‘Slains Castle’s Secret History’ by Mike Shepherd and Dacre Stoker - reviewed by Duncan Harley
Slains Castle sits on the very edge of the Buchan coastline and is a widely misunderstood edifice and a confusion of associations with Dracula do little to explain the history of the place. This new book by Mike Shepherd and Dacre Stoker is a gamechanger. Readers of Mike’s previous books and followers of Dacre Stoker’s work - which includes Dracul, a Dracula prequel written in collaboration with J.D. Barker of Fourth Monkey fame - will already be aware of the Cruden Bay Dracula links. But few however, will be aware of the true history of that Slains Castle we all love to associate with the Gothic Horror genre. An extraordinary set of stories lie within these pages. Churchill visited as did Johnson and Boswell. The cutting off of the heads of dead Danes, an epic story of religious strife and a shambolic plan to surrender Scotland to the Spanish Crown inhabit this book. And the ‘tussle’ for the souls of the living takes centre stage. There are tales of a French conspiracy to Anglicis...