In a comment to my recent post on the origins of Van Helsing, Leon asks about the comic book that I used for an illustration. Well, it's a comic book adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula that I first read in a Danish translation, but the English languaged edition I own is a paperback with an introduction by Christopher Lee called The Illustrated Dracula 'now in blood-curdling comic form!' drawn by Alden McWilliams and written by Otto Binder and Craig Tennis. It was published by Manor Books Inc. in 1975, but the copyright year is 1966, so it was probably published elsewhere back then.In the foreword, Lee writes:
'Whether or not there is a living Dracula in our midst, it is an accepted historical and medical fact that vampirism has existed throughout the centuries. There is abundant evidence in all corners of the world of the power of blood; savage tribes still practice blood cults, and the drinking of blood is believed to endow the recipient with great power and virility. Psychiatrists tell us of the strong sexual impulses involved, and there have been countless documented cases of rites and crimes carried out as symbols of fertility. Even a blood transfusion is the giving of life and strength from one to another. It is no wonder, therefore, that superstition endows the vampire with the power to live forever. Even though dead, he is still very much alive.'
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