Powers of Darkness

The Lost Version of Dracula

By: Bram Stoker, Valdimar Asmundsson, Hans Corneel de Roos, Dacre Stoker, John Edgar Browning

Narrated by: Adam Verner, Robertson Dean, Ralph Lister, Derek Perkins, R.C. Bray

Powers of Darkness is an incredible literary discovery. In 1900, Icelandic publisher and writer Valdimar Asmundsson set out to translate Bram Stoker's world-famous 1897 novel Dracula.

Called Makt Myrkranna (literally, 'Powers of Darkness'), this Icelandic edition included an original preface written by Stoker himself. Makt Myrkranna was published in Iceland in 1901 but remained undiscovered outside of the country until 1986, when Dracula scholarship was astonished by the discovery of Stoker's preface to the book.

However, no one looked beyond the preface and deeper into Asmundsson's story. In 2014, literary researcher Hans de Roos dove into the full text of Makt Myrkranna, only to discover that Asmundsson hadn't merely translated Dracula but had penned an entirely new version of the story, with all new characters and a totally reworked plot. The resulting narrative is one that is shorter, punchier, more erotic, and perhaps even more suspenseful than Stoker's Dracula.

Incredibly, Makt Myrkranna has never been translated or even read outside of Iceland until now. Powers of Darkness presents the first ever translation into English of Stoker and Asmundsson's Makt Myrkranna. With a foreword by Dacre Stoker, Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew and best-selling author, and an afterword by Dracula scholar John Edgar Browning, Powers of Darkness will amaze and entertain legions of fans of Gothic literature, horror, and vampire fiction.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2018 Hans Corneel de Roos

An excellent first act that doesn't stick the landing.

This book is an amazing piece of literary history. It most certainly captures the horror in the first act but feels rushed through out the rest of the story. I wish this strange wonderful version had been given a chance to breathe properly.

Brilliance found in a lost story.

Fantastic narration of a timeless classic coupled with very interesting, historical accounts of Bram Stoker's original Dracula, skillfully retold in this more detailed, colorful version that leaves one with a lot of questions to ponder. 5 stars! *****.

Not bad, but skip ahead to Chapter 11

The first 10 chapters are background for this version of Dracula. It sounds like an abbreviated dissertation. Chapter 11 is an "author's note." The actual story begins at Chapter 12. I suggest skipping ahead to the story, then listening to the first ten chapters if interested. Otherwise, not a bad listen at all.

Good but felt cheated at the end

Not sure if I missed something in the description but the first half is very well done but the second half feels like a cliff notes version of the story

Lost Tale of Dracula

Everyone is familiar with the tale of Dracula penned by Bram Stoker. Jonathan Harper works for a law firm that assists the sale of Carfax to Count Dracula. Harker goes to castle Dracula only to become the vampire prisoner. He escapes as Dracula leaves for Britain.. In Britain after killing the entire crew of the Demeter, he commences to kill Lucy, Mina Harkers best friend and he tried to turn Mina as well. Van Helsing is dispatched from Amsterdam and a team of people have a final showdown with the count in his own castle.

To write his tale Bram had to jump through lots of hoops and was forced to revise and edit his work. Whole entire sections were pulled from Stoker original story. Part of it ened up in the tale “Dracula’s Guest” This story while bearing many similarity also has lots of differences.

For one the names are different. Jonathan is called Thomas and his fiancé is now now Wilma. As Harker is imprisoned in the castle he is tormented by the counts cousin. In the original it was three vampire ladies that tormented Harker. The count himself is somewhat different as well. Taking some elements from the historical personage this rendition . This story cues into his warrior past and genetically links him to Attila the Hun. While Harker is imprisoned in the castle he learned more about Dracula’s history and the past of his family. When exploring the castle in an attempt to find a way out he reaches and underground vault where in he witnesses a bizarre ritual when young women were murdered and fed to ape like vampires.

The count is loaded with gold and he is well connected to powerful people across the globe who he corresponds with. He has a plan of sorts for world domination. He has a library filled with occult books.

Minus in this book is also Renfield, the lunatic in the original. The final showdown happens in Carfax. They never return to Transylvania.

This is considered the Icelandic Version. Some believe it is based on a Swiss or a Swedish version. Some may wonder how many of these differences and nuances come from the editors contribution and what from Stoker or was there collaboration.?

A different telling and in no way is the original Impaler being spoken of. This is the fictitious Dracula.

A must for Dracula fanatics, a pass for all else

This is an amazing, perfect book. Alas, only for people like me, that is the ever niche audience of Dracula fanatics. It's important to know and understand what you're getting yourself into. A significant portion of the book are academic-style articles. Which are wonderful and invaluable, but you must understand this is the case. The alternate Dracula version is part early Dracula draft, part Icelandic piracy. It is amazing, but that is not to say it is actually any good, any better than the classic Dracula or, in fact, that it is recommended in any way to anyone, but the most die hard Dracula enthusiast. The second part of the book that takes place outside of Castle Dracula, is shortened, sketch-like and is especially hilarious and wild. Having this in audiobook version is a special delight. Be warned! :)

Pretty Good

The audio book takes a while to get into the actual story. It starts of with some history of the book itself. While I found much of it to be interesting, it goes on for a while. The story itself was fine. Nothing really blew me away, but I enjoyed it.

Interesting companion to original Dracula

I will just note that about the first hour and half is devoted to giving historical context and arguing how involved Stoker may have been in the differences of Powers of Darkness. While interesting, it can be quite dry, with the original author's note being Chapter 11 and the story proper starting with Chapter 12. If you want to just focus on that, you can go ahead and skip ahead.

You don't get to the actual story until chapter 11

The story starts on chapter 11, everything before is forwards, intros and backstory of how it came about.

A worthy companion to Dracula

I greatly enjoyed this lost early version of Dracula. The Count himself was quite terrifying, more so than he seemed in the final version published by Stoker. I enjoyed this version of Harker's stay at the castle much more than that found in the final version. That said, the ending was rushed and nowhere near as developed at the rest of the book. The rushed ending aside, I found it to be a worthy companion to Stoker's final version of Dracula.