#georges bess

Georges Bess, “Dracula”

art from the graphic novel adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 2019

There are countless versions of Dracula out there, but Georges Bess doesn’t just retell Bram Stoker’s novel — he paints it in shadow and blood. His Dracula comics feel like opening an illuminated manuscript of nightmares, where every page drips with atmosphere and devotion to Gothic horror.

Bess’s art is both lavish and brutal. Rendered in a classical black-and-white style, it feels timeless — stark contrasts of light and shadow that turn every page into a cathedral of ink. The castles, forests, and stormy seas are drawn with a kind of fevered detail that makes you feel the damp stone under your fingers and the fog on your skin. Dracula himself shifts between alluring nobleman and monstrous beast with frightening ease — sometimes within the same panel. It’s not a romanticized Count; it’s the predator Stoker envisioned, brought to life with a stylish, elegant pen that loves both beauty and terror.

What sets this adaptation apart is its faithfulness to the novel’s mood rather than just its events. The sense of dread, of corruption, of holy symbols faltering in the face of something ancient and hungry — Bess captures that essence perfectly. The black-and-white palette heightens the Gothic drama, evoking the spirit of silent cinema and old engravings, yet with a sharpness that feels modern and alive.

Reading it is like being swallowed by the plot. You don’t just watch Jonathan Harker tremble in the castle or Mina suffer under Dracula’s thrall — you feel it, because the artwork pulls you so deep into the nightmare. It’s gorgeous, it’s grotesque, and it’s utterly entrancing.

Bram Stoker's Dracula

by Georges Bess