PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Dacre Stoker, the great-great grand nephew of the Irish author Bram Stoker, decided to clear the air surrounding the Dracula copyright controversy by writing a sequel that bore the Stoker name to reestablish some control over the original book. Co-written with Ian Holt, Dracula: The Undead (2009) was created using notes the senior Stoker had written for his own eventual sequel. Five years later, The Fourth Monkey author J. D. Barker wrote and indie published his own novel titled Forsaken, which was so good that Stephen King allowed Barker to use Needful Things character Leland Gaunt within its pages. Now in 2017, these two scribes have teamed up to write Dracul, the first official prequel to Dracula that has been completely authorized by the estate of Bram Stoker. Just imagine what could be learned within these pages!
Paramount Pictures just recently acquired the screen rights to the book. At this time, Paramount plans to create a film version of Dracul with crew harvested from the upcoming IT remake: director Andy Muschietti and producers Barbara Muschietti and Roy Lee.
Set in 1868, Dracul tells the story of 21-year-old Bram Stoker and his clash with “an ungodly evil.” Stoker then traps the being in a tower and proceeds to journal the events that led him there. Paramount exec Vanessa Joyce bought the film rights to the book and will oversee the development with Vertigo Entertainment’s Miri Yoon.
“I can’t imagine a better team to tell this story.”
– J.D. Barker
This is big news for vampire fans. This prequel and upcoming film will tell the first official story of the time before Jonathan Harker first traveled the Carpathian Mountains to find Count Dracula. Are you interested in finding out some backstory on one of the darkest figures in horror history? Or maybe finding out a bit about the man behind the Count – Bram Stoker?
Check back with PopHorror for updates on this historical novel and its upcoming film!
