In the Footsteps of Dracula: Tales of the Un-Dead Count

by Stephen Jones

Since his creation one hundred and twenty years ago, the name of Dracula has become synonymous with the legend of the vampire and the character is one of the world’s most iconic to appear in fiction and film. Now, this history of the blood-drinking nobleman follows Dracula from his origins in Transylvania, through his travels down the decades, into a dystopian twenty-first century where vampires rule the world.
Is it possible that the Count’s condition can be cured by modern medicine? How does the mythology perpetuated by literature and movies affect the existence of a real bloodsucker? How can an immortal creature adapt to the social and technological changes that have already shaped our modern world? And what happens when Dracula turns up for his own birthday party?


These and many other questions are answered by acclaimed authors such as Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Charlaine Harris, Nancy Holder, Nancy Kilpatrick, Brian Lumley, Graham Masterton, Paul McAuley, Kim Newman, Michael Marshall Smith, F. Paul Wilson and many others, including Dracula’s original creator Bram Stoker with a long-lost version of the story first presented in 1897.

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

416 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 3, 2017

About the author

Stephen Jones is an eighteen-time winner of the British Fantasy Award.

Reviews

[Karl]

Originally published as "The Mammoth Book of Dracula"

Contents:

xvii - Introduction: I Bid You Welcome, by Stephen Jones
001 - “Dracula: or The Un-Dead: Prologue” by Bram Stoker (1897)
025 - “Dracula’s Library” by Christopher Fowler {1997)
041 - “The Heart of Count Dracula, Descendant of Attila, Scourge of God” by Thomas Ligotti (Songs of a Dead Dreamer, 1985)
045 - “Daddy’s Little Girl” by Mandy Slater (1997)
055 - “Conversion” by Ramsey Campbell (The Rivals of Dracula: A Century of Vampire Fiction, 1977)
063 - “The Devil Is Not Mocked” by Manly Wade Wellman (Unknown Worlds, June 1943)
073 - “Teaserama” by Nancy Kilpatrick (1997)
083 - “Blood Freak” by Nancy Holder (1997)
097 - “Zack Phalanx Is Vlad the Impaler” by Brian Lumley (Weirdbook 11,1977)
109 - “When Greek Meets Greek” by Basil Copper (1997)
143 - “Coppola’s Dracula” by Kim Newman (1997)
197 - “The Second Time Around” by Hugh B. Cave(1997)
217 - “Endangered Species” by Brian Mooney (1997)
259 - “Melancholia” by Roberta Lannes (1997)
275 - “Children of the Long Nigh” by Lisa Morton (1997)
301 - “Mbo” by Nicholas Royle (1997)
325 - “The Worst Place in the World” by Paul J. McAuley (1997)
359 - “Larry’s Guest” by Guy N. Smith (1997)
375 - “A Taste of Culture” by Jan Edwards (1997)
379 - “Rudolph” by R. Chetwynd-Hayes (Dracula's Children, 1987)
403 - “Roadkill” by Graham Masterton (1997)
413 - “Volunteers” by Terry Lamsley (1997)
433 - “Black Beads” by John Gordon (1997)
445 - “Your European Son” by Joel Lane (1997)
463 - “Quality Control” by Brian Stableford (1997)
503 - “Dear Alison” by Michael Marshall Smith(1997)
517 - “Bloodlines” by Conrad Williams (1997)
545 - “Windows of the Soul” by Chris Morgan (1997)
553 - “Blood of Eden” by Mike Chinn (1997)
571 - “Dracula Night” by Charlaine Harris (Many Bloody Returns, 2007)
591 - “The Last Testament” by Brian Hodge (1997)
607 - “The Last Vampire” by Peter Crowther (1997)
637 - “The Lord’s Work” by F. Paul Wilson (Dracula: Prince of Darkness, 1992)
671 - Lord of the Undead, by Jo Fletcher –poem (1997)
675 - About the Editor
677 - Acknowledgement and Credits

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Prince of Darkness as never before seen!

My thanks go out to all my contacts at Pegasus Books for my copy of this collection of vampire stories! Thank you so much!

When one thinks of Vampire lore, Dracula will always be there. Bram Stoker fanned the fire of vampire stories, and new tales of vampires are created all the time. TV and movies have brought us vampires and vampire hunters, chasing hordes of bloodsuckers. Some are semi-heroic, such as Angel and Forever Knight.

