sequel to Anno Dracula than the more action-packed Bloody Red Baron.
In the best way this is more of the same from this series: the world continues to build and the rich historical details hum with ideas folded in from other sources, but always in a way that serves the story. (Although there are times when he can’t resist a list.) The overall plight of vampires in the wake of Dracula feels like a question that won’t be answered, with good characters and bad blurred and kept interesting. If you like the series, you’ll love it.
NB: This edition includes a novella, Aquarius, which picks up with Kate Reed roughly a decade after the novel. It’s another satisfying dollop of lore and the murder mystery makes a clever contrast to the earlier plot. Once again, along with a glossary of some (not all) of his references, an Anno Dracula book contains more than a novel and will leave you happily glutted.
November 27, 2024
Riletto dopo tutti questi anni mi ha letteralmente affascinato.
Rispetto ai primi due volumi è decisamente molto più solido e bello.
Personaggi molto più tridimensionali.
La Madre delle lacrime meravigliosa, eppure neppure mi ricordavo di averne letto, pensa tu :(
Ho anche scoperto di aver letto il quarto volume di cui non ricordo l'esistenza, mi toccherà ritrovalo e rileggerlo.
questo avevo scritto la prima volta:
Malinconico.
Personaggi tristi e sciatti.
Storia poco interessante.
Peccato per le protagoniste. Meritavano di meglio.
Finale meraviglioso.
Rispetto ai primi due volumi è decisamente molto più solido e bello.
Personaggi molto più tridimensionali.
La Madre delle lacrime meravigliosa, eppure neppure mi ricordavo di averne letto, pensa tu :(
Ho anche scoperto di aver letto il quarto volume di cui non ricordo l'esistenza, mi toccherà ritrovalo e rileggerlo.
questo avevo scritto la prima volta:
Malinconico.
Personaggi tristi e sciatti.
Storia poco interessante.
Peccato per le protagoniste. Meritavano di meglio.
Finale meraviglioso.
![Profile Image for julia ☆ [owls reads].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1636739475i%2F5520447._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
October 5, 2024
This wasn't for me. While I did enjoy getting to see more of Charles--and teared up a bit during his scenes--the mystery wasn't the most compelling. I also didn't appreciate Kate's characters being reduced to her feelings for men a bunch of times.
November 2, 2025
Mit Abstand das beste Buch aus der Reihe bisher!
Was ich bei der ganzen Reihe so gut finde: Kim Newman kann weibliche Charaktere schreiben! Durchweg glaubwürdig und wie echte Personen. Etwas was so vielen Autoren völlig abgeht. Auch ist die Reihe null sexy. Es gibt zwar pro Buch genau eine Sexszene, aber die ist meistens kurz und imho auch gut geschrieben. Ungewöhnlich für ein Vampir-Setting. Aber hier wird noch richtig gepfählt, mit richtig hartem Holz - oder was sonst so greifbar ist.
Außerdem, um zu Dracula Cha-Cha-Cha zurückzukommen - sieht man hier ganz gut, dass Newman nicht nur gute weibliche Charaktere schreiben kann, nein, er hat den Blick aus deren Perspektive auch drauf.
Bei Cha-Cha-Cha kommen als Charaktere nämlich wieder allerlei illustre reale und nicht-reale Personen vor - hier Tom Ripley und Bond. Und keiner vor beiden kommt gut bei der Sache weg. Beide sind ja in ihren Serien der Inbegriff der Verführer und Intriganten. Hier bleibt kein gutes Haar an ihnen nachdem die Damen mit ihnen fertig sind. Tatsächlich scheint mit Charles ein einziges vernünftiges Exemplar Mann am Start zu sein.
Was ich bei der ganzen Reihe so gut finde: Kim Newman kann weibliche Charaktere schreiben! Durchweg glaubwürdig und wie echte Personen. Etwas was so vielen Autoren völlig abgeht. Auch ist die Reihe null sexy. Es gibt zwar pro Buch genau eine Sexszene, aber die ist meistens kurz und imho auch gut geschrieben. Ungewöhnlich für ein Vampir-Setting. Aber hier wird noch richtig gepfählt, mit richtig hartem Holz - oder was sonst so greifbar ist.
Außerdem, um zu Dracula Cha-Cha-Cha zurückzukommen - sieht man hier ganz gut, dass Newman nicht nur gute weibliche Charaktere schreiben kann, nein, er hat den Blick aus deren Perspektive auch drauf.
Bei Cha-Cha-Cha kommen als Charaktere nämlich wieder allerlei illustre reale und nicht-reale Personen vor - hier Tom Ripley und Bond. Und keiner vor beiden kommt gut bei der Sache weg. Beide sind ja in ihren Serien der Inbegriff der Verführer und Intriganten. Hier bleibt kein gutes Haar an ihnen nachdem die Damen mit ihnen fertig sind. Tatsächlich scheint mit Charles ein einziges vernünftiges Exemplar Mann am Start zu sein.
October 27, 2012
With Book Three of the Anno Dracula series we reach the late 1950’s and 1960’s. A time of European opulence and Mediterranean glamour, epic film making and spy thrillers such as Ian Fleming’s James Bond and Len Deighton’s Harry Palmer. Not to mention vampires.
Old Vlad (Count Dracula) is still around and at the start of the book due to marry again – this time to Asa Vajda, Princess of Moldova. Kate Reed, vampyrric super-reporter and erstwhile secret-agent for the mysterious Diogenes Club, is in Rome to meet old friend Charles Beauregarde, now-dying ‘warm blood’ and his vampire lover Genevieve Dieudonne as well as cover this select event.
On her arrival Kate soon ends up in trouble. First, she meets an old adversary, Penelope Churchward, an old friend turned vampire, now one of Vlad’s assistants. Secondly, whilst as a guest of Count Kernassy, and his young-looking lover Malenka, rising vampire starlet, Kate finds herself witness to their gruesome deaths. These are not the only fatalities. It seems that the city is in a state of alarm. Whilst preparations for the world-class event are in hand for the un-dead wedding of the century, the mysterious Crimson Executioner is about, messily executing vampire elders. Kate finds herself trying to discover why, whilst Genevieve, with the help of un-dead superspy, Hamish Bond, finds herself up against Russian spies, assassination attempts and her old nemesis, Vlad, and his assistant Penny.
