Dark Horse Comics will release a secret history of Dracula by Matt Wagner, Kelley Jones, and Jose Villarrubia to the trade this fall, the company announced.  Dracula Book 1: The Impaler, is the first of four 112-page trade paperbacks exploring previously untold parts of the Dracula mythos.  This first volume explores Dracula’s bloody history before his debut in the Bram Stoker novel, including his time at Satan’s legendary seminary of the dark arts, the Scholomance.

"The first graphic novel explores what led Dracula to seek out Satan’s tutelage and how he became the lord of the undead," Wagner said in a statement accompanying the announcement.  "Our version of Dracula is bloody and brooding, sexy and strange.  This is very much a horror story, with deep roots in Stoker’s novel, but believe me when I tell you this isn’t yet another retelling of the novel in comics form."

The trade paperback edition follows a successful funding on Kickstarter, where the project raised $262,498 from 3,349 backers for a hardback edition and related add-ons.  The creators plan Kickstarters for each volume; only Kickstarter backers will be able to buy the hardcover editions.

The trade paperback edition of Dracula Book 1: The Impaler will street in October, in time for Halloween sales.

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