The Count Speaks: Inside The Lost Diaries of Dracula

Author Aiden Truss reimagines Dracula’s tale through the vampire’s own hilariously bleak diary in D: The Lost Diaries of Dracula, writes HAUNTED CHARLIE HALL

From a very young age author Aiden Truss, was drawn to the darker side of life and upon receiving a memorable copy of Frankenstein as a Christmas gift, he acquired a hunger for horror and all things supernatural.

He couldn’t wait for library visits after school, where he eagerly looked for various additions of Pan Horror Anthologies and ghost stories, then later movie novelisations like The Exorcist, Amityville Horror and The Omen.

When able to Aiden would stay up late to watch scary movies on TV and especially remembered the Saturday night Universal horror double bills, where he first got to see the black and white films that he had read about.

In the days before videos were available, his only way to see any classic horror, unless on TV, was in illustrated books such as A Pictorial History of Horror Movies by Denis Gifford and The Hamlyn Book of Horror, written by Daniel Farson, the great nephew of Bram Stoker.

A voracious reader who became fascinated by Gothic fiction and while studying for his BA, he embarked on a course module on Gothic fiction which reinforced his love for the genre.

Adding this to his passion for writing and an absurd sense of humour, he realised that he had a few spooky stories within, so created his very own, unique style of dark comedy.

In 2013 he published his highly acclaimed horror fantasy novel Gape, a gruesomely amusing tale about the happenings of a destitute young woman who trades places with a discontent Demon.

I couldn’t help but enquire with Aiden that if asked to swap existences with a Demon would he do so and what would he get up to, he replied saying yes but would ironically use his powers to do some good.

He liked the idea that he could move unchallenged about the corridors of power around the world and could frighten the bejesus out of some of the people currently in power to do something positive in the world.

D: The Lost Diaries of Dracula

10 May 2025 saw the launch of his exciting new comedy horror book, D: The Lost Diaries of Dracula. The opening forward is by Hammer Horror actress and Bond girl Madeline Smith, best known for her appearances in Taste The Blood of Dracula and Live and Let Die.

The story is a cleverly written Gothic Memoir from the Legendary Prince of Darkness, that starts in Bucharest, where a mysterious diarised document is found, bearing uncanny parallels to a particularly renowned vampire novel.

The writer is said to be an ancient Nobleman with an appetite for blood and power, who identifies only as ‘D’, could this be the diary of the infamous Count Dracula, uncovered after all these years?

It is an alternative version of the story we all know and love, from Dracula’s perspective but with the Count as a wonderfully woeful, disgruntled vamp. D takes you on a hilarious journey through his travels, daily bloodlust encounters and fiendish mishaps on the way.

It has witty accompanying footnotes and lots of gore and unpleasantries that shows Aiden’s inspiration from the Great Terry Pratchett’s work.

The book was created after realising that Dracula is always written from the points of view of all but him.

Aiden wanted to place himself in D’s shoes to explore his motives, feel his frustrations at having to travel so far to find somewhere to rest safely and feed without drawing attention.

He said it was strange to feel on the side of such a villainous character but also wanted to add some comedic and stupid situations to deal with and injected his own bizarre sense of humour into it.

Extensive research was carried out, reading different Dracula books, watching many films and Aiden explained how despite having read the original novel countless times, there are always things that are missed, so he re-read annotated versions and even literary criticism for ideas. He watched the original 1931 version with Bela Lugosi, the 1958 version with Christopher Lee, the 1974 Jack Palance TV movie, the 1977 Louis Jourdan TV version, the 1979 Frank Langella depiction and Gary Oldman’s 1992 Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

He devised a timeline to follow so that he could give ‘D’s perspective on the same events from the original entries, but also to slot in his own dates and events, particularly at the beginning when D is preparing for Jonathan Harker’s arrival, and then the last week of the novel when you only hear from the protagonists about their pursuit of the Count.

This meant he was alone in terms of narrative and had to move the story along on his terms, guessing at what he might get up to.

Aiden’s son Aaron made contact with Bram Stokers great, grand nephew and best selling author Dacre Stoker and they were thrilled to receive a personal message giving them his wishes and offering the best success with this book.

Reading ‘D’ made me laugh very much, I thoroughly enjoyed it and chatting with Aiden, delving into his thoughts and curious mind, the workings of this fantastic story and what an honour to have a descendent of Bram, sending kind words re his current venture. I look forward to seeing what eerie future delights he has in store for us next.

“HAUNTED CHARLIE HALL is a paranormal writer and researcher, horror writer and short filmmaker, medium and musician. She’s Brand Ambassador of Haunted Magazine and has had many features published in the paranormal and horror worlds. Originally from Northern Ireland, her father Clive Culbertson is former member of Van Morrison and founder of the Ulster Druid Order.”

Have you read D: The Lost Diaries of Dracula? What did you think of Dracula’s twisted, hilarious side? Let us know in the comments!

D: The Lost Diaries of Dracula is available from Amazon.