PixlBit

I thought I’d break it up a bit and instead talk about yet another one of my guilty pleasures I enjoy during the Octoberween month. In prior years I spoke of vampire novels and it looks to be this year is no different. I can’t help but find myself reading some of the old “classics” from my personal library, especially given how the Twilight series has bastardized the entire genre of vampire lore. As much as I’d like to get into newer books about vampires I have yet to find one that keeps my interests. Again all the Twilight wantabes have made it much harder to find a vampire book I can truly sink my teeth into. (No pun intended) I’m more of a puritan when it comes to my vampire stories in keeping with the lore from the past with the likes of Dracula and Nosferatu. Sure I can get into modern twists like the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series but deep down I prefer my vampires to be truly undead and weakened by light, garlic, sliver and holy items.  

So when I happened to find this book in a bargain bin at a local shopping store, I couldn’t help but pick it up and marvel at what I had found. The cover art alone of “I, Strahd. The Memoirs of a Vampire, was enough for me to want to purchase this title. Plus you didn’t see many books of this kind as a hardcover. It made me wonder if it was a “First Edition” release since I’ve never seen another Ravenloft type book like this. Even the sequel book to I, Strahd I could only find as a paperback. It really is quite a unique book in how it’s presented. Right down to actually having some illustrations within the book itself, as if it was like an older book of the old style. I had heard of “Ravenloft” from my prior mingling with the Dungeons & Dragons, and later the Advanced, tabletop RPGs back in my youth. Though I was never able to fully embrace and play them, due to me not having many friends, I still tried to keep up with D&D lore. I did recall reading about a “Lord Strahd” in the Ravenloft module but I wasn’t sure if this was the same Strahd here. It seemed too much of a coincidence plus I thought such books were never released in this fashion given how the stories of particular characters were in the modules themselves. I was personally amazed that there was such a thing as a Ravenloft book given that most D&D books were usually released under the “Forgotten Realms” line of books. I was always curious in wanting to try out a Ravenloft AD&D campaign for I was told that “heroes didn’t last long” in that module.

In the end I made the book my own and it became one of the first book impulse buys I ever enjoyed. So much in fact I bought two copies of the book because I re-read my first copy so much it had become weathered and damaged. My current copy has lasted longer than the first one though the dust jacket is showing its signs of wear and tear…

I, Strahd. The Memoirs of a Vampire tells the tale, in three parts, about Lord Strahd Von Zarovich as he conquers the land of Barovia, takes up residence in his newly renamed dwelling, Castle Ravenloft, and tells of own story (in his own words) about before, during and after the events in his life that lead him in becoming “The Devil Strahd”. The initial framing device for this book is told by means of the character Dr. Rudolph Van Richten as he explores Castle Ravenloft after what appears to be many years since Lord Strahd had become dormant. I’m not sure if Van Richten is actually an RPG character in the Ravenloft module but he is one of the few individuals that dare to fight back against the evil creatures of this world. Though not exactly a skilled warrior by any means, he’s nothing more than a mere old herbalist in search of knowledge in how to defeat the monstrosities of the night. He sneaks into Castle Ravenloft in hopes to finding some kind of weakness in killing Strahd but instead ends up finding his personal study. There Van Richten finds Strahd’s personally journal where he planned to set the record straight by setting down an exact record of the past events so “that the truth may at last be known…”

The framing device for this story alone is interesting given how it tries to be similar to prior vampire novels. Like Dracula where as it was writing in the mindset of the person who actually experienced the events and was putting them down in written text, this story to does that same. The difference being is that instead of the main story told by various authors from different perspectives, we only hear the story from Strahd himself. The author of I, Strahd. The Memoirs of a Vampire, P.N. Elrod, does an amazing job in trying to portray Strahd as a respectable character. The story doesn’t try to paint Strahd in any particular light as to be either the protagonist or antagonist to his own saga but instead just weaves a tale of a man whose life has been mostly about soldiering, along with the ups and downs of that life he leads. Strahd doesn’t come off as a complete dictator or worse, a pale imitation of Vlad Tepes, but instead of a man who does his duty as a general as he leads his army to conquest. He fights, he ages, he has personal issues like growing old and questions about the life he has used up to get where he was at that point in becoming Lord of all Barovia. The way author P.N. Elrod is able to have Strahd not only explain his situations and surrounds so that they paint a better picture of the world around him but also able to have him describe his specific thoughts to any given event. This alone helps to make more of Strahd than just your generic run of the mill villain turned monster. It helps to tell a better narrative of any of his given situations, with witty inner monologue to grand descrptions of the world around him so that the reader (both in the Ravenloft universe and to the reader in general) can get a complete picture of what he sees and does at any given moment. His descrptions of his first view of the Land of Barovia, newly acquired transformations as a vampire and his fall from grace are wonderfully explained. 

