Exciting news Dracula fans! If you’ve always wanted a backstory on one of the most classic horror movie characters, you’re in luck! Big Finish Productions just released their new audio play titled Dracula’s Guests! We broke the news in January that it was coming, and it’s finally here!
Dracula’s Guests is set as a prequel to Big Finish Productions’ 2016 take on Bram Stoker’s classic novel-turned-film Dracula. Mark Gatiss voices the lead character of Count Dracula in this newest audio that will be a trilogy ending with Dracula’s War in September 2020.
Dracula’s Guests chilling synopsis reads:
Transylvania, 1888.
Sitting in his castle like a spider in its web, Count Dracula is setting his plans in motion.
Soon he will travel to England, there to cut a bloody swathe through polite society and pit himself against a dedicated crew of vampire-slayers.
Yet before then there is much to be done. A certain artist must be brought to him and a certain portrait painted. An old tale must be told, drawn from the darkest recesses of Transylvanian history. And in faraway London an honest police detective must be corrupted and set to work in the service of the Count.
The vampire king is making preparations. And his survival will be assured – no matter the cost.
Writer and producer Scott Handcock states the idea came from Mark Gatiss himself:
The idea for more came about entirely because of Mark Gatiss. I was working on the final block of Sherlock up in Cardiff, when he clocked me on set and took me aside for a bit of a gossip!
This was in 2016 and Big Finish’s first Dracula release was still quite recent, and obviously Mark posed the question: ‘When are we doing more?’ Of course everyone asks that but, when I realised he was serious, I spoke with the powers-that-be and Jonathan Barnes, and very quickly got a green light to develop two new storylines.
The lead actor, Mark Gatiss, was excited about reprising his role after staring in the Big Finish Productions rendition of Dracula in 2016:
It was delightful to finally play the old boy. I had a very croaky voice at the time which suited it hugely. It was great to record it so close to the mic – whispery and sinister. A dream come true! I thought the scripts were really inventive and spooky. As we know, Dracula has a habit of coming back (especially in the Hammer films).”When he comes back, people often struggle to know what to do with the Count but these new stories really rise to the challenge! An unexpected bonus! Bram Stoker’s great gift was to synthesise vampire myths into this one, totemic character. Then many generations of talented people have added to the legend to create the irresistible, aristocratic uber-vampire that we love today.