Anno Dracula


Anno Dracula is a 1992 novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the Anno Dracula series. It is an alternate history using 19th-century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fiction. The interplay between humans who have chosen to "turn" into vampires and those who are "warm" is the backdrop for the plot which tracks Jack the Ripper's politically charged destruction of vampire prostitutes. The reader is alternately and sympathetically introduced to various points of view. The main characters are Jack the Ripper, and his hunters Charles Beauregard, and Geneviève Dieudonné, an elder vampire. The two other main point of views are Captain Kostaki, a sympathetic elder vampire warrior of Dracula's Carpathian Guard, and Lord Godalming, ambitious, scheming aide of Prime Minister Ruthven.

Plot

In this world, Count Dracula has killed Van Helsing. An injury sustained to Doctor John Seward's hand during a fight with Renfield resulted in the group lacking the men to drive Dracula away from Mina Harker, resulting in Dracula killing Quincey Morris and Jonathan Harker before escaping with Mina. With no one to oppose him, Dracula turns Mina into a vampire, adding her to his collection of brides, and proceeds to spread his vampire curse creating thousands of undead throughout England. He soon marries Queen Victoria, ushering in a period of increasing British vampire domination. Dracula is well advanced in imposing a police state in the United Kingdom, where dissenters may be jailed or impaled without trial.
Dieudonné has come down in the world, attending sick vampires in a clinic run by a doctor with a shady past. When a prostitute is murdered, Scotland Yard turns to them for an opinion. In the meantime Beauregard's social marriage preparations are interrupted by a summons to the mysterious Diogenes Club, which represents the crown in matters that cannot be made public. There, he is charged with finding Jack the Ripper. At the inquest for the recently destroyed vampire prostitute, Dieudonné and Beauregard appear, along with Captain Kostaki, Lestrade from Scotland Yard, and Dr. Jekyll. Each sets out independently, with differing agendas.
Beauregard is abducted by an old enemy, a Tong leader who calls a truce on the understanding that Beauregard will collaborate in finding the killer. This precludes the Ripper being a member of organized crime, and periodically gives Beauregard inside information. Dieudonné stops at a pub, where she encounters a group of elite Carpathian mercenaries whom Dracula brought to London as his household guard. She confronts one bully, and, being the elder vampire, soundly bests him, gaining the notice and respect of one of their number who was also at the inquest, Captain Kostaki. Jack Seward, the physician at Dieudonné's clinic, recalls the early days of Dracula in London, before the signs of vampirism were recognized.
As the demands of the Diogenes Club have first priority, a rift opens between Beauregard and his fiancée. Her fascination with social climbing is revealed: "Only vampires get anywhere, Charles." The intimates of Dracula discuss their continued takeover of the government, and set their own man to find Jack the Ripper. Meanwhile, the destruction of vampire prostitutes is drawing unwanted support for an anti-vampire Christian group. Seward becomes lustfully entangled with a "new born" vampire.
Jack the Ripper strikes twice, failing to destroy one, who is brought to the clinic. The prostitute is a vampire of Dracula's line — a contaminated bloodline, from Dieudonné's perspective. It imperfectly changes shape, leaping at Seward as it dies. Trusting their associates, the implication is lost on Dieudonné and Beauregard. Seward notes the growing public hysteria, and reflects "I meant to destroy a monster, not become one."
Beauregard and Dieudonné, having similar ideas, become closer, while his fiancée is increasingly annoyed at his lack of attention. Reporting to the Diogenes, Beauregard is puzzled that his meager progress is satisfactory. Leaving, he becomes entangled in an anti-vampire riot. However, he's saved by one of the few vampires at the club, Sergeant Dravot. Beauregard's impatient fiancée becomes a vampire by one of Dracula's men. In her arrogance, the conversion does not go well, and she is barely able to reach the safety of her house. Beauregard and Dieudonné take her in care, Dieudonné observing, without being complimentary, that she may eventually become a strong vampire.
Riots escalate, symbols of rebellion are being painted throughout London. An anti-vampire leader is shot, and one of Dracula's henchmen is destroyed, both perhaps by the same mysterious vampire. The ruling vampires react decisively. A large number of prominent people are to be imprisoned and treated ruthlessly, including George Bernard Shaw, Lewis Carroll, and W. S. Gilbert. In a converging plotline, Captain Kostaki and a human Inspector named Mackenzie pursue the mysterious vampire riling everyone up, Kostaki being shot in the knee by a silver bullet in the process. Before Mackenzie can report everything he knows to his inept superior, the vampire appears in the midst of a distraction, murders him and frames Captain Kostaki for it. The Captain allows himself to be arrested and taken to the Tower of London, where Graf Orlok now resides as the Governor. Meanwhile, Seward becomes increasingly infatuated with his vampire lover, Mary Kelly, having trouble distinguishing her now from the murdered Lucy. In Dravot, Dracula's henchmen Godalming believes he has found Jack the Ripper. After questioning Kostaki in the Tower of London, he is pursuing Dravot when he is killed by an old friend who he betrayed by becoming a vampire: Seward.
Beauregard and Dieudonné finally realize that Seward is Jack the Ripper. They race to him, finding he has destroyed his vampire lover. As they leave with him in custody, they encounter Dravot, and the destroyed body of Godalming. Seward is murdered, but then Dravot produces a fabricated story about what happened: that there were two Rippers. Bemused, Beauregard realizes that he has been used as a tool of the Diogenes Club. Jack Seward, his mind gone, and recognizing Dracula will merely turn him immortal to torture him forever, is mercifully executed by Beauregard. He and Dieudonné, by now having become lovers, are to be recognized by the queen for their work. The story concludes with a confrontation between Beauregard, Dieudonné, the queen, and Dracula, where Beauregard tosses a silver knife to Queen Victoria at the behest of the Diogenes Club. Knowing that he cannot kill Dracula through direct combat, Beauregard provides Victoria with a means of killing herself, thus depriving Dracula of the right to legally rule Britain and forcing him to flee the country.

