For all of you monster fans desperately awaiting the return of Dracula, without Buffy in town, then you may want to begin by thanking Universal.

According to Variety, Universal has acquired the spec script Dracula Year Zero by scribes Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.

As the title would suggest, the story explores the origin of Dracula, weaving vampire mythology with the true history of Prince Vlad the Impaler, depicting Dracula as a flawed hero in a tragic love story set in a dark age of magic and war.

Films like Warner Bros’ Batman Begins have recently proved that audiences don’t mind going back to where a story started and the origins of Dracula could draw an extended horror crowd and then some.

But who to play Dracula?

Universal was home to the original 1931 Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi and based on Bram Stoker’s horror novel, published in 1897.

Stay tuned for updates.