Power, money and blood [Via Fred Griffin]

Vampires rise again on HBO's True Blood

By TARA DOOLEY Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle, June 9, 2009,

Undead bloodsuckers have never been more appealing.

Or more human.

Sure, vampires still troll the night, feed on blood and keep secrets from all but the most remarkable of human beings.

But when the vampires of HBO rise again Sunday for a second helping of the horror romance True Blood, they will also find themselves mired in the more mundane realities of mortality.

They will fight with — and make up with — their girlfriends, highlight their hair and worry about ruining their favorite pumps.

It’s the price of revealing themselves to the world, or at least the fictional Louisiana town of Bon Temps, where the action is centered.

“I think the vampires are like humans in many ways,” True Blood executive producer Alan Ball said in a conference-call press conference last week. “There are a lot of law-abiding peaceful vampires … and then there are those who just want everything.”

And by everything, Ball means power, money and blood.

The new season of True Blood starts where the last one finished, with painted toenails on a dead body. From there the story traipses down the country road of sex, love and debauchery, all dished out HBO-style, which is to say rather explicitly.

Those familiar with the last season — or anyone who has read the source of the show, Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels — knows that these vampires are hunky and human. They are friends, lovers and bosses.

They have dark secrets of blood sucked and lives lost. The best among them are trying to get in touch with their inner human. The worst are power-hungry and political, with an unmerciful sense of justice that includes the torture of prisoners for information.

As in last season, vampires have “come out of the closet” and are trying to blend in a new world as they face their fears and the fears of Bon Temps’ human inhabitants.

“One of the themes we explore is the difficulties of coexistence with people who are not like us,” Ball said. “I think that is incredibly timely because of all of the fears and anxieties that are projected on

The theme may not be an entirely new one for vampire stories, though True Blood updates the story line with themes about a vampire rights amendments and interspecies dating. In Season Two, it delves into story lines about the boundaries and bonds of faith, community and cult.

“It also does play on the questions of our concerns about sexuality and what is right, what is ethical and moral,” said Thomas J. Garza, chairman of the Slavic and Eurasian studies department at the University of Texas.

Scholars of vampire lore often say that each generation creates its own vampires, a reflection of society’s fears and values.

The ultimate vampire, Dracula, arrived on the scene in England in the 1890s, a time when immigration from the east was stirring the xenophobia of the natives, said Garza, who teaches a course on the vampire in Slavic cultures.

From Count Orlok of Nosferatu in 1922 to Edward Cullen of Twilight in 2008, he added, the stories arise at difficult times in history. The recent surge is no different, he said.

The origin of the stories may go back 3,000 years to tales in Asia, Garza said. In Europe, vampires took hold in about the 5th century and mingled with local folklore of regions ranging from what is now Turkey and Greece to the Balkans and Slavic parts of Europe.

Jennifer E. Sunseri, associate professor of classical and modern languages and literatures at Texas Tech University, distinguishes between the vampires of Slavic folklore and the vampire of the modern multiplex.

The olden-days vampire was often a scapegoat or used as an explanation for community problems such as illness.

They were also not sexy, Sunseri said. Remember Bram Stoker’s Dracula? That guy was holed up in the Transylvanian mountains with hairy palms, no tan and some very bad breath — or so the character Jonathan Harker tells us in the book.

In 21st-century America, the vampire is more a personal demon, Sunseri said. Unlike their folkloric ancestors, she said, they exude sex. They also live forever and never need Botox to keep the signs of aging at bay.

“Vampires are sexy,” Ball said. “They arose in our consciousness as metaphor for sex.”

True Blood is supposed to be scary, sexy and fun.

“It is a show about vampires,” Ball said. “It’s not meant to be taken that seriously.”

tara.dooley@chron.com

CATALOG COPY FOR AEI CLIENT ALAYA JOHNSON’S MOONSHINE FORTHCOMING FROM ST. MARTIN’S PRESS

KEYNOTE

Imagining vampires at the heart of the social struggles of 1920s, MOONSHINE blends dramatic historical fiction with a lively mythology teeming beneath the gritty New York City streets.

BODY COPY

Zephyr Hollis is an underfed, overzealous social activist who teaches night school to the underprivileged of the Lower East Side. Strapped for cash, Zephyr agrees to help a student, the mysterious Amir, who proposes she use her charity worker cover to bring down a notorious vampire mob boss. What he doesn’t tell her is why. Soon enough she’s tutoring a child criminal with an angelic voice, dodging vampires high on a new blood-based street drug, and trying to determine the real reason behind Amir’s request--not to mention attempting to resist (often unsuccessfully) her weakness for his dark, inhuman charm.

QUOTES

"I hope Zephyr Hollis's adventures have only begun. I want more!"--Emma Bull, author of WAR FOR THE OAKS

“A rip roaring romp through a fascinating period in history and a thoroughly enjoyable read…a winner!”-Karen Chance, author of THE CASSANDRA PALMER SERIES

"A page-turning delight, with bicycles and enchanted blades, drug wars and settlement evening schools, romance and heartbreak. Move over, Buffy and Anita, and make room for Zephyr Hollis!"--Sarah Smith, author of THE VANISHED CHILD

AUTHOR INFO

Alaya Johnson is a recent Columbia graduate, and denizen of New York City.

Guest Post: NOTE TO CLIENTS: THIS ISN’T JUST ABOUT VAMPIRES— IT’S ABOUT AEI’S SEARCH FOR YOUNG ADULT NOVELS!

The Next Twilight?
by Isabel Wilkinson

Gayle Forman’s young-adult novel If I Stay won’t be published until April, but it’s already being adapted for Hollywood by the studio behind the blockbuster vampire movie. Will it eclipse Twilight?

The night before Twilight opened in November, teenage girls all across the country pitched tents outside of movie theaters. Summit Entertainment—the film’s distributor—knew it had a goldmine.

The film enjoyed a $70 million opening weekend, catapulting the best-selling book series into an even higher stratosphere. To date, the Twilight books have sold over 22 million copies, author Stephenie Meyer has been named USA Today’s Author of 2008, and her four books locked down all four top spots on its best-selling book list.

“There was a question that haunted me for years,” says author Gayle Forman. “What would you do if the rest of your family had died, and you could choose to go with them? What would you do?”

As the dust settles from the film’s tremendous success, another tween star is looming: If I Stay, a forthcoming novel by Gayle Forman. Forman is an upbeat, Brooklyn-based mom who used to write social-justice stories for Seventeen. She has published one young-adult novel, Sisters in Sanity, and a travel memoir, You Can’t Get There From Here. Continue reading The Next Twilight? on The Daily Beast.

Dracula Lives

Arts, Briefly
Dracula Lives
Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF




Count Dracula, the great-granddaddy of vampires, is poised for a comeback (not counting any previous incarnations in which he was portrayed by Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, George Hamilton or Udo Kier). That Transylvanian bloodsucker will return in a new novel whose authors include the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, the author of the original “Dracula,” the novel’s publisher announced. The new book, “Dracula: The Un-Dead,” by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt, a Dracula historian, was acquired for United States publication by Dutton Books. It is scheduled for an October 2009 release and will be the first Dracula project authorized by the Stoker estate since the 1931 film that starred Lugosi. Film rights for “Dracula: The Un-Dead” were also acquired by a group of producers that includes Jan de Bont, the director of “Speed” and “Twister.”

Stoker's blood relative to bring Dracula back from the undead

The Guardian

Abraham van Helsing and his intrepid band of vampire hunters may have disposed of Bram Stoker's creation Dracula more than a century ago, but a sequel to the novel co-authored by Stoker's great-grand-nephew will see them under attack from the undead once again, it was announced yesterday.















Bela Lugosi in Dracula (1931)

Dacre Stoker, who formerly coached the Canadian Olympic pentathlon team and now lives in the US, delved into his ancestor's handwritten notes on the original Dracula novel to pen his sequel, Dracula: The Un-Dead - the original name of Dracula before an editor changed the title.

The new book - the first Dracula story to be fully authorised by the Stoker family since the 1931 film starring Béla Lugosi - has provoked a storm in the publishing world, selling for more than $1m (£575,000) to Dutton US, HarperCollins UK and Penguin Canada.

Dacre Stoker wrote the novel with the screenwriter Ian Holt, and a movie is also planned.

The new novel, which is due to be published next October, draws on excised characters and plot lines that were cut from Stoker's original, first published 111 years ago.

In the new book, set in London in 1912, Quincey, the son of Stoker's hero, Jonathan Harker, 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.

Stoker said that he had not got around to reading his great-grand-uncle's novel until he went to college. "Word got out about my family connection to the old vamp and I grew tired of being unable to answer people's questions. So I chose to finally break down and read the novel for a research paper on Bram and his possible motivations to write the story," he said.

"I had seen so many film versions of Dracula and was terribly surprised that very few of the films had any resemblance to Bram's original novel. Because the novel was so good and had stood up so well over the years, I found it exceedingly sad that all of the trash Hollywood had put out monumentally sullied Bram's and my family's literary legacy."

Stoker later met Holt and the pair decided to work together to resurrect Bram Stoker's original themes and characters. "Our intent is to give both Bram and Dracula back their dignity," Stoker said.

Bram Stoker's original Dracula has never been out of print since it was published in 1897.

"Dracula" Sequel Shoots Next Year

By Garth Franklin

"The Un-Dead", the official sequel to Bram Stoker's classic novel "Dracula", has sold English publishing rights to an alliance of Dutton U.S., Harper U.K. and Penguin-Canada.

Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, along with award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt accessed Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel. The story this time around is set in 1912 London and has someone stalking the heroes who defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century ago.

The book, due for release in October 2009, also includes "characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago." It is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi.

Jan de Bont, Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak will produce the film adaptation which Holt co-writing the script with Alexander Galant. The pair have apparently finished the script and shooting is slated to begin next June.

Arrow In The Head/Joblo -- LOVES The Un-Dead!!!

Dracula: Undead Oct. 4, 2008
[Source] by: Jared Pacheco

You know that book with that story about that vampire guy? His name is Dracula and supposedly he's some big deal... Alright, I'm talking about the vampire grandaddy himself, Bram Stoker's legendary novel DRACULA. Apparently we've got a sequel heading our way!

I'm not kidding you. We got a press release today from AEI announcing the purchase of DRACULA: THE-UNDEAD. Why is this a big deal? Well this novel comes from award winning Dracula documentarian Ian Holt and Dacre Stoker, who just so happens to be the great-grandnephew of one Bram Stoker.

I'm sorry, but I found that a bit mindblowing. We're talking about a book that's over a century old! You know how long a century is? A pretty long time! Laura Shin, who's the senior editor of one of the buyees, had the following to say:

"I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those greatcharacters --Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal."

Dutton U.S., Harper U.K., and Shin's Penguin-Canada are the groups that were part of the deal. The author's even used Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for THE-UNDEAD. That's pretty intriguing right? The book is set to hit shelves October 2009. Stoker had the following to say: "Our story includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original
printing over a century ago."


So is that it? Hell no! With something this big you know we're not done yet! There will also be a DRACULA: THE-UNDEAD film in the works, of course! Holt penned the script alongside Alexander Grant. AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, Michael T. Kuciak and Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont are all producing. They're hoping to get cameras rolling around June 2009.


Obviously this is some pretty huge news so we'll be keeping a close eye on this one and fill you in on any updates along the way.

2009 is the Year for Dracula: The Un-Dead

Source:AEI
October 3, 2008


LONDON, 1912: Someone is stalking the brave band of heroes who had defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century ago.

Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel "Dracula" to an alliance of Dutton U.S. (Brian Tart), Harper U.K. (Jane Johnson) and Penguin-Canada (Laura Shin).

The novel will appear in October 2009.

Laura Shin, senior editor of Penguin-Canada, who signed up for two additional sequels, said, "I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters-Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal."

Dutton and Harper signed a single novel deal. Although other precedent-setting foreign deals are already closed from preempts, Baror is planning to sign the bulk of world territories at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.

Using Stoker family connections, the writers were able to access Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel - which, before an editor changed the title, was to have been called "The Un-Dead."

"Our story," Stoker said, "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago."

"The Un-Dead" is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's appearance in Hamilton Deane's and John Balderston's stage production of the story on Broadway in New York, fifteen years after Bram Stoker's death in 1927, sparked the original novel's bestselling popularity. It has never been out of print since.

AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak (Life or Something Like It, Joe Somebody) will produce the film adaptation with Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont (Speed), and are expecting to see it go before the cameras in June '09.

The script has been completed by Ian Holt with the story co-written by Alexander Galant, who are both managed by AEI and agented by Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner at Abrams Artists.

Dracula Sequel Set for 2009!

LONDON, 1912: Someone is stalking the brave band of heroes who had defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century ago.

Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel for well over mid - seven figures U.S. to an alliance of Dutton U.S. (Brian Tart), Harper U.K. (Jane Johnson), and Penguin-Canada (Laura Shin) brokered by Danny Baror of Baror International and Ken Atchity, of Atchity Entertainment International, the literary manager representing Stoker and Holt. The novel will appear in October 2009.

Laura Shin, senior editor of Penguin-Canada, who signed up for two additional sequels, said,

"I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters-Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal."

Dutton and Harper signed a single novel deal. Although other precedent-setting foreign deals are already closed from preempts, Baror is planning to sign the bulk of world territories at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.

Using Stoker family connections, the writers were able to access Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel - which, before an editor changed the title, was to have been called "The Un-Dead."

"Our story," Stoker said, "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago."

Dracula is one of the most recognized fictitious characters in the world, having spawned dozens of books and movies; the original novel, according to historians’ best estimates, has sold millions of copies-second only to the Bible, available in over fifty languages--and generated hundreds of millions of dollars. “The Un-Dead” is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's appearance in Hamilton Deane’s and John Balderston's stage production of the story on Broadway in New York, fifteen years after Bram Stoker's death in 1927, sparked the original novel's bestselling popularity. It has never been out of print since.

AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak (Life or Something Like It, Joe Somebody, Ripley's Believe It or Not) will produce the film with Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont (Twister, Speed, Minority Report), and are expecting to see it go before the cameras in June '09. The script has been completed by Ian Holt with the story co-written by Alexander Galant, who are both managed by AEI and agented by Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner at Abrams Artists.

Both Stoker and Galant are Canadian, though Stoker now lives in the U.S. He was the Canadian Modern Pentathlon Coach from 1983-1987 and then Canadian Olympic Modern Pentathlon Coach at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Holt, who has visited Dracula's Castle in Transylvania and is a member of The Transylvanian Society of Dracula, lives in Long Island, New York.

Official Dracula Sequel Booked and Filmed for 2009!

Doing Bram proud? Sure, we've seen many Dracula films and books over the years, but not many of them got the Stoker seal of approval ... until now.

According to STYD and AEI, Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram, has teamed with historian Ian Holt to bring to fruition the first family-backed use of Bram's classic vampire tale since Bela Lugosi donned the cape and fangs in the 1931 film and the stage production years later. This new venture will be appearing in both book and movie form starting next year!

Titled The Un-Dead, the story picks in up 1912, 25 years after Dracula's death. Someone or something is tracking down those who put an end to the bloodsucker's life. According to Dacre, this new work was crafted thanks to Bram's handwritten notes and "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago.

Production of the adaptation is set to roll in June of 2009 with the book itself creeping into stores months afterwards in October.

- Syxx

New Authorized 'Dracula' Sequel Coming Soon

Friday, October 3, 2008

By: MrDisgusting

This morning we received a pretty damn confusing press release that sounds exciting. Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel DRACULA: THE-UNDEAD for well over mid - seven figures. According to the release, new novels are on the way, along with a feature film. Read on and see if you can decipher what's going on with the film.

LONDON, 1912: Someone is stalking the brave band of heroes who had defeated the vampire Dracula a quarter-century ago.

Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and blood descendant, Dacre Stoker, and award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian Ian Holt have sold North American-English publishing rights of the Stoker-family-authorized sequel to Bram's classic novel for well over mid - seven figures U.S. to an alliance of Dutton U.S. (Brian Tart), Harper U.K. (Jane Johnson), and Penguin-Canada (Laura Shin) brokered by Danny Baror of Baror International and Ken Atchity, of Atchity Entertainment International, the literary manager representing Stoker and Holt. The novel will appear in October 2009.

Laura Shin, senior editor of Penguin-Canada, who signed up for two additional sequels, said, "I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters-Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal." Dutton and Harper signed a single novel deal. Although other precedent-setting foreign deals are already closed from preempts, Baror is planning to sign the bulk of world territories at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair.

Using Stoker family connections, the writers were able to access Bram Stoker's hand-written notes for his novel - which, before an editor changed the title, was to have been called "The Un-Dead."

"Our story," Stoker said, "includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago." Dracula is one of the most recognized fictitious characters in the world, having spawned dozens of books and movies; the original novel, according to historians’ best estimates, has sold millions of copies-second only to the Bible, available in over fifty languages--and generated hundreds of millions of dollars. “The Un-Dead” is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker clan since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi. Lugosi's appearance in Hamilton Deane’s and John Balderston's stage production of the story on Broadway in New York, fifteen years after Bram Stoker's death in 1927, sparked the original novel's bestselling popularity. It has never been out of print since.

AEI's Ken Atchity, Chi-Li Wong, and Michael T. Kuciak ("Life or Something Like It," "Joe Somebody," "Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not!") will produce the film with Blue Tulip's Jan de Bont ("Twister," "Speed," "Minority Report"), and are expecting to see it go before the cameras in June '09. The script has been completed by Ian Holt with the story co-written by Alexander Galant, who are both managed by AEI and agented by Ron Gwiazda and Amy Wagner at Abrams Artists.

Both Stoker and Galant are Canadian, though Stoker now lives in the U.S. He was the Canadian Modern Pentathlon Coach from 1983-1987 and then Canadian Olympic Modern Pentathlon Coach at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Holt, who has visited Dracula's Castle in Transylvania and is a member of The Transylvanian Society of Dracula, lives in Long Island, New York.

Source: AEI

Sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula Official - The Un-Dead

October 3, 2008
Source: STYD
by Kevin Powers


Spoilers of the genre aside (ahem, Twilight) I love just about anything having to do with vampires. Alan Ball's "True Blood" on HBO, for instance, is shaping up to be a wonderful modern take on the fanged nightcrawlers. And I can even enjoy the likes of 30 Days of Night. So you can imagine my delight that news from STYD that a sequel and film adaptation to the iconic "Dracula" story by Bram Stoker is in the works, titled The Un-Dead. I know we all think sequels can usually be the death of a story, but this doesn't sound bad at all. Apparently Stoker's great-grandnephew, Dacre Stoker and "award-winning Dracula documentarian and historian," Ian Holt, have sold the North American rights to the follow-up novel. The book is scheduled for an October 2009 release, while the film is expected to start production in June.

Dacre (since it's confusing just to call him Stoker) worked with Holt on the novel, combing through Bram's actual hand-written notes that intended to continue his iconic story. Dacre is quoted as saying, "Our story includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago." What's most noteworthy about this project is that it's the first, since the original 1931 film, to receive any sort "official" approval from the Stoker family. It seems fitting, since Dacre is an actual blood-relative of the man who authored the original horror tale in 1897, which, incidentally, has never gone out of print. Hell, you might as well pick up a copy if you haven't ever read it - it's worth it.

As for the actual story, it's anyone's guess. One of the publishers said of the book, "I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters. Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal." All of that sounds like self-serving spin, but it's all we have to go on at this point in time. As for the film, no director or any other important role has been announced yet; although, we do know that Dacre and Holt did pen the screenplay. There's certainly a lot to be excited and worried about here.

Given Dacre and Holt's proximity to the subject matter, can they actually pull it off?

Undead in Toronto Globe & Mail

DRACULA AUTHOR'S DESCENDANT
JOSH WINGROVE

October 1, 2008

As a child, it was easy for Dacre Stoker to pick a Halloween costume.

Mr. Stoker said he knew he was a blood descendant of Bram Stoker, author of the iconic Dracula, as a boy growing up in Montreal.

"When Halloween time came, it was like, 'you're a Stoker!'" remembers Mr. Stoker, 50, who now lives in South Carolina.

"But that's the one thing about being Canadian. We're a little more humble than our American neighbours. You may be related to one of the greatest writers in history, but you don't make a big deal about it."


SEE LARGER IMAGE

He later confirmed that he was, precisely, the great-grandnephew of Abraham (Bram), and left it at that.

So, it came as a surprise when he got an e-mail from Ian Holt about five years ago. Mr. Holt, a New-York-based Dracula historian, wanted to "resurrect" the classic tale - which has been the subject of dozens of subsequent novels and films, none of which appeared to bear the Stoker name.

So Mr. Holt, 39, recruited the living Mr. Stoker to take part. Today, they have finished The Un-Dead, a 568-page manuscript set to see daylight next fall.

"I got in touch with Dacre and he thought I was this nut job. But after listening to me and discussing my vision of what I had in mind, he got very interested," said Mr. Holt, an actor who originally pitched the idea as a film.

"He came up with the idea that if we really want to honour Bram, we should do it like a novel first. And it took off like a rocket."

The novel is set 25 years after its famous predecessor, and follows the story of Quincey Harker, the son of original characters Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray. It ills in the back stories of the original characters while advancing the story of young Quincey, Mr. Holt said. He refused to go into specifics, saying only that a slew of characters reappear. Mr. Holt and Mr. Stoker have sold the Canadian, British and American publishing rights for several million dollars, their publishers say, and shooting is scheduled to begin on a film adaptation next year.

The Un-Dead has since swept up the lives of Mr. Holt and Mr. Stoker, a former teacher and Canadian Olympic pentathlon coach. He now works as a seminar instructor of, among other things, blood-borne pathogens.

"I've got a fascination with the body, having been a coach and athlete ... the role of getting your blood in really good condition to compete. And here I am with this other side of me," he said in an interview late yesterday evening.

"Yeah, I've got a lot to live up to."