[1] Powers downplays the vampirism of Stoker's novel and portrays Dracula primarily as the head of an international cult inspired by Social Darwinism, whose goal is elimination of the weakest and world domination by an elite.

Harker follows the housekeeper to a secret basement "temple", where he discovers the cult practising ritual sacrifice, but Draculitz does not drink the blood of their female victims; nor does he shapeshift, as in the original novel.

In both Nordic variants Harker encounters a beautiful blonde woman in the castle, rather than the three vampire sisters, or brides, of Stoker's book, and while he is repulsed by them in Dracula, and relieved to be rescued by the Count's interruption, in Powers he is attracted to her and continues secretly to meet with her, in disobedience of his host's instructions.

Draculitz does not attack Mina, instead, she joins Hawkins[clarification needed] and two new characters—the detectives Edward Tellet and Barrington Jones—and together they take their investigation to Transylvania and Castle Dracula, assisted by the Hungarian Secret Police en route.

[5] Söhrman notes the suggestion that Dagen publisher Harald Sohlman may have had sympathy with these views, as in later life he rejected socialism and became more politically conservative (Elovson, 1953); the fact that Draculitz is the story's villain goes against this, however, and not only is the Count destroyed, but his international associates share his punishment, dying by murder and suicide.

[7] Powers references this zeitgeist directly when Seward quotes a contemporary tabloid: By the way, the telegram section of the newspaper announces several strange news – lunatic behavior and deadly riots, organized by anti-Semites, in both Russia and Galicia as well as southern France – plundered stores, slain people – general insecurity of life and property – and the most fabulous tall tales about "ritual murders", abducted children and other unspeakable crimes, all of which is ascribed in earnestness to the poor Jews, while influential newspapers are instigating an all-encompassing extermination war against the "Israelites".

You would think this is in the midst of the Dark Ages!Along with rising fascism, the Fin de siècle saw a growth in new, esoteric religions, such as Theosophy and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and Berghorn likewise sees these movements satirized in the occult pagan rituals of Draculitz's cult.

He argues that allusions in the text suggest the Scandinavian authors or translators wanted to link Draculitz with Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper, whose murder spree took place in the Whitechapel district in 1888.

"Bloom—who was commenting on the Icelandic text before the existence of its Swedish source was widely known—also observes similarities between the descriptions of Draculitz's female followers and the contemporary stereotype of the "exotic" Ashkenazi Jewish prostitutes whose dark complexions and perceived voluptuousness made them popular with East End pimps.

"[3] The Icelandic Makt myrkranna came to worldwide attention in 1986, when American scholar Richard Dalby published an English translation of the preface, supposed at that time to have been written by Bram Stoker himself.

[9] This last fact was unknown until Hans Corneel de Roos had published his English translation of Makt myrkranna under the title Powers of Darkness: The Lost Version of Dracula in 2017.

[11] Swedish publisher Rickard Berghorn contacted De Roos immediately after publication to inform him of the existence of Mörkrets makter, whose similarities and earlier date confirmed it was the source of the Icelandic text.

[13] It was published alongside essays by Roos and other Dracula scholars, with the cover bearing a direct translation of the original title page: "Powers of Darkness, by Bram Stoker, Swedish adaptation by A—e."

Once it became clear that the Swedish Mörkrets makter predated and served as the source of the Icelandic Makt myrkranna, scholarly consensus gradually came to cast doubt on Stoker's involvement (De Roos 2021).

Early on in the study of Makt myrkranna, De Roos, unaware of the text's earlier Swedish source, identified several similarities between it and Bram Stoker's notes, such as a "secret room—coloured like blood" and the characters of the silent housekeeper and a police inspector.

Berghorn qualifies his claims, however, pointing to references in Powers to current events (antisemitic riots in France, the so-called Orlean conspiracy) and technology (the cinematograph) that would have to post-date any proposed early draft by Stoker, and therefore must have originated with the Nordic authors.

De Roos counters this theory: While not widely reported in Sweden, the Thames murders did receive some attention in the Scandinavian press, and a journalist such as Andersson-Edenberg would have had access to British newspapers.

Not only do they falsely attribute authorship to Stoker and contain fraudulent prefaces, but they also borrow liberally from other writing, including Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla and Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death and The Facts in the Case of M.

The Swedish preface contains several more lines, however, which De Roos discovered were taken almost word-for-word from the memoirs of a Lutheran pastor, Bernhard Wadström, published in Sweden three months before Mörkrets makter.