For the first time in English comes a remarkable literary discovery. In 1928, Turkish author Ali Rıza Seyfioğlu pirated Bram Stoker's
Dracula
, completely rewriting it with new material, patriotic overtones, and Islam. A rare example of a "bootleg" novel, it's also the first adaptation to plainly identify Dracula as the historical warlord Vlad the Impaler.
In Seyfioğlu's story, when a modern Istanbul is threatened by the invasion of an ancient vampire, three veterans of the Turkish War of Independence are thrust into a conflict with their nation's hereditary enemy. Seyfioğlu boldly reworks Stoker's classic tale, retelling it from the unique perspective of a people once routed by the real-life Dracula.
Dracula in Istanbul: The Unauthorized Version of the Gothic Classic
presents the first ever translation into English of Seyfioğlu's novel,
Kazıklı Voyvoda
. With a foreword by
Anno Dracula
author Kim Newman, an introduction by Turkish translation scholar Şehnaz Tahir Gürçağlar, an afterword on the 1953 movie adaptation
Drakula İstanbul'da
by film scholar Iain Robert Smith, and several rare photos from the film,
Dracula in Istanbul
is a rare combination of literary artifact and genuine entertainment. From movie and vampire buffs to literature scholars, there's enough here to delight all the children of the night.