The Demeter Diaries – review

Authors: Marge Simon & Bryan D. Dietrich

First published: 2019

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: 'The Demeter Diaries' is a record of love and longing and the inevitable horror that arises between the minds of Mina Harker and Vlad Dracula as they court one another in waking dreams. The dialogue, written in both poetry and prose, imagines a psychic connection that develops between the two even before Dracula arrives in England. As Dracula makes his way from Transylvania to Whitby on the doomed ship Demeter, the two would-be lovers transmit their thoughts across the waves and lands that separate them, alternately wooing and terrifying one another with the idea of love eternal and all the dark delicacies necessary to ensure it.

The review: When viewing Dracula as a megatext (where the book/story/lore evolves, collectively shifts, and moves with every incarnation of the story through the various medias, in a way understood by the consumer of the media) then the concept of a love affair between Mina and Dracula is a known trope that finds its roots earlier than its most famous incarnation – within Dracula (1992). Equally, though Stoker likely did not envision his vampire as the voivode Vlad Dracula, it is clearly now one of the tropes available in the megatext.

This book takes both of those ideas and composes a conversation in poetry and prose between the two. In doing so it, by design, creates other changes in the story. Dracula sees Mina’s picture when taken by his first English visitor, Renfield – who stole the silver locket from Harker before travelling to Transylvania. A psychic link is formed – even before Harker is sent to the Count’s abode – and this Mina is one who actively has deep feelings for the vampire, before their physical meeting, and is also not in love with Harker in the way we might normally expect, their courtship quickly relegated to one of duty. Other changes include both her and (both of) Lucy’s parents being alive, Seward being her family doctor and a drastic change to the Van Helsing character that really worked in the context of the book (indeed, I believe this is the most dramatic revision within the text and might be a stumbling block for some readers).

The book moves between Vlad’s poetry (composed by Dietrich) and Mina’s prose (composed by Simon) and by using the two wordsmiths they are able to create distinct voices for the two characters. On a personal level I wasn’t overstruck by the style of poetry employed, in the main, by Dietrich but that is not to say that it was poor, just not a style that spoke to me. However the story composed between the two was interesting and complemented by the art of Luke Spooner, which appeared at key points. If you are resistant to the thread of the megatext that makes Dracula and Mina star crossed lovers then this isn’t for you. Otherwise, it is an appealing exploration that is a quick read. 6.5 out of 10. My thanks to Ian for the gift of the book.

In Paperback @ Amazon US

In Paperback @ Amazon UK