I enjoyed this one a lot. Like before, it’s that sense of time and place that really works for me in the impeccably imagined world of 1960’s Italy, albeit with added vampires. Thoughts of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, warm weather, sunglasses, espresso and motor-scooters infuse this tale throughout. Whilst I’m not quite sure that the vampires appreciate the sunshine as much as us mere warm-bloods, (actually something Kim does deal with in the novel!) it’s a nice change from Victorian England and the battlefields of France that we’ve encountered in the previous books. The 1960’s are cool and this is engagingly retro-cool.
The writing is as lively as ever, the culture references throughout. You don’t have to have read the earlier books to get a gist of what’s going on but I found I did enjoy reading about characters met before and what happens to them here. It is a tale of three women and how events have led to this. It is also a book with a great deal of closure. Originally the last book in the series, there are major developments here, with the death of some key characters and the consequences of those deaths clearly impacting upon the others. This highlights the need to move on and to change, in a world that was rapidly changing anyway. The point is made that the elder vampires are finding this faster, brighter world with global media coverage difficult to live in.
Of course, one example of this change in the 1960’s, go-faster, live faster world, is the arrival of ‘the superspy’, whose approach to espionage is very different to that previously encountered from the Diogenes Club. The epitome of this is the debut of Bond - Hamish Bond – to this tale. He is looked upon with serious disdain by the elder vampires such as Genevieve, as the personification of this ‘act first, think later’ approach. Whilst Bond is working for the Diogenes Club, like Kate and Genevieve, it is quite clear that Bond’s world is different from the Victorian world of Kate and the older Genevieve.
But of course Bond is not the only reference to other metafiction. Others I found were references to The Exorcist, Michael Moorcock and many others. In addition, the use of real people such as Orson Welles, Arthur C. Clarke and Tony Hancock help create a realistic feel to the world that is an alternative to ours.
This world building is carefully crafted. Not only does Kim show this vampire-dominated world with humour – privileged airline passengers are offered white mice as part of their ‘in-flight meal’ and other small mammals as an entree at Dracula’s Engagement Ball – but examines the wider implications of a world run by vampires: the Roman Catholic view of vampires in their Holy City, the difficulties of vampires involved in the Cold War negotiations, and so on. It’s a writer with confidence in his created world, writing with skill.
Strangely, one of things that works well (again) is that, despite the series being entitled ‘Anno Dracula’, the titular Count appears very little. Though his presence is always there, and his importance to the tale undeniable, our focus is really upon all those around him, and in particular Kate, Genevieve and Penny who each create a different perspective to the events herein.
This new edition from Titan, like all the previous releases, has an added bonus: a novella of Aquarius, set in 1968. As the title may suggest, the story about vampire murder, set at a time of upheaval at the dawning of The Age of Aquarius. From the other end of the 1960’s decade, it is all flower-power, drugs, swinging London and social revolution – and ‘Drakky-bashing’. It’s an engagingly written tale, not only being a murder case but also a summary of the zeitgeist of that time mixed with Kim’s usual cultural links. I enjoyed the link to Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May, nosing around the case.
With Dracula Cha Cha Cha we bring to an end the re-release of the Anno Dracula books. The fourth, Johnny Alucard, is due in April 2013. This moves us towards the next decade, allegedly set in the 1970’s.
Old Vlad (Count Dracula) is still around and at the start of the book due to marry again – this time to Asa Vajda, Princess of Moldova. Kate Reed, vampyrric super-reporter and erstwhile secret-agent for the mysterious Diogenes Club, is in Rome to meet old friend Charles Beauregarde, now-dying ‘warm blood’ and his vampire lover Genevieve Dieudonne as well as cover this select event.
On her arrival Kate soon ends up in trouble. First, she meets an old adversary, Penelope Churchward, an old friend turned vampire, now one of Vlad’s assistants. Secondly, whilst as a guest of Count Kernassy, and his young-looking lover Malenka, rising vampire starlet, Kate finds herself witness to their gruesome deaths. These are not the only fatalities. It seems that the city is in a state of alarm. Whilst preparations for the world-class event are in hand for the un-dead wedding of the century, the mysterious Crimson Executioner is about, messily executing vampire elders. Kate finds herself trying to discover why, whilst Genevieve, with the help of un-dead superspy, Hamish Bond, finds herself up against Russian spies, assassination attempts and her old nemesis, Vlad, and his assistant Penny.
I enjoyed this one a lot. Like before, it’s that sense of time and place that really works for me in the impeccably imagined world of 1960’s Italy, albeit with added vampires. Thoughts of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, warm weather, sunglasses, espresso and motor-scooters infuse this tale throughout. Whilst I’m not quite sure that the vampires appreciate the sunshine as much as us mere warm-bloods, (actually something Kim does deal with in the novel!) it’s a nice change from Victorian England and the battlefields of France that we’ve encountered in the previous books. The 1960’s are cool and this is engagingly retro-cool.
The writing is as lively as ever, the culture references throughout. You don’t have to have read the earlier books to get a gist of what’s going on but I found I did enjoy reading about characters met before and what happens to them here. It is a tale of three women and how events have led to this. It is also a book with a great deal of closure. Originally the last book in the series, there are major developments here, with the death of some key characters and the consequences of those deaths clearly impacting upon the others. This highlights the need to move on and to change, in a world that was rapidly changing anyway. The point is made that the elder vampires are finding this faster, brighter world with global media coverage difficult to live in.
Of course, one example of this change in the 1960’s, go-faster, live faster world, is the arrival of ‘the superspy’, whose approach to espionage is very different to that previously encountered from the Diogenes Club. The epitome of this is the debut of Bond - Hamish Bond – to this tale. He is looked upon with serious disdain by the elder vampires such as Genevieve, as the personification of this ‘act first, think later’ approach. Whilst Bond is working for the Diogenes Club, like Kate and Genevieve, it is quite clear that Bond’s world is different from the Victorian world of Kate and the older Genevieve.
But of course Bond is not the only reference to other metafiction. Others I found were references to The Exorcist, Michael Moorcock and many others. In addition, the use of real people such as Orson Welles, Arthur C. Clarke and Tony Hancock help create a realistic feel to the world that is an alternative to ours.
