Big Finish Tackles ‘Dracula’

Note: this article was also published on SciFi4Me.com and Horror4Me.com.

If you know Mark Gatiss as a writer, you probably know his love of the horror genre. After all, his Twitter bio proudly proclaims, “Actor. Writer. Strangler.” He was the host of the BBC’s A History of Horror, and has repeatedly mentioned in interviews how much the genre has influenced him as a writer (and, for that matter, an actor). He will be lending his vocal acting talents as the title character in Big Finish’s dramatisation of Dracula.

This isn’t the first classic horror book that Big Finish has dramatized: in October 2014, they did Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which actually was what prompted this adaptation. “We started talking about tackling Dracula not long after finishing work on Frankenstein,” says producer/director Scott Handcock in a press release on the Big Finish website. He also states that he knew right away he wanted Gatiss to play the lead. “From the instant the project was mooted, through to recording and beyond,” Handcock says in the press release, “he’s been nothing short of incredibly enthusiastic. He has such a distinctive voice, and brings a real sense of dread and brooding menace to proceedings.”

Gatiss isn’t a stranger to Big Finish: he’s written two Doctor Who audio plays for the production company.

The production will be released next May, and will be three hours over three CDs with a fourth CD of bonus material. You can pre-order the set now for $29.83 on CD, $12.99 for digital.