''Anno Dracula: Dracula Cha Cha Cha'' (re-titled ''Judgment of Tears: Anno Dracula 1959'' upon initial U.S. release) is an alternate history/ horror novel by British writer

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at ...

. First published in 1998 by

Carroll & Graf Carroll & Graf Publishers was an American publishing company based in New York City, New York, known for publishing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction by both new and established authors, as well as issuing reprints of previously hard-t ...

, it is the third book in the ''Anno Dracula'' series.

Plot

In 1959, several of the world's notable vampires gather in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for the wedding of

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

. Nefarious schemes are afoot and being investigated by British Intelligence, the Diogenes Club, and several others, including a British spy on the trail of a sinister madman with a white cat.

Setting

The book is an alternate history novel set in a world where

Van Helsing A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

never killed Dracula. The version of Rome shown in the book is heavily influenced by Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. As always in the series, the novel contains a number of characters from other fictional works, though due to copyright restrictions some are not named or are given aliases. Some of these identity shifts are quite clear (such as the character of Commander Hamish Bond, based on

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

, who has a fondness for martinis, drives an Aston Martin, carries a

Walther PPK The Walther PP (german: Polizeipistole, or police pistol) series pistols are blowback-operated semi-automatic pistols, developed by the German arms manufacturer Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen. It features an exposed hammer, a traditional double-a ...

, has the Scots version of the name "James" for his name, and gets to say " the bitch is dead."), while some are more obscure (a Kansas football player named

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, for example). The novel's original title is inspired by Bruno Martino's song ''Dracula Cha Cha'' (1959) (

La Voce del Padrone La voce del padrone was the Italian label for the His Master's Voice recording house. The house belonged to The Gramophone Company Ltd., of Hayes (Middlesex, United Kingdom) which owned several labels in Italy, like Columbia, Marconiphone, Angel ...

, 7 MQ 1271), which appears on the album ''I grandi successi di Bruno Martino'' (The Great Successes of Bruno Martino - 1959) (

, QELP 8012) and is performed onscreen in

Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American stage director and film director. He directed the classic movie musicals '' Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944), '' An American in Paris'' (1951), ' ...

's film ''

Two Weeks in Another Town ''Two Weeks in Another Town'' is a 1962 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Kirk Douglas and Edward G. Robinson. The supporting players include Cyd Charisse, Claire Trevor, Daliah Lavi, George Hamilton, and Rosanna S ...