This world building is carefully crafted. Not only does Kim show this vampire-dominated world with humour – privileged airline passengers are offered white mice as part of their ‘in-flight meal’ and other small mammals as an entree at Dracula’s Engagement Ball – but examines the wider implications of a world run by vampires: the Roman Catholic view of vampires in their Holy City, the difficulties of vampires involved in the Cold War negotiations, and so on. It’s a writer with confidence in his created world, writing with skill.
Strangely, one of things that works well (again) is that, despite the series being entitled ‘Anno Dracula’, the titular Count appears very little. Though his presence is always there, and his importance to the tale undeniable, our focus is really upon all those around him, and in particular Kate, Genevieve and Penny who each create a different perspective to the events herein.
This new edition from Titan, like all the previous releases, has an added bonus: a novella of Aquarius, set in 1968. As the title may suggest, the story about vampire murder, set at a time of upheaval at the dawning of The Age of Aquarius. From the other end of the 1960’s decade, it is all flower-power, drugs, swinging London and social revolution – and ‘Drakky-bashing’. It’s an engagingly written tale, not only being a murder case but also a summary of the zeitgeist of that time mixed with Kim’s usual cultural links. I enjoyed the link to Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May, nosing around the case.
With Dracula Cha Cha Cha we bring to an end the re-release of the Anno Dracula books. The fourth, Johnny Alucard, is due in April 2013. This moves us towards the next decade, allegedly set in the 1970’s.
Read
March 31, 2013Reviewing for Hearts on Fire Reviews
Fans of Horror, especially of the Vampiric subgenre, and aficionados of excellent writing, can be thankful to Titan Books for bringing Author Kim Newman’s classic trio, the “Anno Dracula” series, to a broader readership, and introducing readers (like myself) who missed out on these at first publication, to an outstanding set of books. Mr. Newman knows his history about as well as any historian; and the details he brings to light and to life are extraordinarily accurate. Of course, his is an alternate history, an alternate timeline, and so we read details we might have missed in our history textbooks at school: Queen Victoria with a new Prince Consort—Count Dracula; the World War I European Axis Powers, commanded by: Count Dracula; and so forth. Different? Yes. Always engaging? Most definitely.
In this installment, it is 1959; in “our” timeline, the Cold War is frozen, Communists are the enemy, and actress/star Marilyn Monroe had converted to Judaism and wed playwright Arthur Miller, author of “The Crucible.” However, in Europe (in Mr. Newman’s Dracula timeline), while Count Dracula prepares for his new marriage to a princess from Moldavia in Eastern Europe, Charles Beauregard, that point man for the covert arm of the British Government, continues to age (his vampire love Genevieve, of course, does not age), and journalist Kate Beauregard hunts for the mysterious and elusive “Crimson Executioner,” a wily murderer seemingly determined to destroy vampire elders in Rome, the site of Dracula’s imminent wedding festivities. Kate, who is a preciously feisty undead character and heroine, is not the only hunter of this killer; Bond is too, on behalf of the British government, and Bond also happens to be undead.
I found this series to be excellent on first read, and I often took a moment to ponder throughout. But these are also keepers and destined to be re-read, and I think many readers will find this so.
Fans of Horror, especially of the Vampiric subgenre, and aficionados of excellent writing, can be thankful to Titan Books for bringing Author Kim Newman’s classic trio, the “Anno Dracula” series, to a broader readership, and introducing readers (like myself) who missed out on these at first publication, to an outstanding set of books. Mr. Newman knows his history about as well as any historian; and the details he brings to light and to life are extraordinarily accurate. Of course, his is an alternate history, an alternate timeline, and so we read details we might have missed in our history textbooks at school: Queen Victoria with a new Prince Consort—Count Dracula; the World War I European Axis Powers, commanded by: Count Dracula; and so forth. Different? Yes. Always engaging? Most definitely.
In this installment, it is 1959; in “our” timeline, the Cold War is frozen, Communists are the enemy, and actress/star Marilyn Monroe had converted to Judaism and wed playwright Arthur Miller, author of “The Crucible.” However, in Europe (in Mr. Newman’s Dracula timeline), while Count Dracula prepares for his new marriage to a princess from Moldavia in Eastern Europe, Charles Beauregard, that point man for the covert arm of the British Government, continues to age (his vampire love Genevieve, of course, does not age), and journalist Kate Beauregard hunts for the mysterious and elusive “Crimson Executioner,” a wily murderer seemingly determined to destroy vampire elders in Rome, the site of Dracula’s imminent wedding festivities. Kate, who is a preciously feisty undead character and heroine, is not the only hunter of this killer; Bond is too, on behalf of the British government, and Bond also happens to be undead.
I found this series to be excellent on first read, and I often took a moment to ponder throughout. But these are also keepers and destined to be re-read, and I think many readers will find this so.
November 5, 2015
Fangtastic !! err, sorry about that.
June 10, 2021
4/5
DRACULA CHA-CHA-CHA is the third volume of the Anno Dracula series and moves our story up to the late 1950s. It is an homage to the European romance movies of the period like Roman Holiday as well as Italian giallo (proto slasher films). It is certainly a far cry from the original steampunk Anno Dracula novel but it is still an impressive mixture of historical as well as fictional characters from the time period. It also has Commander Hamish Bond, barely disguised from his Sean Connery incarnation.
The premise is that Dracula is getting married. The old war criminal managed to avoid prosecution for his terrorist activities during the Victorian Era and World War 1 by being against Hitler during World War 2. Now living in a palace in Italy, he is going to marry Princess Asa Vajda (Black Sunday's villain) and every major vampire in the world is invited. This includes Genevieve, Kate Reid, and Charles Beauregard despite their lifelong opposition to the Impaler as well as everything he stands for.
Unfortunately, for vampires at least, there's a masked wrestler murdering ancient vampires coming to visit the wedding. Kate Reid watches some fellow undead tourists horribly killed and investigates what is generally regarded as a set of murders no one actually cares to solve. Because while Genevieve and Kate are wonderful people, almost all older vampires are some variety of scum or another. Also, there's just not enough time to investigate vampire murders when there's weddings to plan and romance to experience!
The primary focus of the book isn't on the murders but the final days of Charles Beauregard and how his decision to remain human has impacted the vampire women who love him. Kate is learning to deal with immortality and also use/abuse her boyfriends to distract her from the pangs of time. Genevieve is dealing with how this is something she should be used to but isn't. Penelope is wondering why they just don't turn Charles and apologize later. There's also lengthy subplots involving a vampire James Bond and a very human Talented Mr. Ripley.
Part of the book's quirk is the fact that it has the view that Dracula has been outlived by time. Despite being a terrifying monster and supervillain, the Earth's peoples can get used to anything. As such, Dracula is just considered a quirky celebrity and has been that ultimately no longer matters in the larger world stage. His fade to irrelevance in the plot is something that all of the characters are affected by even as they struggle to deal with a post-Dracula world (despite Dracula being still in it).
As an end to the Anno Dracula series, which it's not, I think it's pretty good but I feel the series has suffered the more it goes from the Victorian Era into the future. Making a bunch of 1950s and European vampire cinema references will never be as entertaining as the joys of all the various ones in the 19th century. Also, as much as I love how blatant James Bond's inclusion is, having him chase after a vampire cat mastermind is just plain silly.
One plotline I did like was the fact that Genevieve and Kate insist on trying to deny vampires are supernatural (opening up all manner of questions regarding God, sin, death, and damnation). They want to believe vampires are just people, no more or less. This book completely blows that to hell and makes it clear the supernatural is real. Neither woman really is capable of fully embracing that, though, and I was rather disappointed with that as it would have been an excellent change to their characters.
The pace of Dracula Cha-Cha-Cha is kind of languid and flowing with nothing really of consequence happening until the very end. In the original book, the murder of a half-dozen vampire women shook the world to the core. Here, killing a bunch of elders is treated as boring and distracting from our heroes' vacation. I liked the book but am kind of sad that it ends with not a bang but a "and life went on because that's what life does."
DRACULA CHA-CHA-CHA is the third volume of the Anno Dracula series and moves our story up to the late 1950s. It is an homage to the European romance movies of the period like Roman Holiday as well as Italian giallo (proto slasher films). It is certainly a far cry from the original steampunk Anno Dracula novel but it is still an impressive mixture of historical as well as fictional characters from the time period. It also has Commander Hamish Bond, barely disguised from his Sean Connery incarnation.
The premise is that Dracula is getting married. The old war criminal managed to avoid prosecution for his terrorist activities during the Victorian Era and World War 1 by being against Hitler during World War 2. Now living in a palace in Italy, he is going to marry Princess Asa Vajda (Black Sunday's villain) and every major vampire in the world is invited. This includes Genevieve, Kate Reid, and Charles Beauregard despite their lifelong opposition to the Impaler as well as everything he stands for.
Unfortunately, for vampires at least, there's a masked wrestler murdering ancient vampires coming to visit the wedding. Kate Reid watches some fellow undead tourists horribly killed and investigates what is generally regarded as a set of murders no one actually cares to solve. Because while Genevieve and Kate are wonderful people, almost all older vampires are some variety of scum or another. Also, there's just not enough time to investigate vampire murders when there's weddings to plan and romance to experience!
The primary focus of the book isn't on the murders but the final days of Charles Beauregard and how his decision to remain human has impacted the vampire women who love him. Kate is learning to deal with immortality and also use/abuse her boyfriends to distract her from the pangs of time. Genevieve is dealing with how this is something she should be used to but isn't. Penelope is wondering why they just don't turn Charles and apologize later. There's also lengthy subplots involving a vampire James Bond and a very human Talented Mr. Ripley.
Part of the book's quirk is the fact that it has the view that Dracula has been outlived by time. Despite being a terrifying monster and supervillain, the Earth's peoples can get used to anything. As such, Dracula is just considered a quirky celebrity and has been that ultimately no longer matters in the larger world stage. His fade to irrelevance in the plot is something that all of the characters are affected by even as they struggle to deal with a post-Dracula world (despite Dracula being still in it).
As an end to the Anno Dracula series, which it's not, I think it's pretty good but I feel the series has suffered the more it goes from the Victorian Era into the future. Making a bunch of 1950s and European vampire cinema references will never be as entertaining as the joys of all the various ones in the 19th century. Also, as much as I love how blatant James Bond's inclusion is, having him chase after a vampire cat mastermind is just plain silly.
One plotline I did like was the fact that Genevieve and Kate insist on trying to deny vampires are supernatural (opening up all manner of questions regarding God, sin, death, and damnation). They want to believe vampires are just people, no more or less. This book completely blows that to hell and makes it clear the supernatural is real. Neither woman really is capable of fully embracing that, though, and I was rather disappointed with that as it would have been an excellent change to their characters.
The pace of Dracula Cha-Cha-Cha is kind of languid and flowing with nothing really of consequence happening until the very end. In the original book, the murder of a half-dozen vampire women shook the world to the core. Here, killing a bunch of elders is treated as boring and distracting from our heroes' vacation. I liked the book but am kind of sad that it ends with not a bang but a "and life went on because that's what life does."
May 4, 2017
Four stars for 'Dracula Cha Cha Cha' and about 3 for the novella appended to this edition, 'Anno Dracula 1968-Aquarius'.
For 'Dracula Cha Cha Cha', I'm going to echo my update comment here and reaffirm that this is an exceptionally fun, campy, and lively piece of vampire fiction; anyone who loves the films of Fellini, Pasolini, even cinema giallo, will have a great time with this book. Well-etched little cameos abound and Newman continues to draw inspiration from both fiction and real life in a way that's clever without being too contrived. Beloved characters from the first book (Geneviève Dieudonné, Charles Beauregard) feature here and I found that an improvement over 'The Bloody Red Baron', where I really didn't like or care about the protagonists and that lack of caring made it very hard to invest in the somber setting. This is a considerably lighter book than volume two (it's hard to make world war "fun", after all) but I think it's better and more cohesive in tone. I certainly enjoyed it more.
'Anno Dracula 1968-Aquarius' is less impressive. It's a nice little mood piece but there's really not much in the way of plot and some of the scene-setting seems too obvious, too stereotypical. As always in this series, there are some clever name drops and alternate history twists, but this is thin stuff overall.
