Happy Halloween: You've seen DRACULA-- But you've never seen him like this. On your iPad.

We call it Black Hawk Dracula. Dracula: Impossible.

Just in time for Halloween, SWORD OF DRACULA is out on Comixology for your iPad or mobile device! If you haven't read it, SOD is a techno-thriller about the agents out to capture the most dangerous terrorist on the planet: Dracula.

And the hero? None other than Ronnie Van Helsing, the sister of Alex Van Helsing of my YA book series. The series debuts on digital this week with the free prologue "ICE" and Issue 1, both drawn by Greg Scott. So check out SWORD OF DRACULA on your mobile device or PC and let me know what you think!

Ronnie Van Helsing is new to her leadership role in the Polidorium--but it doesn't stop her from dragging the organization into a full assault on Dracula, Lord of the Vampire. In opening act issue that plays out in near-real time, the Polidorium meet Dracula for the first time-but are all the Humvees, coagulant missiles, rocket launchers and blackhawks at Ronnie's disposal any match for a man who controls a reservoir of blood? 

 Word from the critics:
 "Required reading... unlike anything I can remember since the Tomb of Dracula heyday." (Cinema Nocturne) 
 "A damn fine vampire read that utilizes the mythology in fun and exciting ways." (Aint it Cool News)
 "Retooling Dracula is tricky — Writer Jason Henderson establishes the vampire lord as a contemporary para-military target with the creepy-cool ability to shape blood into weaponry and castles. Greg Scott's opening chapters scan like storyboards for Black Hawk Down fused with the best of '70s grind-house horror." -- Entertainment Weekly 
 "Henderson's approach to Dracula is fundamentally different from anything that has come before." (Cinescape)

Reader Mail: Where Do Vampires Come From and the Power of Dracula

Ronnie Van Helsing

Silver Falcon Writes:
I have a couple of questions about your world of vampires in Sword of Dracula and the Alex Van Helsing books.

1. How were vampires created in your world? Was Dracula the first or was he created by another? Did he made a deal with the Devil? Was it forced on him? Have you ever thought about how he was when he was human?

2. 1. Does the Polidorum have the technology to create an injection of some form that could suppress the vampiric virus or nature of a vampire?

3. 1. When Dracula creates his blood masses of creatures, zombies and whatnot, does he have a hivemind or connection with them that allows him to see through their eyes, speak through them, and control them like puppets?

Silver! What awesome questions.

First thing: you totally don't have to have read the Sword of Dracula comic to enjoy the Alex Van Helsing novels, or vice versa. They are in the same universe, but it's more like a bonus. If you know, you know. But I can answer these questions and they apply to both stories.

Some of this actually gets discussed a little in Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising and the Sword of Dracula trade paperback, but I'm not sure I've ever put it all in one place. And some things are definitely only in unpublished documents.

In the Alex Van Helsing/ Sword of Dracula universe, the first vampires were descended from the Nephilim, Angels who were put on earth to care for humanity but who turned against God. The vampire curse has passed down since, not genetically but through blood and biting. When you get bitten, besides the other changers, the curse burns out most or all of the empathic centers of the brain, making you a more dangerous, more-ready-to-kill person.
Dracula was not the first vampire-- he became a vampire in the 15th century, but has since become one of the most powerful vampires in the planet. If you want to know how he was when he was human, see Ronnie's slideshow in the first chapter of Sword of Dracula, and in my essay "What I Forgot About Dracula" in the back of Sword of Dracula.
Does the Polidorum have the technology to create an injection of some form that could suppress the vampiric virus or nature of a vampire?
They might. It might be possible to capture a vampire and hit them with something to repair the empathic centers or chemically enhance them to render a vampire "nicer."
When Dracula creates his blood masses of creatures, zombies and whatnot, does he have a hivemind or connection with them that allows him to see through their eyes, speak through them, and control them like puppets?
You're referring to Dracula's "blood powers," where he can use blood to create creatures like horses, bats and even augment dogs with extra parts. This all stems from his basic powers of necromancy and remote control, both of which were referenced in Chapter 18 of Dracula.
I haven't gotten  really specific about this, but generally the various creatures follow rules. Blood dogs blood sharks are dogs whose bodies have been augmented with bloodwood (the manipulated blood Dracula controls) to create new creatures that, while not exactly sentient, can function as trained creatures. Zombies are raised human dead and function according to a set of simple rules. My feeling of all of these is that Dracula can mentally wind them up and let them go, but in a pinch could mentally control any one of them.

