The story begins something like this:
A young lawyer named Harker sets out on a mission to Transylvania to assist a local aristocrat over a land deal. He is warmly welcomed by the count who is eccentric but not unmanageable. Later, left to his own devices, the young lawyer explores the castle where he discovers unusual goings on - corpses, coffins and the remnants of ritual sacrifices - what can it all mean?
Impressed by the international success of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Swedish newspaper Dagen bought the serial rights in 1899. They handed the translation to a staffer, known only as Ae. His imagination got the better of him - or perhaps he was under pressure to ensure the paper got its money's worth. Either way, the serialisation of Mörkrets makter / Powers of Darkness expanded to twice the length of the original with added scenes of debauchery, vampirism and witchcraft that nevertheless, some argue, presented a better-balanced more character driven tome by its end - Stoker had his moments but his text could also be flaccid.
The text was then lost and not rediscovered until an Icelandic version printed in a subsidiary newspaper was found in 2017 by Hans Corneel de Roos. Reading the text is like stepping into a parallel world where events are familiar yet different. Mina Harker has a more active role as the vampire hunter's strategist - there's a new character in the form of a detective consultant, Jack the Ripper gets a mention - as do Dracula's political ambitions (Dracula is named Draculitz in this version) - not to mention his arrogant dismissal of the straightjacket or British morality.
English language versions now exist - revive your library with a copy of your own:
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A young lawyer named Harker sets out on a mission to Transylvania to assist a local aristocrat over a land deal. He is warmly welcomed by the count who is eccentric but not unmanageable. Later, left to his own devices, the young lawyer explores the castle where he discovers unusual goings on - corpses, coffins and the remnants of ritual sacrifices - what can it all mean?
Impressed by the international success of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Swedish newspaper Dagen bought the serial rights in 1899. They handed the translation to a staffer, known only as Ae. His imagination got the better of him - or perhaps he was under pressure to ensure the paper got its money's worth. Either way, the serialisation of Mörkrets makter / Powers of Darkness expanded to twice the length of the original with added scenes of debauchery, vampirism and witchcraft that nevertheless, some argue, presented a better-balanced more character driven tome by its end - Stoker had his moments but his text could also be flaccid.
The text was then lost and not rediscovered until an Icelandic version printed in a subsidiary newspaper was found in 2017 by Hans Corneel de Roos. Reading the text is like stepping into a parallel world where events are familiar yet different. Mina Harker has a more active role as the vampire hunter's strategist - there's a new character in the form of a detective consultant, Jack the Ripper gets a mention - as do Dracula's political ambitions (Dracula is named Draculitz in this version) - not to mention his arrogant dismissal of the straightjacket or British morality.
English language versions now exist - revive your library with a copy of your own:
statistics: Posted by andrew.stephenson999 — 9:20 AM - Today — Replies 3 — Views 164