For 'Dracula Cha Cha Cha', I'm going to echo my update comment here and reaffirm that this is an exceptionally fun, campy, and lively piece of vampire fiction; anyone who loves the films of Fellini, Pasolini, even cinema giallo, will have a great time with this book. Well-etched little cameos abound and Newman continues to draw inspiration from both fiction and real life in a way that's clever without being too contrived. Beloved characters from the first book (Geneviève Dieudonné, Charles Beauregard) feature here and I found that an improvement over 'The Bloody Red Baron', where I really didn't like or care about the protagonists and that lack of caring made it very hard to invest in the somber setting. This is a considerably lighter book than volume two (it's hard to make world war "fun", after all) but I think it's better and more cohesive in tone. I certainly enjoyed it more.
'Anno Dracula 1968-Aquarius' is less impressive. It's a nice little mood piece but there's really not much in the way of plot and some of the scene-setting seems too obvious, too stereotypical. As always in this series, there are some clever name drops and alternate history twists, but this is thin stuff overall.
March 26, 2020
I have slowly been making my way through Kim Newman’s splendid Anno Dracula series for the last month or so now, and have totally brought in to his alternative universe / history genre mash up. Dracula Cha Cha Cha is however without doubt my favourite in the series so far. A glorious blood soaked love letter to golden age Italian cinema, I was totally absorbed from page one.
The novel references the classic Italian giallo (murder mystery movies which featured copious amounts of blood, and which were early precursors to the slasher genre), as it sees a journalist on the trail of the serial killer dubbed the Crimson Executioner who is bloodily dispatching vampire elders in Rome. As well as touching on the polizia genre also, the novel is full of references to classic Italian movies, as characters from well known movies make appearances, and entire chapters are also named after films such as The Bloody Pit of Horror, and Cat O Nine Tails. It is a feast for Italian genre fans, and all that is missing is its own Ennio Moriccone film score.
Kim Newman demonstrates an encyclopedic knowledge of this fantastic era in cinematic history, fully understanding what makes it work he brings all of that to this novel. For that reason alone I have to award it nothing short of five stars.
The novel references the classic Italian giallo (murder mystery movies which featured copious amounts of blood, and which were early precursors to the slasher genre), as it sees a journalist on the trail of the serial killer dubbed the Crimson Executioner who is bloodily dispatching vampire elders in Rome. As well as touching on the polizia genre also, the novel is full of references to classic Italian movies, as characters from well known movies make appearances, and entire chapters are also named after films such as The Bloody Pit of Horror, and Cat O Nine Tails. It is a feast for Italian genre fans, and all that is missing is its own Ennio Moriccone film score.
Kim Newman demonstrates an encyclopedic knowledge of this fantastic era in cinematic history, fully understanding what makes it work he brings all of that to this novel. For that reason alone I have to award it nothing short of five stars.
April 2, 2022
The alternate timeline allows for some funny celebrity cameos and character Easter eggs. Like at one point they go to Dr Herbert West to reanimate Dracula lol. But the actual plot is half baked and boring.
July 29, 2018
The third part of the Anno series. A solid and engaging story with the usual clever references. This however I found to be a slower and morre difficult read than previous and struggled to get through.
If you're a fan you'll love it, if it's not your usual choice of genre you possibly won't.
If you're a fan you'll love it, if it's not your usual choice of genre you possibly won't.
September 7, 2019
Mais um tomo da saga Anno Dracula ao nível habitual.
Uma reviravolta inesperada no enredo que me faz ansiar por ler o próximo tomo.
Uma reviravolta inesperada no enredo que me faz ansiar por ler o próximo tomo.
December 31, 2019
Mr Newman does it again,excellent throughout, loved the writing,the carachters and the storybso clever and fresh, utterly brilliant!! My rating Excellent
February 25, 2023
Another awesome book in the Anno Dracula series. They always read in a way that makes you feel like you're watching a film. I was going only to give this a 4* review until the final twist in the last couple of chapters!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2019
I wanted something fun, frothy and disposable to keep me entertained on a long journey. This book did the job perfectly adequately.
October 19, 2023
I think this is my favourite book of the series so far. I was sad about Charles and it was touching seeing the reactions of the Genevieve, Kate and Penny. I liked the action and intrigue, and I want to see where the next book goes after that ending. The extra story about Kate was also a fun read.
December 12, 2019
Actual rating: 4,5
November 19, 2016
Dans ce qui est, je pense, le dernier tome des aventures de cette étrange civilisation vampirique, on se retrouve à Rome pour assister à encore un mariage de Dracula, qui n'est en fait qu'un élément de contexte pour mettre en scène la transition des trois femmes vampires amoureuses de Charles Beauregard.
Chacune a évolué différement, mais chacune aimerait le voir accepter les ténèbres. Et évidement, ce sera plus compliqué que ça.
Dans ce dernier tome, il y a toujours de l'action, toujours du complot, mais ça n'est plus le sel de cette histoire qui se concentre maintenant beaucoup plus sur l’évolution des vampires : comment devient-on immortel. En effet, au-delà du côté facile de se faire mordre, d'échanger son sang avec un vampire, il y a aussi, et surtout, le fait de voir le monde changer. Et ce côté est assez difficile à voir, si on ne met pas en scène des personnages qui vivent cette aventure. Et c'est heureusement le cas ici.
Heureusement, ou pas, puisque si la perte des proches est au coeur de cette histoire, ces proches ne sont pas toujours ceux qu'on croit ... Et c'est ainsi que Dracula, qu'on voyait dans les tomes précédents comme une quasi-incarnation du mal, devient plus une sorte de vieil oncle immortel, toujours effrayant, mais désormais quasiment inoffensif. C'est assez impressionnant, puisqu'on voit bien l'évolution des personnages, mais aussi du monde.
Ce monde, d'ailleurs, est particulièrement plaisant : Rome dans les années 50 a un charme fou, et les personnages profitent à fond de ce décor. De la même manière, dans la deuxième histoire, plus courte, le Londres du "summer of love" est est très plaisant.
