The Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula [Paperback]

Dr. Roderick Anscombe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2006

Paris, 1866---A young Hungarian medical student with the arresting last name of Dracula arrives at Salpêtrière Hospital to further his education. There, on his first day, he witnesses a young and beautiful patient submit herself to hypnosis. He becomes obsessed with Stacia, and the affair moves from tender passion to a fit of jealous rage, which ends with a shocking moment of communion.
Dracula flees back to Hungary, there assuming his dead brother's title of "Count." During the following decades, other young beauties capture the count's twisted imagination, and he spirals deeper and deeper into the desire for ultimate possession, while ministering to the sick during his daytime existence.
Written as a journal, this erotic and chilling tale reveals Dracula as an educated man with serious moral flaws---unable to escape his fantasies and reconcile his inner dichotomy, that of a doctor who is bound by oath to help and mend, and an unstoppable killer feeding on his victims' blood.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Anscombe, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, takes the recent trend toward the humanization of vampires the final step, making the Dracula of his subtle, consuming fiction debut a mortal man. A Hungarian medical student in Paris when he starts this diary in 1866, the inexperienced Laszlo becomes infatuated with a sensual patient at the Salpetriere hospital. Passion turns to fury, bringing the affair to a deadly end, but Laszlo escapes when he is rushed back to Hungary on the death of his elder brother. Now Count Dracula, Laszlo marries his brother's saintly widow and manages to cling to an ascetic life for 20 years until a local girl reawakens his lethal passions. Protected by his hereditary status and a new role as savior when a typhoid epidemic threatens the village, Laszlo pursues the shadowy connection of sex and violence until it becomes the inescapable union of petite mort and mort , love and murder. His motivations are not psychological banalities but something more mythic--the need for an absolute possession that unites the bestial and the divine. Nor is Laszlo insane: he recognizes the "familiar moral landmarks" and is surprised when he ignores them. Well written with a swift plot and moral and psychological complexity, Anscombe's novel is an engrossing read all the way through to its macabre climax and ambiguous finale. $150,000 ad/promo. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club featured alternate; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this stunning first novel, psychiatrist Anscombe breathes new life and fire into the timeworn legend of Dracula. Laszlo, the 19th-century Hungarian Count Dracula, is not a supernatural creature of the night but rather an entirely human, socially prominent gentleman who has studied in Paris. Unfortunately, this cultured fellow has a mad, dark side, and when he allows himself to explore his fascination with blood, sex, and death he turns into a demoniac murderer. Amazingly, as Laszlo recounts his violent story of lust and self-loathing, he emerges as a perverse but not entirely unsympathetic character. Anscombe has done a masterful job of fusing character development, historical detail, and action in this lush, erotic novel. Sure to be popular with Anne Rice's fans, this is appropriate for any fiction collection. Highly recommended.
Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312357664
• ISBN-13: 978-0312357665
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,551,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely chilling - spookily atmospheric, May 2, 2006

By 

K. Sozaeva "Obsessive bibliophile" (Athens, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula (Paperback)

It has been about 22 years since I have read Bram Stoker's "Dracula," which was the only book that ever gave me a nightmare - until now. I don't know what it is about these books that get under my skin the way they do, but if a book is written in such a way that much of the horror is hinted at more than actually given up outright, THAT my friends is the book that is going to make its way into my dreams.

I will tell you right out - this is NOT a vampire book in the usual sense of the word - it is a book about a man, obsession and a slow descent into a form of madness - or perhaps it is vampirism? You, the reader, must decide for yourself.

Written in the form of a diary, this book tells the story of Laszlo, the younger son of (I believe) Vlad Dracul - or it could be his grandson. What gives me reason to believe he is the son is that he only ever refers to his father as "a great patriot" and never by name. When his older brother becomes Count, he leaves for France to study medicine. While there, he rekindles an old love (at least on his end) with a wealthy cousin, then falls in with a rather bad influence, leading to another - less healthy - obsession. He becomes involved with a patient at the charity hospital where he works and then, one night when she taunts him with all her many other lovers, he kills her and drinks her blood. However, before the body can even be discovered, his uncle arrives bringing the news that his brother has been killed in battle and that he, Laszlo, is the new Count Dracula and must return to their estates in Hungary.

There is then a 20-year gap in the diary before it takes up again. Laszlo has married his brother's wife, but denies himself relations with her - thus denying himself heirs. He has, however, brought the estate back to prosperity, along with the small village he oversees. However, soon his uncle dies, and with his uncle's death comes the resurgence of urges he thought long buried in France. . .

There is not much more I can outline of the basic story without ruining the reading of it, but the sheer twisted idea that he comes up with at the ending is one of the most horrific things I have read in a long while.

Folks who are used to a more action-oriented book (or who spend too much time watching TV and not enough reading) might have trouble with this one, as Mr. Anscombe has tried to emulate the slower-moving style of the time he is writing about. However, I think it is brilliant and it literally took my breath away. I hope we see more from this wonderfully talented man.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Psychological Horror, October 11, 2000

By 

John McDonald (Boise, ID USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to strongly disagree with all who claim that this book is not scary. While the book takes a (welcome) turn from the mythical and supernatural vampire lore, it is anything but tame. The beauty and horror of Laslow is that it could actually have happened. Roderick Anscombe takes you inside the mind of the famous Translyvanian serial killer allowing you to glimpse what drives him to his deeds and also the disgust he feels for his own actions. He fights his dark desires while he can, but his "hunger" for blood always wins in the end. His pyschological obsession for it overcomes even the physical need portrayed in classical Vampire legend. All in all and excellent read, mind expanding and thought provoking. Silence of the Lambs meets Hamlet.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting twist on vampire novels, August 14, 2003

By 

xjesslindx - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula (Hardcover)

I've long since had an obsession with novels and movies based on Dracula. This is one of the most unique books I've read. It's nothing like any of the Dracula books. It's written in such a way that it brings the main character down to earth. More like a possible non-fiction than a vampire novel. All of the characters seem more life like than a figment of someone's imagination. It's written much like Brom Stoker's dracula, as in diary format, but without jumping from character to character. The diary of one man. It's one book that keeps you coming back for more. I'd generall prefer watching a movie than reading a book, but this book I just could not put down. I highly recommend it.