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El Deméter de Drácula
En su clásica obra «Drácula», Bram Stoker, mediante unas pocas entradas crípticas en un diario de un capitán anónimo, ofrecía algunas pistas sobre el viaje que llevó al vampiro rey desde su tierra natal a un Londres rio en sangre. Ahora, se cuenta toda la historia.
Julio de 1897. La goleta Deméter zarpa desde Varna llevando cincuenta cajas llenas de tierra. Un mes después, en medio de una intensa tormenta, la goleta toca tierra en Whitby. El único ser vivo a bordo es un enorme perro que desaparece en la noche.
Acompañe a Doug Lamoreux, nominado a un galardón Rondo en 2010 y autor de The Devil’s Bed para una apasionante mezcla de aventura marina, romance y terror. Suba a bordo del Deméter de Drácula.
Julio de 1897. La goleta Deméter zarpa desde Varna llevando cincuenta cajas llenas de tierra. Un mes después, en medio de una intensa tormenta, la goleta toca tierra en Whitby. El único ser vivo a bordo es un enorme perro que desaparece en la noche.
Acompañe a Doug Lamoreux, nominado a un galardón Rondo en 2010 y autor de The Devil’s Bed para una apasionante mezcla de aventura marina, romance y terror. Suba a bordo del Deméter de Drácula.
355 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 7, 2012
170 people are currently reading
525 people want to read
About the author
Doug Lamoreux
45 books56 followersDoug is a writer, actor, and horror film historian. His newest novel, 'Saucy Jacky: The Whitechapel Murders as told by Jack the Ripper' is now available on Amazon from Creativia Publishing.
The first-ever Igor Award winner from The Horror Society, a former Pushcart Prize and Rondo Award nominee, Doug is the author of When the Tik-Tik Sings, the Amazon #1 best selling Apparition Lake, Obsidian Tears, The Devil's Bed, the Amazon #1 best selling Dracula's Demeter (2012 Lord Ruthven Award nominee), The Melting Dead, the Amazon #1 best selling Corpses Say the Darndest Things: A Nod Blake Mystery, Red Herrings Can't Swim: A Nod Blake Mystery, and Seven for the Slab: A Horror Portmanteau. He contributed to the Rondo nominee Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies, the Rondo winning follow-up Hidden Horror, Animals Attack, and the up-coming Vampires Suck.
He appeared in the horror films The Thirsting (aka Lilith) with Mickey Rooney and Tina Krause, and Hag with Ari Lehman. He starred in Peter O'Keefe's film, Infidel. His novel, Dracula's Demeter is being adapted as a feature by ThunderBall Films.
Doug drinks too much coffee. Come and tell him so on Facebook and Twitter!
The first-ever Igor Award winner from The Horror Society, a former Pushcart Prize and Rondo Award nominee, Doug is the author of When the Tik-Tik Sings, the Amazon #1 best selling Apparition Lake, Obsidian Tears, The Devil's Bed, the Amazon #1 best selling Dracula's Demeter (2012 Lord Ruthven Award nominee), The Melting Dead, the Amazon #1 best selling Corpses Say the Darndest Things: A Nod Blake Mystery, Red Herrings Can't Swim: A Nod Blake Mystery, and Seven for the Slab: A Horror Portmanteau. He contributed to the Rondo nominee Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies, the Rondo winning follow-up Hidden Horror, Animals Attack, and the up-coming Vampires Suck.
He appeared in the horror films The Thirsting (aka Lilith) with Mickey Rooney and Tina Krause, and Hag with Ari Lehman. He starred in Peter O'Keefe's film, Infidel. His novel, Dracula's Demeter is being adapted as a feature by ThunderBall Films.
Doug drinks too much coffee. Come and tell him so on Facebook and Twitter!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
September 17, 2018
If you liked Bram Stoker's Dracula this book is a clear recommendation. Written in Stoker's style you come to know everything about Dracula's journey from Varna to Whitby. And what a grim story it is! You'll even learn about Lucy, Mina and Renfield whose minds are influenced by Dracula from the Demeter. The horror starts slow but the sea cruise soon turns into a formidable nightmare. There is even a pendant to the love story in the original Dracula. Here they are named Katya and Mr Harrington. Well, the Dracula presented here is a true monster. Cunning, reckless, a real beast who acts against the crew of the Demeter. This is the true prequel to Stoker's Dracula. You'll get all the information you wanted to know in Stoker's book. Highly recommended, I really enjoyed it!
