Alexandre Dumas' classic story of revenge, now with vampires!
After imprisonment in the Château d'If for a crime he didn't commit, Edmond Dantes conspires to escape with fellow prisoner the Abbe' Faria. Discovering that his friend is an alchemist, he uses the man's knowledge of sorcery to conjure the Angel of Vengeance (and possibly the Devil) to give the strength to wreck "God's wrath" upon his enemies. Transformed into a (un)holy creature of the night, Edmond Dantes uses his powers to bring about a terrible end to his foes.
Re-Written by Mathew Baugh and published by Permuted Press, The Vampire Count of Monte Cristo is a literary mash-up in the vein of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and alternate historical story Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Veering surprisingly close to the text, the story manages to include many parts of the original novel usually adapted out while introducing supernatural elements that do not disrupt the original novels mood. Some have drawn comparisons to the Japanese anime Gankutsuou despite different themes.
This story contains examples of:
- Actually Not a Vampire: The Count plays this game with some amusement despite, well, being a vampire.
- Adaptation Distillation: Despite cutting two thirds of the book and adding his own elements, Mathew Baugh manages to preserve most of the plot intact.
- Adapted Out: Resoundingly averted. Despite being roughly a third the size of the original novel, all of the conspirators (though not Caddereuse) and the character of Haydee are present. The latter is particularly noteworthy as Haydee is often removed for
Values Dissonance reasons. - Ambiguously Evil: The Angel of Vengeance. Is he a servant of God, the Devil, or both? He's evil.
- Artifact of Doom: The Bronze Head.
- Asshole Victim: As in the novel, the majority of Edmond's enemies have it coming.
- This is also the kind of prey the Count feasts on as a vampire.
- Back from the Dead: Valentine.
- In this version, Villefort succeeded in killing his newborn son, but the Angel of Vengeance still creates an adult Andrea Cavalcanti with false memories.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Morcerf family's blessed silver sword.
- Cruel Mercy: What Edmond intends to inflict on de Villefort. Subverted.
- Deal with the Devil: Played with as it might be a Deal with an Angel.
- Death by Adaptation: Noirtier de Villefort. He's a ghost in this version.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin
- Hide Your Lesbians: Subverted. Mathew Baugh keeps all of the reference to Eugenie Danglers sexuality so it is blindingly obvious what her preferences are.
- The kiss at the end, seals it.
- Ignored Epiphany: The Count briefly has one when he realizes divinely blessed weapons can kill him. He assumes the fact they don't is proof he's on a mission from God.
- Karmic Jackpot: Averted. Edmond Dantes becoming a vampire significantly reduces his gains from the original novel.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Resoundingly averted. Edmond's attempts to enact such end up blowing up in his face quite spectacularly.
- May–December Romance: Haydee and the Count. Subverted as they have eternity together at the end of the novel.
- Moral Myopia: Even more prominent than in the original novel. The Count's callousness to the families of his victims is condemned soundly.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The Angel expects the Count to go on this versus his more deliberate type.
- Shout-Out: Lord Ruthven, The Comte de Saint Germaine, and several other period appropriate vampires get mentioned.
- At one point, the Count quotes Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Edmond believes these should be visited on his enemies' children. The Angel of Vengeance believes so too.
