Seán Manchester & Katrina Garforth-Bles

CARMEL

A Vampire Tale

This is a book that I had been looking forward to for a very long time. There have been so many attempts to conclude the story begun by Bram Stoker, who clearly had a sequel in mind, but till now everything has been so abysmal and so obviously cheap exploitation of what is, after all, a work of genius. Everyone knew that Seán Manchester was an author who had the experience to write from the heart on this subject. And now he has in Carmel – A Vampire Tale. Anyone who enjoyed Dracula will absolutely have a feast with Carmel. This is the definitive sequel and yet, in a strange sort of way, stands on its own as unique in its own right. Professor Ellis has accused this author in the past of basing his earlier work more on Stoker’s Dracula than on vampire folk tradition. But, as Seán Manchester points out in his vampirological guide, Bram Stoker thoroughly researched the tradition and lore of the undead before writing Dracula. Stoker consulted Emily Gerard, Sabine Baring-Gould and many other non-fiction authors of folk tradition. The author of Carmel went one better, of course, having spent three decades hunting vampires before putting pen to paper for his first novel. Thus the realism of the original is not only maintained, it is enhanced as experience of things familiar spills out on every page like the splashes of blood from a freshly staked vampire in its death throes. Yet there is much more to Carmel than walking in the eerie footsteps of Stoker’s Dracula. Yes, we are transported into that fearful realm of supernatural evil peculiar to vampires as the author skillfully restores those near-extinct elements from yestercentury, but at the centre is a story painfully real. It is the story of the holder of the name of the book’s title. Is this an actual person? Or merely a novelistic embellishment? This is a question posed at the beginning of the only authorised biography of Seán Manchester and, I can tell you, she did exist and some of what you learn about her is true. Yet this is a novel and how much is based on reality is less important to the reader than its effect as a vampire tale. For here is a terrifying exploration into the nether world of the undead where the reader is found wandering betwixt Victorian tombstones as the original contagion spreads its venom in 20th century England. Do not fret ~ Transylvania is not forgotten. Like its precursor, Carmel is the mirror of the mind of its author: Britain’s busiest vampirologist and exorcist!

Katrina Garforth-Bles

Sylvaine Charlet

“This vampire tale is a most enchanting read. Sean Manchester’s style, imagination and sensibility makes Carmel quite a jewel. Stoker has, at last, a literary heir worthy of writing a sequel.”

Sylvaine Charlet

“Sean Manchester is the natural writer of any attempt to resume the story of Dracula.” Vincent Hillyer

“I really enjoyed reading Carmel. I just couldn’t put it down.” Keith Maclean

“I felt I had to say how much I enjoyed Carmel ~ easily the best vampire novel I have read since the original Dracula. Absolutely enthralling. Tremendous atmosphere and a mounting tension that in my experience has only been equalled by Bram Stoker’s masterpiece. Congratulations! Congratulations!”

Peter Underwood

Peter Underwood

There is an audio cassette of music inspired by the story, composed and performed by its author; plus some original dialogue, and musical interludes by other composers identified in the novel. This cassette is titled The Carmel Suite.

Click here to go to the ordering information page for the book Carmel and The Carmel Suite.