Il y a en fait bien d'autres éléments dans ce roman, que je ne dévoilerai pas. En revanche, ce que je peux me permettre de dévoiler, c'est que si les personnages sont intéressants, profonds, si les citations multiples d'autres oeuvres sont aussi bien trouvées (Hamish Bond, typiquement), j'ai trouvé malheureusement qu'il y avait une forme ... subtile, certes, mais présente, de langueur. Peut-être que c'est un contrecoup de ces vampires si rapides, parfois, mais aussi souvent endormis, je n'en suis pas sûr. Toujours est-il que j'ai ressenti une forme d'ennui au bout d'un moment : les aventures continuaient, mais je ne m'y intéressai plus trop. Peut-être que d'autres y trouveront plus leur compte. En tout cas, personnellement, j'ai trouvé cette oeuvre intéressante, mais malheureusement trop longue.
Chacune a évolué différement, mais chacune aimerait le voir accepter les ténèbres. Et évidement, ce sera plus compliqué que ça.
Dans ce dernier tome, il y a toujours de l'action, toujours du complot, mais ça n'est plus le sel de cette histoire qui se concentre maintenant beaucoup plus sur l’évolution des vampires : comment devient-on immortel. En effet, au-delà du côté facile de se faire mordre, d'échanger son sang avec un vampire, il y a aussi, et surtout, le fait de voir le monde changer. Et ce côté est assez difficile à voir, si on ne met pas en scène des personnages qui vivent cette aventure. Et c'est heureusement le cas ici.
Heureusement, ou pas, puisque si la perte des proches est au coeur de cette histoire, ces proches ne sont pas toujours ceux qu'on croit ... Et c'est ainsi que Dracula, qu'on voyait dans les tomes précédents comme une quasi-incarnation du mal, devient plus une sorte de vieil oncle immortel, toujours effrayant, mais désormais quasiment inoffensif. C'est assez impressionnant, puisqu'on voit bien l'évolution des personnages, mais aussi du monde.
Ce monde, d'ailleurs, est particulièrement plaisant : Rome dans les années 50 a un charme fou, et les personnages profitent à fond de ce décor. De la même manière, dans la deuxième histoire, plus courte, le Londres du "summer of love" est est très plaisant.
Il y a en fait bien d'autres éléments dans ce roman, que je ne dévoilerai pas. En revanche, ce que je peux me permettre de dévoiler, c'est que si les personnages sont intéressants, profonds, si les citations multiples d'autres oeuvres sont aussi bien trouvées (Hamish Bond, typiquement), j'ai trouvé malheureusement qu'il y avait une forme ... subtile, certes, mais présente, de langueur. Peut-être que c'est un contrecoup de ces vampires si rapides, parfois, mais aussi souvent endormis, je n'en suis pas sûr. Toujours est-il que j'ai ressenti une forme d'ennui au bout d'un moment : les aventures continuaient, mais je ne m'y intéressai plus trop. Peut-être que d'autres y trouveront plus leur compte. En tout cas, personnellement, j'ai trouvé cette oeuvre intéressante, mais malheureusement trop longue.
October 22, 2012
I only gave this three stars because of the references. Let me explain.
This book is set in 1950s europe, surrounding the impending marriage of Dracula to another vampire royal. You see, vampires are mainstream here, existing among normal people in a manner vaguely echoing the upper class, jet-setters, and hoi-polloi in the real world. They are seen as glamorous, in control, and tend to be reacted to rather than just part of life. Kate Reed is a vampire journalist who gets caught up in the murder of vampire elders by a madman called the Crimson Executioner. Things get worse.
Here's the problem. Kim Newman is awfully cute with the outright borrowing of characters from other works. The Crimson Executioner is straight from an Italian Giallo film. If you have SEEN the film, it kills any menace this guy can have, because it's campy as heck. He also borrows from Dario Argento's Suspira and other films, and outright steals James Bond to turn him into a vampire. There's a ton of name-dropping, to the point where it becomes a "let's recognize the cameo!"
At first it's pretty cool, but the borrowings are so omnipresent that it overshadows Kim's fine storytelling skills. Especially the Argento references-I just found myself thinking of the movies as often as I enjoyed the story. You've got a serious and well done vampire story mixed in with conscious post-modern borrowing and irony, and the two can't help but grate some. If you like that, you'll give it five stars easily. But it clashed in my opinon, so I gave it three.
This version had an additional novella, set in the swinging sixties. It's not as good as the main story, and still drops names. A nice bonus, but not enough to raise the score.
This book is set in 1950s europe, surrounding the impending marriage of Dracula to another vampire royal. You see, vampires are mainstream here, existing among normal people in a manner vaguely echoing the upper class, jet-setters, and hoi-polloi in the real world. They are seen as glamorous, in control, and tend to be reacted to rather than just part of life. Kate Reed is a vampire journalist who gets caught up in the murder of vampire elders by a madman called the Crimson Executioner. Things get worse.
Here's the problem. Kim Newman is awfully cute with the outright borrowing of characters from other works. The Crimson Executioner is straight from an Italian Giallo film. If you have SEEN the film, it kills any menace this guy can have, because it's campy as heck. He also borrows from Dario Argento's Suspira and other films, and outright steals James Bond to turn him into a vampire. There's a ton of name-dropping, to the point where it becomes a "let's recognize the cameo!"
At first it's pretty cool, but the borrowings are so omnipresent that it overshadows Kim's fine storytelling skills. Especially the Argento references-I just found myself thinking of the movies as often as I enjoyed the story. You've got a serious and well done vampire story mixed in with conscious post-modern borrowing and irony, and the two can't help but grate some. If you like that, you'll give it five stars easily. But it clashed in my opinon, so I gave it three.
This version had an additional novella, set in the swinging sixties. It's not as good as the main story, and still drops names. A nice bonus, but not enough to raise the score.
