Cover Image: Stoker's Wilde West

Stoker's Wilde West

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I never could get into the first book, so I'm unsure why I requested this one. Maybe because it was so highly praised by many. I just didn't like much of it. Thank you for the early access though!

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This book is the sequel to Stoker’s Wilde, which I have previously reviewed, I loved that book so could not wait to read this one.

Join Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker as they once again do battle against the supernatural. When Bram Stoker is forced to disappear it is left to Oscar Wilde to try and rescue him.

In the American West a group of vampires have been running rampage and now there is a bounty hunter after them.

This is a really well written book that takes us back into Victorian times, the humour of Oscar Wilde and the interactions between him and Bram Stoker are wonderful.

I really enjoyed this book.

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4.5 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2020/12/01/stokers-wilde-west-by-steven-hopstaken-and-melissa-prusi/
My Five Word TL:DR Review – A series I am loving

This series is so very good. I’m thoroughly enjoying it. See my review for Stoker’s Wilde here and also I must give a little shout out to Pages and Tea who first brought this series to my attention – thank you so much you lovely person you.

So, this second instalment largely follows the mode of storytelling set out in book No.1, diary excerpts, journals, field reports, telegrams, etc. The epistolary style is something I love and to recreate it here, with such style and panache is a real work of genius. This is a series full of characters and references that I simply adore and so, I’m not going to lie, I was pretty much bowled over by both books.

What differs with this particular instalment is that the authors take us out of Victorian England and into America and the Wild West and the change in setting is fantastic and inspired. We have cowboys, gold diggers, gunslingers and a host of familiar names, not least of which is Calamity Jane.

I won’t over elaborate on the plot. There are of course vampires and dastardly deeds which involve certain people trying to open the doors between the realms, and there is plenty of action, jumping off cliffs and traversing the country on horseback or train. Suffice to say -highly entertaining.

Again we have Stoker and Wilde, Florence and in this instalment the addition of a couple of other voices that add to the story.

As with the first, I think Oscar really shines, I love his diary inserts and his show stealing ways. He’s so outrageously and delightfully flamboyant. Stoker completely manages to downplay this by being so downright no nonsense, in much the same way as the first book, and of course Florence also plays a much bigger part in this story and I really enjoyed her scenes and character growth. I think the three are really growing in terms of friendship and strength and I can’t wait to see what they get up to next.

I also love the way that both stories are interspersed with real facts and events, such as Oscar touring America or Stoker taking his theatre company there.

The writing is, again, perfection. I love the voices of the two main characters and they makes me long for more and more adventures. They manage to get themselves into such outrageous situations where death feels like a real possibility, but at the same time, you know something or someone will save the day.

In terms of criticisms. Well, I think this one meandered slightly and also there are quite a few plot lines coming into play in the early pages – I mention this simply to make readers aware as I personally didn’t find this problematic at all.

Overall, I just love this series. If my arm was twisted and I was hard pressed to choose a favourite I would say the first book stole my heart. That being said, this book was incredibly enjoyable.

I receive a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the author, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

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4 Stars!

When I first read Stokers Wilde by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi, I was not sure what to expect from the novel. Novels pieced together from found documents tend to run a thin line between being intriguing and feeling forced so I was a little leery of how the novel would go. I was happy to discover the novel was a compelling read and kept me turning the pages throughout the course of the story. When I saw the duo was returning with a sequel, Stoker’s Wilde West, I was interested to see if they could keep up the intensity for a second novel.



Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker thought their days of fighting monsters was in the past. They thought they would be able to return to their lives as if nothing had happened. When a message from Robert Roosevelt and his nephew Teddy came to England that they had uncovered a new nest of vampires in the new country in America, the two found themselves once more pulled into an adventure against the ancient evil. The duo found themselves thrust into a journey to the new world to face an ancient evil that just may be the end to not only thier lives but the world as well.



Their time in the new world starts out fairly mundane but that is all going to change once they head west. When a train they are traveling on is attacked by a band of vampire gunslingers. the duo finds themselves pulled into another war with humanity as the prize. They found themselves on the run through the American West pursued by both the law and the vampires. Drawing help from a colorful cast of characters drawn directly from history. Can the duo once again overcome all odds and save the world from vampires and demons?



