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Dracula: Prince of Darkness
Bram Stoker's Dracula has held a unique place in literature since the novel first sent shudders of fear through its captivated readers. This imaginative, bloodcurdling selection of original Dracula tales features the talents of Edgar Award winner John Lutz, P.N. Elrod, Rex Miller, F. Paul Wilson, and other top writers of the mystery, fantasy, and horror genres.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
Martin H. Greenberg
910 books163 followersMartin Harry Greenberg was an American academic and speculative fiction anthologist. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned over 8,200 original short stories. He founded Tekno Books, a packager of more than 2000 published books. In addition, he was a co-founder of the Sci-Fi Channel.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
For the 1950s anthologist and publisher of Gnome Press, see Martin Greenberg.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 7, 2023
Following Steven Dziemianowicz's thoughtful 'Introduction' we have fifteen stories here— some of novella length, and some short.
Wendi Lee and Terry Beatty's 'Black Wolf' is pathetic.
Several, like John Shirley's 'Lot Five, Building Seven, Door Twenty-Three' are utterly meh.
But there are jewels here. They are~
1) F. Paul Wilson's "The Lord's Work";
2) Warner Lee's "Cult";
3) Douglas Borton's "Voivode";
4) P.N. Elrod's "The Wind Breathes Cold";
5) Daniel Ransom's "Night Cries";
6) Brian Hodge's "Like A Pilgrim to The Shrine".
All these stories utilise the classic, or canonical Dracula and project his influence on our psyche to various directions in a very enjoyable manner.
As it happens, all of these gems are there in 'Rivals of Dracula' as well, along-with some other tales. Perhaps, for a Dracula-minded reader, that anthology would be a better choice.
This book is good, but the percentage of indifferent and poorly written tales diminish its impact rather harshly.
Your call.
Wendi Lee and Terry Beatty's 'Black Wolf' is pathetic.
Several, like John Shirley's 'Lot Five, Building Seven, Door Twenty-Three' are utterly meh.
But there are jewels here. They are~
1) F. Paul Wilson's "The Lord's Work";
2) Warner Lee's "Cult";
3) Douglas Borton's "Voivode";
4) P.N. Elrod's "The Wind Breathes Cold";
5) Daniel Ransom's "Night Cries";
6) Brian Hodge's "Like A Pilgrim to The Shrine".
All these stories utilise the classic, or canonical Dracula and project his influence on our psyche to various directions in a very enjoyable manner.
As it happens, all of these gems are there in 'Rivals of Dracula' as well, along-with some other tales. Perhaps, for a Dracula-minded reader, that anthology would be a better choice.
This book is good, but the percentage of indifferent and poorly written tales diminish its impact rather harshly.
Your call.
March 2, 2015
This is not the Hammer movie with Christopher Lee; rather, this is a collection of short stories edited by Martin H. Greenberg. They're all copyrighted in 1992, so I suspect he or his publisher solicited these from the authors for the book; that is, they were not previously published.
Summarizing the stories without revealing too much, we have....
"The Lord’s Work." A nun combats vampires and their human assistants in a world ruled by them. Enjoyable; I thought it would make for an interesting movie or television series. Maybe not—there’s no teenage romantic angle (do vampires get pimples).
"Cult." Clever, and with an almost humorous ending (well, dark humor).
"The Black Wolf." Trite.
"Blood Drive" provides a new explanation for vampirism in a cold futuristc setting.
"Hard Times." Dracula comes to the New World in search of more than just blood.
"Lot Five, Building Seven, Door Twenty-Three." Another futuristic setting.
"Deep Sleep." Dracula takes a trip (don't want to reveal too much, now).
"Voivode." Think of it as another rendering of Jonathan Harker’s journal, only in the present. With quite a different Dracula. I liked the author's apparent research citing McNally and Florescu.
"Dracuson’s Driver." Dracula actually isn’t in this one, but a good tale nevertheless. Maybe it could be retitled “Perv and the Vamp.”
"After the Ball." The victim's point of view, sort of.
"The Wind Breathes Cold." Could be the short sequel to the original Dracula.
"Night Cries." No Dracula here; it's a detective story with vampires.
"Blood from a Turnip." Dracula's modern-day occupation.
"The Cure." Written in the nineteenth-century style. The Count entertains guests.
"Like a Pilgrim to the Shrine." Today's (1992, not The Twilight Saga) generation of vampire encounters the original.
None of these are really scary or "blood chilling;" several are quite clever and even amusing. There is likely something for everyone here.
