‘Vlada: A Dracula Tale’ Is A Perfect Tribute To Stoker’s Classic…With A Twist

Plot
As the forward to Christopher Denmead’s book focuses on, everyone knows the story of Dracula. It is a timeless tale that has been made, re-made, written about, watched, and cherished since 1897. All of that points to the truth that the story never gets old and I love the different variations of it that exist.
Denmead takes Stoker’s plot and flips it on its head. Gender flipping the characters leads to a new way to view the story. Vlada is just as smooth, sultry and dangerous as Dracula and Anastasia Van Helsing is the ever-determined vampire hunter.
While I can’t comment too much on the creation of Denmead’s plot, it is a wonderful homage to Bram Stoker’s masterpiece. It is violent, entertaining, and stays true to the plot we all know and love.
Characters
Much like the plot, each character is a tribute to an original character from Stoker’s novel. However, each character is gender-flipped and Denmead really does a great job of not just copying the characters in their original genders. He shows differences in thinking and actions without falling victim in his writing to gender stereotypes. Like the plot, each character wonderfully pays homage to their counterpart.
Writing
The story of Vlada kept me gripped. I read it quickly in one sitting and was enthralled in the action. Denmead does an excellent job of setting the atmosphere and creating tension with his writing. He really shows skills in action scenes and describes the violence, terror, gore, and viciousness that a Dracula story should show!

Illustrations
This book includes a number of amazing illustrations by Ken Hunt with each one being a true work of art. Hunt’s style suits the atmosphere Denmead created perfectly and they add a layer of depth to the story. Hunt is precise, detailed, and meticulous in his work. The writing and illustrations work perfectly together to makes characters and locations come right off the pages.
Critique
I really enjoyed this book! It is always hard to critique books that I really enjoy, but I do try to make sure I am honest and unbiased in my reviews. Therefore, I did find it a little anachronistic at times. I do admit, that I had a time period in mind when I opened the book so I’m sure that skewed how I read it, but it was a little unclear at moments if the characters were modern people or if they were in the time period of the original novel.
Eulogy
This is a work of passion. I mean that in all of the very best ways. There is obviously a love of Dracula that radiates through this book and that makes it such as great read. If you enjoy the story of Dracula, you will enjoy this. I definitely recommend Christopher Denmead’s fantastic book. Not only is it a glowing tribute, but Vlada: A Dracula Tale stands on its own merit and a great book.