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Countess Dracula
Countess Dracula is a sequel to the 1935 Bram Stoker classic, Mark of the Vampire, written by Carroll Borland in the same diary format. Borland was the legendary "dark angel" of early vampire cinema who developed the look and style of the female vampire for generations to come.
143 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1994
34 people want to read
About the author
Carroll Borland
1 book1 followerCarroll Borland (also spelled Carol Borland) was an American actress, best known for her role in the 1935 horror movie "Mark of the Vampire", starring Bela Lugosi. She retired from acting in the 1950s but appeared in two movies by Fred Olen Ray in the 1980s.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 9, 2023
Carol Borland's story here is a fine follow-up to Stoker's original novel, even if it is a tad modest. One could argue that it follows the same formula as the original but with a bit of streamlining. And the ending seems tailor made for a dramatic movie climax.
Well written as it is, there are moments that betray the writer's amateur status. For the most part, she uses the epistolary narrative style as Dracula does. Sometimes though she switches to a third person narrator. This is a little jarring here and there.
The real treat in this book, however, is Gregory Mank's biography of Carrol Borland that gives us a fascinating portrait of her life as well as a look behind the scenes of Mark of the Vampire.
As a fan of Dracula and classic horror cinema, I am grateful to have read this.
Well written as it is, there are moments that betray the writer's amateur status. For the most part, she uses the epistolary narrative style as Dracula does. Sometimes though she switches to a third person narrator. This is a little jarring here and there.
The real treat in this book, however, is Gregory Mank's biography of Carrol Borland that gives us a fascinating portrait of her life as well as a look behind the scenes of Mark of the Vampire.
As a fan of Dracula and classic horror cinema, I am grateful to have read this.
December 19, 2021
While a fun read, this is at best a novella and also it is very much just self-insert fan-fic. That it was written in the 1930s adds a bit of charm, but it is a masterwork of every fan fiction cliche available... a glorified retelling of the original with a beautiful perfect girl who is just like the author that everyone is in love with. Also despite having 60 years to work on it and eventually earning a ph.D, Borland never seemed to even edit it. Chapters 11 and 2 both open with identical two paragraph long descriptions of fog. The characters are so underdeveloped as to be almost non existent.
I can imagine Bela Lugosi, with his weak English, having this read to him and being delighted, as apparently really happened.
Honestly the short biography of Borland is more interesting than the fiction, and I finished reading both in about two hours.
I can imagine Bela Lugosi, with his weak English, having this read to him and being delighted, as apparently really happened.
Honestly the short biography of Borland is more interesting than the fiction, and I finished reading both in about two hours.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews