Ever since Dracula had been first published back in 1897, its title character has become an iconic villain from literature. Despite other notable vampires predating him like Carmilla and Sir Francis Varney, Count Dracula has practically set the template of the vampire. Thus, he has been subject to plenty of variations over the years. From Bela Lugosi’s hypnotic charm to Gary Oldman’s tragic lover to even the Castlevania animated show’s sympathetic yet monstrous portrayal, plenty have brought a different view upon the classic vampire. As it turns out, there had even been different takes just a few years after the original novel came out. In 1899, there was a Swedish translation done of Bram Stoker’s novel that served as the basis for a 1901 Icelandic translation. This translation had languished in obscurity, until 2014 when Dutch scholar Hans Corneel de Roos examined the work and realized something: it’s an adaptation, not a translation. Though similar to Stoker’s novel, this version changes several elements to the story along with adding new characters and removing others. Newly republished by de Roos under the title Powers of Darkness, this long-forgotten take on the classic story also serves up a version of Count Dracula that feels more fitting for the grand pedestal he has occupied in pop culture.
Sent out to Transylvania for his job as a solicitor, Thomas Harker finds himself in the company of the mysterious Count Dracula. Though he seems charming, there is an unnerving air about Dracula as he limits Harker’s travels around the castle. Faced with locked doors and hidden hallways, Harker makes a horrifying discovery: Dracula is a vampire, leading a Satanic cult. However, Dracula’s reach is not limited to the forests of Transylvania. With agents spread across the world in high society, he has now set his sights on London as his new base of operations. Not wanting anyone to discover his plans, he leaves Thomas to be dealt with as he heads out to London. However, Harker won’t give up so easily and plans to escape. Meanwhile, his beloved Wilma Murray finds her social world shaken up as Count Dracula arrives in London. With her friend Lucy transforming into a vampire, she seeks to discover Dracula’s secret with the assistance of Inspector Barrington. The results are a two-pronged assault, as Harker and Murray work to expose the dark evil that is infiltrating their world.
Powers of Darkness makes for an interesting experience as a literary discovery. The original Dracula is a longer read, unspooling its Gothic horror through its epistolary format at a slow but steady pace. Powers of Darkness, meanwhile, serves as a pulpier read. The action is more direct, the lustful sexuality more explicit. The prose also comes across in a more brisk and punchier style, compared to the original work’s more voluminous vocabulary. That said, some of the structure to the novel feels a bit off. It initially starts off with the same epistolary format, telling of Thomas Harker’s time at Dracula’s castle through the entries of his journal. However, when the story shifts to London, it drops that format for a more conventional prose style that also leans into a pace that feels more like a plot summary. Some literary scholars have theorized this translation being based on an early draft of Bram Stoker’s novel, and there could be a case considering how this portion of the novel feels like more simplistic in its style. Still, it does make for a fun alternative read to a classic novel. Of course, the biggest point of difference comes through in its presentation of the title monster: Count Dracula.
In the original novel, Dracula is largely a more solitary monster. Though there are wives at his castle and Renfield’s mind is twisted by his influence, that is the extent of Dracula’s reach. He serves more from the shadows, bringing terror on his own as feeds upon the blood of the living. In Powers of Darkness, meanwhile, Dracula has a veritable legion who serve him. Monstrous ape-like creatures in the depths of his castle, aristocrats and diplomats in the upper classes, and even travelers sworn to Dracula in loyalty, all bound through his Satanic cult and will. Honestly, his being a vampire is not really shown to be what makes him a monster. Rather, he is a monster because he believes that the strong should dominate the weak, using his cult to spread his influence and reshape the world to his views. He does not lurk in the shadows like the “creature of the night” in most versions of the story. He is out and active in London society, hosting massive parties where he sways others and takes out his enemies through the skillful use of hypnosis. In fact, it really says something about this version of Dracula that hypnosis is the major power of his that’s most often displayed rather than his blood-drinking. Instead of a ravenous monster who acts like a man to captivate and trap others, he is a man who brings out the monster in others through his corrupting presence. In a way, it’s a spin on Count Dracula that feels like a natural fit for the large shadow he has cast over pop culture, and it’s almost surprising to see it in a translation that comes so soon after the original text’s publication.
There have been plenty of versions of Count Dracula over years, leaning all over the scale from a monster of the night to a tragically cursed figure. Leave it to an obscure early 20th-century translation of the novel to serve up an engaging take of its own, leaning into the legendary monster’s charisma by presenting him as a corrupting cult leader.
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