''Anno Dracula: Dracula Cha Cha Cha'' (re-titled ''Judgment of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959'' upon initial U.S. release) is an
alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
/
horror novel by British writer
Kim Newman
Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...
. First published in 1998 by
Carroll & Graf
Carroll & Graf Publishers was an American publishing company based in New York City, New York, known for publishing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction by both new and established authors, as well as issuing reprints of previously hard-t ...
, it is the third book in the
''Anno Dracula'' series.
Plot
In 1959, several of the world's notable vampires gather in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
for the wedding of
Count Dracula
Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...
. Nefarious schemes are afoot and being investigated by British Intelligence,
the Diogenes Club
The Diogenes Club is a fictional gentlemen's club created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and featured in several Sherlock Holmes stories, such as 1893's "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter". It seems to have been named after Diogenes the Cynic ...
, and several others, including a British spy on the trail of a sinister madman with a white cat.
Setting
The book is an
alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
novel set in a world where
Van Helsing
A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
never killed Dracula. The version of Rome shown in the book is heavily influenced by Italian filmmaker
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...
. As always in the series, the novel contains a number of characters from other fictional works, though due to copyright restrictions some are not named or are given aliases.
Some of these identity shifts are quite clear (such as the character of Commander Hamish Bond, based on
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
, who has a fondness for martinis, drives an
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
, carries a
Walther PPK
The Walther PP (german: Polizeipistole, or police pistol) series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols, developed by the German arms manufacturer Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen.
It features an exposed hammer, a traditional double-ac ...
, has the Scots version of the name "James" for his name, and gets to say "
the bitch is dead."), while some are more obscure (a Kansas football player named
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, for example).
The novel's original title is inspired by
Bruno Martino
Bruno Martino (11 November 1925 – 12 June 2000) was an Italian composer, singer, and pianist.
Career
Martino learned to play the piano at the age of fourteen. A Jazz fan, he spent the early years of his career performing with European radio an ...
's song ''Dracula Cha Cha'' (1959) (
La Voce del Padrone
La voce del padrone was the Italian label for the His Master's Voice recording house. The house belonged to The Gramophone Company Ltd., of Hayes (Middlesex, United Kingdom) which owned several labels in Italy, like Columbia, Marconiphone, Angel ...
, 7 MQ 1271), which appears on the album ''I grandi successi di Bruno Martino'' (The Great Successes of Bruno Martino - 1959) (
La Voce del Padrone
La voce del padrone was the Italian label for the His Master's Voice recording house. The house belonged to The Gramophone Company Ltd., of Hayes (Middlesex, United Kingdom) which owned several labels in Italy, like Columbia, Marconiphone, Angel ...
, QELP 8012) and is performed onscreen in
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals ''Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), ''An American in Paris'' (1951), ''Th ...
's film ''
Two Weeks in Another Town
''Two Weeks in Another Town'' is a 1962 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Kirk Douglas and Edward G. Robinson. The supporting players include Cyd Charisse, Claire Trevor, Daliah Lavi, George Hamilton, and Rosanna Sch ...
'' (1962).
1998 British novels
1998 fantasy novels
American alternate history novels
Crossover novels
Dracula novels
American horror novels
Novels by Kim Newman
American vampire novels
Wold Newton family
Zombie novels
Fiction set in 1959
Novels set in Rome
James Bond parodies
Sherlock Holmes pastiches
Cultural depictions of Winston Churchill
Cultural depictions of Salvador Dalí
Cultural depictions of Charles de Gaulle
Cultural depictions of Ernest Hemingway
Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy
Cultural depictions of Nikita Khrushchev
Cultural depictions of Edgar Allan Poe
Cultural depictions of Elvis Presley
Cultural depictions of Frank Sinatra
Cultural depictions of Orson Welles
Cultural depictions of Gilles de Rais
Cultural depictions of John Profumo
Cultural depictions of Alessandro Cagliostro
Cultural depictions of Pope John Paul I
Carroll & Graf books
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