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The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing
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Product Description
Fragments of a recently discovered journal suggest otherwise.
For the first time, in his own words, the legendary vampire hunter tells his own story
- his background and early years
- his research in Rumania and the Mideast
- his medical work
…and most importantly his discovery of perhaps the greatest threat to man's dominion on earth, vampires.
Filled with data to inform, and tips to educate, the journal is more than a study of vampirism. It is also the story of a man's obsession with eradicating the world of its greatest scourge, a dark evil that claimed his wife in its thrall.
Working with the textural fragments he inherited from his grandfather, Professor Allen Conrad Kupfer, has managed to piece together the story behind the story that did not begin and end with Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #250413 in Books
- Published on: 2005-09-01
- Released on: 2005-08-25
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 208 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Spoof, send-up or wannabe spook tale, this addition to the "vampire culture" that Kupfer claims is all too real today attempts to go for the throat but misses any vital artery. This slim novel purportedly contains an 1886 diary by the famous vampire hunter Van Helsing of Dracula fame, annotated by Kupfer's long-lost grandpa and unearthed in Kupfer's grandmother's attic. Clearly smitten by Keats's "Lamia" and "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" (Swinburne's overheated Lady of Pain), as well as by Lord Byron's darker proclivities, Kupfer struggles to give Van Helsing's jumpy journal entries a credible 19th-century flavor, though occasional flare-ups of Americanisms dilute the Transylvanian atmospherics. Kupfer's narrative professorial persona also updates his various subnarrators' tales with pseudo-scholarly footnotes that include an evidently irresistible whack or two at stingy academic administrators. Van Helsing's diary includes entries both before and after his London adventure that resulted in the gory destruction of Dracula, recounted far more satisfactorily by Bram Stoker. Embellished with befanged drawings signed "V.H.," Kupfer's little tale has all the depth of a comic book-without any of its whiz-bang pop art fascination.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
In the introduction, Kupfer asserts that he found this journal, complete with notes from his grandfather, Daniel, in his grandmother's house after she died. The journal begins with Van Helsing's first exposure to vampires, when he attends a lecture given by a Dr. Borescu. Leaving his beloved wife, Rita, in Amsterdam, Van Helsing travels with Borescu back to his native Romania, where the skeptical professor has a face-to-face encounter with a lovely but deadly vampiress known as Malia. After tragedy strikes in Romania, Van Helsing leaves for home by train. When vampires attack the train, it appears that Malia is not going to let Van Helsing go without a fight. He arrives home only to face a great personal tragedy and the realization that he may never be able to escape the vampires. The journal format recalls that of Dracula, and with a movie about Van Helsing (unrelated to this book) due in May, Kupfer's spooky, atmospheric novel appeals to the film's prospective fans as well as devotees of Stoker's book. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Simply amazing .... lively fun." --Kirkus Reviews
"Mesmerizing horror." -- Paranormal Romance Reviews
"Kupfer''s spooky, atmospheric novel appeals to the film''s prospective fans as well as devotees of Stoker''s book." (Booklist )
"Simply amazing .... lively fun." (Kirkus Reviews )
"Mesmerizing horror." (Paranormal Romance Reviews )
Customer Reviews
Don't get your hopes up
This is a fantastic fictional read for a high school student who enjoys Poe. However, if you are a vampire fanatic or academic scholar, don't get your hopes up too high. The language is not as "proper" (as one reviewer wrote) as I expected. Stoker's Dracula was much more authentic and well researched. There are several little technical errors surrounding the premise of the novel that annoy me, but may be unnoticeable to others. I borrowed the book from the local library and read the 204-page novel in about 2 hours. But, for $12 to $14 on Amazon.Com, its an enjoyable escape to the nineteenth century. Do not expect a new classic though.
Vampire hunter
It seems that vampire literature is seeing a revival, and this book fits right into the genre. It purports to be the journal of the man who tracked, and was responsible for the death of, Dracula. But Dracula is not the focus of this work; rather it is a female vampire who, according to the book, may be the one who "made" Vlad Tepes into a vampire. There are some rather gruesome scenes, and a side trip to 19th century Iraq, but the quest for the female vampire is left unfinished, although there are some indications in the book that she still exists and seeks revenge on all who searched for her, and also on their immediate families. This isn't great literature, but it doesn't pretend to be; it's rather a pleasant few hours diversion into a subject that still fascinates most people.
Good read
This book was fluid, with non stop action. The illustration added a definate "creepiness" to the reading expierence.
