Eisner and multi-award-winning creator J.H. Williams III (Echolands, The Sandman: Overture, Promethea) is dreaming up a new horror nightmare this October with Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio. The stunning storybook retells the classic Dracula tale, featuring over 150 pages of painted illustrations and accompanying story passages, luring readers into a beautiful and terrifying gothic world. The hardcover Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio book hits shelves this October, just in time for Halloween season.
Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio has a unique storybook format, much like an illustrated children’s book, juxtaposing paintings with pages of story, allowing Williams III to sink his teeth even deeper into the Dracula monster myth. New York Timesbestselling writer and artist Williams III creates a fantastical and absorbing storytelling experience that goes beyond the typical expectations of an art book, making for a potent combination of illustration and prose.
“Since I talk about what inspired this project in the foreword inside the book, I’ll just say that I’m excited to have it come out,” said Williams III. “I don’t think I’ve seen a book quite like this in the modern era. I sought to make it a different kind of thing than what some would expect, an attempt to marry portfolio illustrations with brief passages to create a narrative structure that most art books don’t tend to focus on. Because of it having a single narrative subject, the illustration choices are reflective of that. I gave the prose sections a subtle older style, but delivered with a somewhat brisk sensibility. All with a desire to have it call back to classic storybooks that often became annual favorites of the young and old. Every aspect of the book, with the assistance of Image Comics’ Drew Gill, is geared toward that simple but pleasant idea. The result is unique and hopefully satisfying.”
Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio, featuring a cover by Williams III will be available at local comic book shops on Wednesday, October 9 and independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indigo, and Waterstones on Tuesday, October 22. Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
