Dracula vs. Hitler

Screenwriter Duncan (Mr. Holland’s Opus) knows how to pepper a story with cinematic fight scenes and lush descriptions, but in this alternate take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the massive lump of backstory proves indigestible. Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, contrary to canon, has preserved his monstrous nemesis for future scientific study. Life, love, and war delay his research until he’s goaded to action by Nazi depredations in Romania. With the help of Jonathan Harker’s grandson (who’s dallying with Van Helsing’s daughter, Lucy, on the side), Dracula is resurrected and proves remarkably amenable to bargaining: he gets freedom and all the Nazi blood he wants, so long as he focuses his hunger on “the Hun.” It’s an enjoyable Faustian contrivance—and takes 100 pages to launch. En route are interminable journal entries, military reports, and even a novel within the novel, all designed to fill the reader in on Nazi atrocities, the resistance to them, and the provenance of the characters. A distracting and sometimes painful variety of print fonts will send readers running for the digital edition. This novel is only recommended for those willing to take a very deep dive into what-if. (Oct.)