In The Misfortunes of John Bull (1884)a spurned lover seeking to avenge an insult by an English nobleman, becomes a billionaire and turns an improvised nation into a global empire, ultimately defeating and conquering England. This significant future war story anticipates warfare on a global scale, especially naval warfare, featuring battles between ironclad warships assisted by various fictional inventions. Graour the monster was determined to maintain his companions in confrontation with the original question, that of the vampire, knowing full well that the mere word "brucolaca" unhinged them, gave them gooseflesh and could drive them to the most horrible ferocities. Graour the Monster (1903) is an extraordinary Gothic novella in which a hulkish dwarf created by the Dr. Moreau-like mad surgeon Dr Matthews returns to Romania seeking vengeance, but finds only doomed love and cpombat with one of Matthews' victims who has returned as a vampire.