Read
August 24, 2016Reading this and "Stoker's Manuscript" together, as they explain different shades of the "Dracula" novel. In this one, Dracula uses his powers to manipulate events in order to board a ship bound for England. We get the clinical detail of why he needs soil, and how he gets madman's Renfield's help. Jonathan Harker is here, and his fiancee too. See my notes in "Stoker's Manuscript."
March 21, 2012
Author Doug Lamoreux revisits a classic of the horror genre and spins new life in a well-told tale in Dracula’s Demeter. The story reveals an unknown aspect of Bram Stoker’s original tale by exploring the doomed voyage of the Russian schooner Demeter as it ferries a mysterious cargo from the Black Sea to the shores of England. Hidden in the hold are fifty boxes of earth and the lord of all vampires, Count Dracula himself.
We’re introduced to the Russian captain Smirnov and his crew, along with a refugee Englishman named Harrington and a mysterious crew member hiding a dangerous secret. As the crew rumbles about a bad feeling onboard and mysterious weather follows the vessel, the crew of the Demeter begin to disappear one after another, falling prey to the predatory vampire hidden in the bowels of the ship’s hold.
As a lifelong fan of Stoker’s book (as flawed as it is), this was a real treat to go back and revisit this classic with Lamoreux at the rudder. It’s a brilliant concept, exploring the untold tale of the cursed voyage of the Demeter. The action is fairly standard vampire stuff, sticking close to Stoker’s parameters but it’s well told and a delight to read. Lamoreux writes with such authority about ships and seafaring life of the late 18th century that one can almost feel the spray on your face and hear the creak of the ropes.
Overall, Dracula’s Demeter is a wickedly fun read and a delightful addition to Stoker’s classic tale. A boon to Dracula fans everywhere.
We’re introduced to the Russian captain Smirnov and his crew, along with a refugee Englishman named Harrington and a mysterious crew member hiding a dangerous secret. As the crew rumbles about a bad feeling onboard and mysterious weather follows the vessel, the crew of the Demeter begin to disappear one after another, falling prey to the predatory vampire hidden in the bowels of the ship’s hold.
As a lifelong fan of Stoker’s book (as flawed as it is), this was a real treat to go back and revisit this classic with Lamoreux at the rudder. It’s a brilliant concept, exploring the untold tale of the cursed voyage of the Demeter. The action is fairly standard vampire stuff, sticking close to Stoker’s parameters but it’s well told and a delight to read. Lamoreux writes with such authority about ships and seafaring life of the late 18th century that one can almost feel the spray on your face and hear the creak of the ropes.
Overall, Dracula’s Demeter is a wickedly fun read and a delightful addition to Stoker’s classic tale. A boon to Dracula fans everywhere.
August 16, 2015
Dracula's Demeter endeavors to take a brief, haunting episode from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and expand it into a full-length novel in its own right. This is the story of Dracula’s sea voyage from Transylvania to England.
Dracula’s Demeter uses the log of the Demeter from Bram Stoker’s Dracula as an outline. The logbook in Stoker’s novel gives us the name of many of the ill-fated ship’s crew: Petrofsky, Olgaren, and Abramoff. We know there are two mates and a cook, and the first mate is Romanian, while most of the crew is Russian.
Lamoreaux fills in the back stories of these men. The cook is an old Scotsman on his last sea voyage, looking forward to retirement in Whitby. One of the men has severe back pain and must take laudanum just to function. Lamoreaux adds an undocumented passenger to the mix -- an English scholar who must flee Romania quickly because the daughter of an official claimed she was pregnant with his child. As the story unfolds, we find that not all aboard are who they seem, but the captain has reasons to keep their secrets in his official log. This allows a story to unfold that is at once consistent with Dracula but also offers a few surprises.
Lamoreaux remains true to Stoker and his Dracula is unquestionably a villain. We see him kill in grotesque ways and manipulate people both aboard the ship and in Whitby. Like the story of Demeter’s voyage, Lamoreaux adds to the character of Dracula without contradicting Stoker and we come away with an even more frightening and villainous creature than before.
Dracula’s Demeter uses the log of the Demeter from Bram Stoker’s Dracula as an outline. The logbook in Stoker’s novel gives us the name of many of the ill-fated ship’s crew: Petrofsky, Olgaren, and Abramoff. We know there are two mates and a cook, and the first mate is Romanian, while most of the crew is Russian.