Note that so far Dracula is the only vampire we've seen who has this blood power, but there may be others like him. Also note that during the events of Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising, Alex is so far not even aware that Dracula or the other vampires alive-- whereas by Sword of Dracula, he is sending Ronnie secret notes with plans on how to deal with the "Lord of all Vampires."

Thanks for the questions!

Pitching and how it morphs: Young Van Helsings

Someone on my blog asked me about Sword of Dracula, the comic series I wrote that first introduced the spy organization (grown up around the heroes of Dracula and the origins of Frankenstein) called the Polidorium. Would the characters there-- especially Ronnie-- ever return? I told her something a lot of people might not know: Alex Van Helsing, the book series, sprang from a pitch called Young Van Helsings. There, Alex was one of the leads in what would be a series about Alex, sister Ronnie (the star of the comic) and Alex's manipulative twin Judith. As it happened, by the time we were done, the pitch had refocused on Alex himself. That happens all the time-- this was actually a rare case where the pitch morphed, but the earlier version is still viable. Sometimes it can go wildly out of alignment with the original-- what starts out as a police procedural can wind up as a romantic comedy about a cop. Usually these changes are better. And besides-- you're the writer. You can always come around to the earlier version later.

Pitch time. That's where we are.
This is one of those periods where I'm mainly working my a** off but it's more or less hidden from public view. In public view I'm in a quiet period because Alex Van Helsing: Voice of the Undead doesn't come out until July 26, and though I've turned in a draft of the third book, I don't have edits on it yet, so I'm working on new material. During the last hiatus I worked on a ghost story with a female lead; this time I'm working on two different middle grade boy action books simultaneously.

Where do I do this? I have an office at home, but for knocking out chapters, nothing suits me more perfectly than an empty lecture hall. Most of the Alex Van Helsing series, in fact, was written inside of lecture halls at the University of Dallas:

Gorman Lecture Center, where I do a lot of my writing.

Sometimes when I take breaks, I leave cryptic notes on the white boards (last time: THE COARSEST SENSATIONS OF MEN.) I always wonder if the students notice these notes, or if the professor just erases them. The world may never know.

Reading on the Darkside: Alex Van Helsing & "Do we WANT guy readers?"

I did an interview with the fantastic people at Reading on the Darkside. Christina, the interviewer, asked lots of questions, among them: who is the target audience for an actiony vampire series like Alex Van Helsing? Do we want male readers and can we hope for them? Answer: actually I kind of hope for both male and female readers, and most of the best reviews so far have been from women.

I also managed to mention that in fact, Alex Van Helsing was almost "Ronnie Van Helsing," about Alex's sister. But for now, you can only find her in her own comic.

Read the interview here.

New Review of Sword of Dracula

I wanted to share this fantastic review of Sword of Dracula that showed up on Amazon.


It's a really kind review, but what really strikes me is how the reader responds to the same thing I responded to when I began to explore Drac as a character-- we don't get to see him much as a ruthless ruler and king.

Sword of Dracula, for those who are interested, stars Ronnie Van Helsing-- the younger sister of Alex Van Helsing. (But wait, you ask: Alex is 14 and Ronnie is-- what, 28? 30?) Yes. SOD takes place later.
 

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Amazing Dracula, February 21, 2010

By	Shadow Watcher - See all my reviews

In this age of vampire infatuation and revisionist writing, the story of Dracula is somewhat in flux. More and more books and movies now portray him as the romantic sympathetic hero and for many people that's good. But the vampire Dracula, who has been in our minds for a hundred year was "created" as a monster, and for many it is frustrating to find so few stories of him as an awe inspiring villain in this last decade.

Sword of Dracula, written by Jason Henderson, gives that and more.

Set in modern times, vampires have become a terrorist threat that threatens to consume the planet. And at the top is the vampire king, Dracula, who is determined to become king of the world and has powers over blood that are truly horrifying but also makes you crave to see more. But on his trail is Veronica "Ronnie" Van Helsing, whose struggle with the Vampire king is long and has left her determined to bring him down. But just as the two sides gather for battle, an even darker threat arises from the earth.

Sword of Dracula is action packed and leaves one wanting for more as the idea of a bloody battle takes on a new and much more twisted meaning.
The cast of characters is excellent.
Ronnie is a hero you admire, care for, and prey for as she goes up against creatures that slaughter hundreds as an afterthought. As well as her band of Commando friends whose job is to defeat the undefeatable.
Dracula is at his villainous best. He sees the world as his and is determined to make it so. And with his powers and armies at his command, he is very much a sword hanging over the world's head.
And I won't give it away but the other villains are frightening and a welcome addition to the vampire mythos.

If you want action, a struggle between good and evil, an evil yet amazing Dracula, as well some of the greatest vampire powers in print, this is the graphic novel for you.
The Story is ongoing in Sword of Dracula: Dracula War and Alex Van Helsing.
You can be sure I will continue reading.

As taken from the graphic novel:

Let them know
He is not a Romantic.
He is not Misunderstood.
He is King.
Dracula lives. 
  

Sword of Dracula review at Taliesen

A fellow blogger-- and a real expert of vampire lit-- has done me the swell compliment of a review of Sword of Dracula-- check it out!

...Now the castle is hidden behind a shield but, also, the castle is made of blood. I really liked this concept; Dracula as the master of blood manipulation. With enough reserves he can create a castle… thus Castle Dracula in Stoker's novel could have been a construct. If we take this a step further and consider the cut version of Stoker’s ending - Castle Dracula falling as Dracula dies - then in this universe it would have been Dracula relinquishing control of the blood (and, in this universe, one guesses that would have been when he faked his death). Its not only castles, other examples of blood constructs include guard dogs and a coach and horses. Dracula is Vlad Tepes in this and to fill his reserves he drains his victims through impalement....

Podcast review of Sword of Dracula at Midnight Podcast

I have no idea how I missed this, but over at Midnight Podcast, at the end of April, host Corey reviewed (extensively) the original Sword of Dracula, and it was a really great review-- since Midnight Podcast is dedicated to zombies, this was a review straight up our alley-- after all, at the end of SOD: Season 1, you have skyscrapers full of zombie, and downtown Dallas turned into Hell on Earth. Check it out, and be sure and give the whole podcast a listen. This is a dedicated, enthusiastic zombie resource, complete with segments on how YOU will survive-- or not-- after the Zombie Holocaust.

Alex Van Helsing in Sword of Dracula: Flashback

Working on finishing the rough draft of Alex Van Helsing #1 this week, but here's a fun flashback-- a reminder of the role Alex played in the original Sword of Dracula series, from Line of Fire, April 2004.

Alex Van Helsing, Ronnie’s brother, has a strange premonition that causes him to call his sister. This phone call causes Ronnie to go about freeing Dracula. His escape from his capsule is very, very cool. It is a squence that you have to see – Belk’s art is really good and it shows in this sequence. Why does Ronnie let the king of the vampires go? Well, we’ll have to wait until the next issue.

In that scene, Alex was an adult, years after the events of Alex Van Helsing #1, which will be out next Summer.