The Ally of Madness and Related Horrors - Dacre Stoker

The summer of 1894 should have been a peaceful holiday for Bram Stoker and his family in the quiet Scottish fishing village of Cruden Bay. Bram had hoped to repair the fraying relationship with his wife and son and have time away from his position as Henry Irving’s assistant to make a good start on his novel, Dracula.

Instead, he struggles to overcome a crippling writer’s block and finds himself drawn into a terrifying mystery surrounding nearby Slains Castle. Guided by local folklore, an enigmatic fisherman, and whispers of an ancient evil long buried beneath the castle, Bram finds himself fighting not only to finish his greatest novel, but to protect the lives of those he loves.

More than a century later, Rupert, a young investigator with the secretive Electric Light Company, is sent to Cruden Bay to authenticate a newly discovered journal said to have been written by Bram Stoker himself. As Rupert uncovers its secrets, the line between documented history and nightmare begins to dissolve, forcing him to the very brink of madness.

Also included are four short stories providing further context for the central mystery of Bran Stoker’s sojourn in Cruden Bay.

"Ally of Madness should thrill hardcore Bram Stoker fans as well as aficionados of horror, adventure, and mystery fiction." - Stephen Mark Rainey, author of The House at Black Tooth Pond and co-author of Dark Shadows: Dreams of the Dark.

"Peppered with enough knowing winks to please both Kim Newman and Alan Moore, The Ally of Madness and Related Horrors is, as they used to say, a perfect romp." - John Langan, author of The Fisherman and Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions.

"This ingenious, richly atmospheric saga featuring Bram himself left me wondering - as all good sagas should - just what about Dracula was fiction and what was real?" - T.E.D. Klein, author of Dark Gods and The Ceremonies.