Dracula’s Dog

The Romanian army unintentionally damages a subterranean crypt during their operations, prompting the stationing of a guard to monitor the site for looters and criminals. Late at night, an earthquake shakes loose one of the coffins within the crypt, causing it to slide out and land at the guard's feet, sparking curiosity.

The guard investigates the fallen coffin and uncovers a dog's body impaled by a wooden stake. He removes the stake, reviving the dog, which is revealed to be a vampiric Doberman named Zoltan. Zoltan then slays the guard and drinks his blood, establishing himself as a vampire.

Zoltan proceeds to open another coffin shaken loose by the earthquake, revealing his master Veidt Smit, an innkeeper. The stake is removed from Smit's body, re-animating him as a vampire. This event links the crypt to the Dracula vampire family lineage.

The story shifts to a flashback set in a Romanian village in 1670, over 300 years before the present day. It depicts Dracula, in bat form, attacking a group of villagers, and the fate of a dog that tries to protect a sleeping woman from being bitten by Count Igor Dracula.

Count Igor Dracula, furious after losing a victim to a dog, bites the dog himself, turning it into a vampire. Dracula then attacks the innkeeper, turning him into a fractional lamia, an undead creature that can operate in daylight and does not need to drink blood, making him a subservient slave.

In the present day, Michael Drake, the last known mortal descendant of the Dracula vampire family, is a psychiatrist. Unaware of his lineage, he plans a family vacation with his wife Marla, their children Linda and Steve, and their dogs. The family prepares to leave in their Winnebago camper.

Zoltan the vampire dog and Veidt Smit set out to the United States, shipping themselves via boat to Los Angeles, California. Their goal is to find and make Michael Drake their new master, with Zoltan acting under the influence of Dracula's legacy.

Zoltan and Smit encounter Michael Drake’s family in a forest as they arrive in the U.S. The vampire duo begins stalking the family, and it is revealed that Dracula’s influence extends across centuries, targeting Michael as his descendant.

Two fishermen vacationing nearby discover that Zoltan has bitten their dog, Buster. Additionally, the Drakes' two German Shepherds and puppies are bitten, and all bitten dogs later reanimate as vampire dogs, becoming minions of Zoltan, spreading vampirism among animals.

The vampire dogs, Veidt Smit, and Zoltan are ultimately destroyed at the end of the story. However, an embryonic vampire German Shepherd puppy, bitten previously by Zoltan, escapes destruction, leaving open the possibility of future vampire threats.