Lamoreaux fills in the back stories of these men. The cook is an old Scotsman on his last sea voyage, looking forward to retirement in Whitby. One of the men has severe back pain and must take laudanum just to function. Lamoreaux adds an undocumented passenger to the mix -- an English scholar who must flee Romania quickly because the daughter of an official claimed she was pregnant with his child. As the story unfolds, we find that not all aboard are who they seem, but the captain has reasons to keep their secrets in his official log. This allows a story to unfold that is at once consistent with Dracula but also offers a few surprises.
Lamoreaux remains true to Stoker and his Dracula is unquestionably a villain. We see him kill in grotesque ways and manipulate people both aboard the ship and in Whitby. Like the story of Demeter’s voyage, Lamoreaux adds to the character of Dracula without contradicting Stoker and we come away with an even more frightening and villainous creature than before.
April 27, 2013
Every October I re-read Dracula. It's a tradition for me. I've also thought for decades that Dracula's journey on the Demeter would make a great stand-alone story.
I've never met Mr. Lamoreux, but I have interacted with him through email (briefly) when he submitted a short story for a Halloween collection I put together. When I saw that he'd actually written a book based on the Demeter I was immediately skeptical.
Writing a book about Stoker's vampire is a tricky game to play. Hollywood (in my opinion) has been incorrectly interpreting that character for the past century.
I'm very happy to say that Mr. Lamoreux succeeded where most have failed.
This book felt like a true companion to Stoker's novel. Dracula's Demeter is clearly a labor of love.
This book felt... well... it felt real. The crew of the Demeter felt real. The dialogue felt genuine for the time period. And most importantly, this book felt like it existed in the same world as Stoker's novel. The Dracula in this book isn't Bela Lugosi. He isn't Coppola's interpretation of the character.
This is Bram Stoker's Dracula in all his bloodthirsty glory.
Overall, I was incredibly impressed by this book. It isn't a cheap rip-off and it isn't trying to cash in on Dracula. This book respects Stoker's novel in every possible way.
If you've never read Dracula, find it and read it.
Then, after you're done, read Dracula's Demeter.
I've never met Mr. Lamoreux, but I have interacted with him through email (briefly) when he submitted a short story for a Halloween collection I put together. When I saw that he'd actually written a book based on the Demeter I was immediately skeptical.
Writing a book about Stoker's vampire is a tricky game to play. Hollywood (in my opinion) has been incorrectly interpreting that character for the past century.
I'm very happy to say that Mr. Lamoreux succeeded where most have failed.
This book felt like a true companion to Stoker's novel. Dracula's Demeter is clearly a labor of love.
This book felt... well... it felt real. The crew of the Demeter felt real. The dialogue felt genuine for the time period. And most importantly, this book felt like it existed in the same world as Stoker's novel. The Dracula in this book isn't Bela Lugosi. He isn't Coppola's interpretation of the character.
This is Bram Stoker's Dracula in all his bloodthirsty glory.
Overall, I was incredibly impressed by this book. It isn't a cheap rip-off and it isn't trying to cash in on Dracula. This book respects Stoker's novel in every possible way.
If you've never read Dracula, find it and read it.
Then, after you're done, read Dracula's Demeter.
October 29, 2020
Bram Stoker's Dracula on a ship!The story follows several members of the ship but I especially enjoyed Harrington's perspective.Harrington boards the ship to escape from his girlfriend's violent family only to discover once onboard his girlfriend has followed him disguised as a boy.Strange things begin to take place violent storms,crew disappear,Harrington's girlfriend becomes ill,a stranger is seen onboard,giant rodents,spiders and more.I thought this was nicely written and it pretty much kept my attention throughout.I also enjoyed the different perspective on the classic story and definitely would read this author again.Cool Halloween read.🎃
July 17, 2012
Dracula by Bram Stoker is one of my all time favorite novels and, like many others, was probably the beginning of my lifelong love of the vampire, both the romanticized versions and those with more of a darker nature. I admit I’ve always been curious about what took place on the ship Dracula was transported to England on. In Stoker’s novel we know the vampire is a stowaway, hidden away in his crates of foul dirt, and that no one is left alive to steer the ship into port at the end of the voyage. But we get little on the journey itself. I was intrigued when I read the blurb for Dracula’s Demeter and decided to pick it up straight away. I’m pleased to say I found the writing excellent, perhaps even surpassing the original novel by Stoker that it's based upon. The pages easily held me mesmerized, perhaps a little of the Count’s mystical powers involved because I found it difficult to put the novel down once I'd started reading.