August 14, 2009
The third installment in Newman’s wonderful Anno Dracula series(which I misread as Anna Dracula and avoided for years), but hopefully not the last. Offering the type of fun offered by Alan Moore or Mike Mignola comics or a hyper dense with cultural in jokes cartoon like the brilliant Venture Brothers (only good thing on Adult Swim), but with fully rounded characters. This time the novels of Ian Fleming and Patricia Highsmith,and the films of Dario Argento and Federico Fellini combine in a story that’s piercing satire, spy parody, psychological thriller, and part Giallo/splatterpunk horror romp. Also of course it’s a feast for pop culture addicts. One scene alone has the Talented Mr. Ripley, the Addams’s, characters from Lolita, and another character from La Dolce Vita in a nightclub watching a band from a Howard Waldrop story. Newman never sinks his story with his own cleverness though. Horror elements play more camp than chilling but are still a better Dario Argento styled entertainment than Argento’s awful Mother of Tears(also featuring Mater Lachrymarum). The title in the American edition as usual sucks. Judgement of Tears instead of Dracula Cha Cha. I’m convinced there are better science fiction writers in the British Isles than America for the simple fact that Alfred Bester’s book is title Tiger! Tiger! there instead of Stars my Destination. If you had the choice to read a book called Tiger! Tiger! or Stars my Destination, which would you choose. Awful geeky titles and bad covers are keeping people away from good books.
November 3, 2013
Third book in the Anno Dracula series, and this time Newman takes his vampire heroines to Rome, 1959, to attend the wedding of the greatest vampire. Newman practically invented metatextual fiction, in which characters and images from other things are woven through new novels (Alan Moore gets the credit for League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but Anno Dracula was there first). Here he pushes that almost to the point of exhaustion, with a myriad cameo appearances infecting the plot. Some are delightful and others meaningless. While James Bond, Orson Welles, and Tom Ripley each find places in the action, there are a lot of superfluous faces coming and going. I enjoyed it, but it was almost too much. The plot itself blends genres, wrapping a giallo murder mystery around the tent poles of Dracula's marriage and the death of one of the mainstay characters of the series so far, and a very entertaining romp it is too. As an extravagant bonus, the book contains a second shorter novel - Aquarius - set in London a decade later, as revolution infects the populous. This piece is a little more restrained with its name-dropping, and is perhaps the more tightly orchestrated of the two stories. I had no idea it was included, so it came as a splendid surprise.
October 7, 2014
Newman continues to impress me with his ability to write in a broad range of styles, and continues to bring his characters through different times. I liked the fact that he allows Charles to die, holding on to his principles despite Genevieve and Kate both being desirous to turn him. His death added a more emotional form of cutting to all the gore that was portrayed elsewhere. I enjoyed the deepening of the relationships between Genevieve, Kate, and Penelope. I liked the Bava and Argento influences on this story, and the ending was very satisfying. All around, well worth the time.
October 25, 2019
Originally published November 12, 2012, at BORG.com.
British spy Bond seduces readers as a vampire in Kim Newman Dracula novel
Review by C.J. Bunce
Re-released in book stores last month was Kim Newman’s alternate history/fantasy/steampunk-esque novel Dracula Cha Cha Cha (formerly published as Judgment of Tears), book three of the Anno Dracula series originally released in 1998. You need not read books one and two of the series to be able to fully dive into this incredible and bizarre parallel history story. With vampire books taking up an entire wall at Barnes & Noble, it’s probably a good time for this dense and satisfying novel to be available again. But what makes this even more relevant this year is that it is also an alternate history James Bond novel. That’s right, James, here goes by the Scottish name for James, Hamish, as in Hamish Bond. And Bond is still a spy, but he’s also a vampire, investigating Count Dracula in Rome in 1959.
Unlike the many trite vampire-related offerings in the marketplace, Dracula Cha Cha Cha is no fluffy, light, quick read. Dracula Cha Cha Cha is a dense story. Well-researched to mesh together both fantasy worlds and then cross back and forth into the world of real-life historical figures, it is surprisingly easy to get sucked right in to a world where Count Dracula actually lived, and was not killed by Van Helsing, but went on to marry the widowed Queen Victoria in 1888 and rule England with her as Prince Consort. For this third book in Newman’s series, vampires and warm bodies are all coming to Rome for the marriage of Count Dracula to the young and ethereal Moldovian Princess Asa Vajda, a marriage expected to thrust the Count back into the post-World War II political limelight.
Journalist and vampire Kate Reed has arrived in the city and takes up with a some notable vampires who end up dead, with Kate as a witness. Originally arriving to visit her sick ex-husband Charles Beauregard, ex-British non-vampire spy, she gets blamed for more than one murder, which mysteriously occur at the hands of a masked villain called the Crimson Executioner. The plot focuses on the relationship between three lovers/ex-lovers of Beauregard–Kate, as well as Geneviève Dieudonné–a 400 year old vampire who has the look of a 16-year-old and is caring for Charles at his death, and Penelope Churchward, also a vampire and longtime friend to Kate who wants to prevent the aging Charles from dying by finally “turning” him. As we follow Kate’s story she slides further and further into the underbelly of Rome and its vampire world, far more en vogue and seductive than the vampire world of Britain. Ultimately she is found drenched in blood at the site of the death of the famous Count with no memory of recent events. The Count himself only makes a brief appearance in the novel, at the first meeting with his wife-to-be, at his grand wedding.
Hot on the trail of a Russian spy with teeth like Jaws, a sharp-brimmed hat like Oddjob, and a white cat-like Blofeld from the movie You Only Live Twice, our spy Bond becomes intertwined in the two murder plots as he pays a visit to Beauregard, the elder and notable former spymaster from the Diogenes Club, the organization keeping an eye on Count Dracula’s actions. Bond still drives an Aston Martin, and drinks a “shaken, not stirred” blood martini. His lines are straight from the real-world Bond novels and even chapter headings are novel titles or plays on titles, such as From Moldavia with Love and Live and Let Die. Like an Ian Fleming novel, we get Bond engaged with a double-crossing Bond girl, some hand to hand fight scenes, including one where Geneviève must rescue Bond, and a great life and death car chase. Just as the new movie poster book cover evokes, Dracula Cha Cha Cha could make a great film.
What really makes the world of 1959 stand out are the vivid descriptions of places, clothes, trends, and people. Newman pulls in anyone and everyone from fiction’s past–vampires live forever so he could select from 1888 to 1959 to populate his world–as well as tying in real-world characters, famous and infamous. This means Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper co-existed, Orson Welles is a magician who gets interviewed as a witness to Dracula’s death, vampire Edgar Allan Poe is active in Italian culture in the 1950s, and Churchill, Dali and Errol Flynn co-occupy the world of Dr. No, Clark Kent, Fu Manchu, Michael Corleone and TV’s Addams family. Newman’s choices tend to have some tie to the world of Dracula–including real-life people who may have been in Dracula movies of the past, or fictional characters featured in Bram Stoker’s work or later adaptations and spin-off works. The societal strata resulting from a world where Dracula and vampires thrived and become the masters of haute culture, fashion, wealth and elite status is clever and engaging, even for readers who aren’t fans of the vampire genre.
Newman’s Italy will be familiar to fans of Michael Dibdin’s Aurelio Zen novels. Only here instead of cappuccino everyone goes to bars and coffee shops for their various blood drinks. Dracula Cha Cha Cha is actually light on gore except for these regular blood-lettings.
A frothy and rich read, Dracula Cha Cha Cha in its new edition includes the new Anno Dracula novella Aquarius 1968.
British spy Bond seduces readers as a vampire in Kim Newman Dracula novel
Review by C.J. Bunce
Re-released in book stores last month was Kim Newman’s alternate history/fantasy/steampunk-esque novel Dracula Cha Cha Cha (formerly published as Judgment of Tears), book three of the Anno Dracula series originally released in 1998. You need not read books one and two of the series to be able to fully dive into this incredible and bizarre parallel history story. With vampire books taking up an entire wall at Barnes & Noble, it’s probably a good time for this dense and satisfying novel to be available again. But what makes this even more relevant this year is that it is also an alternate history James Bond novel. That’s right, James, here goes by the Scottish name for James, Hamish, as in Hamish Bond. And Bond is still a spy, but he’s also a vampire, investigating Count Dracula in Rome in 1959.
Unlike the many trite vampire-related offerings in the marketplace, Dracula Cha Cha Cha is no fluffy, light, quick read. Dracula Cha Cha Cha is a dense story. Well-researched to mesh together both fantasy worlds and then cross back and forth into the world of real-life historical figures, it is surprisingly easy to get sucked right in to a world where Count Dracula actually lived, and was not killed by Van Helsing, but went on to marry the widowed Queen Victoria in 1888 and rule England with her as Prince Consort. For this third book in Newman’s series, vampires and warm bodies are all coming to Rome for the marriage of Count Dracula to the young and ethereal Moldovian Princess Asa Vajda, a marriage expected to thrust the Count back into the post-World War II political limelight.
Journalist and vampire Kate Reed has arrived in the city and takes up with a some notable vampires who end up dead, with Kate as a witness. Originally arriving to visit her sick ex-husband Charles Beauregard, ex-British non-vampire spy, she gets blamed for more than one murder, which mysteriously occur at the hands of a masked villain called the Crimson Executioner. The plot focuses on the relationship between three lovers/ex-lovers of Beauregard–Kate, as well as Geneviève Dieudonné–a 400 year old vampire who has the look of a 16-year-old and is caring for Charles at his death, and Penelope Churchward, also a vampire and longtime friend to Kate who wants to prevent the aging Charles from dying by finally “turning” him. As we follow Kate’s story she slides further and further into the underbelly of Rome and its vampire world, far more en vogue and seductive than the vampire world of Britain. Ultimately she is found drenched in blood at the site of the death of the famous Count with no memory of recent events. The Count himself only makes a brief appearance in the novel, at the first meeting with his wife-to-be, at his grand wedding.
Hot on the trail of a Russian spy with teeth like Jaws, a sharp-brimmed hat like Oddjob, and a white cat-like Blofeld from the movie You Only Live Twice, our spy Bond becomes intertwined in the two murder plots as he pays a visit to Beauregard, the elder and notable former spymaster from the Diogenes Club, the organization keeping an eye on Count Dracula’s actions. Bond still drives an Aston Martin, and drinks a “shaken, not stirred” blood martini. His lines are straight from the real-world Bond novels and even chapter headings are novel titles or plays on titles, such as From Moldavia with Love and Live and Let Die. Like an Ian Fleming novel, we get Bond engaged with a double-crossing Bond girl, some hand to hand fight scenes, including one where Geneviève must rescue Bond, and a great life and death car chase. Just as the new movie poster book cover evokes, Dracula Cha Cha Cha could make a great film.
What really makes the world of 1959 stand out are the vivid descriptions of places, clothes, trends, and people. Newman pulls in anyone and everyone from fiction’s past–vampires live forever so he could select from 1888 to 1959 to populate his world–as well as tying in real-world characters, famous and infamous. This means Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper co-existed, Orson Welles is a magician who gets interviewed as a witness to Dracula’s death, vampire Edgar Allan Poe is active in Italian culture in the 1950s, and Churchill, Dali and Errol Flynn co-occupy the world of Dr. No, Clark Kent, Fu Manchu, Michael Corleone and TV’s Addams family. Newman’s choices tend to have some tie to the world of Dracula–including real-life people who may have been in Dracula movies of the past, or fictional characters featured in Bram Stoker’s work or later adaptations and spin-off works. The societal strata resulting from a world where Dracula and vampires thrived and become the masters of haute culture, fashion, wealth and elite status is clever and engaging, even for readers who aren’t fans of the vampire genre.
Newman’s Italy will be familiar to fans of Michael Dibdin’s Aurelio Zen novels. Only here instead of cappuccino everyone goes to bars and coffee shops for their various blood drinks. Dracula Cha Cha Cha is actually light on gore except for these regular blood-lettings.
A frothy and rich read, Dracula Cha Cha Cha in its new edition includes the new Anno Dracula novella Aquarius 1968.
February 7, 2017
Not as enjoyable for me as the first book. Maybe it's because I just don't find the 1950s that interesting.
Usual parade of amusing rain checks and in jokes, but not enough real plot to hold my interest for long.
A pleasant read for a quiet afternoon.
Usual parade of amusing rain checks and in jokes, but not enough real plot to hold my interest for long.
A pleasant read for a quiet afternoon.
January 5, 2013
Not quite as enjoyable as the first two books in the series and I wonder if the premise is wearing thin. The second section of the book (set in London) moves the Anno Dracula world building on, but the actual story feels surplufluous and tacked on.
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