In February 1918 the fates of nations hung in the balance. The Allied powers faced Germany across a tattered no mans land, knowing that Russia had left the war, and now all Germany’s might was ready for the final push. But this isn’t the world we know, where flesh and blood died in the stinking mud. Here the quick and the undead will decide the fate of nations, man and vampire fighting alongside each other in the trenches, whilst a very bloody Red Baron rules the skies.
Kim Newman, Britain’s master of high weirdness, has embroidered his vampire tapestry once before with “Anno Dracula”, a tale of revolution and murder in a Victorian London where the Prince Consort just happens to be one Vlad Dracula. “The Bloody Red Baron” is a welcome return to this unusual alternate world (where historical characters mix with those lovingly stolen from popular fiction), 30 years on. After the revolution, Dracula has fled to Germany, and now wages war on his rationalist Western foes.
The key to victory may lie hidden in the Chateau du Malinbois, home of the fabled Richthofen Flying Circus. It is here that diabolical experiments have created something new and dangerous, something that is making mincemeat of the allied aces that make up the Condor Squadron - among them a certain Bigglesworth.
This is not your traditional alternate history, nor is it a pot-boiler vampire slasher. Newman seizes both genres firmly by the scruff of the neck, and bangs their heads together, to give us this thoroughly enjoyable romp. Each short chapter is folded around an exquisite vignette - Dr Moreau dissecting vampires in the trenches, Edgar Allen Poe allied with Franz Kafka against the might of the German bureaucracy, a vampire Winston Churchill drinking the blood of a Madeira-sozzled rabbit - a series of set pieces that build slowly into a climactic dawn patrol over the Western front.
“The Bloody Red Baron” is a thoroughly enjoyable read, a blood soaked page turner that keeps you laughing as you play spot the character with Kim Newman. “All Quiet On the Western Front” was never this much fun…
A-
Originally published in SFX
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