Okay, okay, I know before I even start that many will argue that the werewolves I’m referring to were in fact vampires transformed into wolves, the same way we are already accustomed to Dracula transforming into bats. But I’m just going to invite you down the rabbit hole of my thinking -should be fun, right?
I love the idea that a vampire could potentially take any form and that many of the attributes of Dracula are often considered part of Vlad Dracul’s schooling, like being able to control the weather. Which again, is a great part of the inspiration in Long Undead. Where Bram talks about Dracula having being a warlord or prince in times long since past he isn’t specific about which warlord or prince. Vlad’s own torturous history has provided a mesmerising smorgasbord of information that can (and has been) used to make Dracula both more mysterious and more dangerous (as if he needed that).
But, quite honestly, that’s not where my focus lies today.
“A wolf – and yet not a wolf!” another put in shudderingly.
Dracula’s Guest, Bram Stoker
I read Dracula’s Guest quite some time ago, and whilst it would appear that the wolf keeping the Englishman (Harker, I presume, as this was, I believe, an original part of the Dracula novel that got cut) safe and warm was Dracula. In the novel Dracula, we encounter the wolves on Harker’s journey to the castle after he changes coaches. The wolves begin to gather as he rides alone inside a caleche (two wheeled horse drawn vehicle). Harker somehow falls asleep and when he awakes the driver has gone and wolves surround him. He is terrified but it’s not a paralysis. And when the driver returns he sends them away as if they were pet dogs.
And this is what interested me, these two stories together -Dracula as a wolf protecting his guest and the pack of wolves around the castle seemingly guarding Harker whilst the driver was otherwise occupied. It raised some what ifs.
What if, when Dracula was in wolf form and he bit or scratched another they would turn into a werewolf and not a vampire? Obviously you can then fall down the whole rabbit hole of what if he was in the form of this or that, and then there’s the werewolves are shapeshifters and become different creatures dependant on location or their own personal situation at the time. But what if, to turn into a vampire you have to have vampire blood in you when you die and only the shapeshifting abilities of the vampire that bit you get passed on. But the vampire bite without the blood is just a drink/meal because the vampire has to be shapeshifted for venom to be in the right form to cause shapeshifting.
So, vampire blood plus death equals vampire. Shapeshifter bite or scratch but no death equals shapeshifter.
Then, of course, there comes the question What if the wolves that guarded Harker were Dracula’s shapeshifters who (or mostly) only took wolf form and were there to guard the castle and surrounding lands whilst Dracula was away or sleeping. That originally they could turn whenever they chose. And what if, when Dracula didn’t return, they continued to guard the castle and roam the lands, generation after generation -with their long long lives- passing the curse on through breeding instead of bites.
And what if, they learnt that he hadn’t died but had abandoned them and decided to rule themselves. And got themselves in a spot of trouble and as a result got cursed to only turn on a full moon.
Through my eyelashes I saw above me the two great flaming eyes of a gigantic wolf. Its sharp white teeth gleamed in the gaping red mouth, and I could feel its hot breath fierce and acrid upon me.
Dracula’s Guest, Bram Stoker
You can read Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker here.
Horror and Fantasy Author – Also writing as K.T. McQueen. Love Western Horror, cowboy boots, my cactus Collin, & my Demon Cat.
Moths – I hate moths, the way they flutter at your face!