Summarizing the stories without revealing too much, we have....
"The Lord’s Work." A nun combats vampires and their human assistants in a world ruled by them. Enjoyable; I thought it would make for an interesting movie or television series. Maybe not—there’s no teenage romantic angle (do vampires get pimples).
"Cult." Clever, and with an almost humorous ending (well, dark humor).
"The Black Wolf." Trite.
"Blood Drive" provides a new explanation for vampirism in a cold futuristc setting.
"Hard Times." Dracula comes to the New World in search of more than just blood.
"Lot Five, Building Seven, Door Twenty-Three." Another futuristic setting.
"Deep Sleep." Dracula takes a trip (don't want to reveal too much, now).
"Voivode." Think of it as another rendering of Jonathan Harker’s journal, only in the present. With quite a different Dracula. I liked the author's apparent research citing McNally and Florescu.
"Dracuson’s Driver." Dracula actually isn’t in this one, but a good tale nevertheless. Maybe it could be retitled “Perv and the Vamp.”
"After the Ball." The victim's point of view, sort of.
"The Wind Breathes Cold." Could be the short sequel to the original Dracula.
"Night Cries." No Dracula here; it's a detective story with vampires.
"Blood from a Turnip." Dracula's modern-day occupation.
"The Cure." Written in the nineteenth-century style. The Count entertains guests.
"Like a Pilgrim to the Shrine." Today's (1992, not The Twilight Saga) generation of vampire encounters the original.
None of these are really scary or "blood chilling;" several are quite clever and even amusing. There is likely something for everyone here.
May 1, 2014
All of the short stories were extremely well written. I was impressed by the writing skills. And I was pretty excited to read some of the stories since I was familiar with some of the authors.
My absolute favorite story was the very first one in the book. "The Lord's Work." It was just absolutely fantastic. Even now that I've finished the book, that's the story that stands out the most to me. It definitely set the bar high for the rest of the short stories, though none of them seemed to quite meet that standard. There are a couple that were close, but nothing that surpassed it. I could definitely have read an entire novel based on "The Lord's Work."
I also really liked the story "Night Cries." It was clever that vampires were different from what you'd expect...vampires were initially born out of an illness back in Vlad the Impaler's day, and his son is the main character, taking on the name "Johnathan Harker." I enjoyed it.
Those two are by far my absolute favorites. There are a few others as well that I enjoyed, and a few that I was bored with all the way through. All in all though, I'd say this is a mediocre book. I've read a lot worse, but for a collection of short stories it really isn't bad at all.
My absolute favorite story was the very first one in the book. "The Lord's Work." It was just absolutely fantastic. Even now that I've finished the book, that's the story that stands out the most to me. It definitely set the bar high for the rest of the short stories, though none of them seemed to quite meet that standard. There are a couple that were close, but nothing that surpassed it. I could definitely have read an entire novel based on "The Lord's Work."
I also really liked the story "Night Cries." It was clever that vampires were different from what you'd expect...vampires were initially born out of an illness back in Vlad the Impaler's day, and his son is the main character, taking on the name "Johnathan Harker." I enjoyed it.
Those two are by far my absolute favorites. There are a few others as well that I enjoyed, and a few that I was bored with all the way through. All in all though, I'd say this is a mediocre book. I've read a lot worse, but for a collection of short stories it really isn't bad at all.
May 21, 2020
I read this book on a dimly lit porch in Stone Harbor NJ , circa August 1992.
The first story, the lords work, which interestingly enough took place at the jersey shore, has really stuck with me all these years. Without a doubt my favorite and one everyone should read .Written by F Paul Wilson, and later incorporated into his novella midnight mass, is such a fun read. The prose goes by so fast you forget you're actually reading. And the guest appearance by the count himself is what really made the story stick out for me all these years.
Just re read it , and it's as good as I remembered. Now to seek out Midnight Mass and see how it flows into that.
Great stuff. Highly recommended.....
The first story, the lords work, which interestingly enough took place at the jersey shore, has really stuck with me all these years. Without a doubt my favorite and one everyone should read .Written by F Paul Wilson, and later incorporated into his novella midnight mass, is such a fun read. The prose goes by so fast you forget you're actually reading. And the guest appearance by the count himself is what really made the story stick out for me all these years.
Just re read it , and it's as good as I remembered. Now to seek out Midnight Mass and see how it flows into that.
Great stuff. Highly recommended.....
April 16, 2012
This was a pretty good collection of short stories.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews