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Anno-Dracula series

The Anno-Dracula series by Kim Newman is a work of fantasy depicting an alternate history in which vampires are a common and more-or-less accepted part of society (as a result of Dracula's reign in England, depicted in Anno-Dracula, the first in the series). The series is known for its carefully-researched historical settings and the author's use as supporting characters of both historical people and fictional characters of the appropriate period.

Entries in the series have won awards from the Dracula Society, the Lord Ruthven Assembly, and the International Horror Guild[?], and been short-listed for the Bram Stoker Award[?] and the Sidewise Award for Alternate History.

The series consists of three novels, and a number of novellas. Some of the novellas are due to be republished in a collection with the title Johnny Alucard.

Table of contents

1 Novels

1.1 Anno-Dracula
1.2 The Bloody Red Baron
1.3 Dracula Cha Cha Cha

2 Novellas

2.1 "Castle in the Desert"
2.2 "Coppola's Dracula"
2.3 "Andy Warhol's Dracula"
2.4 "Who Dares Wins"
2.5 "The Other Side of Midnight"
2.6 "You Are the Wind Beneath My Wings"
2.7 "Concert for Transylvania"

Novels

Anno-Dracula

1888. Dracula has married the widowed Queen Victoria, and rules as Prince Consort. A virtual checklist of fictional vampires have come out of hiding and gained new social status. But all is not going smoothly for the new regime: Jack the Ripper stalks Whitechapel, murdering vampire prostitutes. Charles Beauregard, a (non-vampire) agent of the British secret service, is sent to track the murderer down, and finds himself enmeshed in a plot to free England from Dracula's rule.

Anno-Dracula has won the Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award, the Lord Ruthven Assembly's Fiction Award, and the International Horror Guild[?] Award for Best Novel, and was short-listed for the Bram Stoker Award[?] for Best Novel.

The Bloody Red Baron

World War I. Dracula sides with Germany against the English, but vampires, now a part of everyday life, fight on both sides. The Red Baron of the title is the historical ace fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, who in this altered history leads a squadron of monstrous flying vampires.

The Bloody Red Baron was shortlisted for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Long Form.

Dracula Cha Cha Cha

also published as Judgment of Tears

1959. Every vampire who is anybody is flocking to Rome for Dracula's wedding, but there's a mysterious vampire killer on the loose. Events are complicated by the arrival of a British secret agent called Bond (but not James Bond), on the trail of a Russian spymaster who never goes anywhere without his cat. (The films of Federico Fellini are an influence on the setting and atmosphere, and several of his characters appear in the novel.)

Novellas

"Castle in the Desert"

1977. The story's first-person narrator, a private investigator, investigates the death of his ex-wife, found at the bottom of her swimming pool with an iron stake driven through her, and the disappearance of her daughter, last seen falling in with a crowd of vampire cultists. (The private investigator, though not named in the story, is clearly Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, and his ex-wife is based on a character in one of Chandler's novels - though in that novel, Marlowe decided not to marry her, knowing it wouldn't last.) (online (http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/originals/originals_archive/newman/newman1))

"Coppola's Dracula"

1976. Francis Ford Coppola is making the film for which he will always be remembered - an adaptation of Dracula starring Marlon Brando as Dracula and Martin Sheen as Jonathan Harker. (Yes, it's Apocalypse Now, complete with all the famous quotes and mishaps during filming, albeit in Romania instead of the Philippines.) The film crew is befriended by a young-looking vampire, who leaves with them when they return to America. (online (http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/coppola.htm))

"Coppola's Dracula" won the International Horror Guild[?] Award for Best Long Fiction, and was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award[?] for Best Long Fiction.

"Andy Warhol's Dracula"

1978. New York. Johnny Pop, the young-looking vampire who came to America with Coppola's film crew, finds his place in his new homeland, on his way to becoming the next Dracula. He becomes rich (creating a drug ring that sells "drac", derived from vampire blood) and socially successful (befriending many luminaries, including Andy Warhol), but risks losing it all when the many enemies he makes along the way join forces against him. (online (http://www.eventhorizon.com/sfzine/fiction/warhols_dracula/))

"Who Dares Wins"

April 30, 1980. The Romanian Embassy has been taken over by 'freedom fighters' who want Transylvania to become a homeland for the undead. As Special Air Service troops mass for an assault, journalist Kate Reed is invited into the embassy to meet the leader of the terrorists. (The equivalent event in our history involved the Iranian embassy: see the Special Air Service article for more information.) (online (http://www.johnnyalucard.com/whodares))

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