Saturday 8 October 2011

The Birth of Horror (a documentary about Dracula and Stoker)

Halloween is approaching, so I thought I would post another bit of video about an horror icon to put my fellow Halloween lovers in the mood. This is another post about Dracula, the book, the character and also about its author. We often forget there was a novel before the movies, comic books, etc. And an author... The last part of the document couldn't be embed here, but you can find it on Youtube. I am skeptical about some of th things Christopher Frayling says, I think he makes the mistake of linking a bit too closely Dracula and Vlad Tepes (whom Stoker knew very little about, read this to know more), but it is still an interesting story about the genesis of the novel and its many, many layers. It also sheds some light on the reasons of its enduring popularity, especially among men like me, who discovered it as a teenager and fell in love with it. I don't care about vampires when they are angsty watered down romantics, as they often are now in fiction. I love them bloody and raw, feral, like the Count was originally and should always be.


3 comments:

Mantan Calaveras said...

Ah, great choice. I am a great fan of Stoker and Dracula

suzanne said...

Sounds interesting, despite my fear of vampires. Thanks for the links.

Anonymous said...

If you want to read a great work of satire on political correctness I can't recommend Terry Pratchett's novel 'Carpe Jugulum' enough. It's about a family of vampires who seek social acceptance. It's laugh out loud funny, but it also pokes fun at the tendency of modern authors to 'romanticize' vampires. It's not in the least bit scary, except for it's brutal exposition of human hypocrisy, but it's well worth a read even if it doesnt meet your Halloween criteria:-)