Dracula’s creator is about to encounter his own creatures of the night. AfterShock Comics has announced Bram Stoker, Monster Hunter, a new series that follows the horror author’s supernatural adventures. The series comes from the creative team of writers Olivia Cuartero-Briggs & Adam Glass, artist Emilio Pilliu, and letterer Sal Cipriano. The series will sport covers by Pilliu, with the first issue also featuring an incentive variant cover by Pat Olliffe.
Here’s how AfterShock describes the forthcoming series:
Through memories spurred by Oscar Wilde’s 1895 gross indecency trial, a young and troubled Bram Stoker discovers there’s a secret hiding in his new workplace of Dublin Castle, one that will either end his life, or change it forever.
Cuartero-Briggs and Glass are the writers, and Cipriano is the letterer, behind a previous, similarly-themed AfterShock series, Mary Shelley, Monster Hunter, which released in 2019, and revealed the inspiration behind the Frankenstein writer’s iconic creation.
In a statement announcing Bram Stoker, Monster Hunter, co-writer Cuartero-Briggs described some of the team’s inspirations when creating the series:
“Oscar Wilde became an enormously influential figure during the research for this book. In fact, we use some of the actual transcripts from his horrific 1895, public trial for indecency – a.k.a. being gay – as a framing device for a lot of the story. Adam and I also love tackling current social issues in the Monster Hunter books, and when I discovered Bram Stoker was rumored to be gay, the issue of sexuality, acceptance, and loving who you love, no matter the cost – in both the late 19th century and the present – became a massive focal point.”
Check out unlettered preview pages from the first issue of the series below. Bram Stoker, Monster Hunter #1 is due out in stores and digitally on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023.
