Kupfer, Allen C(onrad)

views updated

KUPFER, Allen C(onrad)

PERSONAL: Male. Education: City University of New York, B.A.; Hunter College, M.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—Floral Park, NY. Offıce—Nassau Community College, Department of English, One Education Drive, Garden City, NY 11530.

CAREER: Long Island University, Brooklyn Center, NY, assistant professor of English; Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY, professor of film and literature studies.

WRITINGS:

The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing, Forge (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: A professor of film and literature studies, Allen C. Kupfer has a long familiarity with the horror genre and its archetypal monsters and demons. In his first novel, The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing, Kupfer draws on the rich heritage of the Dracula legend, this time from the perspective of the famed vampire hunter who is said to have destroyed him.

The first few pages of the book set the stage for Kupfer's hair-raising tale, as the author/narrator reveals that he has discovered—in his own grandmother's attic—Van Helsing's unpublished journal. Kupfer decides to bring the journal to the world, complete with notes from his grandfather that confirm Van Helsing's self-appointed task to eradicate vampires. As Harriet Klausner explained on AllSciFi.com, "Readers see how Van Helsing becomes driven, obsessed and afraid but he doesn't let his feelings get in the way of what he regards as his mission in life."

The actual story begins with Van Helsing's visit to Hungary with colleague Dr. Borescu, who proves to him that vampires are real. Soon Van Helsing and Borescu are attacked by an ancient demon named Malia, who had turned Dracula centuries ago and who now succeeds in infecting Borescu. Van Helsing is forced to help destroy the good doctor before he turns into a vampire, then vows to fight the creatures forevermore. Soon Malia and a host of deadly creatures chase Van Helsing back to Amsterdam, where the professor's own wife begins to show signs of vampirism. For Library Journal reviewer Patricia Altner, "This eerie, well-crafted tale of a vampire underworld and, with few exceptions, a blithely unbelieving human populace allows readers to suspend disbelief easily."