We are drawn quickly into the lives of the unlucky crew and the single passenger fated to die aboard the Demeter. They come across as real people, the descriptions and individual personalities shown in vivid 3D color. The tension level is kept high throughout, which in my opinion is the key to any good horror story. The reader swiftly begins to feel the growing terror of these people, trapped on a ship with a monster out on the open seas. A warning here; you may want to read this novel during the daylight hours because all the senses are brought into play, including fear and disgust. When the storm rages around the ship, we can almost feel the spray of the saltwater on our face, smell the Count’s fetid breath brush against the neck, feel the stickiness of blood. For sure it’ll bring out a shiver or two. As we delve deeper into the story, one can’t help but hope for a miracle to arrive in time to save these doomed people.
If you’re like me and always wanted to know what took place at the beginning of the famous Count’s journey from Transylvania to England, and you enjoy the scare of a good horror story, then Dracula’s Demeter is the novel for you. I’m looking forward to the next novel by Doug Lamoreux.
We are drawn quickly into the lives of the unlucky crew and the single passenger fated to die aboard the Demeter. They come across as real people, the descriptions and individual personalities shown in vivid 3D color. The tension level is kept high throughout, which in my opinion is the key to any good horror story. The reader swiftly begins to feel the growing terror of these people, trapped on a ship with a monster out on the open seas. A warning here; you may want to read this novel during the daylight hours because all the senses are brought into play, including fear and disgust. When the storm rages around the ship, we can almost feel the spray of the saltwater on our face, smell the Count’s fetid breath brush against the neck, feel the stickiness of blood. For sure it’ll bring out a shiver or two. As we delve deeper into the story, one can’t help but hope for a miracle to arrive in time to save these doomed people.
If you’re like me and always wanted to know what took place at the beginning of the famous Count’s journey from Transylvania to England, and you enjoy the scare of a good horror story, then Dracula’s Demeter is the novel for you. I’m looking forward to the next novel by Doug Lamoreux.
August 13, 2020
This was the book I was waiting for. Ever since I read the original Stoker novel, I always wanted a tv show, a comic book, a movie or any possible media which shows the events of the Count’s journey from Transylvania to London on the doomed Demeter ship. In the original novel, there were just 4 pages of the journal entry from the ship’s log.
My wish was finally granted. This book in the flesh narrated the whole journey and describes the entire terrifying events and meticulous planning of the vampire with which he slowly offs the ship’s crew one by one increasing the level of claustrophobia, paranoia and tension among the survivors.
The author pays homage to the original work while at the same time connects some of the storylines very cleverly which never occurred to me even though I have read the original work countless times. Even though we know how the story’s gonna end, the narration still manages to hook you up.
In fact, this book serves as an excellent companion piece to the original novel and is highly recommended for fans who want to know more of the story and lore of the vampire’s journey. It has a creepy atmosphere, likeable characters and an impending sense of doom throughout, highly recommended.
My wish was finally granted. This book in the flesh narrated the whole journey and describes the entire terrifying events and meticulous planning of the vampire with which he slowly offs the ship’s crew one by one increasing the level of claustrophobia, paranoia and tension among the survivors.
The author pays homage to the original work while at the same time connects some of the storylines very cleverly which never occurred to me even though I have read the original work countless times. Even though we know how the story’s gonna end, the narration still manages to hook you up.
In fact, this book serves as an excellent companion piece to the original novel and is highly recommended for fans who want to know more of the story and lore of the vampire’s journey. It has a creepy atmosphere, likeable characters and an impending sense of doom throughout, highly recommended.
October 15, 2017
I absolutely loved this book. My only regret is that I read Dracula many times before I found this book. The characters were well written and the fear slowly built into the terror it achieved at the end. I found myself thinking as I read "too bad the characters/ship's crew didn't band together and share information until it was way too late. The addition of Ekatrina (a young girl stowaway) was brilliant as it kept Dracula busy for quite some time. Did this book scare me? It did a little (and probably would have a lot more if I hadn't already read Dracula first) and that's simply because of the way the author writes and how he built the atmosphere and plot. Though it was set during Dracula's sea voyage from Translavania to England, the story flowed much easier than that of the original Dracula. This story didn't drag nor did it linger on certain areas for too long or fail to give each incidence the time it deserved.
For anyone who loves Vampire books...I would say this ranks right up there with the original Dracula. I gave it 5 stars and would have given it more if I could have.
For anyone who loves Vampire books...I would say this ranks right up there with the original Dracula. I gave it 5 stars and would have given it more if I could have.
November 22, 2019
I’m a huge Dracula/vampire fan and this book was all that and then some.
We have the Demeter the ship we know from Bram Stokers Dracula that ferries him from Europe to Whitby.
This story mixes together Whitby and it’s residents including Mina and Lucy while telling us of life on board the ship with the malevolent Dracula and the passengers and crew.
A spellbinding story I enjoyed it, once I got to grips with the story I ran with if and relished it.
If you love anything Dracula based you’ll love this.
We have the Demeter the ship we know from Bram Stokers Dracula that ferries him from Europe to Whitby.
This story mixes together Whitby and it’s residents including Mina and Lucy while telling us of life on board the ship with the malevolent Dracula and the passengers and crew.
A spellbinding story I enjoyed it, once I got to grips with the story I ran with if and relished it.
If you love anything Dracula based you’ll love this.
July 24, 2024
This is probably one of the patchiest books I've ever read. There are moments when I had to stop and double-check that this was the work of a single author and not one accomplished storyteller allowing a few eager novices to tack on bits of unedited fanfiction.
The highest compliment I can give it is that, in a bloodied sea of Dracula adaptations and spinoffs that have little to anything to do with the novel itself, often penned by people who watched Francis Ford Coppola's movie once and decided that was good enough, Dracula's Demeter is written by someone who absolutely read and enjoyed the actual book. It's hard to miss when we get to actually see all the cast involved during the Demeter/Whitby section on the pages. And there are sprinklings of quotes from the original tale cast throughout. Lamoreux did his homework! Likewise for the flints of historical accuracy applied to the seafaring itself. Points added for being thorough and earnest in making a real Dracula story instead of a Pop Culture Osmosis Dracula story.
But from there, it's a whole lot of stumbling.
[SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT]
Leaving aside the Archive of Our Own-level syntax oddities, (there are a lot of parentheses and ALL CAPS ACTION WORDS scattered around), and the sudden whiplash moments of elbowing Requisite Sexy Girlie scenes ranging from our main OC girl getting a beat to focus on her nipples and how lusty-lovey into Dracula she is after getting chomped, to poor Lucy getting long-distance psychic possessed by the Count so he can make her grope herself while Mina watches, the whole set-up core POV of the narrative--that of the Englishman Trevor Harrington and his beloved Ekaterina both hiding away on the ship and crossing paths with the Count, oh no!--is kind of, well. Pointless.
I'm not being hyperbolic. There is literally no meat added to the Demeter section's bones by having Harrington and Ekaterina onboard, other than having to see Harrington burn himself in a failed attempt to raze the ship, followed by being garroted to death by Ekaterina at Dracula's orders. And then Dracula snaps her neck and chucks her in the sea because he's bored of her. The one useful thing Harrington does is lose the crucifix that was in his corpse's pocket so the captain can pick it up later. Instead of just happening to have a crucifix on him in the first place. That's it.
The only reason I can think of to have the OC couple on the ship and taking up over two thirds of the book's spotlight in the first place was to explicitly have Sexy Vampiress Time grafted into the story. I would give it kudos for the cruelty on display when Ekaterina kills Harrington after so clearly being in love with the man while she was human. But the fact of her glee in doing it is just proof to me that while Lamoreux did read and love Dracula, he's also pointedly ignoring the tragic point of the undead victims Dracula turns.
The Brides/Weird Sisters back at the castle, conceivably with him for centuries, outright mock Dracula to his face and try to rob him of Jonathan Harker behind his back. Dracula still feeds and keeps them rather than slaying them whilst scoffing about companionship, as was Ekaterina's sendoff in the adaptation. Lucy Westenra becomes the Bloofer Lady and, rather than suddenly doing cartwheels over having Dracula as her master, chucks the kid-meal in her arms and immediately tries to collect Arthur Holmwood, her still-beloved human fiance. When Mina is ultimately attacked by Dracula and left trapped on the route to vampirism, the Count explicitly uses the promise/threat of 'being his companion' to twist the knife in her.
The horror of being turned by Dracula very much involves being enslaved to him. It also involves becoming a funhouse mirror version of yourself, all warped id and bloodlust. If Dracula brings his boot down, you have to obey--ala the Brides grudgingly retreating from Jonathan and Mina eventually being unable to speak against Dracula's will--but the vampire's will is still their own. Meaning Ekaterina's sudden 'ooh~ love me some Count Sexypire~ Harrington who?' shift upon undeath is the most egregious piece of vampire kink throw-in writing in the story. Which, again, Did Not Add Any Substance. She and Harrington got on board. Ekaterina got chomped, did some murder, then got murdered.
This, plus the thick wad of closing chapters focused on Dracula blowing the Demeter onto shore feel like nothing more than padding for a narrative that would have been better off taking the course of the film The Last Voyage of the Demeter and adding some actual flavor to the crew without overdoing the Requisite Romance/Add More Sexiness bit. The section of Dracula devoted to the trip to Whitby is very blatantly the period in the book when the Count is a bare bones absolute monster.
He is not idling around a castle having psychological torture chats with Jonathan. He is not playing yo-yo with Lucy's health and free will as his first little treat on English soil. He is not villain monologueing at Mina and the guys for daring to defy his will.
He is starving. He wants to be at his prime by the time he reaches England. He wants to play with his food, all of them with nowhere to run in the open sea. What need does he have to play eloquent with trapped livestock? Who is there among these coarse sailors that he would bother collecting for his colony? None, none. And so he dispatches them as blithely as he once ordered a woman to be eaten alive by wolves for irritating him. Or as casually as he murdered one of his own employees and crammed his corpse in a wall.
Dracula only plays with victims he means to keep. The cattle are just slaughtered.
But, all that being said?
It IS still a Dracula book tangentially related to and mostly respectful of the actual Dracula book. Which saves it from the 2-star review I might have given it in isolation.
The highest compliment I can give it is that, in a bloodied sea of Dracula adaptations and spinoffs that have little to anything to do with the novel itself, often penned by people who watched Francis Ford Coppola's movie once and decided that was good enough, Dracula's Demeter is written by someone who absolutely read and enjoyed the actual book. It's hard to miss when we get to actually see all the cast involved during the Demeter/Whitby section on the pages. And there are sprinklings of quotes from the original tale cast throughout. Lamoreux did his homework! Likewise for the flints of historical accuracy applied to the seafaring itself. Points added for being thorough and earnest in making a real Dracula story instead of a Pop Culture Osmosis Dracula story.
But from there, it's a whole lot of stumbling.
[SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT]
Leaving aside the Archive of Our Own-level syntax oddities, (there are a lot of parentheses and ALL CAPS ACTION WORDS scattered around), and the sudden whiplash moments of elbowing Requisite Sexy Girlie scenes ranging from our main OC girl getting a beat to focus on her nipples and how lusty-lovey into Dracula she is after getting chomped, to poor Lucy getting long-distance psychic possessed by the Count so he can make her grope herself while Mina watches, the whole set-up core POV of the narrative--that of the Englishman Trevor Harrington and his beloved Ekaterina both hiding away on the ship and crossing paths with the Count, oh no!--is kind of, well. Pointless.
I'm not being hyperbolic. There is literally no meat added to the Demeter section's bones by having Harrington and Ekaterina onboard, other than having to see Harrington burn himself in a failed attempt to raze the ship, followed by being garroted to death by Ekaterina at Dracula's orders. And then Dracula snaps her neck and chucks her in the sea because he's bored of her. The one useful thing Harrington does is lose the crucifix that was in his corpse's pocket so the captain can pick it up later. Instead of just happening to have a crucifix on him in the first place. That's it.
The only reason I can think of to have the OC couple on the ship and taking up over two thirds of the book's spotlight in the first place was to explicitly have Sexy Vampiress Time grafted into the story. I would give it kudos for the cruelty on display when Ekaterina kills Harrington after so clearly being in love with the man while she was human. But the fact of her glee in doing it is just proof to me that while Lamoreux did read and love Dracula, he's also pointedly ignoring the tragic point of the undead victims Dracula turns.
The Brides/Weird Sisters back at the castle, conceivably with him for centuries, outright mock Dracula to his face and try to rob him of Jonathan Harker behind his back. Dracula still feeds and keeps them rather than slaying them whilst scoffing about companionship, as was Ekaterina's sendoff in the adaptation. Lucy Westenra becomes the Bloofer Lady and, rather than suddenly doing cartwheels over having Dracula as her master, chucks the kid-meal in her arms and immediately tries to collect Arthur Holmwood, her still-beloved human fiance. When Mina is ultimately attacked by Dracula and left trapped on the route to vampirism, the Count explicitly uses the promise/threat of 'being his companion' to twist the knife in her.
