Customer Reviews

Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you can suspend your disbelief that Sherlock Holmes can be convinced that vampires exist, then you'll have great fun with this novel. Author Loren Estleman has done a good job in replicating the tone and style of the Conan Doyle stories, and the way that he uses Bram Stoker's novel as the background for this story is very clever indeed. As anyone who has read Dracula will know, Dracula is "off-screen" for most of the book and Estleman has used this to his advantage. So while the characters in Stoker's book are dealing with the consequences of the largely unseen Dracula's actions, Holmes and Watson are dealing with him directly in London.

If you are a Holmes and Dracula fan, you should enjoy this book enormously. I had a great time reading it, and I definitely recommend it.

A rather clever retelling of the Bram Stoker tale with Holmes as a character, narrated, of course, by Watson, and purporting to be a part of the main canon. Estleman is good at recreating the Holmesian aspect: the boughs howling in moonlit graveyards, the gas-lamps' blobby light in thick fog, etc. He's done his research as to the period and the writing style, and it does work. (Less present is the macabre horror of Stoker's novel.) On the whole, it's a great idea, and the book presents Victorian thrills and action and chase scenes aplenty. Only the end of the book is a disappointment: in order not to rewrite too disruptively the Dracula side, Esteleman must leave Holmes out of the finale altogether, making for a rather anticlimactic ending.

If you're looking for an amusing way to spend a few hours, you would do much worse than Holmes v. Dracula. Loren Estelman does a good job of capturing the spirit and language of the original Doyle series if the idea is somewhat hokey, the execution is not. The events of the novel intertwine with those in Bram Stoker's novel (indeed, Watson makes a point of lambasting Stoker for maliciously omitting mention of Holmes), but readers need only have seen any of the many Dracula movies to follow the characters. This is not a book that will enter anybody's top ten lists, but it is exactly what it appears to be - mindless entertainment.

Being a huge fan of both Sherlock Holmes and vampires, I pounced on this book when I first saw it. I expected great things from two of my favorite genres put together!

Alas, it was not to be. The story is only a rewrite of Stoker's "Dracula" with Holmes kind of thrown in for flavour. There is absolutely no point for Holmes' involvement and, in fact, the client who brought him the case in the first place just sort of disappears. The story remains more-or-less true to the origional which, as I said, means there is no reason for Holmes to be there. The action, such as it is, is confusing and unnecessary. For example, a lot of space is taken up with a boat race which seemed like it was written in just to put some action in the story.

As much as I wanted to recommend this, I can't. A much better mix of Holmes/Dracula is Saberhagen's "The Holmes/Dracula File". Give this one a miss.

The premise of this story goes against the established character types of Holmes and Watson. In 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire' Watson was all for believing in the existence of such a creature as a 'Vampire'. Whereas Holmes, ever the analytical scientist, dismissed it as twaddle. I cite this section from 'Sussex Vampire':
"Listen to this, Watson. Vampirism in Hungary. And again, Vampires in Transylvania." He turned over the pages with eagerness, but after a short intent perusal he threw down the great book with a snarl of disappointment.
"Rubbish, Watson, rubbish! What have we to do with walking corpses who can only be held in their grave by stakes driven through their hearts? It's pure lunacy."
"But surely," said I, "the vampire was not necessarily a dead man? A living person might have the habit. I have read, for example, of the old sucking the blood of the young in order to retain their youth."
"You are right, Watson. It mentions the legend in one of these references. But are we to give serious attention to such things? This agency stands flat-footed upon the ground, and there it must remain. The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply."
Now suddenly here it is Holmes who is the resolute believer and Watson the sceptic. This is like Mulder and Scully swapping their own personal perspectives on alien conspiracies. Sorry, great idea, but it doesn't work for me. Holmes should have been seeking the rational, logical explanation, maybe even failing to do so, but he would never have so immediately accepted some supernatural cause.

There are now any number of pastiches of Sherlock Holmes. The author himself alludes to this at the beginning of this book, noting that Watson's "lost" manuscripts seem to crop up everywhere; he then ruminates on the possibility that some of them are fake. The current story interweaves Holmes with Count Dracula and his antagonists, Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and the rest.

