Tripwire Talks To Writer-creator Chris McAuley About Dracula Dark Reign and the StokerVerse

Staking His Claim

Chris McAuley is a multi-talented writer. His credits include being an award winning and bestselling creator of the StokerVerse and Dark Legacies audio, novels, comics and games. Tripwire’s contributing writer Paul N Neal only recently became aware of the computer game Dracula Dark Reign. That felt like an opportunity to ask Chris a few questions about Dracula and a few other things…

TRIPWIRE: Chris, can we start off with a fairly simple question please? What was your first exposure to the character of Dracula? Would it have been a movie? Or alternatively did you simply start off by reading the classic novel by Bram Stoker?

CHRIS MCAULEY: I first encountered Dracula in my primary school library at Ballymena Primary School, in Charmaine Foster’s class. I can still remember the moment with surprising clarity. Until then, vampires had only existed for me as cartoons, things like Count Duckula, spooky but safe, playful rather than frightening.

Dracula was different. It was the first time horror felt real.

What struck me immediately was the form of the book itself. The letters, journals and manuscripts didn’t feel like a story being told, they felt like documents being uncovered. As a child, that format convinced me, on some instinctive level, that I was reading something true, something unearthed rather than invented. It blurred the line between fiction and reality in a way I wasn’t prepared for.

Then there were the images that lodged themselves deep in my mind. I didn’t fully understand the plot or its themes, but the horror bypassed logic and went straight to the subconscious. The three “weird sisters” devouring a baby horrified me in a way nothing had before. Dracula’s slow, predatory encounters with Lucy unsettled me deeply, not because I grasped their full meaning, but because they felt wrong, invasive and cruel.

The imagery planted itself quietly and permanently, shaping my sense of what horror could be: intimate, psychological and disturbingly plausible. Looking back, that moment in a school library wasn’t just my first encounter with Dracula, it was my first encounter with true horror.

TW: Dracula is a public domain character. That inevitably means there have been a great deal of approaches and adaptations of the character. Do you have any favourites? For example, did you enjoy the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola movie or maybe the three-part BBC adaptation from 2020? Are there other approaches to the character you prefer?

CM: Dracula is public domain in the sense that anyone can use the character and put their own twist to him. My favourite twists have been the Christopher Lee version in Hammer Horror and Dracula in the Blade comics. Coppola’s version (although far removed from Stoker’s original masterpiece) is a visual tour-de-force and I do watch it regularly – particularly for Hopkins’ performance as Van Helsing. There’s a wonderful moment at the end when he proclaims to the band of heroes that they have become ‘God’s madmen’ – that’s particularly apt I think.

TW: As I understand it you’ve established a brand, or an umbrella term, to help identify all the Dracula projects you’re involved with. Please tell me about The StokerVerse. What makes it special and what projects are involved?

CM: The StokerVerse is co-created with Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew, Dacre Stoker. Dacre approached me about creating a series of authentic comic books which expanded on his great grand-uncle’s original novel.

He shared with me exclusive family insight, the missing pages of Dracula (over 100 were removed by Bram Stoker’s editor at the time) and Bram Stoker’s notes. This is the true, authentic Dracula, not based on Hollywood’s interpretation.

I came up with the idea of the StokerVerse when Dacre and I began expanding this story from comics to novels and then into tabletop games.

It’s become a widely recognised brand in horror and, as of this year, we are also moving into a young-adult range with our brand-new tabletop game ‘Doctor Frankensdice’, a thrilling game which allows you to build various monsters and attack the angry villagers ready to storm your castle.

CM: This offshoot has almost become its own franchise with a popular STEM based YA novel and children’s activity book already published.

TW: Please forgive my ignorance. What does STEM based mean?

CM: STEM – science, technology, engineering, maths. So the book Frankensdice and the game is aligned with the school curriculum in the UK and North America.

TW: Dracula: Dark Reign is fascinating. Is this a brand-new computer game made with a retro look? How did it come about? How can people play it?  

CM: Dark Reign is the second ‘new’ video game in the StokerVerse franchise but it’s the first video game to use the elements from Bram’s notes to ‘fill in the gaps’ – you begin by playing as Jonathan Harker as he escapes Dracula’s Castle.

CM: I’m a big fan of the metroidvania style titles and was keen to imbue this action title with RPG elements.

TW: Sorry, I’m not familiar with the term metroidvania?

CM: It’s a game type that’s a mixture of Castlevania and super Metroid. Basically, an action game with lots of exploration and RPG elements.

TW: Forgive my ignorance. I am a bit of luddite when it comes to gaming. Is Dracula an online game? Is it a single players game?