Part I mostly consists of his takeover of Barovia, an attempt on his life by the Ba’al Verzi assassins guild and the prospects of governing his new lands as its new Lord. During this whole time you’re drawn into this world and find what you’d expect in a swords and sorcery narrative. Discerptions about his encampment, the battle long after and the exploration of Castle Ravenloft work well to draw you in as you see events unfold under Strahd’s eyes. Even the mundane moments of him setting up his government are interesting to read as he travels from town to town, setting things right to ensure the taxes are turned in properly. The story even broadens up further when Strahd’s brother Sergei is introduced, making for a stark contrast between the aging warrior to the younger upcoming priest. It’s at the end of part one when we learn of what would soon put brother against brother and what would begin the fall of Strahd himself.

Part II opens with the preparation of an upcoming wedding with Strahd doing all he can to win over the woman he loves by any means necessary. Given his dabbling of the dark arts, he soon ends up making a choice that not only destroys his rule but turns him into a vampire. The steps it took for Strahd to become a vampire is an interesting twist in how you’d think one would normally become such. It doesn’t exactly mirror how Vlad Tepes became a vampire in what you’d expect in any Dracula vampiric lore but the means in how it happened also hold true in what you’d expect out of the dark powers in a Dungeons and Dragon’s narrative. Author P.N. Elrod did a great job portraying Strahds desire to win what he wants the most. This part of the story best differentiae’s what you’d expect in someone wanting to give up their immortality. In other vampire stories, the person who becomes a vampire does it either as a means to grow powerful to either overcome their enemies or to reject God overall given how he had not answered their prayers.  Here’s its done due to a desperate man trying to cling to what little youth he had left for his one true heart’s desire. To some that might seem like a petty reason to become a vampire. Personally in some dark, twisted way I could relate to Strahd in that regards given that I too at that time had recently been rebuffed by someone I held most dear and wished I could do anything to win their affection. In some ways I think we’ve all been there and wished we could’ve done anything to win the love of another.

Strahd’s fall is wonderfully explained as an old enemy re-emerges and the outcome of this tragic part II story ends with Barovia trapped withing a wall of mist and Strahd beginning his new reign as Dark Lord over all.

Part III ends the tale of Strahd as he pursues justice by those who had betrayed him and learns of his own personal curse that dooms him to forever be in torment. The means in how he finds justice is the most interesting aspect of this part, especially in seeing how he deals out his form of justice against his old enemies. I like how his old enemy even does all he can to prepare himself against Strahd upon taking the time between the years to study up on what Strahd had become. I honestly actually thought that perhaps Strahd may not survive this confrontation despite the fact that he obviously did given the title of the book. Though I did have qualms in how the sentence to the betrayer was issued I thought it was a fitting end to the harm that was caused to the Dark Lord so long ago. It’s during moments like that that makes you think less of Strahd as a monster and more as a tortured soul who happens to be trapped in the body of the undead.

The last part in part III is a bit more anticlimactic given that it almost plays scenario by scenario from the Dracula novel in how a vampire seduces and slowly turns a young woman into his own bride. The only difference to the situation is the circumstances as to why Strahd seduces this young maiden and what becomes of her after the fact. The situation along that leads to this is enough to keep the story from being boring or formulaic yet at the same time I couldn’t be fully shocked when the outcome came to be known.

I do agree though that the punishment at the end was far too quick for his own good.

If you’ve ready any other classic vampire novels before this book won’t be much different when it comes to the narrative and setting. The spine of this book calls this story “Fantasy Horror” and despite my poor attempts to describe this book, it does indeed fit the description. The wording by Strahd is both old yet to the point as he explains his surroundings and situations. It all overall fits the mood for any gothic horror story and does an excellent job “humanizing” a personification of evil to the point where you almost feel sorry for him or even relate to his plight. He doesn’t portray himself as a monster and doesn’t gloss over the facts of what he’s done to become what he is at the books end. My favorite scenes are the chapel scene when he’s trying to soothe the pain of his grief stricken, soon to be (yet not to be) sister in law, and ends up creating the very curse that will plague him for the rest of his day.

I’ve ready this story over and over yet every time I find myself going back to it again and again. I know I should try to read something different but the books mood, setting, characters and story always pull me back. It makes me wish there were more stories of Strahd and his land of Barovia. Sadly only two books were written about Strahd so the only way I could get to enjoy more of it would to play the AD&D games of Ravenloft. In the end it’s one of the reasons why I consider this book one of my reading guility pleasures. I know I should move on. I know I shouldn’t read this book again given I’ve read it so many times before. And yet I can’t help myself in reading it one more time.

As much as I’d like to go into broader detail of the book, like it’s complete story description and its colorful cast of character like Alek Gwilym and High Priestess Lady IIona Darovnya, it’s best one reads it themselves to fully appreciate I, Strahd. The Memoirs of a Vampire.

Try it out if you can. Get it if you can find it in as a hardcover book. It’ll go nicely with any supernatural library.

Ta-ta

“N”