ABSTRACT
The Castlevania series of videogames, which has run from 1986 to the present, is a long-running example of literary adaptation and a complex case study in how diverse influences can reshape a relationship with the source text. Set within Dracula’s castle, the series sees the player battling the Count’s hordes to slay him – until his next resurrection. In many ways, Castlevania reflects the wider cultural treatment of Dracula: it prefers to appropriate the Count and craft an original narrative. This chapter will explore the Castlevania series’ inventive and complex engagement with Dracula, not only moving beyond the book-to-film format, but also offering an international perspective and incorporating influences from other adaptations. It offers a fresh perspective as to how a series can destabilize the core text, even supplant it, through not only a multitude of reinventions but also an establishment of its own franchise and mythos, and in turn be subjected to a trans-media adaptation itself.
