We are going to be seeing a sequel to Dracula. Bram Stoker's great-grandnephew has teamed up with a historian, and they are to publish a new Dracula book.

Not only that but they have already sold the rights to a film version.

Bram Stoker's Dracula was first published in 1897, and has provided the inspiration for many films. These include Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1992, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Gary Oldman starred as Dracula, and Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins and Keanu Reeves were also in the cast.

Now Dacre Stoker, Bram Stoker's great grandnephew has worked on a sequel novel with Ian Holt. Holt is a historian with a particular passion for Dracula. The novel will be called The Un-Dead, and is based on Bram Stoker's handwritten notes. Notes which were intended to help Bram Stoker continue his story. The book will be released in October next year.

There aren't many details on the novel's plot yet, but they have sold the film rights already. Dacre Stoker has this to say about the new book:

Our story includes characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago.

And unsurprisingly one of the publishers is very happy with the new book. He's quoted on First Showing.net.

I was thrilled by this page-turning story and loved spending time with those great characters. Stoker and Holt did a fantastic job melding the old with the new, and I found the work to be a virtually seamless continuation of the original. The story has all the hallmarks of a historical novel, but with a modern sensibility that gives it wide-spread appeal.

Well he would say that. A blood relative of Bram Stoker writing a new book. Well if someone is going to try it, I suppose it's a good bet. Do you reckon they can make it work? Or should they not mess with it?