This anthology is quite original, both in its structure, since we have five different stories inside it, but they are not really isolated stories, and both in its take on the legend of Dracula. It was fascinating and interesting, and even if I haven't loved all the short stories, I think that they all are quite good and it is an enjoyable reading. We have some expected things, like a story about E. Bathory (written by Tchaikovsky), and some unexpected ones, like the format in which these stories are narrated. To be honest, the ideas in this book are good, really, but the realization of them is not always optimal. They sometimes seem disjointed and sometimes they just didn't get trough, even if, in the complex, it was an original reading.

Anthologies are difficult to rate. They are never consistent and will be rated differently according to taste. In general, I felt this collection was quite strong, even though not every entry spoke to me. The concept was an interesting one, but due to the differing styles of the writers it lacked cohesion, and so I found myself unable to really engage with it as much as I wanted. Overall though, the collection was well-written and well-researched, and definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the historicity and legend of Dracula.

Dracula Rise of The Beast

Bram Stoker’s Dracula comes as a bit of surprise to many. The classic work of horror is written in an unusual way, filled with different points of view and novel narrative approaches, which is an unexpected but pleasant surprise to many. Rebellion’s latest horror anthology, Dracula Rise of The Beast does something similar, by approaching this quintessential story in novel and clever ways.

For a start, the framing device for the stories are two people researching Dracula itself. They’re presented in a style strongly reminiscent of Stoker himself. Editor David Thomas Moore has brought together five writers to form a coherent story made of individual elements. It’s a trick he’s done before with the excellent Monstrous Little Voices. Dracula Rise of The Beast is yet another example of how a very skilled editor can curate a collection of excellent stories into something greater than the whole.
The central idea behind each story is the tale of Dracula taken from other angles. The leads in the original are , after all, very specific members of society and quite privileged. There’s little room for nuance with any of them. With this anthology, we get some clever insights and a broader spread of characters. All the stories utilise also uses Stoker’s stunt of being a mix of letters and scenes, which interrupt the flow somewhat at times.

We open with Bogi Takacs ‘The Souls of Those Gone Astray From the Path’. Written as a series of letters dating back to the 15th century, it’s an earnest attempt at ‘Dracula the Early Years’. Such a tale has been done better elsewhere, Kiersten White’s And I Darken springs to mind. However Takacs does some clever things with the narrative here. The point of view of the Rabbi character is especially interesting and Vlad’s own approach the court politics is both novel and engaging. A curates egg of surprises and a little slow, but still good.

Adrian Tchaikovsky’s contribution, ‘Noblesse Oblige’ looks at Dracula’s impact on the world at large and the vampire myth in particular. Tchaikovsky is very good at the slow reveal and the sudden challenge, and this is a tale not really of Dracula but Elizabeth Bathory. It’s a solid ‘Journey into Darkness’ tale and one of the high points of the collection.

Milena Benini ‘s ‘A Stake Too Far’ is a faster paced, jolly little tale of vampire hunters versus Dracula, with more than a touch of the movie ‘The Fearless Vampire Killers’ mixed in. Strong notes of tragedy for all the characters move the story along, and you even feel a little sorry for the king of vampires himself at times.

Emil Minchev’s ‘Children of the Night’ is a gorgeous fairy tale with strong eastern European sensibilities. On the face of it, the story asks the question why someone like Dracula would even be interested in a city like London, but underneath it all there’s, well, it’s not a love story. But it is delightful.

We finish with Caren Gussuf Sumption’s ‘The Woman’, a sweeping generational tale about Romani/ Szgany clan who follow and serve Dracula. It’s a finely balanced story that challenges prejudice on a number of different levels and addresses some of the key problems in Stoker’s original. Cracking stuff and compelling reading.
Dracula Rise of The Beast is not light reading, and each story is hefty and well considered. One to take with you on holiday, especially if that holiday involves long trips across the Eastern European countryside.

8/10

Dracula: Rise of the Beast is an anthology of five novellas interconnected by a series email between two protagonists who are studying Dracula. The stories are loosely connected and present the many facets of Vlad Dracula: from the Ottoman Wars to the modern days. As usual with anthologies, a few stories didn’t work for me but for the most part, I found this collection very interesting and quite refreshing. You could ask yourself what’s new about Dracula but I assure you that those stories will change your mind about that!



Individual Reviews
The Souls of Those Gone Astrays From the Path by Bogi Tákacs ★★

A Jewish rabbi and his nephew spy on Vlad Dracula in a series of letters. I have to say that this story was the one that impressed me the least and since it’s the first story of the anthology, it didn’t leave me with a great first impression. It took me days to read because I had trouble getting into the story. It is extremely slow-paced and I felt like we didn’t learn a lot about Dracula in this one.

Noblesse Oblige by Adrian Tchaikovsky ★★★ 1/2

I always look forward reading any of Tchaikovsky’s stories, his name was one of the reason I was interested by this particular anthology.

This story follows Erzsebeth Báthory, an Hungarian countess famous for her murders (I had to Google that because while reading I felt like I was missing something and she existed! you can read more about it here). She was rumoured to bathe in the blood of the innocents she murdered in order to remain young, always. Because of that, she gained the surname of Lady Dracula and it is Tchaikovsky’s takes on this urban legend.

This story was quite horrifying as we read diaries entries written by Báthory as she slowly experiment with her victims in order to win her battle against Dracula. Her character is brutal and unforgiving and it was fascinating to see how sure she was of the right of her actions.