Characters from fiction

Characters are listed here. Those with more than a passing role are starred. Due to the historical period, many are from works in the public domain.
CharacterOrigin
Adam AdamantAdam Adamant Lives!
Baron MeinsterThe Brides of Dracula
Kurt BarlowSalem's Lot
Brides of DraculaDracula
Sir Danvers CarewThe Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Thomas CarnackiCarnacki, the Ghost-Finder
Barnabas CollinsDark Shadows
Count Dracula*Dracula
Daniel Dravot*The Man Who Would Be King
Gunga DinGunga Din
Soames ForsyteThe Forsyte Saga
Fu Manchu The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu
GriffinThe Invisible Man
Basil HallwardThe Picture of Dorian Gray
Mina HarkerDracula
Mycroft Holmes*The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock HolmesA Study in Scarlet
Elder Chinese VampireMr. Vampire
Doctor Henry Jekyll and Edward HydeStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Carmilla KarnsteinCarmilla
Kostaki*The Pale Lady
Inspector Lestrade*A Study in Scarlet
Lestat de LioncourtInterview with the Vampire
MacheathThe Threepenny Opera
Prince MamuwaldeBlacula
Admiral Sir Mandeville Messervy Original
Sebastian MoranThe Return of Sherlock Holmes
Doctor MoreauThe Island of Doctor Moreau
Professor MoriartyThe Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The MurgatroydsRuddigore
Count OrlokNosferatu
Allan QuatermainKing Solomon's Mines
Rupert of HentzauThe Prisoner of Zenda
Lord Ruthven*The Vampyre
Kate Reed*Early draft of Dracula
John ReidThe Lone Ranger
John SewardDracula
Bill SikesOliver Twist
Sir Francis VarneyVarney the Vampire
Count Von KrolockThe Fearless Vampire Killers
Count YorgaCount Yorga, Vampire
Carl KolchakThe Night Stalker
Waverly Original
A. J. RafflesThe Amateur Cracksman
Doctor Antonio NikolaA Bid for Fortune: or, Dr Nikola's Vendetta
ClaytonThe Hound of the Baskervilles
Lord John RoxtonThe Lost World
Arthur Holmwood*Dracula
Lucy WestenraDracula
Abraham Van HelsingDracula
RenfieldDracula
Jonathan HarkerDracula
Quincey MorrisDracula
Lulu SchonPandora's Box
Geneviève Dieudonné*Drachenfels
ChandagnacDrachenfels
The Old JagoA Child of the Jago
Ivan DragomiloffThe Assassination Bureau, Ltd
Countess GeschwitzPandora's Box
Melissa d'AcquesDrachenfels
Count BrastovThe Soft Whisper of the Dead
Prince Conrad VulkanThey Thirst
Don Sebastian de VillanuevaThe Black Castle
Edward WeylandThe Vampire Tapestry
Baron KarnsteinCarmilla
Lady Adelina DucayneGood Lady Ducayne
Sarah KenyonThe Tomb of Sarah
Ethelind FiongualaKen's Mystery
Countess DolingenDracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories
The Amahagger'
Ezzelin von KlatkaThe Mysterious Stranger
Count Vardalek*The True Story of a Vampire
Madame de la RougierreUncle Silas
ClarimondeLa Morte Amoureuse
Martin HewittMartin Hewitt, Investigator
Max CarradosMax Carrados
Augustus Van DusenThe Thinking Machine
CotfordEarly draft of Dracula
Mrs. WarrenMrs. Warren's Profession
Inspector Mackenzie*The Amateur Cracksman
Berserker the DogDracula
The WurdalakBlack Sabbath
Louis BauerGaslight
Edward MaloneThe Adventure of the Grinder's Whistle
A Wessex Cup WinnerThe Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Mrs. AmworthMrs. Amworth
Henry WilcoxHowards End
General ZaroffThe Most Dangerous Game
Lucian de TerreThe Werewolves of London
Count MitterhouseVampire Circus
Armand TeslaThe Return of the Vampire
Count DuvalEl Vampiro
Countess Marya ZaleskaDracula's Daughter
Asa VajdaBlack Sunday
Martin CudaMartin
AnthonyThe Night Stalker
Caleb CroftGrave of the Vampire
Dr. RavnaThe Kiss of the Vampire
Dr. CallistratusBlood of the Vampire''

Historical people mentioned or appearing as characters

From the book cover: "The most comprehensive, brilliant, dazzlingly audacious vampire novel to date." ; "A tour de fource which succeeds brilliantly." ; "A marvellous marriage of political satire, melodramatic intrigue, gothic horror, and alternative history.".

Sequel

The Bloody Red Baron, the sequel to Anno Dracula, was published in 1995.