Dracula is the vampire king, portrayed by such film giants as Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Richard Roxburgh, and Gary Oldman. With each actor that portrays Dracula, different versions of the character emerge. That could have been the inspiration behind the creation of this book.

This book contains 33 tales of the Prince of Darkness. Each story is a unique look at this character, and the genre of vampire fiction. Such famous horror writers as Ramsey Campbell, Manly Wade Wellman, Brian Lumney, Basil Cooper, Kim Newman, and Hugh B Cave have contributed to this anthology.

Read and discover Dracula as he moves about from country to country, and city to city. Dracula is sometimes ruler of the world; sometimes a squalid bum. At times he is the ferocious predator; other stories portray him as an unwilling slave to humans that exploit his undead status. The stories paint Dracula from ancient times, to the present and even dystopian futures.

I will give Best in Book to F. Paul Wilson’s superb tale, “The Lord’s Work.” Worst in Book goes to Brian Lodge for his irreverent story, “The Last Testament. This is just my opinion, but then this is my review…

I still give the book five stars! Such a collection of the many sides of the Vampire King will no doubt become priceless very quickly!

Quoth the Raven…

[Dean Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading "In the Footsteps of Frankenstein by the same Author I was all but salivating for this anthology of Vampire Centric tales. Unfortunately, this was not what I was anticipating.
Most of the stories collected here are lackluster and are not equal to the collection in the Frankenstein Anthology. I would purchase it because I collect Vampire work, but ultimately the whole thing was lackluster and seemed "Half assed"

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of amazing authors here showing Dracula in different time periods and writing styles. Lots of fun for the vampire enthusiast.

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not the book I wanted it to be. I will say the second half was better but what a slog to get thru. I only liked a few of the stories.

[Brian Seaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been telling my niece ghost and vampire stories at her mom's backyard fire-pit ever since she was six; she's now on the cusp of 14. As she has aged, I've found it increasingly challenging to come up with new material. So for the past couple of years, I've resorted to supplementing my imagination with anthologies of ghost and vampire stories, both classic (she adores Poe) and modern. I'd purchased "In the Footsteps of Dracula" for this summer's annual visit to her summer home, which is an eight-hour bus ride from the city we live in. I didn't regret my purchase.

The anthology is a collection of tales that range from the classic Count himself to his modern incarnations and include several about vampires other than Dracula. There is a variety of genres; from the downright gruesome, gory straight-up horror to the darkly comedic to dystopian post-apocalyptic near futures where humans are forced to battle for survival. My favourite tales were the ones that addressed themes of survival, especially where the reader is lured into feeling sympathy for another species that, like our own, is primordially motivated by the will to live and the need to preserve oneself and to propagate.

Screenwriters seeking inspiration for a movie or a television series about a post-apocalyptic vampire world should give this a read. There are several tales that would make for a compelling movie or tv series.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't realize when I picked this up that it's a reprint, and the newest story in the book is a 2007 Sookie Stackhouse story (by Charlaine Harris). Major disappointment! Like most collections, somewhat uneven. Even more frustrating, poorly edited, with many articles or prepositions merged with the previous or following word. I did, however, really enjoy "Dear Allison," by Michael Marshall Smith. Kim Newman's "Coppola's Dracula" was fun, especially the passage about Van Helsing et al. attacking Dracula's castle as a rewritten scene from Apocalypse Now (Newman's Anno Dracula series frequently references popular culture in some sly manner).

[Karissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like a hs teacher grading papers🥲 some stories were cool and found new writers to read, but some stories were really terrible. like the one where Dracula was in a 60s cult and the fbi raided his castle lol…

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

the stories were kinda all over the place, but some were pretty good! I liked the second half of the book better than the first. the whole thing is pretty gory, obviously, but just a heads up for self harm descriptions in "your european son" and "bloodlines."

[Dakota · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'M STILL READING THIS I JUST DON'T KNOW HOW TECHNOLOGY WORKS BUT IN A PREMATURE REVIEW OF SAY IT'S AIGHT A LOT OF SEX FOR SOME REASON

[Wendopolis]

Too many dumb stories

[Mrsculpepper]

Solid collection of short stories about dracula

[Margit]

Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for a review.

I could not finish this book. Given my visual acuity, the choice of typeface for the stories made the text all but unreadable for me. It was a struggle to decipher the words. After very slowly making my way through the first seven stories, I decided the rather dull and repetitive nature of what I had read did not warrant me trying to continue reading.

[Nathaniel]

It looks like most of the people who read this agree with me. This anthology has no special stories that make it stick out.