CM: Players can play as various characters connected to the original novel and discover new abilities which help them explore environments fully. These new abilities such as shape-shifting can open secret locations on previously explored areas. The majority of the game is set after the original novel and Scratch comics StokerVerse comic book series.

The game was developed by award-winning studio Spacebot Interactive and published by Incube8. They have treated the franchise and Stoker’s work with the care and attention it deserves. I’ve been interviewed by Retro Gamer magazine about this title and they played the demo and proclaimed it as ‘Dracula Done Right’. We are all very proud of that!

This is a very special game as it’s the first video game in history to have the Stoker family seal of approval.

TW: If I wanted to play the game, what would I need? A console? A laptop? A tablet or a smart phone?

CM: It will be available on Steam, PS5, Xbox and Switch. The price is $35 and it’s a single player only title.

TW: So, it is not currently available on all these platforms as yet?

CM: The game is releasing in March.

TW: Is there a website fans should check for updates?

CM: https://draculadarkreign.com/

TW: Does The StokerVerse have a general mission statement? Where can you see it heading into 2026 and beyond? What is the dream?

CM: Mission statement is to bring the original Dracula back – for decades we’ve had the Hollywood version but not Bram’s original version. We are moving into film and television this year.

The dream is to create a franchise which reflects the Stoker family’s vision of the original character and horror universe of Dracula. As co-owner of the StokerVerse franchise I feel very privileged to be part of and contributing to literary history.

TW: Outside of The StokerVerse, is there anything else you are writing currently or any other projects you would like to mention or promote?

CM: Probably Dark Legacies – the franchise I created with Babylon 5 and Hollywood actress Claudia Christian. The comic books are published by Scratch Comics and feature celebrities such as Bruce Boxleitner, Bill Mumy, Pat Tallman, Walter Koenig, Nicola Byrant and Peter Jurasik.

It’s the first time that the entire surviving main cast of Babylon 5 have been brought together.

It’s illustrated by Staz Johnson and Glenn Fabry. Issue 3 is in production, and it has a video game.

TRIPWIRE NOTE: Issue Two of Dark Legacies cover above is illustrated by artist Si Chinook

TW: It’s another computer game? Is it important to you that your projects establish themselves in difference ways to reach a larger audience? A multimedia approach?

CM: Yes – I’ve made a name for myself creating multimedia franchises – it’s important to get “points of entry” for fans of different media and it’s how I establish an interconnecting story as well. I try to pull gamers into comics and novels / audio dramas through this approach.

TW: Would it be fair to say most of your projects depend on crowdfunding or Kickstarter campaigns? Does this produce a pretty close relationship with your customers or fans? Do you get relatively immediate feedback producing your projects in this way?

CM: About 30% of my projects are Kickstarters and it’s really encouraging not to have a failure. It shows that there’s good commercial “buy in” to what I create.

TW: Do you attend a great deal of conventions to promote your projects? Do you have any favourites?

CM: I don’t go to conventions at all.

That will change as my agent has me booked for US conventions this year. I’ve never been a convention “goer” I suppose – I’m more the type of creative that sits at home and gets the work done. I’m quite private in that way – I lecture at university on literature and film which is public facing I suppose. I won 7 film awards last year and had to do a few videos for festivals. Maybe I’ll get more interested after appearing at the US ones.

TW: Despite being based in Canada, you seem to maintain a presence in the UK comic industry. Would that be fair?

CM: Yeah – Scratch Comics and Shift are UK based.

TW: Do you attend a great deal of conventions to promote your projects? Do you have any favourites?

CM: I don’t go to conventions at all.

That will change as my agent has me booked for US conventions this year. I’ve never been a convention “goer” I suppose – I’m more the type of creative that sits at home and gets the work done. I’m quite private in that way – I lecture at university on literature and film which is public facing I suppose. I won 7 film awards last year and had to do a few videos for festivals. Maybe I’ll get more interested after appearing at the US ones.

TW: Despite being based in Canada, you seem to maintain a presence in the UK comic industry. Would that be fair?

CM: Yeah – Scratch Comics and Shift are UK based.

TW: Maybe someday you might visit a couple of UK conventions?

CM: It’s possible – I co-own Deadeye Comics and Paul Deadeye (and one of our comics Pale Moon Grimm) are going to Lawless this year.

TW: Outside of your current projects, are there any established comics characters you’d enjoy sinking your teeth into as a writer? You mentioned Blade for example?

CM: Yeah Blade, Transformers… Doctor Who is a favourite!

TW: As a final question then? What best describes you? Writer? Editor? Owner? Game developer? Artist? You seem like a creator that wears many hats.

CM: Yeah – my bio says award-winning writer, game developer and film producer/writer… I think I just try to learn whichever media works for the story I’m trying to tell or the product I’m trying to create.