It is the year of Dracula whether you like it or not. That’s right, 2009 sees a sequel to the classic 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker hitting the shelves with a film version also on its way. But will it be any good? First of all, The Un-Dead is being written by Dacre Stoker, Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew.

- I can hear your zombie-like groans from here. To be honest though, unless Bram himself managed to claw his way out of the grave, it was always unlikely that he’d be the one writing it.

The question remains, why should anyone want to write a sequel? Who could hope to top or even equal such a classic? The odds are stacked against that happening even if it is good. I certainly have my reservations, but I’m going to see what happens. Perhaps a genuinely great idea struck Dacre and he felt he simply had to write it.

The book that springs to mind when I think about this is the disappointing Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks who wrote the book in the style of the original James Bond author, Ian Fleming. I couldn’t help feeling underwhelmed by the story and particularly the monkey-handed (yes, you heard) antagonist whose motivation seemed no more fleshed out than that of Stormbreaker’s lead villain Darrius Sayle.

According to Wikipedia “Ian Holt and Alexander Galant have completed the screenplay based on the official sequel novel.”

Let’s hope it doesn’t suck (haha).

Now here’s a man who played Dracula:

…and also the devil, it seems:

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