The horror of being turned by Dracula very much involves being enslaved to him. It also involves becoming a funhouse mirror version of yourself, all warped id and bloodlust. If Dracula brings his boot down, you have to obey--ala the Brides grudgingly retreating from Jonathan and Mina eventually being unable to speak against Dracula's will--but the vampire's will is still their own. Meaning Ekaterina's sudden 'ooh~ love me some Count Sexypire~ Harrington who?' shift upon undeath is the most egregious piece of vampire kink throw-in writing in the story. Which, again, Did Not Add Any Substance. She and Harrington got on board. Ekaterina got chomped, did some murder, then got murdered.
This, plus the thick wad of closing chapters focused on Dracula blowing the Demeter onto shore feel like nothing more than padding for a narrative that would have been better off taking the course of the film The Last Voyage of the Demeter and adding some actual flavor to the crew without overdoing the Requisite Romance/Add More Sexiness bit. The section of Dracula devoted to the trip to Whitby is very blatantly the period in the book when the Count is a bare bones absolute monster.
He is not idling around a castle having psychological torture chats with Jonathan. He is not playing yo-yo with Lucy's health and free will as his first little treat on English soil. He is not villain monologueing at Mina and the guys for daring to defy his will.
He is starving. He wants to be at his prime by the time he reaches England. He wants to play with his food, all of them with nowhere to run in the open sea. What need does he have to play eloquent with trapped livestock? Who is there among these coarse sailors that he would bother collecting for his colony? None, none. And so he dispatches them as blithely as he once ordered a woman to be eaten alive by wolves for irritating him. Or as casually as he murdered one of his own employees and crammed his corpse in a wall.
Dracula only plays with victims he means to keep. The cattle are just slaughtered.
But, all that being said?
It IS still a Dracula book tangentially related to and mostly respectful of the actual Dracula book. Which saves it from the 2-star review I might have given it in isolation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual combination of vampires & high seas adventure. The author is knowledgeable in historical nautical terms but doesn't overwhelm the reader with complex prose. Each character has depth & the relationships are wondefully described as the crew aboard the 'Demeter' discover their deadly cargo & fears become reality as they make their way from Eastern Europe to Whitby, England. I will definitely be looking for more work from this author.
June 30, 2019
This is how an adaptation of a classic should be done.
I had thought of this as a prequel, but in actual fact the plot occurs in parallel with those in Bram Stoker's original and uses phrases or dialogue from the original at well placed and thoughtful points throughout. I warmed to all the characters, especially those onboard Demeter and honestly feel that the plot and characters in Dracula's Demeter compliment and if possible, enhance the original.
I had thought of this as a prequel, but in actual fact the plot occurs in parallel with those in Bram Stoker's original and uses phrases or dialogue from the original at well placed and thoughtful points throughout. I warmed to all the characters, especially those onboard Demeter and honestly feel that the plot and characters in Dracula's Demeter compliment and if possible, enhance the original.
June 22, 2018
I have a fascination with many works "Dracula." Taught Romantic literature for years and hopefully inspired many students to consider the impact of Stoker's and Shelley's works on our current day cinema, literature, etc. This book did a great job returning the reader to the cliffs above Whitby Harbor and to the inner workings of the great sailing ships of the nineteenth century.
October 27, 2019
Watching the movie “Bram’s Strokers Dracula” making one of my favorite Halloween traditions. I always wondered about the quick mention of the ship and its history in the book. I came across “Dracula’s Demeter” while scrolling for a good horror book this Halloween. Not disappointed and all my questions were answered.
January 20, 2020
Dracula’s Demeter
Of course we all know he made it to England, and carried on the tale told by Bram Stoker. It was interesting, if not incredibly sad and horrific, to read what happened to the crew and the others.
Of course we all know he made it to England, and carried on the tale told by Bram Stoker. It was interesting, if not incredibly sad and horrific, to read what happened to the crew and the others.
May 4, 2021
My review on a great story
I gave this story a 5 star rating because it felt like I was watching a movie. The movie
itself only mentions the arrival of the ship but not what happened on the ship itself before it arrived.
I gave this story a 5 star rating because it felt like I was watching a movie. The movie
itself only mentions the arrival of the ship but not what happened on the ship itself before it arrived.
December 22, 2015
A GRAND TALE OF THE MASTER IT IS....
Hello, damn fine story here. Written about as properly as one could want. Sad tale it is, though. Very enjoyable. Thanks.
Hello, damn fine story here. Written about as properly as one could want. Sad tale it is, though. Very enjoyable. Thanks.
September 11, 2018
Very enjoyable
Considering you know how it's going to end, the book does a good job of getting us all there. Recommended.
Considering you know how it's going to end, the book does a good job of getting us all there. Recommended.
July 1, 2019
Good book
This was a good read. The idea was well put together and it was edited well. Give it a go.
This was a good read. The idea was well put together and it was edited well. Give it a go.
May 3, 2020
An excellent read !!
September 8, 2020
What really happened on Dracula's voyage to England, and how the Demeter ended up shipwrecked at Whitby. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoyed the original Dracula by Stoker.
May 31, 2021
Bran stocker himself would have been delighted how Doug lamoreux has written Draculars jouney to whitby on the Dementer ship, The same gothic style of writing and the same horror. excellant.
October 19, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this story about the Demeter from Bram Stoker's Dracula. We get to see a much deeper story with actual characters and a decent plot. The atmosphere of this story was really good, lots of creepy scenes with dark ship bows and engulfing fog. We get to see Dracula, his thoughts and actions on the doomed voyage. It was interesting to see the crew of the Demeter have their own story, even though we knew how it would end. I admit, I was hoping to see something a little more positive come from the stowaways that didn't make it on any ship's log but that didn't happen because, you know, Dracula.
Overall a pretty good story and I liked all of the characters and how it tied in with Dracula. The only gripe I had was some editing errors with the wrong words used or misspelled (pail instead of pale and distain instead of disdain). 4/5 stars
Overall a pretty good story and I liked all of the characters and how it tied in with Dracula. The only gripe I had was some editing errors with the wrong words used or misspelled (pail instead of pale and distain instead of disdain). 4/5 stars
October 5, 2021
La idea de narrar el viaje de Drácula a bordo del Deméter se me hizo intrigante. Aunque Lamoreux trabaja con la dificultad de tener que terminar la historia exactamente como Bram Stoker la continua, el hace su trama lo suficientemente interesante como para mantener la atención de los lectores. Irónicamente, la novela va perdiendo potencia a la medida que los tripulantes van desapareciendo y cuando la presencia de Drácula es inevitablemente revelada a los tripulantes sobrevivientes, culminando en los últimos capítulos siendo los más tediosos en mi opinión. De todas formas, la novela no estuvo mal y si veo que le pueda interesar a lectores curiosos de agrandar la clásica historia Stoker.
January 21, 2024
The part of the book that told the story of the Demeter, was entertaining. The story met my expectations, for the most part, and the characters were believable.
I would have given the story higher marks if it hadn't left Demeter to include other characters Bram Stoker already developed, like Lucy and Renfield. The characters on Demeter were barely developed so making the story about them felt original.
Of course, Bram Stoker's Dracula, is one of my favorite books which could have influenced my opinion of this one.
I would have given the story higher marks if it hadn't left Demeter to include other characters Bram Stoker already developed, like Lucy and Renfield. The characters on Demeter were barely developed so making the story about them felt original.
Of course, Bram Stoker's Dracula, is one of my favorite books which could have influenced my opinion of this one.
September 1, 2025
I liked that the book wasn’t written in the same format as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, that style wouldn’t have made sense here. The author was able to add additional characters to the Demeter without creating a plot hole for the understood transition to Dracula’s arrival in Whitby in the original book, and the story accounted for how a dead man steered the Demeter to her intended destination. Really, a good book, though I wanted at least a slightly happy ending for the crew, even though I knew very well it wouldn’t work with Dracula’s story.
January 23, 2018
What Happened on the Demeter
If you have read Dracula you are familiar with the Demeter. Have you ever wondered if there was more to the story of the crew? By the time we are introduced to the schooner in Dracula the crew is missing and the only body in board is the Captain. Garcia's Demeter tells the crews tale. Solid story that weaves a new tale without trying to change a classic.
If you have read Dracula you are familiar with the Demeter. Have you ever wondered if there was more to the story of the crew? By the time we are introduced to the schooner in Dracula the crew is missing and the only body in board is the Captain. Garcia's Demeter tells the crews tale. Solid story that weaves a new tale without trying to change a classic.
May 8, 2017
An interesting take on the story of how Dracula arrived in England . I found it a decent story with occasional parts that got a little long winded . Only one passenger written into the tale annoyed me but I wont get into that.
November 21, 2021
Great adventure, but...
Far too many typos, misspellings, and misused vocabulary. Disappointing for a novel with an inspired concept and in general as well-constructed as its inspiration.
Far too many typos, misspellings, and misused vocabulary. Disappointing for a novel with an inspired concept and in general as well-constructed as its inspiration.
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