Renfield: Slave of Dracula

Renfield: Slave of Dracula
Barbara Hambly

By now, it is obvious I enjoy a good scary story. Vampire stories in particular really peak my interest. So I was naturally intrigued when coming across Renfield: Slave of Dracula. Just as Wicked provided a spin on The Wizard Of Oz, Renfield: Slave of Dracula tells the story of Dracula from the perspective of everyone's favorite insect eating lunatic, R.M. Renfield. Most people are familiar with the classic story by Bram Stoker. As for me, I saw the film, but never read the book. So I didn't have much info to compare Renfield to the original. Written by Barbara Hambly, Renfield: Slave of Dracula tells this haunting story through the mind of Renfield. Since it's written like this, you are given a clearer picture of what drives Renfield to madness. There's more to him than just being a full-time lunatic. At the beginning of the story, I found myself getting impatient, as a lot of it was written in the form of letters, either by Renfield or another character. But as the story progressed, the pace quickened and things started to come together. One thing that stood out for me was the account of Renfield's horrifying dreams and poor Lucy Wenestra's transformation from innocent girl to vampire. The author portrayed these scenes so vividly that I really was able to picture them in my head. Like I said, I never read Bram Stoker's version, so I'm not sure if this one strayed away from it. But for me, it satisfied my urge to read a vampire story, even though Dracula's not the star of the show here.