A Stake Too Far by Milene Benini ★★★ 1/2

A tragic story of two brothers that can’t live together. What surprized me the most about this story was how much Dracula’s character felt relatable to me. In most stories, he’s the bad guy yet in this one story, he felt almost human. I cannot say he was likeable but as far as a vampire goes, he was quite nice! I wish Vlad and Radu’s history could have been more detailed, the ending felt a bit rushed and and the story too surface-level for my liking. I wish we had had a bit more knowledge about their relationship and their inner conflict. I still enjoyed this story but I wanted more.

Children of the Night by Emil Minchev ★★★★★

Children of the Night is definitely my favorite story of the anthology. It is one long letter written by Dracula to one of his vampire friends where he counts his love affair with a monster. It was extremely gruesome and horrifying yet strangely fascinating to read about. We learn how his children came to be and how Dracula was seduced by the strange creature. It sure is an odd story but I was hooked from the start!

The Woman by Caren Gussof Sumption ★★★★ 1/2

This novella counts three different stories focused on Romanian women connected through the ages. It is told thanks to a mix of documents such as diaries entries, blog posts and letters and we slowly learn how the women are connected. It was another great story centered around family and Romanian culture. I don’t want to say much more than that because the beauty is discover bit by bit how the storylines intertwine with each other!



Overall Thoughts
This anthology was a very interesting take on the Dracula myth. It was fascinating to discover different interpretation of the same character through the eyes of various authors. In my opinion the Dracula of this anthology was way more interesting than Stoker’s Dracula as he felt more alive (odd choice of word to describe a vampire isn’t it?) and complex.

As usual with anthologies, all the stories didn’t all work for me but for the most part, I found them good and they push me to make some research of my own. I’m also happy to have discovered some new-to-me authors since the only author I heard about previously was Adrian Tchaikovsky. I definitely want to read some more stories by Caren Gussof Sumption and Emil Minchev!

Required reading to any Dracula fan and highly recommended to horror and dark fantasy lovers!

★★★★

This was a well researched and well written collection of stories around the well known mythos. Some were stronger than others and while I enjoyed them all they didn't capture the magic of the original story for me. But I am still glad i read it.

A fascinating and interesting set of short stories. Each of them was really interesting and well written.
Dracula is a fascinating characters and these stories are up to the literary and historical character.
Recommended.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing

I found this to be a really enjoyable collection of stories. Each author takes a different aspect of the vampire myth and crafts a new tale around it, so we have a Dracula origin story, an exploration of Elizabeth Bathory, a great mash up of Dracula and Baba Yaga and more. What I thought was really well done was the prose style. The authors have kept the epistolary form of the original, but updated it with blog posts, emails and web articles that really add to the narrative drive. I particularly enjoyed the final story, which brought the legend right up to the modern day and overall, I think that anyone who likes Dracula should definitely give this collection a look - there will be at least one tale that appeals to you.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

‪Dracula - Rise of the Beast (edited by David Thomas Moore) https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2018/3/22/dracula-rise-of-the-beast-edited-by-david-thomas-moore‬

Dracula: Rise of the Beast is a unique take on the story of Dracula, told in a series of five short stories predominantly through letters and other such correspondences spanning his time as Count Vlad III to Dracula. The stories are told from points of view of a variety of characters who played roles in the infamous being's life. These include a rabbi or French servant observing his behaviors while hearing rumors or witnessing unexplained, otherworldly events or characters like Elizabeth Bathory who are more directly involved with Dracula. Readers are taken on a historical journey by the authors. I appreciated the attention to historical details, especially of the first story. I am not entirely sure if the intent of the collection was to have some kind of connectivity beyond just that they all featured Dracula. If this was the case, I didn't really feel like it delivered. As with collections like this, some of the stories are going to interest readers more than others. Overall, I would recommend this for anyone interested in the Dracula story.

Dracula: The Rise of the Beast is an interesting project. Five very different writers weave, in separate stories, a tale of Dracula's history. Presented as correspondence, some letters that are hundreds of years old and some emails and blog posts, the authors of this book attempt to tell a semi -cohesive story tracing Dracula's rise, evolution, impact on the communities surrounding him, and his presence, direct or indirect, in the modern day. Told with varying degrees of skill and success, the stories passed on in this book are rich with European folklore and Draculian legend. Concsptually, the book is a win. In execution, however, it doesn't fare as well. Often disjointed and hard to follow, the writing is sometimes clunky and offputting, particularly in the case of the book's first chapter/story. A great concept that needs more work, The Rise of the Beast has earned its 2.5 stars.

This is a collection of stories about Dracula and his historical counterpart, Vlad III of Wallachia.

Five different stories from different authors attempt to get the reader acquainted with both the historical figure and the legend. Using historical facts about Vlad III and lore from Romania and the surrounding countries, the authors give their own perspective on Dracula. Whether we follow the story through the eyes of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, a Jewish leader of Budapest or a French servant, there is always suspense in every narrative.

The stories are smart, incredibly well researched and carefully constructed, shrouding Dracula in a proper air of mystery, as is well deserved for this legendary figure. Each part of this book is completely different from the next one, which adds more interest to it.

Recommended for all fans of "everything Dracula".

Finished DraculaRiseofTheBeast, an interesting story with a unique way of presenting. Really held my attention almost until the end where it felt a tad adrift. Overall an intriguing read.