Manga Classics: Dracula by Bram Stoker, adapted by Stacy King, art by Virginia Nitouhei

Manga Classics, 2021

ISBN-13: 9781947808058

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Amazon.com

Manga Classics brings us a manga version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. By now most readers are familiar with the vampire classic’s general story. Jonathan Harker, a young English solicitor, travels to Transylvania to assist the mysterious Count Dracula with a real estate transaction in England. However, he soon realizes that he is a prisoner on the count’s vast estate. Through observation, he notices the count is not all he seems. While the young Harker is trapped in the castle, Dracula travels to England, where he begins preying upon Lucy Westenra, a young woman engaged to Jonathan’s friend, Arthur Holmwood. A patient of Dr. John Seward’s, Renfield, under the employ of the count, becomes increasingly obsessed with consuming the living a leaves cryptic clues as to the nature of his boss.

As Lucy falls ill with an unknown malady, her friends Arthur, Dr. Seward, American Quincey Morris, and vampire hunter Professor Abraham Van Helsing are determined to save her from the vampire menace. Unfortunately, Lucy succumbs to Dracula’s influence and becomes one of the undead. The friends turn their efforts on hunting down and destroying Dracula where he poses a threat to Mina Murray, Jonathan’s fiancée, and others. With teamwork and the aid of modern technology, they pursue Dracula for a final bloody confrontation.

This is the first Manga Classics edition I have picked up. I read the hardcover version from my library, and I have to say it is worth it. King, editor for Manga Classics, does a great job of adapting the original text. As the story is told through letters, diary entries, recordings, newspaper articles, and ship’s logs, I was not sure what to expect from a manga version. Everything lined up and flowed nicely from page to page. The mangaka for Dracula is Virginia Nitouhei, who is a featured artist for “The Tell Tale Heart” in Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allen Poe, which I will also be reviewing. She has a classic style to her art that lends itself well to a story like Dracula. The detail Nitouhei puts into the characters’ costuming alone is exceptionally beautiful.

At the end of the book, the editor and creators include information on themselves, an article on what it took to adapt Dracula to manga, and other helpful tips on reading this book. It would make an excellent entry point for readers who want to read classic horror, as well as manga. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker