The Dracula Papers, Book I: The Scholar's Tale

Bram Stoker's immortal Dracula told us about Count Dracula as an undead vampire. But how did this come to be? Who was Dracula in real life? There has always been speculation, but The Dracula Papers now offers the ultimate answer. It takes us back to the year 1576, to the wild land of Transylvania and to the early life of Prince Vladimir who came to be the horror known as Dracula. The result is a story as remarkable and extraordinary as the Bram Stoker classic. Battles, intrigues, sorcery, sexual passion, hauntings, a mechanical tortoise and a burning rhinoceros all have their part to play in a thrilling narrative that nevertheless plunges deep into the mystery of Evil. With The Dracula Papers Reggie Oliver presents a grand tour of the sixteenth century, and of every variety of occult lore surrounding the vampire myth, that is rollicking, wise, macabre, but always unexpected. The Scholar's Tale is the first volume of a scholarly and picaresque Gothick Extravaganza.

From Publishers Weekly

Actor and author Oliver (The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini) has set himself the herculean task of showing how Count Vlad Dracula, a minor 17th-century Balkan noble, became the most famous monster of the Victorian era. In this first of four planned volumes, using the conceit of a lost book based on a manuscript discovered by the inquisitive Van Helsing, Oliver details the picaresque adventures of Martin Bellorius, a scholar who flees religious mobs in 1575 Wittenberg and treks across a chaotic Europe to Transylvania, encountering terrible wonders, bandit queens, murderous aristocrats, and monsters. He finds Castle Dracula threatened by Turkish invasion and divided by dark secrets and ambition, with young Vlad already caught up in courtly intrigues. Antique in its sensibilities yet quite salacious in places, Oliver's rambling tale will entertain the casual reader, but may make Dracula scholars impatient. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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