British Fantasy Novels Codexery

Anno Dracula

Alternate history where Dracula marries Queen Victoria.

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The novel presents an alternate history where Dracula defeats his enemies and becomes Prince Consort to Queen Victoria.[1][2] Kim Newman developed the concept during the 1980s after being captivated by Tod Browning's Dracula film as a child.[3][4]

Making and release

He did not begin writing until 1989-1991, when Stephen Jones asked him to contribute to The Mammoth Book of Vampires.[3][4] Newman drew on Sally Mitchell's Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia and annotated editions of Stoker and Doyle for research.[2] He created a system of vampirism crossbred with Bram Stoker's original rules.[4] The author included real Victorians and fictional characters from the period in the cast.[4]

Newman used the Jack the Ripper murders as a narrative structure to explore social unrest.[5][4] The novel was first published in 1992.[2] A later edition included annotations explaining the many references.[2] The short story "Red Reign," written for an anthology in 1991, served as the fundamental framework for the full novel.[3][4]

What the cited sources add

Newman's own website account states he was eleven when he first saw Dracula and became an obsessive fan.[4] Newman explains he wanted to mix his feelings about 1980s "Victorian Values" rhetoric with the real social unrest of the 1880s.[4] The AICN interview reveals Newman suggested a "Victorian Tarantino" soundtrack of music hall songs for a film adaptation.[2] A Guardian review by Milo describes the novel as a "love letter to fiction of all kinds" and suggests it is appropriate for readers aged fourteen and older.[6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Anno Dracula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Steelman, "New Harris vamp novel reads like a soap opera", Star-News, 3 June 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. bug, "AICN HORROR: Lyzard reviews ANNO DRACULA novel & interviews the author, Kim Newman!!!", Aint It Cool News. facts only, no text reused. legacy.aintitcool.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Anno Dracula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Anno Dracula: Kim Newman Talks Vampires", Writing.ie, 2013-10-23; "Anno Dracula: The Background", The Kim Newman Web Site, 2012-04-26; bug, "AICN HORROR: Lyzard reviews ANNO DRACULA novel & interviews the author, Kim Newman!!!", Aint It Cool News; "Anno Dracula: The Background", The Kim Newman Web Site, 2012-04-26; "Publication: The Mammoth Book of Vampires", isfdb.org; "Title: Red Reign", www.isfdb.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. "Anno Dracula: The Background", The Kim Newman Web Site, 2012-04-26. facts only, no text reused. johnnyalucard.com
  5. Wikipedia, "Anno Dracula" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Anno Dracula: Kim Newman Talks Vampires", Writing.ie, 2013-10-23; "Anno Dracula: The Background", The Kim Newman Web Site, 2012-04-26; "TV Interview for London Weekend Television Weekend World ("Victorian Values") Margaret Thatcher Foundation", www.margaretthatcher.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Milo, "Anno Dracula by Kim Newman – review", The Guardian, 5 February 2014. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Anno Dracula (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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