Stoker's Wilde West is again an interesting concept by Hopstaken and Prusi. They obviously have done their research and put a lot of thought into the story. There is a lot to like in this novel, as with the first, as it blends history with mythology and horror to create a unique story. They draw a lot of elements into the story and use characters that have at least name recognition in ways the reader would not expect. There are characters that the reader will instantly recognize by name but these characters do not always act in the manner which would be expected. The authors keep the reader on edge throughout the tale and the twists that come throughout are sometimes startling and sometimes subtle.



While I enjoyed Stoker's Wilde West, I did not find it as compelling as the first novel. Novels written through letters and journals are difficult to maintain as the intensity of the story is often dulled by the switching of perspectives and styles and this second novel falls prey to that to some extent. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the novel. In fact, I enjoyed the novel but found it to be more of an interesting diversion than a compelling read. While the novel held my attention, it almost felt as if I had read this story before. While I enjoyed Stoker's Wilde West, it felt like too much of a rehash of the first novel to be something special. Fans of the first novel are sure to enjoy this one as well but it just did not strike the same chord with me the second time round.



I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. Stoker's Wilde West is available now.

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Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker have returned to their more or less normal lives after the events of Stoker's Wilde. But how normal can your life be when your brother is a werewolf or your coworker is a vampire. Their normal comes to an end when they receive a message that vampires have been found in America.

Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde were already booked to go to America. One to manage a theater company and the other to have his play performed. Florence, Bram's wife, is along for the ride which turns out to be a very good thing when Bram finds himself on the wrong side of the law. They pretty much encounter all that the Wild West has to offer and then some.

The story is told through telegrams , diary entries, meeting transcripts, and other first person point of view documents. This is much the same as Dracula. The majority of entries are from Oscar, Bram, and Florence although there are other sources. Entries really show each character's personality. Bram and Florence are slightly more reliable narrators than Oscar. Oscar tends to embellish a little though he usually admits to it in the end.

I enjoyed the friendship that Florence strikes up with Calamity Jane. Oscar and Bram make a nice counter pair with their own relationship and adventures.

While a little slow in a few places, overall the plot moved along at a good pace. There are also some nice twists.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It's well-written and in an interesting format. At first the format makes it a little confusing as it introduces characters that aren't picked up again until much later. Overall, it's a good story and worth a read. It is a sequel, but can be read as a standalone, which I did. I would recommend it to people who enjoy weird westerns, vampire stories, or paranormal stories.

Stoker's Wilde West by Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi was published August 11th, 2020 by Flame Tree Press.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion or the content of this review.

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Bram Stoker and his team of vampire slaying historical figures return for another fun but forgettable adventure - this time in the wild west of America.
This one is a light and playful adventure story told as a historical retelling through various sources including diary entries, meeting transcripts and letters.
Unfortunately, the narrative use of so many devices proves to be a little disjointed, pulling the reader out of the flow of the story and hindering any real deep character development.
Still, it has its quirk and should appeal to those who enjoyed the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter book and film.

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i love any book with a western horror setting, this book was really well done and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

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I received an advance reading copy of Stoker's Wilde West in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Steven Hopstaken, Melissa Prusi, and Flame Tree Press.

It was great to rejoin Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, and Henry Irving as they end up tackling more supernatural threats. This time they travel to the American West following a request for aid from their friend, Robert Roosevelt and his nephew Theodore. (That's a statement that I never thought I'd say prior to reading these books!)

In a similar fashion to how Stoker's classic horror Dracula is presented, Stoker's Wilde West is an epistolary novel. It is set in 1882 and compiles the details that relate to the California incident. These events are recorded via diary and journal entries, letters, telegrams, meeting transcripts, etc...

The main point of view perspectives that we follow are those of Oscar, Bram, and Florence. The viewpoints of Oscar and Bram are as different as their characters. Bram as a narrator is reliable and thorough. He has excellent memory recall and therefore paints an almost perfect picture of events. Oscar's diary is full of heightened imagery, expert wit, and dashes of humour, whilst often reporting how many times he has saved Stoker's life.

"It has become tiring saving Stoker's life so many times but for the sake of Florrie and Noel, I must do it at least once more."

Although they are completely different, they make an extremely enjoyable duo to follow, and even though they fall out and argue as often as they slay a vampire there is definitely a grudging respect between the two and, as a reader, we know that they like each other more than they let on. Florence's perspective was one of my few negatives from Stoker's Wilde. I stated that I tended to rush her sections to get back to what I considered the better parts. In Stoker's Wilde West she has developed into a great character herself. She's become strong of mind, self-reliant, intuitive and just as great to follow Bram and Oscar. She develops an interesting friendship with Calamity Jane throughout their journey too. Further examples of the perspectives compiled in Stoker's Wilde West include White Worm Agent Cora Chase, Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) and Bass Reeves.

Stoker's Wilde West is a sequel to Stoker's Wilde and refers to those events quite frequently. This novel is a better read having read the previous book but I believe it could be enjoyed as a standalone too. Stoker's Wilde West is a great piece of vampire-hunting historical fiction that is written like a classic. It exceeds the already pretty high standards set by Stoker's Wilde by the two authors. I did enjoy the setting in America that was presented here a lot. It felt like a different world to the Dublin and London we saw in the first book.

Hopstaken and Prusi have obviously put a lot of research into these novels and it really shines. There are many nuggets and easter eggs for fans of classic literature. For example, it was a great moment when I recognised a famous real-life Oscar Wilde quote that was used in a casual conversation with Bram Stoker here. Stoker's Wilde West is a well-written horror novel using some of the most famous people from Victorian times as the main characters. It contains moments of terror, deep fears, action-focused set pieces, touching scenes between characters, arcane magic, a vampire gunslinger, and a business tycoon who believes he is looking to find Eden. The ending was exciting and well worked and it nicely sets up the possibility of a third entry in this series. Stoker's Wilde West is, quite simply, an addictive, clever and extremely fun horror adventure.

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I didn't read the first book Stoker's Wilde, however i don't think it took away from this story at all.

In Stoker's Wilde West we meet Robert Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, Calamity Jane, Mark Twain as well as many others.

The story format is written in reports, letters and journal entries (which I thorough enjoyed and though intriguing), detailing the adventures of Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde of the supernatural and vampires in 1882, American west.

Stoker's Wilde West is at times heavy but well written, full of action and such fun. I highly recommend this book. Now excuse me while I find the first book!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

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Although I realized this novel was the second in a series of recurring characters it did not detract from my enjoyment of this part. Fantastic serial novel of numerous adventures of Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, Calamity Jane, Bass Reeves and Teddy Roosevelt to name a few. A quick read but also engrossing one. Highly recommended but read part one first!

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Stoker’s Wilde West is the sequel to Stoker’s Wilde, it can be read as a stand-alone (but then again I have read Stoker’s Wilde).

Here Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde are relaxing after events in the previous book, looking forward to a return to normal life, but then get a call from Robert Roosevelt…..vampires are running amok in America’s west, so off they go.

I love the gothic horror mixed with historical fiction and humour.

We meet Robert and Teddy Roosevelt, Calamity Jane, Mark Twain and others in this tale of vampires, monsters and science fiction, all mixed with Oscar Wilde’s wit and humour. A glorious ripping yarn and I loved it.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of Stoker’s Wilde West. This is my honest and unbiased review.

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I thought this sounded like a fun, inventive read. I was right. The book uses a structure I’ve not come across in ages and is made up of a series of letters, memos and journal entries narrated by the book’s large cast of characters. This works really well, bouncing back and forth between different POV’s and different incidents while gradually learning what links it all together. This is unlike anything I’ve read before part historical fiction, part horror and part western. I loved all of the well-known characters such as Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde. I got swept into this book and didn’t want to put it down because I was having such a blast.

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STOKER'S WILDE WEST is a follow-up to last year's STOKER'S WILDE. I think this book is even better than the first.

Bram Stoker is about to take the theatrical group he manages for Henry Irving to play NYC. He plans to bring his wife Florence and their new son, Noel, along for the ride. Oscar Wilde has recently returned from touring the states and has developed a bit of fame there. When Stoker is asked by Robert Roosevelt to help the Americans in sussing out a nest of vampires, Wilde joins him and we're off for a Wilde ride!

Like Dracula, this book is in epistolary form, which I love. Culled from the characters' journals, reports to the White Worm Society, (a group which formed to investigate the occult, among other things), and diary entries, we are treated to different viewpoints of several events. These are really what makes the book, because these entries are often hilarious as Stoker and Wilde do not really care for each other.

All kinds of famous people from that time in history show up or are otherwise mentioned. Personalities such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, the Roosevelt family, and Arthur Conan Doyle, to name just a few. All of which contribute to make this book as funny and interesting as it is.

The historical fiction, a respect for the original works of these authors, and a great sense of humor all combine with some amazing storytelling in this fun wild west story.

Highly recommended!

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For lack of a better word, this book just isn't rompy enough.

After some promising hijinks in London, the plot becomes a repetitive farce of kidnappings, separations, rescues, and reunions once our heroes arrive in America. And while the tone of this sequel is more consistent than the first installment, there's also an exhausting sameness to it The multiple character perspectives are nearly indistinguishable from each other, with Stoker and Wilde (mostly Wilde) being the only exceptions.

There's eventually a brief pulpy payoff to this back and forth, but it seems a waste that the characters don't interact with much in the way of American arcana. There's a tease that our heroes might run afoul of Mormon occultists (Brigham Young wants their magic book!), but it never arrives. Instead we're faced with a bunch of made-up villains and the promise that maybe next time there will be Frankensteins.

Don't get me wrong. I'm excited for Frankensteins!. (And having been inspired to look up the Wikipedia entry on Oscar Wilde's life, I'm especially curious to see where this series might go if it continues.) But I was hoping for something more fun in the interim. And instead of Bigfeet or American religious wizards or folk legends of the old west, it's mostly a bunch of tedious vampire hunting.

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I was provided with an advance copy of this graphic novel through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a huge fan of Seth Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer and its sequel, The Last American Vampire. Stoker’s Wilde West offers readers a similar premise – it is a sequel to Stoker’s Wilde, which I have not read yet. Instead of a traditional narrator, it uses journal entries, reports, and letters as devices to move the plot forward.

This book details the adventures of Bram Stoker (Dracula) and Oscar Wilde (Picture of Dorian Gray) in the American west in 1882. They share the world they live in with vampires and other supernatural beings. Stoker and Wilde battle against the mostly-evil vampires while trying to avoid entanglements with agents of the White Worm Society – a Britain-based group tasked with monitoring and controlling supernatural elements. Several other historical characters make appearances, including Teddy Roosevelt and Calamity Jane. I also like how they gave one of the major villains the surname “Drumpf” – the original German name of the current president’s family before altering it to “Trump.”

I gave Stoker’s Wilde West five stars. While I’m not sure whether it can be termed part of the ‘weird west’ genre, it does have similarities to R.S. Belcher’s Golgotha series, which started with The Six Gun Tarot.

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Vicariously living the wild adventures of the illustrious Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, interwoven with that educated but pesky White Worm Society (collector of magical wisdom and possibilities) is always a sure delight, full of terror, adventure, danger, romance, and humor. I truly hope this series will continue. STOKER'S WILDE WEST is the second installment, and finds Bram and Florence Stoker and their son Noel, and Oscar Wilde, in America, specifically in the still untamed West. Vampires, a concealed village, rampant Necromancy, and a mining baron on the far side of Sanity, determined to access the Realm and profit profusely from its timber, minerals, and land. More fool he, indeed, but he has a pet sorcerer. Who can stop him, but Stoker, Wilde, and vampire friend Henry Irving? Read and discover!

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This is the second instalment in a series and I hope there will be more to come.
The mix of historical facts, horror and humour is excellent and I found it gripping and entertaIning.
The characters are interesting and well written, the world building is excellent and the plot kept me hooked till the end.
The author delivers a great story and it was a lot of fun to read it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde have put their vampire-hunting days behind them. Stoker has returned to his family and to his position as theater director at the Lyceum. Wilde has gone on a celebrated tour of the United States, becoming rather famous in the former colonies. He successfully went through the entire tour without confronting a supernatural being once. Now, having written a play that is set to debut in New York, Wilde is ready to return to the US and take his well-deserved place among the greatest playwrights in history! Not seeking quite so much glory, Stoker has also arranged an American tour for the Lyceum company where they will perform in various cities around the country for a populace starved for the elite entertainment only the British can provide.

Things do not go quite according to plan. Wilde’s play is a flop, closing within a week. The Lyceum tour is a success, but then word reaches Stoker and his friend, the vampire (and famous actor) Henry Irving, that their old vampire-fighting companion Robert Roosevelt and his nephew Teddy (yes, THAT Teddy Roosevelt) were having some trouble fighting vampires in the wild west. Stoker’s unique ability to see supernatural beings and their traces coupled with Irving’s vampiric senses meant they would be invaluable allies to the Roosevelts in finding and destroying these minions of hell. Since Roosevelt had saved their lives in England, they were quite willing to return the favor and go to him.

Then, while Flossie Stoker and the toddler Noel wait in St. Louis, Bram Stoker and Henry Irving go missing. Flossie contacts their old friend Oscar Wilde and he comes immediately to help in the search. And since one should be fashionable while searching the American southwest, Wilde does not forget to bring his purple top hat along.

What follows is a madcap thrill ride through an old west filled with vampires, invisible Native American villages, desperados, Pinkerton agents and Cavalry troops, doorways to other dimensions, and a collection of allies and acquaintances that includes Calamity Jane, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), and several other characters from American history. Fans of classic SFF novels will also enjoy the not so subtle references to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ works later in the book.

Written in the same “found letters and diaries” style as the first book (and also Dracula and other Gothic Horror novels), the plot is fun and full of action. The heart of the book, though, is in the divergent personalities of Stoker and Wilde. Stoker is serious, sometimes morose, deeply thoughtful, seldom impetuous, weighed down by the responsibilities he bears. Wilde is, well, wild. Bawdy and egotistical, wanting to settle down with his paramour Constance but drawn by his passions to have sex with young men who are almost as beautiful as he is to himself. The contrast between these two fictionalized versions of the literary giants is an absolute joy. They constantly get on each other’s nerves, they fight like brothers--or like an old married couple as one observer puts it, and they manage at every turn to surprise and delight the reader.

One could almost wish the old west had been filled with vampires just so this collaboration could have happened. Alas, it was not. (Considering I grew up in Colorado, I actually don’t really wish the American West to be a hotbed for vampires.) Still, Hopstaken and Prusi deliver another fun novel with enough horror to keep things grisly, enough humor to keep readers engaged, and enough cameos (and longer appearances) by historical figures to keep a Google search open in a window. Stoker and Wilde may never have written a play or a novel together. I am awfully glad that Hopstaken and Prusi have now written two.

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Fun, Fun And More Fun!

It is the year 1882 and Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde who are great friends are asked by the Roosevelt's if they would investigate a series of stagecoach robberies and deaths that seem to involve an unusual vampire who can carry out it's dastardly deeds in the daylight. Since Bram and Oscar had accidentally gotten involved with hunting vampires on their last adventure, this is not an unexpected or unusual request for the two of them but they were hoping that time of their lives were over (apparently not). In the meantime Wilde is supposed to go on tour in the US with a new play that he had written so of course they can't say no to the Roosevelts. Oh my gosh, the name dropping of characters that all readers will recognize along the way was just too much fun yet very believable because all of the people in this story had not risen to the peak of their fame or celebrity status. Stoke and Wilde are discreet monster hunters and there are plenty of the undead and other supernatural adversaries as well as human monsters that this duo will encounter with many chills and spills and all with thrills, where you won't want to put this book down. The story is all told from personal journals and letters from all the characters involved including many from Bram's wife Florence who also went along on this Wilde West Ride!

This book was so unique and fun. The monsters were realistic and the famous characters were non-stop and believable and just so much fun. I can't wait to go back and read the first book called "Stoker's Wilde" to find out about how all this crazy, exciting fun all began. This is definitely still a stand-alone read but I just want to find out more and hopefully there will be many more books to come based on this famous duo and their relatives and friends. The storyline and storytelling were so creatively and wonderfully written that I was sad but satisfied when the book came to an end. Truly, amazing and believable characters that really transformed with reading this wondrouly, imaginative written story. It just truly left me wanting to go on another Wilde ride wherever the next adventure takes them.

I want to thank the authors "Steven Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi" for the best fun I've had in a long time and to the publisher "Flame Tree Press" who continues to produce the most marvelous horror books and also to Netgalley for providing the opportunity to read so many absolutely terrific books! All thoughts and any opinions expressed are unbiased and voluntarily given by myself! I

I more than highly recommend this thrilling and uniquely different style of book and have given a rating of 5 Thrilling And Fun 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!

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Although heavy at times, the characters, style an story keep you attentive all the time. Almost impossible to put it down once you start with it. A sequel that surprised more than once!
Full review: https://tintanocturna.blogspot.com/2020/08/resena-review-stokers-wilde-west.html

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