Dracula : The Un-dead Arrives this October by Dacre Stoker & Ian Holt
Mr. Stoker, 49, is a great-grand-nephew of Bram Stoker, the Irish author who introduced the world to Dracula in 1897.
Dacre has graciously accepted the role as President after conversations with his friend Mike McCarthy ( Festival Director).
Dacre says:
"That he is thrilled and honoured to be associated with the Film Festival and is looking forward to seeing Whitby and visiting the spiritual home of Dracula and did not think twice after speaking with Mike about the long term plans and direction of the Bram Stoker International Film Festival"
Dacre is continuing the Stoker literary legacy with Dracula: The Un-Dead, the original title for Dracula before an editor changed it. The novel, which will be launched Globally in October 2009, will coincide with the Film Festival. The story draws on excised characters, existing character back-stories and plot threads that were cut from the original Dracula novel, which has never been out of print since it was first published in 1897.
Dracula: The Un-Dead has been co-written with New York based screenwriter Mr Ian Holt.
Dacre Stoker grew up in Canada. In 1979, while in college, he picked up Dracula for the first time.
"I was surprised that this old story was a 'page turner' and fairly fast-paced," he said.
He wrote a paper about his great-grand-uncle and his possible motivations for writing the novel.
"I had seen so many film versions of Dracula and very few had any resemblance to Bram's original novel. ... I found it really sad that all the trash Hollywood had put out had really sullied Bram's and the family's literary legacy," he said.
Several years ago, Mr. Stoker met Mr. Holt through a mutual friend.
"Ian's story ideas for a sequel to Bram's work really sparked a lot of those old feelings I had when I did my college paper. Ian and I decided to work together to re-establish the Stoker lineage ... by resurrecting Bram's original themes and characters," he said.
Mr. Holt, 36, has been fascinated with Dracula since he was a child.
Dacre has graciously accepted the role as President after conversations with his friend Mike McCarthy ( Festival Director).
Dacre says:
"That he is thrilled and honoured to be associated with the Film Festival and is looking forward to seeing Whitby and visiting the spiritual home of Dracula and did not think twice after speaking with Mike about the long term plans and direction of the Bram Stoker International Film Festival"
Dacre is continuing the Stoker literary legacy with Dracula: The Un-Dead, the original title for Dracula before an editor changed it. The novel, which will be launched Globally in October 2009, will coincide with the Film Festival. The story draws on excised characters, existing character back-stories and plot threads that were cut from the original Dracula novel, which has never been out of print since it was first published in 1897.
Dracula: The Un-Dead has been co-written with New York based screenwriter Mr Ian Holt.
Dacre Stoker grew up in Canada. In 1979, while in college, he picked up Dracula for the first time.
"I was surprised that this old story was a 'page turner' and fairly fast-paced," he said.
He wrote a paper about his great-grand-uncle and his possible motivations for writing the novel.
"I had seen so many film versions of Dracula and very few had any resemblance to Bram's original novel. ... I found it really sad that all the trash Hollywood had put out had really sullied Bram's and the family's literary legacy," he said.
Several years ago, Mr. Stoker met Mr. Holt through a mutual friend.
"Ian's story ideas for a sequel to Bram's work really sparked a lot of those old feelings I had when I did my college paper. Ian and I decided to work together to re-establish the Stoker lineage ... by resurrecting Bram's original themes and characters," he said.
Mr. Holt, 36, has been fascinated with Dracula since he was a child.
His quest to know Dracula has taken him to Transylvania, to sleep in the ruins of the castle and stand at the spot where Vlad the Impaler, the real-life inspiration for Dracula, would have watched the executions of his foes.
He said he has actively pursued the opportunity to write a sequel for a decade.
"Writer of the sequel to Dracula, that's the epitaph I've always wanted," he said.
The sequel is set about 25 years after the first novel ends.
More than 600 pages of the original novel were edited from the final work. Mr. Stoker and his wife, Jenne, visited the Rosenbach Museum in Philadelphia where Bram Stoker's original, handwritten notes were on display. The North American branch of the Stoker family has an autographed copy of the original novel.
Mr. Stoker said those items plus some private family papers were used to complete the sequel, which has Bram Stoker's original title, The Un-Dead.
"Believe me when I say we and Bram have some real big surprises for the fans - plot twists and characters that have been hidden from the public since 1897," says Ian. The new story is set in London in 1912, a quarter of a century after the blood-sucking Count apparently came to grief. The Vampire-hunter Van Helsing's protege Dr Seward is now a disgraced morphine addict, and Quincey, the son of Stoker's hero Jonathan, has become involved in a troubled theatre production of Dracula, directed and produced by Bram Stoker himself. The play plunges Quincey into the world of his parents' terrible secrets, but before he can confront them his father is found murdered, impaled in Piccadilly Circus.
The new book is the first Dracula story to be fully authorised by the Stoker family since the 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi and looks set to be a bestseller. It has already been sold for £1m to Dutton US, HarperCollins UK and Penguin Canada, and a film version is also being planned. Dacre Stoker, who formerly coached the Canadian Olympic Pentathlon team now lives in the USA..
Hot News from the Festival office
UN-DEAD ON FILM
Jan De Bont, the director of Speed, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and Twister, is reportedly on board to produce the film version of The Un-Dead. Ernest Dickerson, who directed the film Bones, is set to direct. Dacre Stoker said filming is slated to begin in June. Fingers crossed we can get exclusive trailers for the Festival.
Visit www.draculatheun-dead.com
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