The author (Watson, of course) insists that Stoker's account unfairly leaves out Holmes' part in thwarting Dracula's scheme to move to England. The book revolves around Holmes and Watson pursuing Dracula, and includes a chilling episode where the count visits Baker Street to try and talk to Holmes and convince him to stand aside and allow him free reign.

This is an interesting story, and it's a reasonably good pastiche. I enjoyed it, though it seems a bit thin in terms of plot.

This is a tremendously fun book to read for those who enjoy the old-fashioned Rathbone and Bruce films, or those who enjoyed Sherlock Holmes in the days when radio ruled the airwaves. Light and fun, with plenty of atmosphere, Estlemen has written a book which will appeal mainly to the aforementioned group, and young adults. Conan Doyle fans, and Holmes purists, however, will probably be less likely to enjoy the charm offered in the story or narrative.

Holmes and Watson become involved in the Sanguinary Count's attempt to leave Transylvania and make England his home in this fun adventure. Estlemen has written this chronicle, of course, as John H. Watson, M.D. It is Watson's account of Sherlock Holmes' heretofore untold part in the Dracula saga, written to rectify this important omission in Bram Stoker's account, at the specific request of Professor Van Helsing. A sense of fun and adventure saturate the pages of Estlemen's not to be taken too seriously story.

From the moment a ship is discovered off the English coast with no crew remaining except a dead captain with unusual puncture marks on his neck, and a cargo of full of Tranylvanian earth onboard, Holmes and Watson know this is going to be no ordinary case. Reluctant at first to believe in the possibility of vampires, Holmes, and an even more skeptical Watson, are finally forced to accept the existence of the undead.

When the London duo track down the 'Bloofer Lady' through the strange abduction of children who are later found alive, but disoriented from blood loss, the lady in question turns out to be none other than Lucy Westenra. More shocking, however, is their witnessing her impalement by Van Helsing, Harker, and the gang from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Van Helsing is disturbed to discover that the great detective knows much more about he and his companions than he thought. Forced to fill in Holmes on the Dracula legend, Van Helsing dismisses his offer of help nonetheless. Holmes and Watson continue their pursuit alone in this marvelously fun account of the chase.

More than one dangerous encounter with the evil Count ensues as they close in, Watson's beloved wife, Mary, becoming a deadly pawn in a very deadly game. Sherlock Holmes must use all his intellect and cunning to save her life. Watson's bravery and the help of the Baker Street Irregulars play a part in this fast and fun read. A boat chase near the end as Holmes and Watson must thwart Dracula's attempt to flee to America, while saving Mary's life, is a particular highlight and offers light fun for those who go with it. I would definitely recommend this for young adults and radio fans more so than purists. The game is afoot, and time is of the essence for some afternoon fun in this one.

Nowdays there seems to be a interest in combining characters from classic literature. IN the movies VAN HELSING & LXG are examples of this. Back in the late 70's Estleman was way ahead of the movie producers of today. If you are a fan of either Sherlock Holmes or Dracula you will probably like this book. It remains faithful to the original Dracula story but has Holmes and Watson solving the case of the "Bloofer Lady", Dracula's victim Lucy Westenra. They are working against, and later in conjuction with Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward and the Harkers. Eventually Dracula and Holmes do cross paths. Some reviewers have mentioned they would have liked to have had a bigger and more detailed confrontation between Dracula and Holmes. I can understand that but don't see how it could have been done and remained faithful to the source material.

This is a very good story that remains faithful to the original story of Dracula. The story moves quickly and is not drawn out. It is a very clever piece of writing that manages to blend two of the best known fictional characters of the last century.

I read this when it first came out, what, almost twenty years ago?! Anyway, Holmes tackles case the case of the "Bloofer Lady," actually Dracula's victim Lucy Westenra. He becomes involved with Dr. Van Helsing, the Harkers, Dr. Seward & Quincy Morris as they battle the Lord of the Undead. Holmes & Watson actually assist in preventing the vampire's flight to America, too. An exciting read, if you can track down a copy.

A very shaken reporter comes to Holmes for help after a ship arrives with a man lashed to the wheel and puncture wounds in his neck. This leads him to learn about vampires, and meet Van Helsing and company, as well as invite Dracula in for a chat.

When Dracula abducts Watson's wife, they decide to pursue to attempt a rescue.