When I recently rewatched the TV movie based on that novel (which I think aired before it was published), I could tell that it was structured like a classic horror novel in the Dracula vein, in that it was in the form of a narrative presented by one of its main characters as a recounting of actual events -- in this case, Kolchak telling the story in the form of a novel because The Powers That Be suppressed the story when he tried to publish it as news. Was I right? Is the novel presented that same way? Of course, when they did a whole weekly series based on Kolchak, that pretense didn't work as well. He kept on narrating his adventures into that trusty tape recorder, but it was never established what, if anything, became of the recordings, since he never seemed to succeed at getting any of his articles published. Maybe he was selling them to a horror magazine as novelettes? Sort of a Dr. Watson/The Strand deal? Considering how rarely he seemed to get a news story actually published, he probably needed the extra income.
The book, which was indeed published after the TV-movie was a hit, has a framing sequence in which the author, Jeff Rice, is approached by Kolchak, who pretty much presses his notes and tape recordings on Rice in the hopes that Rice will somehow get the story out there . . . . The novel version of Kolchak has the same attitude as the TV version, but is described as a pudgy, balding slob of Romanian descent, who learned about vampires from his Transylvanian-born grandfather, who used to regale little Carl with tales of the living dead. (Something the TV-movies, adapted by Richard Matheson from Rice's then-unpublished novel, omitted.) Just to complicate matters, Rice later wrote the novelization of the sequel, The Night Strangler, based on Matheson's original screenplay.
Aha -- not so much Dracula as Edgar Rice Burroughs, then (even a similar name). Or Wells or Verne. That's interesting. In Douglas Adams's novels, Dirk Gently (born Svlad Cjelli) is a pudgy, middle-aged slob of Transylvanian descent, even though he keeps getting played on TV by tall, lanky actors who look nothing like that (Stephen Mangan and Samuel Barnett). I've thought in the past that a more faithful depiction of Gently would look like a cross between Kolchak and Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins). Now I'm wondering if Adams might have been influenced by Rice's novel. I suppose it could be a coincidence, though.
I think if you read a novel after seeing a movie or tv adaptation you do tend to visualise the characters as the actors playing them. P D James said that after the tv series Dalgliesh she always visualised him as Roy Maraden when she wrote new novels.
I often do, unless the actors are egregiously wrong for the characters as described in the book. But sometimes it takes an effort to resist visualizing/hearing the actor in question.
It's similar, but not quite the same for me with Batman comics. I pretty much always hear Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and Joker, not matter what the characters look like in the art.
For Golden Age Batman comics, I tend to go with the Batman and Robin actors from the '40s Superman radio series (I'm not sure which of the three Batman actors I hear in my head, probably either Gary Merrill or Matt Crowley, but Ronald Liss was Robin). For Silver Age, I hear Adam West and Burt Ward. For more modern stuff, I hear Conroy and the B:TAS cast. In my head, Golden Age Joker is Vincent Price. I had a problem recently when I read the TPBs of The New Teen Titans. For most of the Titans, I went with the voice cast from the 2003 series -- Khary Payton as Cyborg, Hynden Walch as Starfire, Greg Cipes as Beast Boy, Tara Strong as Raven. For Kid Flash, I went with Jason Spisak from Young Justice, and for Wonder Girl I went with Grey DeLisle Griffin, who played her in the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. But I had the hardest time settling on a Robin. Normally I would've gone with Loren Lester from B:TAS for Robin/Nightwing, but in a Teen Titans context, I couldn't help hearing Scott Menville from the '03 cast -- except in scenes with Kid Flash, in which I kept hearing Jesse McCartney from Young Justice. And sometimes it started to shade into Sean Maher from the current Batman and Titans DVD movies.
When I read Poe, I tend to hear Vincent Price's voice in my head. Although when I wrote my Saavik story a few years back, my mind's eye kept swinging back and forth between Kirstie Alley and Robin Curtis.
I forgot to mention in my last post that I've been reading through Life Magazine's Rise of the Superhero special, which features a story by @JJMiller. It covers the history of superheroes from the Greek and Norse mythology all the way through to today. Miller's story covers the mid-to-late '80s and deals with the release of Tim Burton's Batman, Watchmen and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
I finished Star Trek: The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard by David A. Goodman. I'm now reading Star Trek: Prometheus: Fire with Fire by Bernd Perplies & Christian Humberg.
Unlike last time I read A Christmas Carol, which was a slim paperback one, this year I'm reading it in the collected Christmas Books volume... So that also includes The Chimes, The Cricket On The Hearth, The Battle Of Life, and The Haunted Man...
Finally finished That Which Divides and moving on to Allegiance in Exile. Just a few more novels in 2269 before I travel into the 2270 lit-verse.