Kickstarting Comics: ‘Dracula Returns In Cult Of The White Worm’ – The Official Continuation Of The Classic

Dracula The Return – Cult Of The White Worm is now funding on Kickstarter, the first adaptation brought to you by the Stokerverse!

Dracula The Return: Cult Of The White Worm is the first in a proposed series of mini-series to continue the literary classic and all brought to you officially by the Stokerverse – a collaboration between writer Chris McAuley and Dacre Stoker, Bram Stoker’s Great Grand Nephew, and is the umbrella brand for all Bram Stoker material in all media officially approved by Stoker.

There’s no character that’s quite terrified and excited the public as Dracula has for 125 years. No end of adaptations have been produced; radio, film, plays, TV, prose, comic books – and they’ve all made their mark on the collective consciousness. But this year, new publisher Scratch Comics, masterminded by Shane Chebsey, a long time comic maker and convention organiser based in the UK, have done something unique in all of the adaptations. For the first time in history a member of the Stoker family has taken pen to paper to write an official comic book continuation – Dracula The Return: Cult Of The White Worm.

Bram Stoker’s Great Grand Nephew Dacre Stoker has teamed up with comics and games writer Dr Chris McAuley and artists Chris Geary and Matthew John Soffe to tell the story of what happened directly after the end of the original story, showing us how Dracula survived his apparent demise. The story has been created using original notes from Bram Stoker combined with the imagination of his descendent Dacre Stoker and his creative partners in the new comic.

This 48 pages square bound first book, in what is planned as 4 issue series, will also include back-up strips written by Chris McAuley and Denise Ciencin with artist David Hitchcock. There are also three variant cover options available by noted comics artists, Shane Oakley, Mike Collins, and Ben Stenbeck.

“My Great grand Uncle was a keen artist as well as a writer, and I feel that if he were alive today he would love comics and Graphic novels and the visual elements they bring to storytelling. It has been an absolute pleasure to team up with Chris and Shane and the rest of the Scratch Comics team to tell this tale and I am incredibly excited to be revealing so many lost elements of the original novel through our new story as we continue the legacy of Dracula, the way in which I feel Bram would have intended.” – Dacre Stoker

The Kickstarter campaign includes copies of the book in both digital and physical formats as well as a wide range of additional bonus rewards and add on items that fans can pledge for, including online lectures about Bram Stoker by his great grand nephew and about ‘real life’ vampires by Professor Laurence Alison MBE of Liverpool University.

In addition to the usual rewards, you get the opportunity here to get even closer to the creative team as there are tiers available to visit the International Comic Expo (ICE) in Birmingham happening on 10th September and meet the creators of the book, getting your book signed and dedicated in person as well as a free seat at the exclusive 125 Years of Dracula presentation at the show presented by Dacre Stoker Himself.

For those of you after an even more intimate experience, there’s the chance for 4 backers to enjoy Dinner With Dacre on the Friday Evening before the show.

Dracula The Return: Cult Of The White Worm runs on Kickstarter until 17th July 2022.

Now, a preview of the first book in the series with a few pages to show you…